When was Colonia Roma in Mexico City founded?

Mexico City’s government approved the Roma subdivision in 1902. Porfirio Díaz’s government paid for its roads, water and sewers, making it the first colonia in the city with all three. Its streets are named after Mexican states and cities where the Orrin Circus, owned by one of the investors, had performed. Avenida Coahuila divides Roma Norte from Roma Sur.

Where is Rosetta’s bakery in Roma, Mexico City?

Elena Reygadas runs two bakeries in Roma, at Colima 179 and Puebla 242, alongside her restaurant Rosetta, which opened on Colima in 2010 and won a Michelin star in 2024. The Colima bakery opens at 07:00 from Monday to Saturday and 07:30 on Sunday, and closes at 22:00 from Thursday to Saturday.

How do you get to Roma in Mexico City by public transport?

Metrobús Line 1 runs along Avenida de los Insurgentes, Roma’s western edge, with stations at Durango, Álvaro Obregón, Sonora, Campeche and Chilpancingo. The Metro stations at the edges of the colonia are Sevilla, Insurgentes, Cuauhtémoc, Centro Médico and Chilpancingo. Avenida Álvaro Obregón, the widest street in Roma, has a tree-lined median with benches and fountains.

Cafés in Roma Norte & Roma Sur, Mexico City: Hours and Map

The city approved Roma’s subdivision plan in 1902, and because Porfirio Díaz’s government paid for the roads, water and sewers, it became the first colonia in Mexico City to have all three.¹ Its streets are named after Mexican states and cities where the Orrin Circus had performed; Edward Walter Orrin, the circus owner, was one of the investors.¹ Avenida Coahuila splits Roma Norte from Roma Sur, and Avenida de los Insurgentes divides both from Condesa.²

Coffee here runs to bakeries and small espresso bars. The longest run is on Calle Colima, with Abarrotes Delirio at number 114, Rosetta at 179 and Constela Café at 209, and on Calle Orizaba, with Buna 42, B41 Boulangerie at number 41 and Café Toscano at 141. Across the two Romas, most cafés are north of Coahuila.

Local tip: On a Sunday, Rosetta’s Colima bakery opens at 07:30 and closes at 20:30, while Abarrotes Delirio, at Colima 114, opens at 09:00; the Mercado de Medellín on Campeche is open from 08:30.⁷

At a glance

156Cafés listed

17With opening hours

06:30Earliest opening

22:00Latest closing

Opens earliest: Picorete Salivón, from 06:30 (Mon–Wed 06:30–19:00 · Thu 09:00–20:30 · Fri 06:30–19:00 · Sun 09:00–16:00).

Closes latest: Rosetta, until 22:00 (Mon–Wed 07:00–21:00 · Thu–Sat 07:00–22:00 · Sun 07:30–20:30).

Most common features: wi-fi (5%), bakery café (3%), specialty (3%).

Getting to Roma by Metrobús and Metro

Metrobús Line 1, opened on 19 June 2005, runs the length of Avenida de los Insurgentes, Roma’s western edge. Heading south from the Glorieta de los Insurgentes, its stations are Durango, Álvaro Obregón, Sonora, Campeche and Chilpancingo.³ Metro stations ring the colonia rather than cross it: Sevilla, Insurgentes, Cuauhtémoc, Centro Médico and Chilpancingo.²

Avenida Álvaro Obregón, the widest street in Roma, was called Avenida Jalisco when the colonia was laid out.¹ Its median has big trees, walking paths, benches and fountains with figures from Greek and Roman myth, and on weekends it fills with vendors.² Quentin Cafe, at Álvaro Obregón 64, opens daily from 08:00 to 23:00, one of the latest closes in Roma.

Plazas, mansions and two earthquakes

Plaza Río de Janeiro was planned in 1903 as Parque Roma and is also called Parque Orizaba; a bronze replica of Michelangelo’s David has stood at its center since 1976.² Plaza Luis Cabrera, the colonia’s other early square, gave Jack Kerouac the walk that inspired his novella Tristessa.¹

Roma began to decline in the 1970s, and its population fell from 95,000 in 1970 to 35,000 in 1995. The 1985 earthquake brought down 472 buildings here, partly or completely, and left 15,000 people homeless; most were built after 1950.¹ Neighbors then campaigned to save the early mansions, the Casa Lamm cultural center opened, and from the 1990s galleries moved in, especially on Colima.¹ In September 2017 another quake collapsed an office building at Álvaro Obregón 286, killing 49 people.²

Rosetta and the bakery cafés

Elena Reygadas opened the restaurant Rosetta in a Porfirian mansion on Colima in February 2010, then two bakeries in Roma, at Colima 179 and Puebla 242. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants named her the world’s best female chef in 2023, and in 2024 the restaurant won a Michelin star in the first Michelin Guide to cover Mexico.⁴ The Colima bakery opens at 07:00 from Monday to Saturday and 07:30 on Sunday, and stays open until 22:00 from Thursday to Saturday.

