Where to walk and eat with your dog in Mexico City
Updated May 2026 — the city has become genuinely dog-friendly
When I first wrote this post in 2017, dog-friendly restaurants in Mexico City were specific enough to list by name. The situation has changed considerably. The city’s attitude toward dogs in public — particularly in the neighborhoods most visitors spend time in — has shifted to the point where the general rule now applies rather than the exception: if a restaurant has patio seating, your dog is almost certainly welcome. The question is no longer which restaurants allow dogs but where to take them for the best walk, and which neighborhoods make the experience most enjoyable.
We have had our dog — the Gordo, officially; he is an ancient pug (14 is ancient for a pug, isn’t it?) — for most of the years we have been in this city. What follows is where we go.
The General Rule
In Roma Norte, Condesa, Colonia Juárez, Polanco, and Coyoacán: any restaurant or café with a terrace or patio will accept your dog. This is now the norm, not the exception. A few restaurants have gone further — water bowls appear without being asked, menus list dog treats, staff greet your dog before they greet you.
The places where this is less reliably true: indoor-only restaurants in the Centro Histórico, formal dining rooms anywhere, and shopping malls. Outdoors with patio seating is the reliable signal.
The Best Neighborhoods for Walking
Condesa — the dog-owner’s neighborhood
The Condesa has Parque México and Parque España within a few blocks of each other, and Calle Amsterdam — which circles Parque México in an ellipse — is one of the most pleasant walking streets in the city. The dog park at the south end of Parque México has been there for years; the Gordo liked to chase after bigger dogs in his younger, and chubbier years. To his chagrin, he was largely ignored.
Amsterdam has sidewalk cafés the entire length of the loop. Any of them will take your dog. We have had good breakfasts at several; we have also simply sat with coffee while the Gordo watched the joggers and cyclists and made clear he found the experience beneath him. The whole loop is about two kilometers — a good length for a morning walk before it gets hot.
Roma Norte — parks and Álvaro Obregón
Parque Río de Janeiro is the social heart of Roma Norte — a central plaza with fountains, dogs of every description, and the small copy of Michelangelo’s David that sits at the center of the park. On weekday mornings it is calm; on weekend afternoons it is very busy.
Álvaro Obregón is the boulevard worth walking: mature trees, a pedestrian median with fountains and sculptures, and restaurants with terraces the full length of it. All the terraces welcome dogs. Parque Luis Cabrera, at the southern end of the Roma Norte walk, is quieter and has good shade.
Colonia Juárez — Havre and the park at Milán
The Juárez has the most concentrated terrace dining of any neighborhood right now — Havre in particular, where you can walk the full length of the street and stop at any café or restaurant without worrying about the dog. Blanco Yoga is on Milán; the small plaza nearby is a quiet spot. The neighborhood’s Porfirian mansions and tree-lined streets make for one of the more pleasant walking routes in the city regardless of whether you have a dog with you.
Coyoacán — for a Sunday
The central plaza in Coyoacán on a weekend is busy, lively, full of street performers and market vendors, and genuinely enjoyable. Dogs are everywhere. The Mercado del Carmen on Malintzin has indoor food stalls — craft beer, tacos, pizza, a vegan option — and accepts dogs inside. It is our go-to stop for lunch in the neighborhood.
The streets around the plaza — cobblestone, shaded, lined with colonial architecture — are good for a slow walk. The Frida Kahlo museum does not allow dogs inside, but the exterior and the surrounding streets are a pleasant circuit.
Mercado del Carmen — Malintzin 199, Coyoacán
Polanco — Parque Lincoln and Polanquito
Parque Lincoln has reflecting pools, shaded walkways, and the feeling of a neighborhood park in a European capital — unhurried, well-maintained, full of people walking dogs. Polanquito, the pedestrian-heavy streets around the park — Presidente Masaryk, Newton, Emilio Castelar — have restaurants with terraces at every turn. All welcome dogs.
Marlo, the pet boutique on Aristóteles, is worth a stop if you are in the market for a well-designed collar or a specific kind of dog toy. The staff actually know about dogs.
Marlo — Aristóteles 12, Polanco
A note on the Gordo
He is getting older. He no longer has strong opinions about the dog park. He has very strong opinions about the following: the chicken at Porco Rosso (still excellent, still in Polanquito), the terrace at any restaurant that also has a bread basket, and morning walks in the Condesa when the streets are still quiet and the light comes through the trees on Amsterdam at an angle that even he seems to notice. He is a good companion for this city.
Where do you take your dog in the city? I am always adding to the list.
