Where to Go for a Steak in Polanco — and Beyond
From the Argentine classics to a very fine goat cheese salad
A note on this list: these are the places we go — not a roundup of every steakhouse in the city. A personal guide to the ones worth seeking out, according to me, organized by occasion.
Mexico City does not get enough credit as a steak city. The conversation about the food here tends to center on the things that are uniquely Mexican — the tacos and other garnachas, the chiles rellenos, the markets — and if you’re here for the food, those are the first things you should seek out. But alongside all of it is a serious steak culture, shaped by Argentine immigration, by the beef traditions of the Mexican north, and by a city that has enough money and appetite to support some excellent meat restaurants. So, when you’re ready for a great steak, this is the list for you.
What follows is where we go, and why. Not a comprehensive list — a personal one, organized by what occasion you are trying to meet.
Sylvestre
POLANCO, PEDREGAL, SANTA FE — SPECIAL OCCASIONS, WHEN YOU WANT TO SPLURGE
Sylvestre is my favorite and the one we save for occasions that earn it — a birthday, an anniversary, a dinner with someone we want to impress. It is not inexpensive. What it is, is consistently excellent, and it has a warmth and atmosphere that makes the price feel earned rather than extracted.
The restaurant takes its name from a novel by Anatole France — Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard — and the Polanco original is in a converted casona on the street named after the same author. The downstairs has a bar built from old mango wood, and the dining room upstairs has a beautiful interior garden. The aesthetic is warm and masculine — wood, dim light, good noise level, attentive service.
Start with the goat cheese salad if it is on the menu. The grilled artichoke is also very good — both are dressed with their mustard vinaigrette. The wine list is good, and we’ve discovered some of our favorite reds here. For the main course: whichever cut they are recommending that evening, or the ribeye if they are not. They show the cuts tableside before you order if you want to see them.
There are multiple locations — Polanco on Anatole France is the original; Artz Pedregal and Santa Fe are newer outposts, the design, food and service are all consistent between locations.
Sylvestre — Anatole France 74, Col. Polanco (original) // Artz Pedregal and Santa Fe locations // sylvestre.mx
Cambalache
POLANCO, INSURGENTES, SAN ÁNGEL AND MORE — THE BEST PRICE-TO-QUALITY RATIO IN THE CITY
Cambalache has been in Mexico City since 1986. It is Argentine by tradition — the grilling method, the wines from Mendoza, the cuts — with USDA Prime meat and a menu that manages to be large without being unfocused.
The price-to-quality ratio here is the best of any restaurant in this category. It is not cheap, but the value is consistently good, and that is rarer than it should be.
We always order the Cambalache salad to start — a house salad with mushrooms, bean sprouts, and palm hearts topped with crunchy bacon and a creamy dressing. Then the papas soufflé: thin potato slices that have been inflated to fluffy, crispy, hollow perfection in the fryer. They come in a pile and they go quickly. For the main, I like ribeye because I like a bit of fat with my beef. On a cold day or when someone at the table wants something warm and restorative: the jugo de carne, a rich beef consommé that will warm you right up.
The Polanco location on Alejandro Dumas at the corner of Masaryk is the one we go to most. Cambalache also has locations in San Ángel, Insurgentes, Interlomas, Coyoacán, and several others — service and food are consistent across all of them.
Cambalache — Alejandro Dumas 122 esq. Masaryk, Polanco // also San Ángel, Insurgentes, Interlomas, Coyoacán // cambalacherestaurantes.com
Dante
POLANQUITO — GO FOR THE TERRACE
Dante is right on the edge of Parque Lincoln in Polanquito, the pedestrian-friendly streets around the park that have some of the best restaurant density in the city. In many ways it occupies the same register as Sylvestre — solid meat, good atmosphere, above-average service — which means it is a reliable choice when the occasion calls for something more than casual but does not require a reservation weeks in advance.
The terrace is the reason to choose Dante specifically. Facing the park with a roof to protect against the rain, with Parque Lincoln’s trees visible from the table — it is one of the better al fresco dining situations of the many available in this neighborhood. Order the beet salad to start. The meat is good. Go when the weather is warm and enjoy the sunshine from the shade of the terrace.
Dante — Av. Emilio Castelar, Col. Polanco (on Parque Lincoln) // dantebrasayfuego.com
When You Want the North — Mochomos
POLANCO, SANTA FE, MITIKAH — SONORAN BEEF TRADITION
Mochomos is from Hermosillo, Sonora — not Monterrey as I had assumed for years, but the Sonoran beef tradition, which is its own thing. The name references a traditional Yaqui preparation of shredded beef or pork, and the restaurant built around that heritage has grown to include three Mexico City locations while maintaining a menu that reads as regional rather than generic.
