Find Your Fonda

( Xhico in Mexico City )

Morning breakfast at ¿Qui'hubo Cuando? fonda in Mexico City

Whether your you're going to be in Mexico City for a few days or a few months, I recommend finding your fonda. What's a fonda? I asked Angelita, who along with her mother, made me breakfast several times in a month. Her response to the difference between a fonda and a restaurant was that a fonda offered traditional Mexican food and was akin to a home-cooked meal. A restaurant was a place that specialized in a particular meal or international cuisine. On my international excursion to Mexico, I was fortunate enough to have the fonda of Angelita and her mother, Angie, just two blocks from my apartment near Chapultepec park.

Angelita, me and Angie.

Mole enchiladas, my favorite!

Menu changes daily

Super hot pickled habanero salsa

 Small kitchens and dining rooms make the perfect digs for an authentic Mexican meal. Going to a fonda is just like having a mother cook for you. So for the first month in Mexico City, Angie fed me in the mornings. I would go early for a quick bite and to have a coffee a fresh squeezed juice before work. Sometimes I would order something to-go so I could eat while I work. My choice was usually mole enchiladas filled with chicken, chilaquiles or mollettes - they are like mini Mexican pizza breads topped with beans, cheese and pico de gallo.

I would walk up early to a sign with the menu of the day. I would instantly be hungry reading the amazing choices... Enchiladas, Enfrijoladas, Tacos de guisados, Sincronizadas, Tinga Res, Bistec en Guajillo, Milanesa pollo, Ejote con huevo, consomé, huevos al gusto... everything was just delicious.

I eventually made my way into Angie's little kitchen to see where all of this magic was made. I followed the hypnotic smells wafting from behind a curtain. Behind that curtain was Angie, often aided by her daughter working hard to make home cooked meals for the people.

The name of the fonda, ¿Qui'hubo Cuando? is a
reference to the movie "Dos Tipos de Cuidado"

One last note. When I asked Angleita what the name of the fonda was from, she said it was a reference to a joke in a movie called "Dos tipos de Cuidado". Make sure to stop by Angie's fonda ¿Qui'Hubo Cuando? and have breakfast near Chapultepec park at the corner of Tampico y Sinaloa.

¿Qui'Hubo Cuando?

Tampico 37 (Sinaloa), Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico