When Deann and I moved back from Mexico in the mid-‘80s, one of our goals was to introduce folks to both the diversity of Mexican cuisine and the splendor of Mexico City’s restaurants.  Nothing with the elegance and sophistication of San Angel Inn or Hacienda de Los Morales—the two top spots at that time— existed here, and I dreamed of creating a restaurant we could grow to match them.

Though I was still quite an inexperienced chef when we opened Topolo in 1989, my first menus explored many of Mexico’s classic seafood dishes—the ones I’d written about in my first cookbook—through a fine-dining lens.  And in the starters of those opening menus, I always included Caesar salad.  Yes, it was invented in Tijuana, but I included it to offer comfort for those for whom the rest of the menu might be a challenge.

Times have certainly changed, and Topolo has gone through many iterations and garnered many awards, including restaurant of the year from the James Beard Foundation and 13 years of Michelin stars. Topolo chef de cuisine Meagan O’Connor has poured over three decades of changing menus and culled these gems—seen anew through 2025 eyes—to represent our greatest milestones. We’ve even included a nod to Topolo’s most unusual iteration—during COVID—when we packed up the dinner’s mise en place and armed our guests will a how-to video for finishing each course at home.