5 Amazing Places To Eat In Mexico City With Kids + Our Favorite Grilled Fish Taco Recipe

During our recent trip to Mexico City, we knew that there was a great foodie scene, but we were still blown away by the amazing, authentic, fresh offerings throughout the city that are kid-friendly too. Plus, the servers and vendors were incredibly friendly and accommodating, especially to our 3 young girls. We adored the street vendors where we got tacos and tostados, fresh fruit (mango, watermelon and pineapple), Mexican street corn and amazing paletas or Mexican popsicles. We also discovered several restaurants and bakeries that were delicious and reasonably priced for our family of 5.

Here are our 5 amazing must-try restaurants in Mexico City with kids. Read until the end for our favorite fish taco recipe that may slightly resemble my husband Brad’s self-proclaimed “best taco ever” in Mexico City!

1. Churrería El Moro

Churros (long, skinny fried donuts) are a staple in Mexico but El Moro is world famous and the churros are heavenly. We actually went twice during our week in Mexico City. The menu is simple—a plate or bag of churros, eight types of hot chocolate, and the consuelo, an ice-cream sandwich with coiled churros on each end. Our favorite was the chocolate especial which is darker dipping chocolate. There is always a line (but it moves fairly fast), often musicians outside and you can watch them make the fresh churros while you wait. This place is a MUST to visit with or without kids in Mexico City! There are several locations, but we adored the one in the neighborhood where we stayed, Roma Norte.

2. Tres Galeones

We stumbled upon Tres Galeones in the Roma Norte neighborhood where my husband Brad claims he ate the best fish and shrimp tacos of his life. The restaurant itself is small and adorable – we sat outside along the tree-lined street. It is brightly decorated and the service is friendly and fast. They even made my daughter a burrito after the kitchen had closed since she decided she was still hungry.

3. Panadería Rosetta

The fine dining restaurant, Rosetta, is located in an old house in the Roma neighborhood. Its cuisine is based on a deep respect for Mexican ingredients. We never ate at the (more formal) restaurant but the bakery is a couple blocks away and we picked up breakfast pastries, coffee and fresh bread for the day nearly every morning. The pastries and bread have a lot of French influences, but with Mexican flavors and traditions thrown in. I’m still dreaming about the “ocho combinado” – figure 8 shaped pastries with double cream/custard and jam.

4. Fishers

Fishers is a Mexico City chain with tons of great fresh fish and seafood options, a kids menu and they started us out with a shot of warm shrimp soup. We went to the location in the heart of the Roma Norte neighborhood and sat upstairs admiring the hustle and bustle of the restaurant.

5. La Gruta

La Gruta is the most unique restaurant experience we had while traveling in Mexico City! The restaurant is located in a natural cave near the Teotichuacan Pyramids. Our ShoreTrips tour guide, Santiago, recommended this cultural place and we loved it. The atmosphere and aesthetic itself was magical, but the food was pretty incredible too. Among other things, La Gruta has a prehispanic menu (at the end of the regular menu) where you can order foods from before the Spanish conquered the area. We decided to try the ants from this special menu. Giant ants were cooked table side until crispy. We then ate them like popcorn and also spread them in homemade tortillas with fresh guacamole. Admittedly, my oldest and youngest didn’t try them — but my husband, middle daughter and I indulged and have a great story to tell! My husband and I also shared a traditional Molcajete consisting of perfectly grilled meat and vegetables cooked in a large pot and then spread on tortillas — almost like fajitas. It was amazing too.

Grilled Fish Taco Recipe:

One of our favorite family dinners (and meals to make for entertaining friends and family) is grilled fish tacos. We’ve found a pretty amazing recipe that my husband claims has lots of similarities to his beloved tacos from Tres Galeones mentioned above. I love this dinner because you can keep it gluten free by using corn tortillas and every one can top there tacos how they want. We also sometimes add shrimp and tofu would be a nice vegetarian alternative. Also, it definitely helps to serve margaritas when you make this! Let me know if you give it a try!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chopped white onion, divided
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 5 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided
• 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 pound tilapia, sturgeon or other white fish
• Kosher salt
• 1 cup fat free plain greek yogurt
• A splash of milk
• 1/2 small head of cabbage cored and thinly sliced (we prefer purple but any cabbage works)
• 2 avocados, peeled, pitted and sliced
• salsa verde, pico or fresh salsa of your choice
• Lime wedges
• Sometimes we add shredded cheese for the kids, but these are better without

Directions:

Stir one cup onion, 1/4 cup cilantro, 3 tablespoons of lime juice, orange juice, garlic and oregano in a medium bowl. Sprinkle fish with coarse salt and pepper. Spread half of onion mixture over bottom of 11x17x2-inch glass baking dish. Arrange fish atop the onion mixture. Spoon remaining onion mixture over the fish. Cover and chill 30 minutes. Turn fish; cover and chill for 30 minutes longer. Whist greek yogurt, milk and remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice in a small bowl.

Brush grill grate with oil (or grill on aluminum foil or in cast iron pan heated first on the grill); heat grill (medium-high-heat). Grill fish with some marinade until just opaque in center (3-5 minutes per side).

Chop fish and place on platter. serve with lime yogurt, tortillas, remaining 1 cup chopped onion, remaining 1/2 cup cilantro, avocados, cabbage, salsa and lime wedges.

Pour margaritas and enjoy!

Read more about our Mexico City trip here!