For a gut-busting breakfas that lives up to its name, we head to Tacubaya. This punk-rock haven serves up mountains of chilaquiles, drenched in flavorful salsas and topped with everything from tender arrachera to whole roasted chicken breast. Their portions are legendary, with the grande size weighing in at a kilo. If you want a real kickstart, their café con piquete is a potent blend of café de olla and smoky mezcal.

A couple blocks from Coyoacán’s center, Papalotl (Nahuatl for “butterfly”) is a vegetarian restaurant with superb breakfast: green chilaquiles (tortillas chips cooked in salsa and cheese) with an organic egg; molletes (open-faced sandwiches) made with whole-wheat bolillos (rolls) and topped with organic beans and cheese; eggs cooked with vegetarian chorizo; enchiladas; and amaranth pancakes served with agave syrup. We never fail to snag the freshly baked sweet roll Papalotl is best-known for.

Beyond its legendary coffee and history (the cafe has served the likes of Gabriel García Márquez and Octavio Paz), Café La Habana is also a breakfast haven. We like to start with a café lechero and a piece of sweet bread baked in-house. Then we move on to a plate of green chilaquiles topped with a fried egg. Other classic breakfast options include huevos motuleños (fried eggs over fried tortillas, black refried beans, and slices of plantain) and green and red enchiladas.

This historic cafe chino in Centro offers a taste of the city's migrantion history alongside its renowned pan chino. Founded in the 1950s by Chinese immigrant Jesús Chew, Cafe Allende was once part of a wave of cafes serving affordable Mexican and Chinese-influenced dishes to the city's working class. These cafe chinos weren’t Chinese restaurants per se – their most popular items were Mexican favorites like huevos a la Mexicana or chilaquiles, which is still the case at Allende.

Next to a car wash, this unassuming fonda wouldn’t attract much attention save for the line around the block by 5:30 a.m. Construction workers, sleepy teenagers, and office workesrs come for the traditiona breakfast cooked in clay pots over coal-fired grills. The steaming cazuelas sit like sentinels, with a rotating menu of classics like tender, roasted pork in tomatillo sauce and beef with pasilla chiles. The most popular dishes are served daily – just get there before the 11 a.m. final service

There’s a reason why El Cardenal is always mentioned in the top restaurants of Mexico City. From humble origins to a family-run empire, it continues to cook up some of the city’s best traditional cuisine and breakfast. Some of the founders’ first dishes still grace the menu (like chicken and avocado stew), and they nixtamalize their own corn, bake their own bread. and craft their now-famous nata (clotted cream). The queso de rancho cheese might be one of the most talked about dishes in CDMX.

Walking into La Corte is like being transported back to a 1950’s fonda: red vinyl seats, laminate tabletops, utilitarian tableware and a menu that has remained unchanged since in 1952. Here you’ll find comida corrida – cheap, filling meals. In the morning, that means Mexican breakfasts such as scrambled eggs with chorizo or a la mexicana (with onions, chiles and tomatoes). The quality is remarkable, portions are generous, and the menu options change daily.

An homage to northern-style Mexican cuisine, Merendero Las Lupitas opened in 1959 in the beautiful Coyoacán neighborhood. While it serves food all day, for breakfast, we go straight for the combo plate: two thin burritos (nothing like the burritos of American fame) stuffed with eggs and chilorio (spiced ground pork) and a chivichanga, a flour tortilla quesadilla stuffed with refried beans and Chihuahua cheese and brushed with a guajillo sauce (also nothing like the American chimichanga).

Though located off the typical tourist trail, Nicos has earned its place as a celebrated culinary destination, consistently ranked among Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants. And its’s one of our favorite restaurants in the city, including for breakfast. We always order the huevos Azcapotzalco, two fried eggs and fried tortilla enveloped in the house red salsa and topped with black beans and cotija cheese.

A bare-bones café tucked into a small space in the hip Colonia Roma, Café de Raíz proudly represents the cuisine of Veracruz. Owner Mardonio Carballo has been preparing a simple but delicious breakfast and lunch menu from his home state since 2009. Carballo uses fresh Veracruz ingredients, starting with the coffee, which is of the highest quality. Start off with a concha veracruzana, a sweet roll cut in half and stuffed with refried beans and melted manchego cheese.

Café Paris, an old-fashioned diner in Roma Norte, is the perfect spot for a comforting and classic Mexico City breakfast. This unpretentious café, with its wood-grained Formica tables and aquamarine booths, is a bit of a charming escape from the trendy bars and restaurants that surround it. Order a generously-portioned plate of chilaquiles en salsa verde or for lighter fare, go for a traditional café con leche and pan dulce, a typical breakfast snack with roots in the city's early 20th-century c