Weekend Travels: Eating My Way Through Mexico City
Mexico City is severely underrated.
But to be honest, it wasn’t on my short bucket list of places I wanted to go. One of my best friends (and traveling buddy) went last year around Christmas and loved it. Her pictures, stories, and food photos enticed me to say a quick “YES” when she asked me to go for a quick weekend in November. I was excited to get out of the vastly approaching winter in Denver and try out all different kinds of foods. It was a four hour flight for only 2.5 days of actual time in the city, but I’m all for spontaneity and was pleasantly surprised with the massive city.
Something you may not know about me just yet is that I am a “go with the flow” type of gal. I’ll be along for the ride and am willing to try anything at least once. I’m the first person to say yes to a random trip somewhere, will eat anything (well okay, not aaaanything), and have loved traveling ever since my very first solo trip abroad in 2014 (more on that in a later post). The great thing about my best friend and travel companion, Lindsey, is that she is a planner, extremely organized, and always does her research. I think this is why we travel so well together. Travel is a major part of my life, and I am extremely happy that there is now a spot I can share all of my wanderlust with you all. In the past year, I have already been out of the country five times with one more spot to fill next month.
Anyways, back to the craziness that is Mexico City. One thing I had NO idea about was that not only is this city massive, with a growing 24 million people living in or around the city, it is also over 7,300 feet above sea level. As a girl that lives in a city for being well known to being a mile high, this was huge news to me. See how I don’t do my research very well? It may get a bad rep economically, but the city is very clean with extremely nice people. You can’t walk one block without seeing at least three street food stands, hat vendors, cellphone chargers, and 20 police officers (seriously, more than I’ve ever seen in my life). I was also a little nervous and cautious about the food because of the water problem there but voluntarily took Pepto-Bismol and never got sick.
We stayed in an AirBnb right near Alameda Central that was within walking distance to SO much. And if it wasn’t within walking distance, we took a $2-3 Uber ride to wherever we wanted to go. For our first night, we went to Poleo for dinner and Limantour for cocktails. This was the first, but not the last sighting of grasshoppers in the guacamole. Remember how I said I'm always willing to try something once? Well I did, and then I didn’t need to again. We also tried Mezcal at Poleo. Needless to say, it burned my throat so much that I definitely don’t need to have that again. Not anything like the Mezcal I have tried in the States. Limantour was an adorable, very high-rated bar right in the middle of the Roma neighborhood. They have super fancy drinks for an very reasonable price. That was the best part of Mexico. You can get a lot for your money, which is always exciting (insert salsa dancing emoji girl)!
In almost every city Lindsey and I explore, we do a food tour. It is always one of my favorite parts of a trip because we try everything the culture has to offer and then know what kind of food we want the rest of the trip. They usually last around 3-4 hours and this one was with Eat Mexico. Only problem, is that you are full for several hours after– worth it. We walked it off around Zocalo City Center, Palacio National, and the Roma neighborhood. We were then ready to have a couple drinks at Pulqueria Duelistas. This bar is POPPIN’ and they only serve one drink but in different flavors and sizes. It reminded me of kombucha but had 6% alcohol in them, kind of a weird texture but I was into it. We were then recommended to go to a restaurant with no name. Seriously, they don’t actually have a name. It was next to Bosforo and near a 7-11 by our Airbnb so we were willing to give it a shot. The atmosphere was amazing and food was incredible, definitely suggest this nameless spot.
Friday night rolled around and it was time to see Luche Libre. We were told to “go drunk” and drink while your there, so yes we did and yes it was as amazing as you think. We bought masks outside the venue, enjoyed the fake wrestling, and even met some friends there to go out with after. Highly suggest seeing Lucha Libre if you go. Tickets are around $20 USD and you are bound to have a good time. Also, when you order a beer they give you two for around $3. So yes, do it. Such a good time.
Our last full day was another foodie’s dream. We started with an extra large juice at Jugos Maria and Christina then made our way to Pasteleria Ideal for pastries. Both will make your frown turn upside down. We then went to Contramar for tuna tostadas and a massive fish entree with our Micheladas after last night’s fun. This place is huge but gets so busy. Service is incredible and food makes you want to come back again on your next trip— which is exactly what Lindsey did. We then walked around Chapultepec castle and park then saw the Museo de Anthropology. At that point, we were able to get in our steps for the day then had drinks at the rooftop bar at Hotel Condesa and dinner at Azul Condesa. We finished our last night in the city with churros at El Moro for the second time there in three days. Get the ice cream churro sandwiches. Be in a sugar coma, be really happy you got them, and then tell yourself it’s okay because you walked all day long.
It doesn’t matter how long I get in each new city, I just want to be able to see as much as I can. So while we didn’t have much time, we certainly did the most– especially with eating. :)
