Guide · Mexico City
Where should you eat in Roma Norte without booking a big dinner? These six, from northern tacos to Spanish tapas and a raw bar, every one of them eaten at and filmed on my own visit.
Updated October 18, 2026 · By Jane Novikova
The short answer · pick your night
Every one of these works without a reservation weeks ahead. Most are a short walk apart, and none of them asks you to dress up.
For tapas and oysters
Spanish chef Fran López Abad, whose La Barra de Fran in Polanco is in the Michelin Guide, opened this one in the garden of Casa Basalta at Colima 159. Padrón peppers, boquerones, hand-cut Iberian ham, oysters and rice dishes to share, with a gourmet shop at the entrance. Tapas run 180 to 340 pesos, rice for two around 560.
The bar seats take walk-ins. Order the arroz de rabo de toro and finish with the tarta vasca.
For the raw bar
A New Orleans-inspired oyster bar and wood grill from chef Tomás Bermúdez on Álvaro Obregón: a huge raw bar, grilled and smoked oysters and the cult crab roll, at about 28 dollars a person. Open until half past one most nights.
It is the late option on this list. Book on OpenTable for a weekend, or take a bar seat.
For the small seafood spot
A small seafood place on Medellín that opened in August 2026, named after the Aztec relay runners who carried fish from Veracruz to Moctezuma. Oysters, aguachiles, tostadas and tacos from the day's catch, with tacos from 80 pesos.
Order the rock shrimp tostada and the fish taco muñeco. A handful of tables, so weekends fill up.
For the gastro-cantina
Mexico's first gastro-cantina, just across in Roma Sur, inside a sixty-year-old auto shop. Chef Emiliano Padilla cooks shared plates over fire: spicy mussels, broccoli with a sauce you will think about later, a savoury churro. About 600 to 1,000 pesos a person with drinks.
About eight tables and a standing bar, so tables go early. The kitchen closes at eleven.
For the tacos
The Monterrey taquería that brought northern tacos to the capital in 2015. Three proteins only, trompo, beef and crispy northern pork, as a taco, a costra with griddled cheese or an especial on a big flour tortilla. A trompo taco is 29 pesos and most people spend 150 to 250.
Order the trompo costra and the papas Orinoco, and try every salsa. The line moves fast.
For wine and something to eat
A small wine bar and bottle shop on Guadalajara with more than twenty wines by the glass and sixty labels, plus cheese plates and tapas. About 300 to 600 pesos a person with wine, and the easiest place on this list to end the night.
Closed Mondays. Walk-ins work on a weeknight; book for Friday.
How I picked
Roma Norte has more good restaurants than any other neighbourhood in the city, and most nights you do not want a tasting menu. These six are the casual ones I ate at and filmed and go back to: tapas, a raw bar, seafood, a cantina, tacos and a wine bar.
The special-occasion rooms have their own guide. This one is for the nights you decide at seven.
Questions
Taquería Orinoco, where the line moves fast, the bar at Fran Ultramarinos, and La Docena's bar seats. Provocateur works as a walk-in on a weeknight. Payna and Voraz are small, so they fill on weekends.
Taquería Orinoco, with trompo tacos at 29 pesos and most people spending 150 to 250. Payna's tacos start at 80 pesos.
La Docena for a full raw bar and grilled oysters, Fran Ultramarinos for oysters with Spanish tapas, and Payna for oysters from the day's catch.
It is just across the line in Roma Sur, at Aguascalientes 93. It is a short walk from the rest of this list, so I kept it here.
La Docena, open until half past one most nights. Voraz serves until eleven and stays open until one. Provocateur runs to midnight Thursday to Saturday.
On this list, from about 150 pesos a person at Orinoco to 600 to 1,000 at Voraz with drinks. Tapas at Fran are 180 to 340 each. Figures were current when I filmed.
Foodie map · Mexico City