A perfect day in Mexico City's Roma Norte

Roma Norte is a neighborhood that rewards being on foot. It is one of the few parts of Mexico City where the sidewalks are wide enough to walk two abreast, the trees old enough to shade you through summer, and the cafés numerous enough that you are never more than three minutes from a flat white.

It is also, depending on who you ask, either the best neighborhood in the city right now or a cautionary tale about what happens when a neighborhood becomes the best neighborhood in the city. Both are true. Roma is worth a day anyway.

Here is how to spend one.

Morning. Seven to ten.

Start early. Mexico City is at altitude, the light is sharp, and Roma is most itself in the first three hours of the day, before the brunch crowds and the delivery scooters arrive in force.

Begin at Panadería Rosetta on Colima. It is a bakery, attached to the restaurant Rosetta, run by Elena Reygadas, who is one of the most important chefs working anywhere right now. The bakery opens at seven. Order the rol de guayaba, which is a guava cinnamon roll, and an Americano. Eat outside if there is space. There usually is, before nine.

From Rosetta, walk five minutes east to Plaza Río de Janeiro. The plaza is a small green square anchored by a replica of Michelangelo's David, which is the kind of detail that makes Roma Roma. Walk one full lap. Notice the buildings around the edges, which are mostly French-influenced from the late 19th century, when this part of Mexico City was being planned to look like Paris. Some of them are restored. Some are visibly not. The contrast is part of the texture.

Continue south on Orizaba. This is the spine of Roma Norte, and the stretch between Plaza Río de Janeiro and Plaza Luis Cabrera is the most walkable in the neighborhood. Cabrera, six blocks down, is smaller than Río and quieter. There is a fountain. Sit by it for fifteen minutes. This is the version of Roma worth seeing.

Late morning. Ten to one.

By ten, the neighborhood is awake. Walk west to Avenida Álvaro Obregón and turn south. Obregón is the busy commercial axis of Roma Norte, and the part where the gentrification critique starts to feel earned. There are now four specialty coffee shops on a four-block stretch. You can find any of them. The one we send people to is Cardinal Casa de Café on Córdoba, half a block off Obregón, because it roasts its own beans and the room is built for sitting.

After coffee, head to the MODO, the Museo del Objeto del Objeto, on Colima. It is a small museum dedicated to the history of everyday objects in Mexico, and the curation is consistently better than it has any right to be. Recent exhibits have covered the visual history of Mexican packaging, the lottery, and political campaign materials from the twentieth century. It is the kind of museum you visit for an hour and remember for years. Entry is 60 pesos.

From MODO, walk to Mercado Roma. This is a covered market with multiple food stalls under one roof, which sounds like a tourist trap and partially is, but the upstairs has a few stalls that are actually good. Get a torta from Tortas Hippodromo, which is a sandwich stall doing one thing extremely well. Eat it standing up. Do not order a margarita at the bar. The bar is the trap.

Afternoon. One to four.

After lunch, walk southeast to Parque México. This is the heart of the neighborhood next to Roma, which is Condesa, and the two together are often referred to as one. The park is oval, art deco, and built around a small artificial lake. Find a bench. Sit for an hour. This is not optional.

If you have energy after the park, walk one block north and find Casa Lamm, a cultural center in a restored mansion. There is usually an exhibition, and the courtyard café is one of the few places in the area that is consistently uncrowded. If you have no energy, stay in the park. Both are correct.

Late afternoon. Four to seven.

Walk back into Roma proper and find a cantina. The classic move is Bar La Ópera, but it is in the historic center, not Roma. The Roma version is Salón Rosetta, which is upstairs from the bakery you started at. It opens at four. Order a mezcal, slowly. The bar staff will tell you which one to drink first if you ask.

If you would rather have an actual cocktail, walk to Hugo El Wine Bar on Mérida. It is small, the wine list is mostly Mexican, and the owner is usually behind the bar. He knows what he is doing.

Evening. Seven onward.

Dinner in Roma is the easiest decision of the day, because there are too many good options. Three reliable choices, all within ten minutes of each other.

Contramar, on Durango, is technically just over the Roma border but is the restaurant most associated with the neighborhood's renaissance. The tuna tostada is the famous order. The fish of the day is the order to make. Book ahead, weeks if you can.

Lardo, on Agustín Melgar in Condesa, is run by the same group as Rosetta and serves Mediterranean food that takes Mexican ingredients seriously. The bread alone is worth the visit.

Páramo, on Yucatán, is the casual option, with mezcal and Mexican small plates, and the rooftop is open most evenings. It is louder. It is also where the neighborhood actually goes on weeknights.

After dinner, walk. Roma at night is safe, well-lit, and full of people doing exactly what you are doing. The lap from Rosetta back to Parque México and around is about forty minutes. Take it.

A note

Roma is changing. The pressure from short-term rentals, remote workers, and rising rents is real, and it is the subject of an ongoing conversation among people who actually live in the neighborhood. Visit thoughtfully. Tip in pesos. Tip well. Do not order in English unless you have tried first. Roma rewards the visitor who pays attention.