Breakfast in Mexico City is something that you don’t want to sleep through.
Not to worry though, most places don’t open until around 8am and many places serve breakfast until at least 12 or 1, so even the late risers can enjoy some of the best breakfast in Mexico City.
I’ve done my best to divide the breakfast options into different categories so that you can choose based on price and menu option.
Most are located in the Centro Historico, Roma Norte, or Condesa neighborhoods with a few spreading out into neighborhoods slightly further afield, but still not too far from the central region of the city.
For the most part, breakfast foods aren’t wildly different to what you’ll find at different times of day in Mexico, but there are a few staple menu items that are specific to breakfast.In Mexico City this can include chilaquiles, tamales, enchiladas, and guisados.
I’ve written comprehensively about Mexican foods in this article so for a full breakdown on what each of those things really is, be sure to have a read of that.
For more information on delicious Mexican foods, be sure to check out my Mexican tacos article, too.
Fancy Spots for Breakfast in Mexico City
These are the more expensive places to have breakfast in Mexico City. They still won’t really break the bank if you’re visiting with dollars, though.
The restaurants listed below are some of the most famous in the city for breakfast and brunch, so you may want to consider making a reservation.
El Cardinal
El Cardinal is perhaps the most famous place to have breakfast in Mexico City.
It is quite a historical spot and when you walk in you’ll truly get to experience the old-school Mexican dining tradition.
Most importantly, though, the food is delicious. Everything from their thick hot chocolate to the freshly baked breads you dip into it will start you off on a delicious breakfast experience.
I really love the chilaquiles here, but you can’t go wrong with their enchiladas or egg options, either.
Hours: Daily 8am-6pm
Nicos
Nicos is one of my favorite restaurants in Mexico City not only for breakfast, but for lunch and dinner, too.
It’s one of the original fine-dining spots in Mexico City and has tons of family history. It feels like a special place, but is still very affordable.
Just be sure to make a reservation because breakfast is their busiest time of day.
Pretty much everything on the breakfast menu is amazing, but I can never look past their chilaquiles or their enchiladas because the sauces they use are utterly delectable.
Hours: Daily 7:30am-12:30pm and 1pm-7pm, closed Sundays
Eno
Eno is sort of a new kid on the block. It’s the casual brunch spot of chef Enrique Olvera of Pujol.
There are a few locations. If you want a busy atmosphere head to the Polanco location, but be prepared to wait if you go on the weekends. For a quieter spot check out the Roma Norte location.
Eno has a combination of American breakfast options like waffles and French toast alongside Mexican classics like chilaquiles, tortas, and pan dulces (Mexican sweet bread). Their coffee is also outstanding.
Hours: Daily 8am-9pm
Best Cafes for Breakfast in Mexico City
This is where you can come for a good breakfast, brunch, or lunch in Mexico City. Most listed below are open well into the afternoon and most also serve breakfast until quite late.
It’s where to head for a place to sit down, relax in a more casual environment, and still get a great cup of coffee.
Cafe La Habana
For a month or two last year I was coming to Cafe la Habana almost once a week.
They make amazing coffee and their chilaquiles are ridiculously delicious. The portion sizes are huge and the price is not.
They have a paqueta menu, which is basically where you can choose a main and get included a pan dulce, a coffee, or a juice for a set price. The portions are slightly smaller than the main menu, but it’s still plenty of food.
You may need to ask for the paqueta menu when you get there because they don’t always hand it to you when you first sit down.
Other breakfast menu items that I love are the enchiladas suiza (very rich and decadent) and the regular enchiladas.
Hours: Monday to Saturday 7am-1am, Sundays 8am-11pm
Cafe de Tacuba
Another restaurant that you should sample for both breakfast and dinner is Cafe de Tacuba.
It is one of the oldest restaurants in Mexico City and serves up some of the best, most traditional dishes in the city.
The waiters and waitresses all have quite traditional uniforms, there is live music, and the menu is enormous.
You’ll find just about anything on this menu including egg dishes, chilaquiles, grilled meat dishes, gorditas, tacos, and so much more. This is the perfect place for groups who all have different dietary needs or food tastes.
Hours: Daily 8am-11:30pm
Domingo Santo Cafe
This is one of my favorite places to have breakfast in Mexico City when I have guests visiting.
Not only do they have all of the classic Mexico breakfast options, but the quality is very high, the service is excellent, the coffee is strong, and the view of the Santo Domingo plaza is wonderful.
There is a downstairs cafe with seemingly the same name, but be sure to head up through the boutique hotel and to the top floor for the best menu and view.
Lalo!
You’ll wait a while for a table if you head here on the weekends (so head here during the week instead), but the food is well worth the wait.
Lalo is the more casual breakfast and brunch spot of local chef Eduardo Garcia of the nearby Maximo Bistrot (also worth checking out and definitely make a reservation!).
Here you’ll get deliciously fresh juice, great coffee, unbelievable pan dulces, and some of the best classic Mexican breakfast dishes. It’s slightly more expensive than some of the more casual places, but it’s worth checking out if you want to enjoy a good cafe breakfast in Mexico City.
