A car repair shop by day and a taquería by night. The draw here is al pastor. The spit-roasted pork and pineapple is some of Mexico City’s best. The chef masterfully slices succulent fruit and pork into corn tortillas. You add the fixins’ from there – we like the green chili salsa, diced onion, and cilantro. The gringa has the same pork with melted cheese on a flour tortilla. Customers can fuel up at the stool-lined counter or tables. Many spill onto the sidewalk to eat standing up.

The oldest surviving cantina in the city, El Dux de Venecia, dates back to 1918. This spot still follows typical cantina protocol: Patrons order their drinks and the botanas – small portions of guisados (stewed meats or vegetables) – come free. Here, they are more than simple bar food. You can find chicken soup, meatballs, pork chops cooked in a tomato sauce and delicious beef in green sauce – and the house drinks, limón and prodigiosa, also deserve special mention.

In a city where tortas have grown gargantuan over the years, the La Texcocana version has remained the same manageable size since 1936. The place is such an outlier now that their teleras (buns) have to be special-made. They still serve the famous sardine and cheese tortas the founder was selling in the 1930s. But the fillings now include bacalao (cod), carnitas (pork) and, our favorite, avocado.

Next to a car wash, this unassuming fonda wouldn’t attract much attention save for the line around the block by 5:30 a.m. Construction workers, sleepy teenagers, and office workesrs come for the traditiona breakfast cooked in clay pots over coal-fired grills. The steaming cazuelas sit like sentinels, with a rotating menu of classics like tender, roasted pork in tomatillo sauce and beef with pasilla chiles. The most popular dishes are served daily – just get there before the 11 a.m. final service

Explore the traditional side of Mexican sweets at a candy store that goes back to 1874. Its interior – walls covered in French mirrors, handmade wooden displays, green floor tiles – hasn’t changed in over 100 years, nor has its recipes. The founding Guizar family wanted to sell candy from all over Mexico under one roof, but over time they began producing their own. Today, every single candy, cookie and cake on display is produced in the company’s own factory.

This brick-and-mortar taquería in the Zona Rosa has quietly used the same recipes to great acclaim for almost 110 years. Even President Porfirio Díaz dined here over a century ago. While the menu features Mexican classics, we go straight to the tacos. Our favorite might be the rajas con queso (poblano peppers with cheese). The guisados, stewed meats and veggies, are highlights, too. Think tinga de pollo (chicken in tomato sauce), chicharron in green sauce, and spicy and sweet red mole.

Don’t be put off by the looks of this standing-room only, Azcapotzalco hole in the wall. The food will blow your mind. A taco here is like no other in Mexico City. Each order comes piled high with 11 ounces of meat and 6 handmade tortillas. Enough to feed two people or one very hungry eater. The secret is in the lard that the meat is marinated in and griddled with. If you have room, XXL cheese quesadillas are also on the menu. Pair everything with fresh salsas – warning the green one is hot!

More than mere hot chocolate, this cozy café serves ancient Mesoamerican cacao drinks. Try a Quetzalpapalotl recipe spiced with ginger, rosemary and cinnamon. Spice lovers will enjoy the chile-spiced options. The owner is passionate about sharing the traditional beverages known as “precious water.” He sells packets of ready-made powders for you to recreate the drinks at home. Though we prefer the shop, where books, chocolate pots, and cacao-grinding stones add to the historical heft.