Putting a contemporary spin on creamy textured scoops, Bola (from the team at Bread Panaderos Artesanales) offers indulgent ice cream adventures. The parlor seeks out the finest ingredients from small producers — artisanal cream, fresh milk, organic fruit, and local produce — to make Mexican-flavored cold treats in flavors like chiapaneco cheese with candied pears, mesquite bean snickerdoodle, and ricotta with lemon jelly and pistachios. Try the burnt butter with nuts, one of the shop’s most popular flavors. [$]

Chef Chuy Elizondo serves long-fermented artisan bread, sans additives or preservatives, from a small bakery tucked inside a garage. The space also offers breakfast, including indulgent French toast topped with pineapple, caramel, coffee-infused honey, and bacon. While the restaurant predictably focuses on house-made bread (a slice is served with nearly every dish), diners also rave about the green chilaquiles with chicharrón from La Ramos. [$-$$]

One of the most traditional butcher shops in the city, Carnes Ramos always draws crowds across its several locations. In a big barbecue region, the butcher is well known among locals as a place to buy beef, but even out-of-towners should visit to taste the shop’s famous chicharrón, served in restaurants throughout the city under the name “chicharrón de la Ramos.” For a souvenir, pick up some machaca, dried meat often added to scrambled eggs for umami and explosive flavor. [$-$$]

This casual taqueria has two locations in Monterrey and a bustling outpost in Mexico City. Choose from three types of meat: trompo (pork marinated al pastor style with dried chiles and spices), beef (top sirloin sliced thin), and Northern Mexican chicharrón (crispy, juicy pork cheek). Order one of each, but don’t forget the specials, like the campechana, an extra-large flour tortilla filled with beef, pork from the trompo, cheese, avocado, cilantro, onions, and corn chips. Although beer will pair perfectly with anything, it’s worth trying the restaurant’s own Jamaica agua fresca with cinnamon and guava. [$-$$]

This unpretentious cafeteria franchise, loved by locals, is well known for traditional, regional breakfast staples such as chilaquiles divorciados with green and red sauce, or scrambled eggs with chorizo and migas (thin strips of fried tortilla). Diners embrace the restaurant’s slogan, “Eat like you are at home,” enjoying simple, homey dishes like pork shoulder tamales or the machacado, scrambled eggs mixed with dried meat, tomato, onion, and chile. [$-$$]

Opened in 2003, this “quintessential Monterrey” white-tablecloth steakhouse is celebrated equally by politicians, execs, and families. Begin with fideo seco tacos, filled with pasta in tomato-chile sauce. Then go for the grilled artichokes, and don’t leave without trying the salted rib-eye. As at almost everywhere in the city, dishes are designed to be shared. [$$$$]

Pizza lovers will find amazing pies at Milk, but the restaurant also serves great meatballs, salads, and gnocchi. The project, from the team at Bread Panaderos, features the bakers’ ideal pizza: thin dough with puffy brown crusts and well-balanced tomato sauce. The team make porchetta, sausages, yogurt dip (for focaccia and for potatoes with chorizo), breads, and desserts in-house. Look out for special dinners every other month, when Milk brings in Mexican chefs to take over the pizza parlor. [$$-$$$]

Entrepreneur Sergio “Checo” Gutiérrez teamed up with Edo Kobayashi, the restaurateur largely responsible for elevating Japanese cuisine in Mexico, to create this combination casual ramen spot and upscale 10-seat sushi counter. Sushi Kadoya serves a high-quality omakase and excellent a la carte options, while diners on the ramen side can combine 19 hearty, flavorful ramen options with appetizers like gyoza or fried Brussels sprouts with tonkatsu sauce and bonito flakes. [$$-$$$]

Brothers Patricio, Rodrigo, and Daniel Rivero — sommelier, chef, and pastry chef, respectively — run this fine dining restaurant that recently relocated to a much bigger space in the San Pedro Garza García neighborhood. “Koli” means grandfather in Nahuatl, one of several indigenous languages in Nuevo Leon, a fitting name for the brothers’ homage to the land and culinary heritage of Northeastern Mexico. The a la carte lunch menu features dishes like cabrito (baby goat) stuffed onions, northern burrata, asadero goat cheese with figs and pistachios, and pine nut pipián. At dinner, you’ll find a set tasting menu with options like mole with suckling pig and fresh cheese, or grilled beef with yucca, black garlic, cauliflower, and onion. [$$$$]

For a drink and some snacks, head to this dark, wood-paneled bar where the playlist features the Strokes and Stevie Wonder. Pinto Bar serves a great list of mezcals and tequilas, but it also offers the opportunity to drink other Mexican liquors, such as bacanora and sotol. Cocktails and natural wines join the agave spirits on the menu. If you feel hungry, opt for the Pinto potatoes, extra-thin fries with chile, lemon, and Parmesan. Or go for the hamburguesa aplastada, a smash burger that resembles the patty melt of your dreams. [$$-$$$]

