Taller Xilotl

What Taller Xilotl is

Taller Xilotl is a seafood antojería, a small restaurant for antojitos, the corn-based snacks of Mexican street food, at Biarritz 2 in Colonia Juárez, Mexico City. It is run by chef Alberto Harwy and his partner Felicitas Binder. The room holds about a dozen diners around an open kitchen, plus a window bar with high chairs and cushions and a tiny terrace outside.

The project started in 2019 as a series of private dinners, cooking classes and themed workshops, which is why it is called a taller, or workshop. It opened its first fixed address in Colonia Doctores in 2020 and later moved to the current spot in Juárez, a side street off Avenida Chapultepec close to the Zona Rosa. The couple describe it as both a taco place and a space for conversation about culture, art and food, and they still run occasional events such as ramen nights.

The name comes from classical Nahuatl. Xilotl is a tender ear of young corn, a nod to the handmade tortillas, gorditas and tostadas that carry everything on the menu.

Who cooks here

Alberto Harwy is in the kitchen most days and talks to the guests across the counter. Press profiles describe a background in burgers before this project, an interest in European and Japanese cooking, and years of travelling the Mexican coasts, which is where the seafood focus comes from. Felicitas Binder co-founded Taller Xilotl and runs the front of house and the cultural side of the programme. The kitchen is not a brand or a group; it is these two people and a small team.

How the menu works

The menu is short and built on three ideas: corn, seafood and antojo, the craving for a snack. Dishes split into things you eat with your hands, tacos, gorditas and tostadas, and a few plates for a fork.

• To start: four house salsas arrive at the table, including a salsa macha. A scallop starter in a warm sauce is the plate reviewers mention most.
• Tacos: Baja-style battered shrimp, shrimp with chorizo, shrimp with chicharrón powder in the style of a campechano taco, grilled octopus with peanut sauce, fish with garlic, and a satay tostada of shrimp in a sweet and sour peanut dressing with chile cascabel and ginger.
• Gorditas and tamales: a shrimp gordita with a runny egg yolk, and a tamal with marlin.
• Vegetarian: a Baja-style cauliflower taco and a wild mushroom taco with walnuts and caramelised onion.
• Dessert: a coconut and passion fruit mousse has appeared with rose pepper ice cream.
• Drinks: wine, craft beer and cocktails.

Everything is served on tortillas pressed in house. Portions are taco-sized, so most people order three or four items each.

What I ate

When I filmed in August the meal started with the four salsas. The Baja-style shrimp taco was the reason to come, though the kitchen had run out of red cabbage for it that day. The shrimp gordita with the runny yolk and red salsa was the other highlight, and it is not spicy despite the colour. The scallop came in a warm almond foam. Those three dishes are the ones I would repeat.

What it costs

Prices are in Mexican pesos and move with the seafood market. In August 2026:

Item	Price
Tacos, each	68 to 120 MXN, about 3.60 to 6.50 USD
A meal of three or four tacos, a gordita and a drink	About 400 to 500 MXN, about 22 to 27 USD
Drinks	Charged separately

Time Out México listed an average of 400 MXN per person in 2022. Cocktails and wine push the bill up faster than the food does. Cards are accepted.

How to book

The room is small enough that a booking matters on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.

• Website: xilotl.com has a reservations section.
• Phone or WhatsApp: +52 56 3067 9742.
• Instagram: @taller_xilotl for messages and for event announcements.

Hours are Tuesday to Saturday, opening around 13:30 to 14:00 and closing around 23:00, with Thursday sometimes later. Closed Sunday and Monday. Earlier listings show shorter hours, so confirm before a late visit.

Getting there

• Address: Biarritz 2, Colonia Juárez, 06600 Cuauhtémoc, Ciudad de México.
• Metro: Sevilla on Line 1, about five minutes on foot. Insurgentes is about ten.
• Landmark: the street runs off Avenida Chapultepec near the Glorieta de los Insurgentes. From the Ángel de la Independencia it is a fifteen-minute walk south.
• Parking: none, and the street is narrow. Ride-hailing or Metro is easier.

Before you go

• Book for the evening, walk in for lunch. Twelve seats go fast after 20:00.
• Sit at the counter if you can. The kitchen is open and the chef is usually there.
• The salsas have heat. Four arrive at the start; taste before you pour.
• Not everything is spicy. The gordita with red salsa looks hotter than it is.
• Watch for sold-out items. The kitchen runs out of ingredients late in the day, as it did with the red cabbage on my visit.
• Events. Taller Xilotl runs themed nights such as ramen dinners; they are announced on Instagram and booked separately.
• Pair it with a drink nearby. Wanwan Sakaba is a Japanese tavern a few streets away, and Wok’ando on Versalles is a cheaper lunch alternative in the same neighbourhood.
• Check the hours before you go. The hours on this page come from the venue’s public listings, which drift, so confirm on Google Maps or the venue’s own channels before a special trip.

Watch the visit

The reel above shows the room, the salsas and the three dishes from my August visit. For more places nearby, open my Mexico City map or browse the rest of the Mexico City recommendations.