Mexico City: tamales at dawn, chilaquiles by nine
In Mexico City the working morning starts with tamales and atole, sold from steamer pots outside Metro stations and in market corridors from about 6am. Around San Juan Market and the streets off Calle Regina in Centro, vendors sell tamales de rajas and de mole wrapped in banana leaf; expect to pay a few coins, hand over small notes, and eat standing up. Later, from about 8am, fondas in Roma Norte and Condesa serve chilaquiles verdes or rojos with crema, queso fresco and a fried egg, usually with a basket of bolillos.
Sunday is the exception worth planning around: the tianguis markets in Coyoacán and along Avenida Amsterdam fill with quesadilla and tlacoyo stalls from mid-morning. If you are staying near the Zócalo or Bellas Artes, walk to a fonda rather than ordering hotel breakfast — the difference in both quality and character is considerable. For a relaxed sit-down start, I would book a hotel in Roma Norte or Condesa, where cafés open by 7:30am and the streets are quiet before the traffic builds.
Oaxaca and Puebla: the two breakfast cities
Oaxaca does breakfast unusually well. In the Mercado 20 de Noviembre and Mercado Benito Juárez, stalls open around 7am with tlayudas, enfrijoladas and memelas topped with quesillo; the chocolate and pan de yuca stalls nearby are a fixture of local mornings. A few blocks out, cafés near the Zócalo and on Calle Macedonio Alcalá serve Oaxacan-style hot chocolate with egg bread, and breakfast plates of huevos con tasajo. Eat before 9am to have the market passages to yourself; by 10am on Saturdays it is shoulder to shoulder.
Puebla's signature morning dish is chilaquiles, often with a dark, sweetish mole poblano, and cemita rolls sold from bakeries by 7am. The streets around the Zócalo and the Barrio del Artista are the easiest base; from there you can walk to the Mercado Victoria for a full breakfast. Note that many kitchens in Puebla are slower on Mondays, when some family-run places close. Between the two cities, Oaxaca wins for market theatre, Puebla for a calmer, sit-down start — take the four-hour bus between them if you want both.
Veracruz and the Gulf: eggs with the sea in view
On the Gulf coast the morning is lighter and earlier. In Veracruz city, cafés around the Plaza de Armas and along the malecón open around 6:30am, serving café de olla and plates of huevos motuleños or a simple order of eggs with frijoles and tortillas. Further south in Tlacotalpan, a small town on the Papaloapan river, the pace drops further and breakfast is a long, unhurried affair — worth a night if you are driving the coast. Portales cafés are the local institution; pick one with tables under the arcade and watch the square wake up.
Coatzacoalcos and the oil towns are functional rather than charming for breakfast, so do not plan around them. Best months for this coast are November to March, before the heat and humidity peak; from June to September mornings are sticky and many places open later. If you are moving between Veracruz and the Yucatán, treat breakfast as your main meal before a long drive — a proper sit-down start of an hour is worth the early alarm.
Yucatán: cochinita, panuchos and a slow start
Mérida's morning food is distinct from the rest of the country. Cochinita pibil is a breakfast dish here: stalls and fondas in the Mercado Lucas de Gálvez and around the Plaza Grande sell it from about 6:30am, piled into tortillas with pickled red onion, until it runs out by late morning. Panuchos, salbutes and huevos motuleños appear on the same menus. The Santiago and Santa Ana neighbourhoods are quieter, with neighbourhood cafés that open by 7am and fill with locals rather than visitors.
In Valladolid, breakfast near the main square is easy and cheap, and fruit stands along Calle 41 sell cut papaya and mango from early morning. On the Riviera Maya, hotels in Playa del Carmen and Tulum set breakfast buffets, but the better-value option is a walk into the nearest town centre for a fonda. For Yucatán, I would book in central Mérida for three nights, then move to the coast — the city's morning food is the reason to be there, and distances are short enough to walk between markets and hotels.