A Vegan food tour in Roma Norte (Mexico City).
I’m not a vegan. But Lissette is and when we came to Mexico City we thought “what better way to explore Roma Norte than through a vegan food tour?” Because while this is a food tour, it is also a walking tour of the neighborhood of Roma Norte (I’ve been here before. Roma Norte is, along with Coyoacán, one of my favorite neighborhoods of Mexico City).
In this post I cover some great vegan food options in Roma Norte. Like I said, I’m not a vegan – but I had some fantastic food on this tour. It showed me that if something happened to the cows, pigs and chickens of the world, I could live as a full-time vegan.
Introduction
We visited Roma Norte on a private tour with Vibe Adventures. Our guide was Eduardo. We love Eduardo, he was our guide when we previously did a tour of the markets of Mexico City. Besides being personable and fun, he is a foodie and you can see his love of markets and foods.
The meeting point for the tour is the Parroquia de la Sagrada Familia (we got there by taking Uber from our hotel in the center).
For those unfamiliar with Roma Norte: it is a very residential neighbourhood with lots of parks and green, leafy streets full of little restaurants and cafés. Among the streets you’ll find the occasional mansion and lots of street art. Roma Norte is just a hip and cosmopolitan neighbourhood that’s also very peaceful. It reminds me of the Plateau Mont-Royal in Montreal where we lived for over 20 years. Great neighborhood.
Gracias Madre Taquería Vegana
Our first stop was this colourful taqueria. It’s your basic Mexican taqueria with tacos, gringas, quesadillas, volcanoes. But all the ‘meat’ is vegan. Alambre tacos substitute beef with veggies and wheat, chorizo is substituted with mushrooms and chickpeas. But everything was delicious and honestly I couldn’t tell that it wasn’t real meat. Gracias Madre also has excellent fruit juices (which Lissette had) and beer. I had a beer.
Heladería Garros DeliGATessen
A few blocks from the Gracias Madre taqueria is this vegan ice cream shop. But it’s more than that: it’s a cat ice cream shop. Like a cat café, you can pet the cats in the store. And they have all kinds of cat stuff and memorabilia that you can buy. It’s pretty unique.
I’ll be honest though: I didn’t find the vegan ice cream that tasteful. I’ve never had vegan ice cream before and it made me wonder if maybe ice cream doesn’t lend itself well to veganism.
But the ice cream seems secondary to the cats here. They’re the star of the show.
Maybe I would have liked the ice cream more if they had dogs instead of cats.
Pan Comido
We had our first ever Pozole here and it was fantastic. One of the best things I’ve ever eaten. That’s why you do a food tour – Eduardo knew exactly what to order here. What is a pozole?
Pozole is a traditional soup or stew that uses a meat-based broth (usually chicken or pork) and that usually incorporates the same meats within the soup. But there are also vegetarian options, with a non-meat broth and beans used instead of meat in the soup.
There are many variations of Pozole, usually reflected in the toppings used in the soup. Pozole blanco is Pozole without additional sauces, Pozole verde includes a rich green salsa whereas Pozole rojo uses a red salsa. Pozole is served with a wide range of condiments including chopped onions, shredded cabbage, radish, avocado, limes…
So I really recommend coming to Pan Comido and ordering the Pozole.
La Pitahaya Vegana
This restaurant is known for its pink tacos. But they have a wide and eclectic menu (see here) with all kinds of healthy option.
Eduardo chose the Enfrijoladas: pink tortillas filled with plantain and almonds covered by a creamy black bean sauce.
We’ve never seen anything like it. It was fantastic.
Por Siempre Vegana 2
A very popular taco place with a huge variety of tacos. Like the 1st place we went (Gracias Madre) the only difference is that this is a taqueria serving fake meat. Otherwise it’s a typical Mexican taqueria.
I had the chorizo tacos (fake chorizo of course) Lissette had a sandwich (can’t remember the details).
All very good. If there’s one thing I can say though: unfriendly service.
Map – restaurants in red, highlights of Roma Norte in blue
Highlights of Roma Norte
The heart of Roma Norte is Fuente de Cibeles (number 6 in blue on the map above). It’s a large roundabout with a fountain adorned with sculptures of Greek gods. Around the roundabout are a lot of restaurants and cafes. It’s very popular. It’s also a stop for the Mexico City hop on/hop off bus (which is another way of getting to Roma Norte).
The main avenue through Roma Norte is Avenida Álvaro Obregón. In the center of the Avenue is a divide with trees, fountains and statues. Very pretty. Lots of nice restaurants and you’ll see the El Parián shopping center (number 5 in blue on the map) which has a beautiful facade and interesting interior (go through it from the avenue. On the other side you’ll come out to the cat ice cream store covered above).
Parroquia de la Sagrada Familia (number 1 on the map) was the meeting point for the tour and is worth a visit. Down the street is Plaza Rio de Janeiro (number 2) with Michelangelo’s David statue. Just a bit further (number 3) is the MODO museum which is very popular. Number 4 is the Cultural Center Casa Lamm, a beautiful mansion that now has exhibits and classes.
Roma Norte is about more than highlights. It’s a cool, trendy neighbourhood with something for everyone, including lots of cafes and restaurants of all types. And if you’re looking for vegan food, no other neighbourhood beats Roma Norte.
We took a tour with Vibe Adventures. Having a guide like Eduardo made all the difference. You could take all the information I’ve given you above and do it by yourself…but having a knowledgeable food expert showing you around and explaining things made this a great experience that I would recommend.
Related: A guide to Mexican food
Related: 48 hours in Mexico City
I love Mexico City. I’d select it for my retirement home in a heartbeat if it weren’t for the altitude.
I actually don’t mind the altitude and cooler temps. I’m scared of the earthquakes!