A walking tour of Mexico City’s neighborhoods 🇲🇽

Born and raised in Mexico City, Shak Zapata is the co-founder at Cardinal Casa de Café. “Mexico as a country is so big, so diverse,” he says, “that even as locals it's easy to find new things to try, see, and learn about our beautiful culture and this city offers the opportunity to try a bit of everything.” Shak’s guide is a tour of Mexico City’s neighborhoods through the restaurants, cafes, and museums studded throughout.

*Born and raised in Mexico City, Shak Zapata is the co-founder at Cardinal. Photos courtesy of Shak Zapata*

Filter: Can you tell us about yourself and how you ended up in the Mexico City coffee scene?

My name is Edilberto but everybody calls me Shak since highschool (long story involving Shakespeare). I’m born and raised in Mexico City and I didn't quite love this city when I was growing up but I have come to know it better in the past years and now I love living and working here.

Born and raised in Mexico City, Shak Zapata is the co-founder at Cardinal. Photos courtesy of Shak Zapata unless otherwise noted

I ended up in the coffee scene by chasing a flavor. I always liked hospitality and had the "dream" of having my own business, but I didn't know what or had any "big idea."

I studied, worked, and played around in other industries but couldn't find my habitat. Like many coffee professionals I didn't drink coffee at first. When I was around 24 years I had a non-planned visit to a coffee shop called Rococó (Not in the city anymore 😞) and I tried a unforgettable double macchiato that blew my mind and made me interested in coffee. I wanted more of that flavor, I wanted to create it and share it to the world. The rest is history. I fell in love with coffee and with Mexican coffee origins and was lucky enough to find my business partner Paul later on and open Cardinal.

Filter: What do you like to do for fun around Mexico City?

Although it can be hard sometimes due to my duties, I truly love walking many parts of the city. The amount of history you can find through Mexico City streets, parks, and its neighborhoods is amazing. Vast kinds of influences of the past resonating in our everyday culture, you just have to look for all the details.

I've learned that walking is the best way to know a city, to understand it, to get to know a little bit of its inhabitants and how the city works. The more you walk the more you learn through architecture, museums, markets, and stories. And of course the more opportunities you get to find unique spots to visit, drink or eat.

Besides walking, creating and looking out for flavors is one of the things I like the most. Going out to restaurants, cafes, bars, or street food spots to either have favorite classic flavors I love or looking for new ones and new proposals.

Filter: If a good friend came to visit, where would you be sure to take them?

I would take them first thing in the morning to the casa of architect Luis Barragán, a quick breakfast with some of Marne’s beautiful pastries (try a gallete), then a stroll in Chapultepec Park, drink some coffee from the farm El Equimite and relax on a bench with a view of the lake. Then we could access one of the nearby museums such as Castillo de Chapultepec or Museo Tamayo.

Then again through the park, we could access Reforma Avenue and enjoy its story, monuments, and skyscrapers. After a long walk we can end up in one or two of the hip neighborhoods nearby like Cuauhtémoc, Juárez, or Roma and grab a bite in one of its many options such as Chetito (try the loco chávez taco).

We would visit Cardinal and try our espresso tonic to recharge batteries, and then Drip in La Condesa, with enough time for a sweet ending in Postre Frut where I would highly recommend the Mamey ice cream.

We could then grab a drink in one of my favorite spots such as Felina (try the Fitzcarraldo) or Baltra (amazing martinis), and end the night with some tacos in Las Costillas de la Condesa, where I would encourage to try some Mexican sodas along with the tacos such as Boing or Mundet.

Another plan worth doing would be to visit the Coyoacán neighborhood, stop by Avellaneda and have some coffee. Have a breakfast of “garnachas” such as quesadillas, tostadas, or gorditas in one of Coyoacan's beautiful markets.

Then we could visit the amazing Anahuacalli Museum. We can eat some unforgettable seafood inspired in Sinaloa in Mi Compa Chava (try a callo de hacha aguachile or la señora Torres), and move on the city’s downtown to have a night walk and some mezcales in Bósforo and of course finally some suadero tacos in Cocuyos.

Of course all these plans are just a glimpse, a small part of the city, there are many other interesting neighborhoods, parks, and plans to do.

Filter: Where do you go to escape the city?

There are so many great and nearby options to escape Mexico City. Be sure to ask for guidance to any local friends regarding when and how to get there, or you can message me, I'd be happy to help!

Some of my favorite "escapes":

Marquesa National Park: A lot of nature, forest and lakes to enjoy some long walks. You can try some cecina tacos, atole, micheladas, and relax in nature. If you like sweet things, you can also try the café de olla. Some kind of coffee (it can even be instant coffee) combined with piloncillo, anise, clove, and orange.

Dinamos National Park: If you like walking, this is a beautiful forest to do some trailing. You'd be amazed by the quality and amount of nature just outside the city.

Desierto de los Leones: Despite its name, you won’t find any desert nor any lions but you will find a vast amount of beautiful forest to relax, some museums, and an old convent you can visit.

Tepoztlán: Located in Morelos state is a beautiful and very popular town to visit just 1.5 hrs drive from Mexico City. I would highly recommend avoiding going on the weekends if you can, since it can get very crowded. Have breakfast in the market and relax walking its streets and maybe even climbing “El Tepozteco.”