Further east on the same street, Abarrotes Delirio at Colima 114 bakes and serves brunch, Monday to Saturday from 08:00 to 21:00 and on Sunday from 09:00 to 19:00. Further south, Patisserie Dominique is at Chiapas 157.

Espresso bars, roasters and early openers

Sprudge’s 2016 guide to Roma described Buna 42, at Orizaba 42, as the only café in Mexico pulling espresso on a Modbar, with its coffee roasted in a space next door and bought as directly as possible from farmers.⁵ The same guide found Cardinal, at Córdoba 132, brewing Mexican coffees from roasters including Once Once and Café Sublime on a La Marzocco Linea.⁵ Cardinal Casa de Café keeps daily hours from 09:00 to 19:00.

A 2021 profile of Cumbé Coffee Roasters, at Monterrey 82, listed Chemex, Kalita, V60 and French press among its methods and Mexican beans from small producers on its shelves; the name is an African word for a hill.⁶ For the earliest cup, Picorete Salivón on Calle Cozumel opens at 06:30 on Monday to Wednesday and Friday, and Insomnia, at Cozumel 63, at 07:00 on weekdays.

Roma Sur and the Mercado de Medellín

The Mercado de Medellín, officially Mercado Melchor Ocampo, opened in 1964 at Campeche 101 in Roma Sur and has more than 500 stalls, open daily from 08:30 to 18:00. After the 1985 earthquake many of the Jewish families who ran it left, and migrants from across Latin America remade it, earning it the nickname La pequeña Habana (Little Havana). Its shelves include Colombia’s Juan Valdez coffee.⁷

South of Coahuila, Calle Tonalá has El Jugador Café at number 268 and Brown caffeine lab at 313, and Dulce Romita at Tepic 5A opens at 08:30 on weekdays.

Cafés in Roma Norte & Roma Sur

At a glance

Baveno

Café Reynard

Caravanserai

Cardinal Casa de Cafe

Constela Café

Corazón Delator Barra de Café

Matcha Mio

Nice Day Panadería y Cafetería

Abarrotes Delirio

Delisa

Dulce Romita

Insomnia

MITS Café

Picorete Salivón

Rompeolas café

Rosetta

12:51

18-77 Café Recreativo

1900’s Café

Anima Cafe

Artemiga

Báalche Coffee Room

Babuin café

Barrio Huaca

Bella Aurora

Bezza Coffee

Bizarro café

Bizcochito Café

Blanco Café & Gourmet

Bolero Café

Bollu

Bou

Brew Brew

Brown caffeine lab

Buna 42

Buvette Mexico

Coffee chains in Roma Norte & Roma Sur

Starbucks

Cielito Querido Café

Café Punta del Cielo

Finca Santa Veracruz

Tierra Garat

Le Pain Quotidien

Almanegra Café

Boicot Café

Café Toscano

Mandrake Café

Tim Hortons

Blend Station

Café Etrusca

The Coffee

Quentin

Café B

Café El Cordobés

Cafebrería El Péndulo

Coffeeshop Company

Niddo

Getting to Roma by Metrobús and Metro

Plazas, mansions and two earthquakes

Rosetta and the bakery cafés

Espresso bars, roasters and early openers

Roma Sur and the Mercado de Medellín

Sources

More of Mexico City

Centro Histórico

San Rafael & Santa María la Ribera

Juárez & Cuauhtémoc

Condesa

Polanco

Del Valle, Narvarte & Portales

Coyoacán

Roma Norte & Roma Sur cafés: questions

When was Colonia Roma in Mexico City founded?

Where is Rosetta’s bakery in Roma, Mexico City?

How do you get to Roma in Mexico City by public transport?

Own a café in Roma Norte & Roma Sur?