Mexico City street food: what you'd eat on every corner

Mexico City is, without exaggeration, the street-food capital of the world. On every corner, every pavement, every metro exit there is a food stall offering something different and delicious. CDMX has more street food stalls than any other city on the planet - it is estimated that more than 300,000 street vendors feed the capital every day.

But Mexico City's street food is not just tacos (although tacos are the undisputed star). It is a universe of antojitos that vary according to the time of day, the neighborhood and the season. In this article we take you on a virtual tour of the capital's streets, dish by dish, so you know exactly what you would eat if you were there - and so you can recreate many of these flavors from the US.

Breakfast: tamales and atole on the corner

In CDMX, street breakfast starts at 6 in the morning and has an absolute king: the tamal. The tamaleros set up on the busiest corners with enormous metal drums where the tamales are kept hot by steam. Beside them, a pot of atole - a hot, thick maize drink flavored with vanilla, strawberry, guava or chocolate.

Capital tamales come in a bread roll (yes, a tamal inside a roll, the famous 'guajolota' or 'tamal sandwich') and the classic flavors are: green with chicken, red with pork, mole with chicken, rajas with cheese and sweet (pink, pineapple or strawberry). A guajolota with chocolate atole costs around 30 pesos and is the fuel that moves millions of chilangos every morning.

The guajolota: the most absurd and delicious sandwich

The guajolota deserves a special mention because it is a culinary concept that defies all logic: a maize tamal stuffed inside a soft bread roll. It is carbohydrate inside carbohydrate, and it is absolutely brilliant. It is eaten standing up, at the metro or bus stop, and washed down with a glass of hot atole. It makes no nutritional sense, but it makes every sense in the context of the fast-paced life of the capital.

Mid-morning: tlacoyos and quesadillas

Around 10-11 in the morning the tlacoyo women appear. A tlacoyo is a thick, oval maize dough, filled with beans, curd cheese or broad beans, and cooked on a comal. It is served with salsa verde, chopped nopales, crumbled fresh cheese and onion. It is pre-Hispanic, it is nutritious, it is perfect.

Beside the tlacoyos there is always an enormous comal with quesadillas. In CDMX, market quesadillas are made with fresh maize dough (not pre-made tortillas), filled with squash flower, huitlacoche (corn fungus), mushrooms, potato, pressed chicharrón or chicken tinga, and fried or cooked on a comal. And yes, they may not contain cheese (the eternal chilango debate).

Lunchtime: tacos, tacos and more tacos

From 1 in the afternoon, CDMX turns into an open-air taquería. The types of tacos you find on the capital's streets are countless, but these are the essentials:

Tacos al pastor

The al pastor taco is the undisputed king of CDMX. Pork marinated in a chile and achiote adobo, stacked on a vertical spit that turns slowly in front of a flame. The taquero shaves thin slices of meat straight from the spit onto a tortilla, and tops it with a piece of grilled pineapple cooked on the tip of the spit. It is served with onion, cilantro and salsa. It is the most iconic street dish in Mexico, and more than 25 million tacos al pastor are eaten a day in CDMX.

Tacos de suadero and longaniza

Suadero is a cut of beef cooked slowly in its own fat until tender and juicy. It is less known outside Mexico but it is the favorite taco of many chilangos. It is served in a double tortilla (two tortillas together) because suadero releases a lot of juice. Longaniza is a spicy sausage grilled on the same griddle.

Tacos de canasta (steamed tacos)

Tacos de canasta are unique to CDMX. They are prepared at home in the morning, stacked in a basket lined with waxed paper and plastic, and transported around the city by bicycle. The classic fillings are beans, potato, chicharrón and green mole. Being wrapped and pressed for hours, the tortillas become impregnated with fat and flavor. They are sold for 5-10 pesos each. They are the most democratic taco in Mexico.

Tacos de guisado

In the street fondas and markets, tacos de guisado offer a buffet of pots with different stews: chicharrón in salsa verde, rajas with cream, picadillo, green mole with chicken, potato with chorizo, egg with nopales, stuffed chiles, tinga... The diner chooses the stew, the woman serves it in a tortilla and bathes it with the salsa from the same stew. It is Mexican home cooking in taco format.

Late afternoon-evening: esquites, elotes and antojitos

As the afternoon draws in, the esquite and elote carts appear. Esquites are corn kernels cooked in broth with epazote, served in a cup with mayonnaise, chili powder, lime and grated cheese. Elotes are whole cobs with the same toppings. Both are the perfect afternoon snack in the capital.

The antojito stalls also appear: sopes (thick dough with beans, meat, lettuce and cream), huaraches (elongated, sandal-shaped dough with beans and stews), gorditas (dough filled with chicharrón, beans or curd cheese) and pambazos (bread soaked in red salsa and filled with potato and chorizo).

Night: tacos of suadero, head and tripe

The night-time tacos of CDMX are a category of their own. From 9 at night, the stalls set up with large copper pots where cuts such as beef head (cheek, tongue, eye, brains), tripe (beef intestine fried until crisp) and night-time suadero are cooked. These tacos are served in a double tortilla, with onion, cilantro, salsa and a hot consommé for dipping.

The markets: culinary universes

The markets of CDMX are the heart of street food under a roof. Each market has its speciality. The Mercado de San Juan is famous for exotic ingredients. The Mercado de Jamaica for its flowers and its juices. The Mercado de la Merced is the largest in Latin America and has entire aisles dedicated to chiles, moles and spices.

But the most emblematic market for eating is the Mercado de Coyoacán, with its tinga and ceviche tostadas, and the Mercado de San Ángel with its traditional pot cooking.

Recreating the experience in the US

Although nothing replaces the experience of eating on the streets of CDMX, you can recreate many of these flavors in your kitchen. The keys are:

• Get good corn tortillas from Mexican shops.
• Prepare two or three different salsas for variety.
• Do not overcomplicate the fillings - simplicity is the essence of Mexican street food.
• Serve everything hot and fresh, never prepared too far ahead.

Visit our section of Mexican recipes to find recipes for many of these snacks adapted to ingredients available in the US. And if you would rather someone else cooked, check our directory of Mexican restaurants in the US to find the ones that best recreate the CDMX street experience.