Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Mexico City’s Fonda Margarita: The tiny Mexican diner with a big reputation

I’m a big fan of Anthony Bourdain, so if I get a chance to eat somewhere he ate and/or drank I’ll take it.

I’ve ticked off a few of those places in Mexico City: Los Cocuyos, a hole-in-the-wall taco joint in the historic center; Cantina La Mascota, a downtown drinking (and eating) den; El Huequito, famous for its tacos al pastor.

Three kitchen workers tending to Fonda Margarita's buffet setup
Fonda Margarita, located in Mexico City’s Del Valle neighborhood, has been feeding generations of satisfied residents. One taste and you’ll know why.

I recently returned to another of Bourdain’s CDMX haunts: Fonda Margarita, a humble but beloved old-school breakfast-only diner in the Del Valle neighborhood that opens — and closes — early.

My niece, who was visiting from Australia; my wife, a Mexico City native; and I arrived fairly early on a weekday morning, but the place was already packed — a good sign for any eating establishment.

While we waited, we scanned the menu, and we had more or less decided what we’d order by the time we took our seats on a communal table between a pair of men in suits and two casually dressed chilangos.

As two elderly gents strummed their guitars and sang from one corner of the fonda, a waiter appeared to take our order.

Soon enough, we had in front of us the following to share: cerdo en salsa verde (pork in green sauce); bistec en salsa pasilla (beef in pasilla chile sauce); chicharrón en salsa verde (pork rinds in green sauce); frijoles con huevo (beans with egg); tortillas, of course; café de olla (coffee sweetened with unrefined cane sugar and spiced with cinammon); and jugo de naranja (orange juice).

The meat dishes — served straight from giant earthenware pots called cazuelas — were all great. Tender meat, a good amount of heat in the salsas this is homestyle Mexican cooking done extremely well. Make your taco, take a bite and enjoy the bliss.

Fonda Margarita's facade, with 8 men and women waiting outside for seating
It pays to arrive early at Fonda Margarita, or you might find a line out the door.

There are also daily specials — carnero (mutton) en salsa verde and manitas de cerdo en jitomate (pigs’ feet in a tomato-based sauce) on Thursdays, for example.

For the less adventurous, there are egg dishes every day, chicken breasts, beef ribs and the classic and hearty Mexican breakfast that is chilaquiles. Yes, most of this is not light breakfast food.

Still, after savoring everything we initially ordered, we found room for a churro each, edging our satisfaction up an additional notch.

“So how come this place is so popular, what’s special about this place?” Bourdain asks during his visit to Fonda Margarita in 2009.

“I cannot explain that,” responds Martín, one of Bourdain’s two Mexican dining companions and a regular at Fonda Margarita since childhood.

“Probably that it’s normal, ordinary Mexican food that your mother [makes],” Martín concludes.

If you don’t have a Mexican mother, or grandmother, to cook for you (or even if you do), and if you’re in Mexico City, I’d certainly recommend sitting down to breakfast at Fonda Margarita.

Maybe skip dinner the night before.

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])

* Fonda Margarita is located at Adolfo Prieto 1364 B, Colonia Tlacoquemécatl Del Valle. See the location on Google Maps here. The closest metro station is Hospital 20 de Noviembre, a 12-minute walk away, according to Google Maps. 

Fonda Margarita opens at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday to Sunday and closes at midday. You can check the full menu (in Spanish, with prices) here.

1 COMMENT

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
mural honoring Alicia Matías

A mural at explosion site in CDMX honors Alicia Matías, who died saving her granddaughter

1
The 49-year-old heroine's death has been met with an outpouring of admiration while the nation mourns the 15 victims of last week's gas tanker explosion.
Sheinbaum waving the Mexican flag from the National Palace during the annual Grito de Independencia

In first ‘Grito’ as president, Sheinbaum honors Mexico’s heroines of Independence

10
Josefa Ortiz Téllez Girón, Leona Vicario, Gertrudis Bocanegra and Manuela Molina were all included in Sheinbaum's first presidential Grito, or Cry of Independence.
Culiacan

Threats of violence cancel ‘Grito’ celebrations in Sinaloa and Michoacán 

1
Mexico City's Iztapalapa borough will also forego celebrations out of respect for the deceased and injured in last week's gas explosion.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity