cdmx, I'll be back

Between Barragán houses and guava rolls

Mar 22, 2026

We are sitting at the CDMX airport at our gate two hours before boarding even begins (classic) and I thought it the perfect time to write a recap of our trip. At this point, the words “best trip ever” are as overused as my little black Repettos — that is to say: very. This was my first time in a Latin American city and I was blown away by what a flourishing hub of arts, food, design, and nightlife it is. I find the word cool platitudinous, but there’s no better descriptor; CDMX is so cool. All that to say, I had a ball, plan a trip here ASAP, and for those curious see below for our day-by-day itinerary.

Day 1

Naturally our trip began with Sara and me sitting at our gate in EWR at 3:30am for a 6:45am flight. We yawned and giggled as we said wow, this place is a ghost town — TikTok tricked us with those long airport queues.

We arrived at our pink-colored hotel Casona Roma Norte and were greeted with bienvenidos and glasses of red wine (despite it being barely noon). While our room was not ready, we took over the lobby bathroom plugging in hair tools and trying on outfits like it was our personal runway. Next we headed to Taquería Orinoco for some pastor tacos and agua fresca — what better way to start a Mexico trip.

After, we headed to the Frida Kahlo Museum where we explored the former home of Frida and Diego. We were fascinated to learn more about her medical condition that inspired so many of her works and to see the colorful interiors. We also randomly saw Christina Aguilera visiting.

For our eagerly anticipated first sips of the trip, we headed to Salón Palomilla for the most amazing open-roofed setting and fruity tequila drinks. We watched the sky dim from baby blue to indigo and left buzzed and happy. Our dinner at Michelin-starred Máximo blew our minds and managed to fiercely defend its rank as my #1 meal of the trip. It’s set in what almost looks like a warehouse decorated in tapestries, vines, and drippy candles with an open kitchen. My mouth is watering just thinking about the lamb birria and mango milk punch cocktail.

Day 2

Day 2 began at Panadería Rosetta. The one open outdoor table was perfectly sized for three and the guava rolls and cardamom buns, washed down with almond milk cappuccinos, had us practically levitating. I’ve never been much of a pastry girl myself but these were divine — so moist, light and flavorful. I would mandate this a must-try for anyone visiting CDMX.

Following this, we walked to our first Barragán house: Casa Gilardi. As we waited for our ticketed time to enter behind the house’s “bouncer,” we joked that these are the hard-to-get-into clubs of adulthood. Berghain who? I’ve written a whole separate post on my Instagram account @the.mod.edit on architect Luis Barragán, but seeing this in person shattered my already high expectations.

Our tour guide’s father had commissioned the house’s design from Barragán himself, and his family still lives there, but offers it for tours on specific days and times. He was amazing and took us to each room one by one, explaining the history and reasoning behind certain design and structural choices — the colors, building materials, insulation — then let us explore on our own… and take some photos (duh). Casa Gilardi is the only Barragán house in a residential neighborhood and fun-ish fact: this was the one design home Kanye West visited when he was in CDMX a few months ago.

We sat for a long boozy lunch at Entremar (sister restaurant to famous Contramar) and relished in guava margaritas, tuna tostadas, and the pescado Contramar — a whole butterflied red snapper, half rubbed in a parsley green sauce and half in a red chile adobo. Of course, we also had to top it off with some carajillos.

Our next stop was Biblioteca Vasconcelos, the public library in CDMX complete with floating shelves and the suspended skeleton of a gray whale. Pre-dinner we got mezcalitas at our hotel rooftop while the DJ played Sade and Daft Punk.

Dinner number two was at Taverna — set among exposed brick and concrete adorned with waxy candles, leafy plants, and hanging branches. We paired a supper of chorizo dates and arroz caldoso with wine by the glass recommended by the sommelier. My Beli has never seen so many consecutive high 9s.

Day 3

On day 3, we woke up craving another guava roll so floated over to Lardo in pursuit. After another delectable meal, we headed to our second Barragán house, Casa Pedregal.

The tour followed a similar structure; our guide gave us some background on the home and then we were able to roam. From our guide, we learned how El Pedregal was once an unruly and largely uninhabitable expanse of volcanic rock, formed by the ancient eruption of the Xitle volcano. Barragán purchased the land cheaply in the 1940s and transformed it into one of Mexico City’s most ambitious residential developments. Casa Pedgregal is owned and lived in by César Cervantes, an art collector who restored it to Barragán’s original vision. Gilardi and Pedregal were very different, though they followed Barragán’s same style of playing with light and color.

The former stables have since been transformed into a restaurant, library space, and clothing shop, called Tetetlán. We hopped over for lunch and shopping, where we shared laughs and chilaquiles.

