My favorite steakhouse in Mexico City has been around for more than 90 years. Before the Nazi Party it was called the Swastika, and after, La Tablita. More recently it became Loma Linda, along with a major renovation. In the 40s my grandparents danced there and today it is at the top of its game as the local steakhouse for an affluent area.

Like any fine restaurant in Mexico City, the staff is enormous. A small army of valet parking attendants whisk cars away and block traffic for customers. A grand awning leads through a charming entrance to a sprawling dining room. Waiters display a tray of the daily meat cuts available. They serve chicken too, but almost everyone is ordering beef, which comes in huge 300 or 400 gram portions.

Steaks resemble small roasts and come on a sizzling metal grill heated by coals, served a bit underdone so that they do not overcook too quickly. Accompanying salads are easily made superfluous by the sizzling meat. Some cuts are served with a choice of sauces, but the one on every table is the house specialty, and the source of my personal obsession: chimichurri.

We also ordered favorite guilty pleasures.  Queso fondido is a bowl of melted cheese that you spoon out and eat with tortillas. And the classic dessert, crepes de cajeta, which is caramel made with goat’s milk. After an afternoon at Loma Linda, another Mexican custom is easily observed, the siesta.