The Roma Norte Guide: Galleries, Food, and Late Nights in Mexico City's Most Creative Neighborhood

I live in Mexico City and run a seven-bedroom house on Mérida, two streets from most of what follows. So this isn't a list I compiled. It's where I send guests, and where I go.

If La Condesa is the city's calm, leafy heart, Roma Norte is its creative pulse. Officially a barrio mágico, it packs restored neoclassical mansions, contemporary galleries, world-ranked bars and five Michelin-starred kitchens into about twenty walkable blocks. Edgy and elegant at the same time.

Art and design

Roma is where Mexico City's art scene lives. Galería OMR shows leading contemporary artists in a striking, skylit industrial space, while the MODO Museo del Objeto del Objeto fills a four-story Art Nouveau building with rotating exhibitions drawn from a collection of 150,000 everyday objects. Between galleries, keep an eye on the walls: Roma's streets double as an open-air canvas, from pop-up installations to the political street art around Plaza Luis Cabrera.

Where to eat

Five restaurants within a ten-minute walk of my front door hold Michelin stars, which still surprises me.

La Once Mil on Orizaba is the one to know. A taquería that took a star in the 2026 guide and still won't take a reservation — first come, first served, a small beer while you wait, tacos from around 120 pesos. Wagyu, picaña, robalo al pastor. Go early or go late.

Expendio de Maíz on Yucatán has no sign, no menu and four communal tables. You sit down, they cook, and plates keep arriving until you say stop. Cash only, about twelve dollars a head, and the waitlist gets long fast.

Em on Tonalá is Lucho Martínez's, starred since Michelin first came to Mexico in 2024. Seafood-led, and 686 Bar upstairs is where to have the drink before.

Rosetta is the famous one and earns it — Elena Reygadas was named the world's best female chef in 2023. Book weeks ahead. Its bakery, Panadería Rosetta, draws a line most mornings for the guava-and-cheese rolls; go before nine. Máximo builds its menu on Xochimilco produce.

For an ordinary Tuesday: Lardo for bright Mediterranean-Mexican plates, Filigrana for Mexican classics and a serious Baja wine list, Marmota and the Italian Nonsolo when you want lively and casual.

One rule I give every guest: most places here will say yes to a big table if you give them two weeks, and no if you turn up with ten people on a Friday.

Markets and cafés

Café Cometa is the one I actually use — minimalist, strong espresso, and nobody minds a laptop. Café Toscano isn't the best coffee in Roma, but it looks straight onto Plaza Río de Janeiro, which is worth more than the coffee. On weekends there's an all-women vintage market by the plaza, good for secondhand clothes and small enough to do in an hour.

Roma after dark

Dacopa on Álvaro Obregón is the current one — a retrofuturistic terrace open to the sky, a listening room, and a club called Giorgio that opens inside at half past ten. Wednesday to Saturday, from five.

Ruido is the opposite and just as good: a small natural wine bar with a hi-fi listening room. Go early, it's tight.

Tlecān is where I send anyone who says they don't like mezcal. Licorería Limantour and Handshake Speakeasy both sit high on North America's 50 Best Bars list — famous, and worth doing once. For live music, Mama Rhumba brings Cuban rhythms and free salsa lessons.

Green space and landmarks

Anchor your wandering at Plaza Río de Janeiro, with its fountain and replica of Michelangelo's David, and don't miss the Gothic-revival Sagrada Familia church. Roma rewards the aimless walk more than almost any part of the city — leave time to simply drift.