Vips Tepeyac

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 Calzada de Guadalupe, in Guadalupe Tepeyac, a few minutes from the Basilica of Guadalupe. It is the obvious stop for breakfast or lunch before or after visiting the most-visited shrine in the country.

Getting there and when. Metro La Villa-Basílica, line 6, is nearby. Open 07:00 to 23:00, a wider span than most branches. On pilgrimage days — above all around 12 December — the whole area saturates and the place fills completely: come very early or avoid those dates.