Richard Castillo

The Path

Today, Richard Castillo is chef of Fonda Margarita.

The Work Today

At the restaurant, Castillo’s work is defined by Traditional Mexico City breakfast fonda cuisine. The tools are part of the identity: clay pots and 100 percent coal-fired grills, used as the kitchen’s standard method rather than a nostalgic flourish. His own description is direct: "We’re traditional, and there aren’t many traditional places left in Mexico City. We still cook using clay pots and 100 percent coal-fired grills." The line explains both the method and the position the restaurant occupies in the city’s breakfast culture. Tradition, here, is not an adjective pasted onto a menu. It is a way of cooking, a choice of vessel, a source of heat, and a set of recipes that tie present service to earlier hands. That is what gives Castillo’s current role its clarity. He is not presented through novelty or a circuit of headline kitchens. He is presented through repetition with purpose: breakfast service, clay pots, coal fire, and dishes whose roots reach back to Margarita Lugo de Castillo’s cooking.

In Their Words “We’re traditional, and there aren’t many traditional places left in Mexico City. We still cook using clay pots and 100 percent coal-fired grills.”

Acclaim

Richard's honors include Opinionated About Dining Cheap Eats in North America list, rank 30 (2025), Opinionated About Dining Cheap Eats in North America list, rank 21 (2024), and Opinionated About Dining Cheap Eats in North America list, rank 23 (2023).