Key Takeaways

• Two kitchens lead the country. Pujol and Quintonil in Mexico City are the only restaurants in Mexico with two MICHELIN stars in the 2026 guide, and Quintonil placed No. 3 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025, the first Mexican restaurant to reach the top three.

• The MICHELIN Guide Mexico 2026 lists 29 starred restaurants across nine regions, after adding Jalisco, Puebla and Yucatán this year.

• The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2026 is announced in Lima on November 4, and Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2026 in Guadalajara on December 1, so both new rankings arrive before Christmas.

• Plan around the holidays themselves. December 25 and January 1 are public holidays in Mexico and many independent restaurants close on Christmas Eve, so the posada nights before Christmas and the days between Christmas and New Year's are the easier windows for a reservation.

Where Mexico's most awarded restaurants are, and how to eat at them in December

Since MICHELIN arrived in Mexico in 2024, the awards have spread well beyond the capital. The 2026 guide gave first stars to restaurants in Guadalajara and Mérida, and Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 put eight Mexican restaurants in its top 50, five of them outside Mexico City. Mexico City still has the two most decorated kitchens, Pujol and Quintonil, and the profiles below cover them alongside Rosetta and Máximo.

This guide covers the restaurants with the strongest current credentials, and how the holiday calendar affects getting a table at them. Every ranking cited is the most recent published edition as of October 2026: the MICHELIN Guide Mexico 2026, The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 and Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2025.

How restaurant awards in Mexico are counted

The MICHELIN Guide Mexico launched on May 14, 2024, covering Mexico City, Oaxaca, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Quintana Roo and Nuevo León. The third edition, revealed in Guadalajara on May 20, 2026, added Jalisco, Puebla and Yucatán. It names 29 starred restaurants: two with two stars and 27 with one, alongside 11 Green Stars for sustainability work and 63 Bib Gourmands. Puebla's entry brought Bib Gourmands and recommendations but no stars.

The 2026 edition also took a star away. Taquería El Califa de León, which became the first taco stand to earn a star in 2024, was moved back to the recommended list, and La Once Mil in Lomas de Chapultepec is now the guide's only starred taquería.

The 50 Best lists work differently. They're rankings voted by an academy of chefs, restaurateurs, food writers and well-traveled diners rather than the result of anonymous inspections, so a restaurant can rank well without stars, and the reverse. Fauna in the Valle de Guadalupe (No. 17) and Arca in Tulum (No. 22) both rank on Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 without a MICHELIN star. The global list for 2026 is announced in Lima on November 4, and Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2026 is announced in Guadalajara on December 1, so if you're traveling in December you'll have fresh rankings to check against this guide.

Mexico City's most awarded restaurants

Quintonil

Quintonil, in Polanco, is run by chef Jorge Vallejo with his wife, Alejandra Flores, leading the dining room. It holds two MICHELIN stars, ranked No. 3 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 and No. 7 on Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2025, and Vallejo received the top Three Knives rating at The Best Chef Awards 2025. The kitchen uses insects with restraint, and MICHELIN singles out a guajillo-glazed mussel tartlet served with a dried scallop mole.

Pujol

Enrique Olvera's Pujol, also in Polanco, has held two MICHELIN stars in every edition since the guide's first in 2024. It runs a seasonal tasting menu and a separate taco omakase counter, and its mole madre, a mole kept going and refreshed over years, is its best-known dish. Its 50 Best positions have slipped (No. 60 globally in 2025, and No. 51 on the 2025 Latin America list, its first year outside the top 50), but it lost nothing in the 2026 MICHELIN guide. Pujol closes on Sundays.

Rosetta

Elena Reygadas, named The World's Best Female Chef in 2023, cooks at Rosetta in Roma Norte. The restaurant holds one MICHELIN star, placed No. 46 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 and No. 39 on the Latin America list. Its menu runs to shared plates, and one of MICHELIN's highlighted dishes, cabbage tacos with pistachio purée and romeritos, uses the wild green that's a fixture of the Mexican Christmas Eve table.

Máximo

Eduardo García's Máximo, also in Roma Norte, earned its MICHELIN star in 2025 and kept it in 2026, when its head bartender, Priscila Moreno, received the guide's Exceptional Cocktails Award. It ranked No. 30 on Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2025. Diners can choose à la carte or a tasting menu, and the scallop aguachile with dragon fruit is the dish the guide calls out.

Booking these restaurants over the holidays

• Book at the start of the window. Guides to Mexico City's hardest reservations put Quintonil at about two months ahead and Pujol at two to three, which means a late-December table is usually released in September or October. Rosetta and Máximo are easier, but still worth booking several weeks out for the holiday weeks.

• Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are the hardest nights. December 25 is a public holiday and many independent restaurants close on Christmas Eve. Restaurants inside hotels, such as Ixi'im and Le Chique, are the likelier options on those two nights.

• Confirm whether a restaurant is open on January 1, also a public holiday, and whether a set menu replaces the regular one on New Year's Eve.

• Check the weekly schedule as well as the holiday one. Pujol closes Sundays, Xokol closes Sundays and Mondays, and Esquina Común and Lunario both open Thursday to Sunday.

• Expendio de Maíz doesn't take reservations and runs an on-site waitlist instead, and Esquina Común takes requests only through Instagram.

Pairing a restaurant trip with a holiday stay

Most of the restaurants above sit in cities, while most Mexican holiday trips are built around a beach resort. For the resort side of the plan, our guides to the best luxury resorts in Mexico for the holidays and the most awarded hotels in Mexico cover where to stay and which hotels hold the strongest award records, and our list of all-inclusive resorts with serious food programs covers properties where the dining is the reason to book.

Frequently asked questions

Which restaurants in Mexico have two MICHELIN stars?

Pujol and Quintonil, both in Mexico City's Polanco neighborhood, are the only two-star restaurants in the MICHELIN Guide Mexico 2026. Mexico doesn't have a three-star restaurant.

What is the highest-ranked restaurant in Mexico?

Quintonil, which placed No. 3 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 and No. 7 on Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2025. The 2026 global list is announced on November 4, 2026, and the 2026 Latin America list on December 1, 2026.

Are restaurants in Mexico open on Christmas Day?

Some are, but December 25 is a public holiday and many independent restaurants close on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Hotel restaurants are the more reliable choice on those dates, and every restaurant's holiday hours are worth confirming directly.

How far ahead should I book Pujol or Quintonil for December?

Booking guides put Quintonil at about two months ahead and Pujol at two to three, so a table for late December is usually bookable from September or October. Book as soon as the window opens.