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 8am-6pm, closed Mondays
Juana Juana
In the cool Juarez neighborhood, Juana Juana fits in with the local scene.
This hipster breakfast spot is where to come in Juarez for good chilaquiles and really good coffee.
However, if you feel like straying from the traditional options, their egg sandwiches are probably my favorite option on the menu.
For the sweet breakfast lovers, their pancakes shouldn’t be missed.
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 9am-6pm, closed Mondays
Belmondo
This was another breakfast and lunch spot that I used to go to almost once a week (their sandwiches are some of the best in the city).
I love grabbing a table outside and sitting with a coffee first thing in the morning. Once that’s settled, I’ll usually dig into their french toast or waffles.
They are also one of the few places in the city where you can find a decent bagel. Don’t expect a perfect New York style bagel, but it’s still the closest thing I’ve found to them.
Hours: Monday to Saturday 8:30am-midnight, Sundays 8:30am-6pm
La Ventanita
This place at the Fuente de Cibeles area of Roma Norte is wildly popular, especially on weekends.
Their outdoor seating is perfect on a warm sunny morning and I love their light breakfast options.
They have a pretty comprehensive breakfast menu with everything from fruit, yogurt and granola to whole grain waffles and cheesy croissant breakfast sandwiches.
Hours: Daily 8am-6pm, until 4pm Sundays
Casual & Street Food Breakfast Places
These are the places to head for breakfast tacos. These are the street carts, the little hole-in-the-wall spots, the greasy spoons, the little diners. These are the places I love best of all.
El Hidalguense
Made even more famous than it already was by the Netflix show Taco Chronicles, El Hidalguense is THE place to come for barbacoa in Mexico City.
It’s only open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and once they sell out for the day they close, so get there early!
It may seem strange to have slow-roasted goat meat for breakfast, but that’s traditionally when it’s eaten here in Mexico. It’s sort of a special-occasion meal in most of Mexico, but in Mexico City is a weekend hangover cure.
I usually head here for around 11:30 or 12 so it’s more like an early lunch than a breakfast meal, but I love it any time I can get it. You order the weight of meat that you want, a half kilo is plenty of meat for four people if you also get a few side dishes.
They serve the pile of meat with a basket full of tortillas and tons of salsas to cut through the fatty meat.
Hours: Friday to Sunday 7am-6pm
Fonda Margarita
Another Mexico City breakfast institution, Fonda Margarita was made internationally famous after Anthony Bourdain went their in one of his episodes on Mexico.
It’s basically a big open-plan space where you sit at communal tables. The waitress will tell you what the menu is for the day, almost always different types of guisados, and then you order a few of each.
It’s not super tourist-friendly, so if you don’t speak much Spanish, you’ll probably struggle here. But if you know the names of a few different guisados and you’re feeling brave, by all means, head here to enjoy the food – it’s really a tasty spot.
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 6-11:30am, closed Mondays
Cafe La Blanca
For a good Mexican cafe experience, head to Cafe La Blanca. There is a row of restaurants similar to La Blanca on the same street, but this is my favorite of the bunch (followed closely by Cafe Popular).
You can come here for a traditional and very cheap Mexican breakfast that will keep you full for hours of exploring the downtown area. I also like coming here for lunch when they have their menu del dia which includes four courses for a set price.
Hours: Daily 7:30am-7:30pm
Clara y Ema
This little standing-room-only shop in Condesa is home to one of the best egg sandwiches I’ve ever had.
They have a few menu items, but they are all different types of breakfast sandwiches.
The Clara is your classic bacon and egg sandwich. The bread bun that they use is the perfect vessel for soaking up all of the runny egg and juices from the bacon.
They’re a touch expensive for the size of the sandwich and often I still need a mid-morning snack after having one, but they are so delicious that it’s worth checking out, especially if you are staying in the Condesa area.
Hours: Monday to Friday 7am-4pm, Saturdays 8am-4pm, Sundays 9am-4pm
Tamales Doña Emi
There’s much debate around who is cooking up the best tamales in Mexico City, but Tamales Doña Emi is always a top contender.
For me, they are one of the best because of their variety and the flavor that they pack into all of their tamales. Sometimes you get a tamal on the street and it takes two or three bites to find the filling.
That never happens with a tamal at Doña Emi. They are packed almost to the brim with filling. The huitlacoche (corn mushrooms) with Oaxaca style cheese is my personal favorite, but I like to try a new one on every visit.
If you’ve never tried a sweet tamal, this is also a great place to have one. You can’t go wrong with the fig or the pineapple flavors.
Hours: Monday to Friday 8am-2pm, Saturdays & Sundays 9am-1:30pm
Taqueria el Jarocho
Just like Fonda Margarita mentioned above, El Jarocho is where to head for guisados, or stews.
Guisados are the closest thing you can get to Mexican home cooking without going to someone’s actual house in my opinion.
Guisados are what most people eat and cook and have in their homes on a day-to-day basis and the ones at el Jarocho are up there as one of the best in Mexico City.