After, we hit the shops in Roma Norte and Condesa. Shoutout to @YaziSaidThat for helping inform our shopping tour; we hit Banzo, Maison Celeste, Escalina, and Lengua Concept. Casa Ananda 157 reset my standards for a clothing store: a three-floored shop dripping in Roberto Cavalli and Missoni, AND they offered us water or beer as we browsed. Naturally the three of us swigged our free Coronas while putting on a fashion show.

Our Friday dinner was at another Michelin star, Rosetta, also listed among the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. It’s set inside a beautifully restored Porfirian mansion in Roma Norte, with multiple floors of greenery-filled dining rooms, floral frescoes, and vintage furnishings. The top floor Salón Rosetta is a gorgeous bar with Japanese tapestries and stools perched by big windows. We had our favorite cocktails of the trip here — a tomato lychee martini. As expected, dinner was exquisite: cabbage tacos, corn tamales, and short rib paired with jasmine margaritas.

We had our eyes set on going out at Cometa Disco, which was just around the corner, but we had some time to kill before the clerb. We serendipitously ended up at this spot with live music, three bar seats, and the most amazing carajillos. It perfectly set the stage for the night to ensue. We skipped to Cometa and danced the night away in the red disco room. The first DJ was incredible, but the second one that came out was the best Katherine, Sara, and I had ever heard. We all crowned it the best club and the best night ever.

Day 4

Saturday we woke up slightly hungover, but excited because it was the day of our Javier Senosiain architecture tour to Conjunto Satélite and Quetzalcóatl’s Nest. We booked it through a group called Traveling Beetle, which I would highly recommend. We were buggied around in a vintage, orange VW van and had the cutest driver and guide. There were also only two other people on the tour (a young American couple) which helped make it feel super private. I also have a post on Javier Senosiain (although of one of his other homes, Casa Orgánica) on my account here. In short, Javier, who studied under Mathias Goeritz and Luis Barragán (!), designed with the theme of biomimicry, integrating architecture with nature and cheekily hiding animals in his designs. His architecture is less functional, more whimsical, like something out of Willy Wonka. The Conjunto Satélite homes felt like Teletubby world: green rolling lawns draped over hobbit-like structures with round doors and cave-like interiors.

After, we had a short drive to Quetzalcóatl’s Nest. This literally felt like stepping into a wild melatonin-induced dream. The residential area is designed like a serpent and all the passageways on the property have you stepping in and out of the snake’s mouth. The park is equally phantasmagoric. It’s this huge property of land that felt like someone was given infinite funding and told to unleash their full creativity and wildest imagination to build a surrealist playground. Naturally, my finance brain wondered how this was all funded, which I asked our guide. She explained how Senosiain came from a wealthy family who gave him the financial runway to start designing freely. From there, he built his reputation through years of teaching at UNAM and increasingly ambitious projects, attracting private commissions and institutional support to see what he could dream up next. This is what I would call nepo baby-ing correctly. I also must say that while the order of our house tours was by coincidence and availability, touching grass at this surreal park/fun house (literally equipped with slides) is the new blueprint for a hangover cure.

We returned to Roma Norte and headed to Mi Compa Chava for lunch, recommended highly by a friend of a friend (who’s a local). This is a famous walk-in-only seafood spot, notorious for its raw seafood tower. We were unphased by the one-hour wait, put down our names, and frolicked around in hungry anticipation. The meal was exquisite and certainly worth our patience. The cherry on top was that we were seated at the bar counter where we got to observe the chefs making each plate.

We hit a few more shops and then crashed back at the hotel, wiped from our action-packed day and excited for a bit of group bed-rotting and phone time. We had left this night open for dinner and were a bit taco’d out, so ended up at a hand roll and sushi restaurant nearby our hotel that had some good Beli reviews. It was the perfect quick and casual bite. For the trip grand finale, we walked to Myka in sweatpants for pistachio and baklava draped frozen yogurt. (PSA: there’s a Myka opening in the West Village to my absolute DELIGHT.)

Now sitting on the plane this Sunday morning, (yes, I’ve now boarded) it’s hard to believe it was just Wednesday I was arriving here. It feels like we had a month abroad, and leaving our hotel and bellhop felt like saying goodbye to our little home. I had high expectations coming to CDMX and had a Pinterest inspo board littered with colorful design homes and guacamole-stuffed tacos, but experiencing it all firsthand, getting to understand more of the cultural history and nuances, conversing with our amazing tour guides, shop owners, waiters, and bartenders, surpassed my highest hopes. And of course, doing it all with my bestie girls Katherine and Sara, the catch-ups, intellectual deep dives, and the laughs until our abs hurt, made it 10000x more special.

Some cities you visit and cross off a bucket list; Mexico City is one you feel you could keep returning to…and I hope to!

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