“How to eat like a local”

An icon of local street food, tacos al pastor is also the ultimate fusion dish. Inspired by Lebanese immigrants, it marries a shawarma with a taco, swapping lamb for pork and pita bread for a corn tortilla, and adds a Latin American twist with a guajillo chili and annatto spice marinade. It’s the sole item on the menu at El Huequito—and they know what they’re doing because they’ve been at it for more than 60 years. There are outposts across the city, but head to the original site—it’s next to the foodie haven of Mercado San Juan.

Classic European dining meets Mexico, with a healthy dose of Japan thrown in for good measure, at farm-to-table spot Màximo Bistrot. Sample dishes include a risotto with burrata and huitlacoche (corn fungus with a mushroom-like flavor), and kampachi—a sashimi-quality yellowtail fish found in the waters of Baja California—with yuzu koshō (a Japanese chilli paste).

At Masala y Maíz, find a blend of South Asian, East African, and Mexican flavors from Norma and Saqib—partners in both life and cooking. Their restaurant is a true celebration of what can happen when people of different ethnicities come together. With a casual-dinner-party-with-your-greatest-friends vibe, expect such delicacies as makai paka, inspired by both an East African corn dish and local street-food corn, and uttapam, a dosa-style pancake made from Mexican rice and garbanzos. 

Lauded as one of the best seafood restaurants in Latin America, Contramar first had foodies paying attention with their now-legendary tuna tostadas that look to Japan with the use of sashimi-grade tuna, avocado and crispy leeks on a crunchy open taco. Expect everything from tequila shrimp and a red octopus aguachile to pasta with clams and a watercress salad with nopales (aka the paddles of a cactus). 

Even the ice cream is fusion food in Mexico City. Joe Gelato is an Italian gelateria that embraces local ingredients, and the list of flavors includes mole; an achiote, corn and seaweed combo; mezcal cream and coffee; and pan de muerto, a sweet bread popular around Day of the Dead. Oh, and forget about almonds or honeycomb—the coating of their gelato bar has large, flying chicatana ants in the chocolate. 

The thriving Korean community centered around Pequeño Seúl (Little Seoul) in Zona Rosa is having a huge influence on the food scene in CDMX, and nowhere more so than on the not-so-humble taco. Tizne Tacomotora, a Del Valle restaurant that began life with the chefs serving festivalgoers from a bike cart carrying a traveling meat-smoker, serves stunning Korean barbecue tacos. The kalbi asada sees the meat marinated in miso, garlic and sesame oil, and served on blue corn tortillas.