Hours: Monday to Saturday 8am-10pm, Sundays 8am-7pm
Tacos Hola
This is another great guisado taco spot and is very popular with local business people for breakfast before they head to work or for an early lunch.
This spot in Condesa is very tourist friendly. They have their entire menu translated into English and you simply order a few tacos filled with different goodies.
This is also a really ideal spot for vegans and vegetarians who want to take part in the morning taco experience because they have tons of veggie guisados to choose from.
Hours: Monday to Friday 9am-9pm, Saturdays to 7pm, Sundays 8:30am-3:30pm
So many guisados to choose from at Tacos Hola!
The Best Chilaquiles for Breakfast in Mexico City
A lot of the cafes listed above could easily also be on this list. I love the chilaquiles at Cafe la Habana, but they also have a seriously great menu of other dishes.
The three places listed below serve almost nothing besides chilaquiles and they all do their singular item menu very very well.
Chilakillers
If I was only allowed to visit one of the places on this list, Chilakillers would be it.
I love chilaquiles. I love how the tortillas get a little soggy while other parts are still crispy. I love the complex, rich, spicy sauces. I love the raw onions, the cream, the crumbly cheese, and I love the gooey egg on top.
My mouth is watering just thinking about the chilaquiles are Chilakillers.
They used to have two branches in the city, but at the moment they are back to just one in the Tacubaya area of the city.
This means that if you head here on the weekend, you should be prepared to wait (I have waited almost 45 minutes before, but I would wait hours for these chilaquiles, to be honest!).
While I usually opt for eggs on my chilaquiles, they have a huge selection of toppings including nopales (cactus), mushrooms, different cuts of beef, pork, and chicken.
Be sure to try their juice of the day and their perfectly sweet cafe de olla.
Hour: Daily 9am-5pm
The big bowls of chilaquiles from Chilpa
Chilpa
This is another chilaquiles-focused restaurant. They do have a few other breakfast options, but there are better places to go if you don’t want chilaquiles.
They have their own house sauce with five different types of chilies and I’ve never had anything on chilaquiles with quite so much depth. If you don’t like too much spice, they also have several milder sauces to choose from.
I usually opt for eggs on top, but they have several meat options as well including arrachera beef which is deliciously juicy.
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 9am-6pm, closed Mondays
La Esquina del Chilaquil
This little street stand, known simple as La Esquina del Chilaquil (the corner of the chilaquil) is where to head for a truly Mexico City experience.
The rest of the country often mocks Mexico City because they put everything in a bread roll. They put tamales in bread rolls, the put all manner of meat in bread rolls, and they even stick chilaquiles in bread rolls.
That’s what you get at this Mexico City street stall.
It’s open every day from 8am to 12pm unless they run out earlier.
The line is almost always snaked around the block, but it moves quickly, so don’t let it scare you too much.
You basically choose whether you want red or green salsa and then what meat you want with your chilaquiles. I love the milanesa which is flattened pork that has been breaded and fried.
The other option is cochinita pibil, a type of pulled pork with several different types of seasoning. Both are incredible.
Hours: Daily 8am-noon
These are the best churros in Mexico City and don’t make me choose one of the sauces because I love all three equally (except the cajeta, I love her the most)
The Best Breakfast in Mexico City for the Sweet Tooths
If you want to have a breakfast of sweet breads and bitter coffee, be sure to check out these famous little bakeries in Mexico City.
All of the places listed below have several locations, but their Centro Historico locations are the best.
Churreria El Moro
Ask anyone who has spent a bit of time in Mexico City where to get churros and you’ll hear the name El Moro.
There is no other place as good, perhaps in all of Mexico, for these little pillows of dough covered in cinnamon and sugar.
Sure, churros aren’t exactly Mexican, but they have been perfected at this family-run churreria.
I usually order four for 20 Pesos along with the cajeta dip and the chocolate dip. I pretend to share it with my boyfriend because four churros is a lot, but I probably eat three on my own.
They also have ice cream sandwiches in which the sandwich “bread” is made of churros. If you love hot chocolate, you can’t go wrong with one of their decadent cups, but I usually have my churros simply with a coffee.
Hours: Open 24 hours
Pan de Muerto with a coffee in the morning is perfection – be sure to look for this pan dulce in October and November in Mexico City!
Pasteleria Ideal
This enormous bakery in the Centro Historico can seem a little bit overwhelming. Do as the locals do and pick up a tray, a set of tongs, and start in the bread area.
They also have a whole section just for cakes and a whole section just for buttery cookies. However, for breakfast I tend to stay in the bread and pastry section.
Once you’ve picked out what you want, follow the crowds to the desk where you’ll have your goodies tallied up. You then take your receipt to the next counter where you pay.
Hours: Daily 6:30am-9:30pm
Pasteleria Madrid
This is a popular spot not just for its delicious baked goods, but also for it’s cooked breakfast options as well.
This pasteleria has been in the same location in the Centro Historico for decades and not much in the interior has changed either.
It’s a great place to have a quick bite to eat, especially if you are on a budget. They have filling plates of eggs with tortillas for a few dollars or several pieces of sweet bread and a coffee for about $1 USD.
Hours: Daily 7:30am-10pm