CHEF in 86-year-old restaurant | Instant food eaten immediately Chef Gra...

Chef Alexander Suástegui, who grew up in Sinaloa and Tijuana, knows that those carts dish up the best food, at the best prices. "You don't need to have a fancy chair or polished service," she says. A veteran of many of the city's top spots, including Pujol and Quintonil, Suástegui serves mussels in a chiltepin chile sauce under a mural of a Baja sunset with pink palm trees at her restaurant Costela, which she opened in Colonia Cuauhtémoc in November. Encouraging her guests to wear flip-flops to dinner, she is candid about her vision. "I don't want to open another restaurant to be like the others. I want to have fun; I want to share my food, my table," she says. She uses her culinary school training and technical knowledge to make what she calls "chill-out" versions of seafood dishes, including octopus tostadas with fresh and dried shrimp and Baja-style puffer fish tacos.

That same philosophy is shared by Roaro. "People are not looking for pretentious food," he says. They still want great meals and cool presentation, but more than anything, they want a good time. Fun fonts, quirky style choices, and bold colors—such as green at Con Vista al Mar, orangey-red at Costela, and yellow at Mi Compa Chava—telegraph the lively party atmosphere at each of the restaurants. "I'm obsessed with the vibe," says Suástegui. Customers are, too: Orozco is planning to open a second Mi Compa Chava, and Roaro celebrated the anniversary of Con Vista al Mar by opening a third outlet. "Everyone wants to eat good seafood," says Cámara of the trend. But the idea of chefs at the peak of their careers choosing to open restaurants serving hangover food—and turning them into the most coveted tables—hit the Mexico City food scene like a rogue wave, surprising and invigorating it. Creative, precise, and playful, each evokes a specific corner of the Mexican coast, serving tiny vacations in the form of briny bites and spicy, seafood-stuffed beach energy.