Fodor's Expert Review El Hidalguense

This laid-back restaurant has been serving Hidalgo-style lamb barbacoa to grateful Mexico City residents since the 1990s. Friday through Sunday afternoons only, fresh lamb from owner Moisés Rodríguez’s Hidalgo farm is roasted for 12 hours over mesquite and oak in an underground pit, then served in charred agave leaves. An order of barbacoa comes with everything you need to make tacos you'll remember for days; be sure to order the consommé, flavored with meat drippings, chile, and lime, and wash it all down with a glass of pulque.

Though this is a barbacoa favorite, the mixiotes (pit-barbecued meats)—another Hidalguense specialty—are fantastic as well.