Vips Plateros

The chain. Vips is Mexico's most widespread coffee-shop restaurant chain: a broad menu of Mexican and international dishes, breakfast all day, free coffee refills and mid-range prices. For a visitor it solves three specific situations — breakfast early, before anything else opens; something predictable when you do not want to gamble; and a clean toilet plus wi-fi without spending much. All branches take cards.

This branch. On Bulevar Adolfo López Mateos — the Periférico ring road — in Lomas de Plateros, in the west. It is a drive-by branch, built for people circulating on the Periférico or living nearby.

Getting there and when. Metro Mixcoac and Barranca del Muerto, lines 7 and 12, are in the area; there is parking, which is how most people arrive. The Periférico saturates from 07:00 to 10:00 and from 18:00 to 21:00: avoid those windows if you come by car. It closes at 20:00.