Nanostructured mesoporous carbons are widely used in catalysis, adsorption and energy storage. Unlike conventional carbons, the textural properties of nanostructured carbons can be easily adjusted during synthesis. This design of the mesostructure allows to process large molecules by addressing the diffusional limitations/pore blockage which might occur in purely microporous carbon materials. Many synthetic approaches have been reported for the synthesis of mesoporous materials, either with a disordered mesoporosity (carbon gels), or with ordered porous systems (templated carbons). Carbon gels are synthesized by sol-gel processing through the polymerization of hydroxybenzenes and aldehydes. On the other hand, carbons with a periodically arranged mesoporous network can be obtained from the same precursors in the presence of templates, which may be rigid inorganic solids (hard-templating) or supramolecular assemblies (soft-templating). Controlling the surface chemistry is also a critical step in the development of high-performance materials; this can be achieved by doping with heteroatoms and functionalization with surface groups. The design of both texture and surface chemistry allows tuning the properties, thus leading to materials that meet the requirements of the targeted applications. The fundamentals, recent advances and the main challenges related to the preparation of nanostructured mesoporous carbon materials are presented in this review.