The name of this upbeat, fun restaurant, which translates to “cow face,” is playfully spelled out in emojis on the menu, and the lovely interior is all light wood, greenery, and lots of natural light. But over in the kitchen, the team works seriously with open-fire cooking. Keep an eye out for tacos tiesos, a dish inspired by tamales regios (northern-style pork tamales). Pork-filled tortillas are fried and doused with three sauces made with guacamole, tomatillo, and red jalapeno. Continue with cachetada de rib-eye, a flour tortilla oozing melted cheese, guacamole sauce, and bits of fried tortilla. You can’t go wrong with any of the well-prepared steaks either, and be sure to wash your order down with any of the natural wines on offer. Last but not least, the guava pie deserves your utmost attention. [$$-$$$]

Colmillo started as a 70-seat restaurant with a kitchen centered on an open fire and a menu featuring dishes inspired by Mexican street food. It’s evolved into one of the city’s favorite modern Northern Mexican steakhouses, with branches in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and (as of 2022) Tulum. On any given night, you’ll find an animated crowd tucked into the restaurant’s glamorous black booths, listening to funk classics or experimental rock, and feasting on grilled meat tacos, piquin oysters, and the iconic roasted cabbage with parmesan and truffle sauce. [$$$]

Long recognized as a fine dining institution in Monterrey, Pangea has been in business for more than 20 years. The restaurant is the flagship of Grupo Pangea, a collection of 10 concepts across the city, all under the leadership of Guillermo González Beristáin, one of Mexico’s most respected chefs and undoubtedly the pioneer responsible for elevating the Northeastern gastronomic scene. At Pangea, head chef Eduardo Morali combines Mexican produce with French flair and impeccable execution. Choose from a la carte options or the tasting menu, which may feature a glorious duck breast with orange mole, kumquat, and cauliflower puree, or jurel fish from Baja California with spicy soy sauce, avocado, crispy rice, and miso emulsion. The restaurant has received many national awards and is a regular on the Latin America 50 Best Restaurants list. [$$$$]

Located in the elegant Parque Arboleda shopping complex, a gastronomic hub in the city, Libertad boasts a big, beautiful space decorated with old newspapers as wallpaper. The menu mixes staple Mexican dishes with hints of international flavors in taquitos al albañil (fried corn tortillas filled with chorizo and beans, served with melted white cheese) or duck barbacoa slow-cooked with tamarind and chile sauce. The vegetable section is equally exciting, with an especially tasty eggplant chicharrón served with herbs and jocoque (sour cream), as well as roasted beets with chipotle honey and pumpkin seeds. Plus, tostadas act as the bread service, which is exactly as amazing as it sounds. [$$-$$$]

Sibau is Spanish chef Bruno Oteiza’s novel and personal take on Northern Mexican cuisine. His more daring dishes include oysters with ponzu-marinated toro tuna, tangerine and serrano chili, and pulpo tacos with bone marrow and roasted salsa verde. The sophisticated dining area features zigzag graphic flooring, gray marble walls, and velvet indigo chairs. Outdoors, the verdant terrace offers a completely different mood, ideal for evening cocktails. Don’t miss the homey habanero cream soup, served in a sourdough bread bowl. [$$$$]

Owner and sommelier Ludovic Anacleto wanted to meld his Parisian background with his new home in Monterrey. His French restaurant, tucked away in a residential area, is known for beef Wellington and chicharrón risotto, but mostly for an impressive, well-curated wine list with more than 700 bottles. The wine program has rightfully earned Grand Cru national and international recognition. [$$$$]

Better known as Tacos del Muerto for its proximity to the Dolores Cemetery, this street cart has been in operation for over 48 years, attracting an eclectic crowd for mañaneros (morning tacos) from 7 a.m. until closing at 3 p.m. Choose from the short list of fillings: gooey cabeza; pork shoulder; picadillo; beans with bacon, egg, and chorizo. There’s also chile relleno stuffed with cheese or meat. Feel free to order any of the options as a torta if you prefer, and when the server asks you if you want to add beans spread with pork fat, you say, “Yes, please.” Spoon on the powerful salsa borracha (drunken sauce) made from tomato cooked with chile and onion. [$]

If you’re passing through the Monterrey airport, be sure to make time for a meal at El Jonuco, just 10 minutes away in the industrial neighborhood of Apodaca. Banker-turned-chef Hugo Guajardo highlights the regional cuisine of Northeastern Mexico with modern twists. He combines recipes from his past, like his grandmother’s pear tart, with traditional local dishes, like wedding rice (popular throughout Nuevo Leon; in this case, a chicken-stock-fortified version from Zuazua, studded with raisins and poblanos). Go for the empalmes, sandwiches of atropellado (dried meat with tomato, chile, and onion) between crispy tortillas. Or try the criollo avocados, meant to be eaten peel and all, or the glorious grilled panela cheese with agave honey and chile piquin sauce. Be sure to stop by on Sunday to try the succulent, grilled cabrito (baby goat). The restaurant setting is entirely casual, and meals are accompanied by the accordion-embellished strains of Northern Mexican music. [$$-$$$]