Filter: What touristy things in Mexico City are worth the hype?

There are many tourist options in the city. Both food-beverage and culture, so be sure to do a lot of research beforehand, if you know anybody who lives here or has visited before be sure to reach out for consultation, as well as any friendly local willing to help.

I don't like hop on and off tours, as I said before I think walking is a better idea. If you want to dive deep into Mexico's origins and culture, El Museo de Antropología is the best option but know that it is impossible to visit the entire museum in one day. Other museums listed earlier are also a great idea.

Getting to know Mexico through its food and markets is an amazing idea also, so I would take a walking tour with Eat Like a Local, founded by our dear friend Rocío. It’s definitely the best option and with an ethic-tourism philosophy that I respect and share. Cardinal serves as the first stop, so maybe we can meet there! Rocio and its guides as well as the tour itself can serve for inspiration to know where to head afterwards.

Filter: Where are your favorite quiet corners or hidden gems there?

I love walking in my neighborhood San Miguel Chapultepec, where you can find my two beautiful gems from architect Luis Barragán and of course Chapultepec Park which I consider also a not-so-hidden gem. I'm very fortunate to live just two blocks away so I love to go there to walk, run, or read. Whenever I feel stuck I go there to reset and reconnect with myself.

The park is literally inside the city so you can use it to get by to central areas of the city—it has lakes, benches and access to museums.

You can get to Reforma Avenue through Chapultepec which is another fun walk. You'll see some famous skyscrapers, monuments, and hip and interesting nearby neighborhoods like: Juárez, Cuauhtémoc and Roma.

Filter: What's another coffee shop around there that you really admire?

Besides Cardinal I love and respect Avellaneda and Drip, not just because they're great friends but also because both coffee shops share many values with me and Cardinal. They both inspire respect for coffee and Mexico as a coffee origin and of course prepare excellent cups with warm hospitality.

Avellaneda opened 14 years ago so you can be sure they know what they’re doing. They roast their own coffee and Carlos de la Torre, its owner, is a good friend, inspiration, and a walking coffee connoisseur. Avellaneda is a must visit when you are in Coyoacán.

Drip opened some months before Cardinal so it feels like a generational brother to me. They also roast their own coffee and they also own a coffee farm in Puebla. Santiago Sota, its owner and dear friend, is also equipped with vast amounts of knowledge and a warm personality.

Filter: What makes Mexico City feel most like home to you?

It's something that has been developing with the years. Of course Cardinal being here plays a very important role for me feeling attached to the city but it's also that I have been learning to love Mexican culture throughout the years and the fact that this city offers a wide variety of beautiful things in many ways.

Having the opportunity to travel to other countries and getting to know—and love—other cities I have come to understand and appreciate my own city more. Food, beverages, museums, architecture, and so on.

Mexico as a country is so big, so diverse that even as locals it's easy to find new things to try, see, and learn about our beautiful culture and this city offers the opportunity to try a bit of everything.

Filter: Can you share about your role at Cardinal? What is rewarding about your work there?

Nowadays I'm a "jack of all trades” really. I have some shifts, supervise quality controls, visit the roastery and different origins, do some training, analyze finances, and so on. To be honest, It is something that we are trying to change to help us focus in those areas where we are most valuable.

Cardinal is working hand in hand with our partners and roasters Ensambles in Coatepec (a town in Veracruz worth the visit) and this has opened many beautiful opportunities to connect with many producers and with regenerative agriculture through Ensambles’ own farm “El Eequimite”—one of the few certified regenerative agriculture farms in Latin America. This has helped me a lot to inspire me and grow both personally and in a professional manner.

The most rewarding thing is definitely that it has helped me find myself. Being able to find my habitat, where I feel like home outside home, more than a profession, it feels like a craft that I love and that I will never stop learning and creating around it.

Filter: If you could move to any place in the world just for the coffee scene, where would it be?

Tough question!

There's still so many places left for me to visit to feel sure about this answer but I'd really like to visit and even live for a while in a non-producing country to understand the other side of the coin. Denmark, Norway, Japan, and many more would be very interesting and different for me. Some shops I'd love to know are of course Tim Wendelboe, Coffee Collective, 3fe, La Cabra, Koffee Mameya, and many more.

Regarding places I've recently visited, I would really love San Francisco. I always fantasize of living and working in the San Francisco coffee scene just because I loved my visits and it was crucial for me while learning specialty coffee. The shop? Wrecking Ball or wherever Trish Rothgeb guides me too, of course.

Filter: Anything you’d like to add?

I just want to invite the world to visit Mexico in an ethical and sustainable manner. And for all coffee professionals to give Mexican coffee a try (or a new try), I truly believe Mexican coffee can surprise you when you visit our country.

Thank you for reading me, see you here in Cardinal.

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Cardinal Casa de Café operates two locations in Mexico City.

Cardinal - Córdoba 132 Col. Roma

Cardinal - Campeche 346 Col. Hipódromo Condesa

Food & Beverage

Marne

Chetito (try the loco chávez taco)

Drip

Postre Frut (try the Mamey ice cream)

Felina (try the Fitzcarraldo)

Baltra (amazing martinis)