I have only been once. The food is good and substantial — Sonoran in its generosity, which is to say: large portions, bold flavors, the kind of meal that requires a tequila afterwards. The ribeye, marinated for 24 hours in the house sauce, is the main event. This is not the place for a light dinner. It is the place for a long, celebratory lunch with a group, if you want to understand what northern Mexican beef culture tastes like when it is done with care.
Mochomos — Polanco, Santa Fe, Mitikah locations // mochomos.mx
Loma Linda
LOMAS DE CHAPULTEPEC — THE CITY’S OLDEST STEAKHOUSE, AND A MEXICAN INSTITUTION
Loma Linda opened in 1924 and claims to have been the first restaurant in Mexico City to grill meat over charcoal. A century later it is still on Reforma in Lomas de Chapultepec, still serving the same Argentine-influenced cuts in the same colonial-style building, and still full of large tables of Mexican families — three and four generations sharing a meal on a Saturday afternoon. We went recently and that is exactly what we found.
The Argentine connection has a specific origin: the owner in the 1940s encountered a gaucho during a trip to South America who introduced him to the cuts and grilling techniques of the pampa. That tradition — charcoal grills, certified Angus cuts, the Argentine approach to meat — has been part of the restaurant’s identity ever since. The menu covers the classics: ribeye, sirloin, skirt steak, alongside empanadas and a wine list that includes Argentine labels.
Loma Linda is not where you go for a fashionable dinner. It is where you go to understand that the steakhouse tradition in this city is older and more rooted than the current crop of restaurants suggests. The building is beautiful, the service is professional, and the crowd on a weekend is a display of Mexico City’s family culture that you will not find at Sylvestre or Dante.
Loma Linda — Paseo de la Reforma 1105, Lomas de Chapultepec // lomalinda.com.mx // Reservations recommended on weekends
Cuerno
Cuerno occupies the space where a steakhouse and a modern restaurant overlap — good meat, but also an ensalada de cogollos (little gem lettuce, lightly grilled and topped with the most delicious dressing) and, improbably, one of the best hamachi sashimi preparations I’ve had in the city. It is more overtly fashionable than the Argentine-influenced restaurants above, and the menu reflects a willingness to look beyond the grill. Worth knowing for a table that has some who want steak and some who want something else.
Animal
Animal leans further into the fusion direction: a menu that combines serious meat cuts with sushi and Japanese-influenced preparations. It is not for everyone, and it should not be the first recommendation for someone who simply wants a great steak. But for the right occasion — a group with varied tastes, or an evening when you want something less categorizable — it delivers.
A brief word on the other options
Sonora Grill has locations throughout the city and is a reliable option when convenience is the deciding factor — when the location is right, the group has made the choice, or the occasion calls for somewhere easy rather than somewhere exceptional. It is not where I go when the choice is mine.
Fogo de Chão — the Brazilian churrascaria chain — offers the rodízio experience: servers circulating with skewers, carving table side until you signal them to stop. It is a different experience from everything else on this list, more theatrical and more about abundance than about any single cut. Worth knowing if you have a large table or simply want to eat an unreasonable amount of meat in a festive environment. Their salad bar is above average — though nothing compared to the ones we visited in Brazil! — and they offer the option of only eating from the salad bar and skipping the cuts of skewered meat.
Harry’s on Presidente Masaryk in Polanco is the city’s most formal and most expensive steakhouse — white tablecloths, dry-aged prime cuts, an extensive wine cellar. It is the answer when cost is secondary and only the very best will do. We go rarely. When we go, it is excellent.
A Note on Dietary Restrictions
Steakhouses are among the more navigable dining options in Mexico City if you eat gluten-free and dairy-free. The core order — steak, salad, grilled vegetables — is almost universally safe. Fries are worth checking if you have celiac disease though, since shared fryers are a concern. Both Sylvestre and Fogo de Chão serve pão de queijo, the Brazilian cheese bread, which is naturally gluten-free. The green dipping sauce at Sylvestre alongside it is unexpectedly good. For celiacs, confirm GF protocols with the kitchen. Dessert is effectively off the menu at all of these restaurants — there is almost never a GF and DF option worth attempting.
Our standard order at any of these restaurants: steak, salad (no dairy additions), grilled vegetables — asparagus, artichoke, or whatever the kitchen is doing — and fries. Simple, reliable, and worth it every time.
Where do you go for a steak in this city? I suspect everyone has a strong opinion about this, and I would like to hear yours.
