Roma Norte, Coffee to Cocktails

Mexico City · Half day · afternoon

Five stops through the actual range of Roma Norte: a Japanese-inspired cafe, a calm work-friendly roaster, an unpretentious neighbourhood favorite, a bakery worth the queue, and Licorería Limantour to close, a cocktail bar that has cracked the World's 50 Best list every year since 2014. Start in the early afternoon, Raku Café shuts as early as 5pm, and Limantour will not let you in before 3pm at the very earliest.

The route

1. Raku Café
Roma Norte
Start here, and don't linger past mid-afternoon: this one shuts as early as 17:00 most days. A minimal, Japanese-inspired room built around sandos and matcha, though the coffee is the better order of the two here.
8 min walk to the next stop
2. Blend Station
Roma Norte
A calm, serene work cafe with wifi that holds up and latte art worth noticing. Easy to sit longer here than you plan to.
10 min walk to the next stop
3. CUMBÉ Coffee Roasters
Roma Norte
Unpretentious and laid-back, the kind of room the neighbourhood actually uses rather than photographs. A good place to slow the pace back down before the last two stops pick it up again.
7 min walk to the next stop
4. Panadería Rosetta
Roma Norte
The queue moves fast, and it's worth joining for the vanilla concha and the cardamom bun alone. The coffee is the one weak link on this whole route, order the pastry and treat the espresso as an afterthought.
3 min walk to the next stop
5. Licorería Limantour
Roma Norte
The close, and the reason this route runs on afternoon-into-evening time: does not open until 18:00 on weeknights, 15:00 Friday through Sunday. A cocktail bar that has ranked in the World's 50 Best every year since 2014. Order the Mezcal Creyente.