As I mentioned before, our Mexico City trip was alllllll about the food! For our second food tour of the trip, we signed up for an evening food tour through the Navarte neighborhood with Eat Mexico. Navarte is an old school neighborhood in Mexico City with a bit of hipster flair; it’s also where our tour guide grew up!
Cuidad de Mexico City (spoiler alert – this sign is not in Navarte!)
Our tour started at a local restaurant done in the cutest blue and white theme named La Costilla. We sat outside and met our other six tour partners. I was really loving the blue & white theme. At La Costilla were met our fellow tour members and got our first dish!
Our tour guide at La Costilla.
Our first dish on this tour was garlic tostadas and a costilla volcan topped with chile poblano and cheese. This was absolutely delicious. As usual, there were a variety of salsa type toppings to add to our dish!
Salsas.
Cheese and garlic toastadas!
Our second stop was a real live Mexican cantina just down the street from La Costilla. At the cantina, called Cantina Los Cuates, we learned that cantinas were traditionally mens’ only hangouts, but now they are a bit more open. This one reminded me of an Irish pub if Irish pubs were from Mexico – lots of music, casusal atmosphere, and tons of booze. Here, we tried a shrimp soup sampler. It was really good and is apparently a hangover cure. Our soup was paired with a cocktail, which I thought was going to be a pre mixed drink, but it was really just a shot of tequila and a shot of tomato juice…
Spicy shrimp soup!
The “drink.”
And here is a little video of the cantina…
Our next stop was one of my favorite foods the entire trip at a street-side restaurant called El Vilsito. Here, we had a taco al pastor that came with cheese (a rarity in these parts!) and was served on a wheat tortilla (another rarity!). It was called La Gringa because a gringa created the dish! The taco was absolutely amazing! And again, one of my favorite dishes of the entire trip! Do not come to Navarte without stopping by El Vilsito!!
Legit.
My favorite taco.
Our fourth stop was yet another taco stand just around the corner from El Vilsito – Tacos Tony! Tony’s was a legit street cart with lots of locals and offered tacos made with all sorts of things. I went with the pretty plain pork. As expected, these were delicious and they even let me go behind the counter for a picture!
Tacos Tony!
Trying my hand at tacos.
I also got a legit Mexican Coke here. The rumor is true; Coke tastes better in Mexico.
Mexican Coke!
At this point in the tour, we were both totally full, so our next stop was a welcomed change! And, it was at a craft beer bar, one of Dan and my favorite stops! Our craft beer stop took place at a very local bar, Beer Bros., which was packed with locals. We had to stand outside! Beer Bros specializes in craft beer, both internationally and of the Mexican variety, and even had a Cantillon for sale (for $50 USD – skipped that one!). Dan opted for a Mexican black saison style beer and I went for a Mexican IPA. Both beers were pretty decent, and it was fun to try a Mexican craft beer!
The menu at Beer Bros.
Dan’s black saison.
Our last stop on the Navarte at Night tour was a Mezcal tasting at Piloncillo & Cascabel. For those unfamiliar, mezcal is a liquor made in Mexico that tastes similar, in my opinion, to a smoky tequila. Its not terribly popular on the East Coast of the US, so I was happy to try it in Mexico City! At this particular stop, we tried 4 (yes, 4 shots!!) types of Mezcal. The mezcal was paired with traditional orange slices with grasshoppers…
Our mezcal tasting was paired with a flan-type dish and a beer – ha! Things started to get a bit hazy at this point…
Flan to go with our mezcal tasting!
STEAL OUR TRIP
Eat Mexico: The food tour of Navarte ($85 USD/person). Book in advance online, as the tours are extremely limited and often book up. The company speaks perfect English and is very responsive. We also did a tour with Eat Mexico of Merced Market.
La Costilla: Cumbres de Maltrata 352, Mexico City.
Cantina Los Cuates: Dr Jose María Vertiz, 823, Mexico City.
El Vilsito: Universidad at the corner of Petén, Mexico City.
Tacos Tony: Across the street from Vilsito, on the corner of Universidad and Torres Adalid, Narvarte, Mexico City.
Beer Bros: On the corner of Luz Savigñon and Juan Sanchez Azcona, Mexico City.
Piloncillo & Cascabel: Torres Adalid 1263, Mexico City.
ON A BUDGET
If you’re on a budget, skip the food tour and eat on your own at various street stands throughout the city! However, the tour is worth the money and is a ton of food and drink (although much more than the actual meals would cost). Also, if you decide to do a tour with Eat Mexico and book more than one tour, they often offer a small discount – ask if its not on their website!