Guanajuato Restaurants

Valenciana is a lovely area in the northern edge of Guanajuato. This restaurant is located int the 18th century home of the former Count of Valenciana (supposedly owned/commanded one of largest silver mining operations in the area.)

The setting is beautiful--opt for dining in the inner courtyard. There is an art gallery onsite. It is a nice oasis where you relax, have a leisurely meal, and enjoy the fine food.

The menu is very eclectic, with some Mexican food items with a "nuevo" flair, as well as some European type dishes.

Some may describe this as a tourist trap, as when we were there, almost all the patrons were "gringos", but hell, the food was good, reasonable and the setting beautiful.

Favorite Dish: My mother had "Carcoles a la provencal" basically escargot provencal style. The disclaimer here is that my Mom is a VERY picky eater, and she was about to forego lunch altogether. But when she saw escargots on the menu, she perked up and ordered some. She loved them, so they must have been pretty good.

I had a delicious and refreshing cold soup--"Sopa Fria Angela" which was a cold soup made of chile poblano, yogurt and grapes. I also had a Caprese salad (pictured here)--your basic tomato, mozarella, basil/lettuce drizzled with olive oil salad--a sort of standard dish that I can enjoy anywhere, but here it was artfully presented, and yes, delicious, too.

The real signature of this place is the Te Helado de la Casa, or the House Iced Tea. After a warm day of sightseeing, it was so nice to sit down and have a huge class of this delicious iced tea flavored with citrus juices and not overly sweetened (I prefer my iced tea unsweetened, so I was afraid it would be sugary sweet--to my delightful surprise, it was sweetened just right--just a touch so not as to overpower the tea and citrus flavors.)

This is a little "puesto" on a public place of Gto. The Guero (the guy who makes the food...) is there every night, and serves the best tacos, quesadillas, tortas, etc... Ok. You will not see a complete restaurant structure, but don't be affraid. I ate there all the time and wasn't sick. Just don't put too much sauce, because its very spicy and sometimes your stomach wont take it!

Favorite Dish: QUESADILLAS MIxtas! Its a tortilla with melted cheese, beef, and sausage (?)... after that, you can add wathever sauce you like. hummmmm delicious!

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While I was in Guanajuato, I changed my Facebook status to read, "Carly is in Guanajuato, which is really just El Midi Restaurant surrounded by a few old buildings and churches and parks and stuff." El Midi is one of the best restaurants I have eaten at lately, and it also happens to be one of the most affordable. The best time to visit El Midi is in the afternoon, when they have their fantastic lunch buffet available. It's a cold buffet featuring an amazing variety of vegetables (grilled, marinated, in salads, mixed with couscous, etc.), fresh quiches and loaves, and a few dishes with chicken and salmon as well. You pay by weight for what you eat, and I found a light lunch to cost about 30 pesos ($3), with a huge lunch costing 55 pesos (about $5.50). El Midi also has insanely delicious aguas frescas - don't miss the papaya melon flavour! In fact... don't miss any of it. Just go!

From the main square, look behind you, straight up, right behind the San Diego Church. See the restaurant, is it blue, than thats it. You have to climb a few flight of stairs, but once you get there, the food and view was worth the trip. Its an Italian restaurant in the center of Guanajuato.

Favorite Dish: The Lasagna, the chicken. The sauce was excellent. The wine was great. Service was excellent..

Trying to find this place was the first problem. The winding streets, the backroad, the narrow alleys. I remember walking towards the College, and there it was. Its an old house converted into a restaurant with several rooms and only a couple of tables in each room.
The ambience is fantastic. The food was great, the service was excellent.

Favorite Dish: Chcken, sauce was excellent.

La Bohemia is a small restaurant conveniently located in Guanajuato's main plaza (Jardín de la Unión) that opened for business on April 2, 2009. Don't let the recent opening dissuade you from eating there, though. The owner has more than 42 years of experience in the hotel and restaurant business. When this property became available a few months ago, the owner decided to combine his two existing restaurants and move to the new location.

The restaurant offers several breakfast choices including omelets, eggs, chilaquiles, French toast, pancakes, a fruit plate, and cereal. For lunch and dinner, it offers everything from quesadillas, hamburgers, and sandwiches to steak, fish fillets and stuffed chicken breasts. The menu also includes several soups, salads, appetizers and desserts.

For a filling meal that won't break your budget, try the meal of the day for $55 pesos. The menu rotates from day to day and includes your choice of two soups and two entrees, salad, rice, bolillos (French bread-type rolls), and a fruit drink. The owner says he has about 50 different meals that he plans to rotate for the meal of the day.

Vegetarians who eat eggs and cheese can have a good meal here as the menu offers a couple of meatless egg dishes, chilaquiles, cheese enchiladas, mixed vegetable salad, green salad, guacamole, beans, quesadillas, queso fundido, several soups, and spaghetti.

Besides coffee, tea, soft drinks, and fruit drinks, the restaurant offers a wide variety of alcoholic drinks.

The service is very good. The food is tasty, well-prepared, and attractively presented.

One thing that impressed me was that the silverware and napkin for each place setting were placed in plastic bags instead of sitting open on the tables.

There are four sets of French doors along two sides of the restaurant, which are kept open during business hours. It is pleasant to sit inside but still have a breeze and be able look out into the plaza. In the evenings, you can listen to the music of several mariachi bands that stroll around the Jardín.

The restaurant is open from 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. and also offers delivery.

Coming soon: New, more comfortable chairs and the menu in both English and Spanish

Favorite Dish: My favorite dish so far (though there are many other choices I can't wait to try!) is milanesa de pollo. This is a chicken cutlet (pounded very thin) that is lightly breaded and fried. It is served with a mound of rice and vegetables, and a small salad (more like a garnish) of shredded lettuce, a couple of slices of cucumber, a slice of tomato and a drizzle of salad dressing. The milanesa was cooked just right....not greasy or too crispy. The salad dressing tasted freshly-made.

The dish was attractively presented and the food was fresh and very tasty. The price ($55 pesos) is about average for downtown Guanajuato.

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El Tapatio is a cute hole-in-the-wall type place directly across the street from the university. It serves a variety of traditional Mexican dishes, and posters featuring photos of the food can help you decide what to order if the menu fails you. I opted for a Guanajuatan speciality- enchiladas mineras. These cheese-filled enchiladas come with a big scoop of sauteed carrots and potatoes on top (as well as the prerequisite extra cheese). The food was good and the service was great- the waiter recognized the people I was eating with from a former visit and joking asked them when they'd be back again.

Panaderia La Luna is a great place to pick up fresh baked goods in the morning, especially if you're staying on the east end of town (for example, at Casa Mexicana or the official Hosteling International hostel). Follow my bad directions below and surely you'll get there sooner or later. In the "historic center", baked goods go for about five pesos each, whereas at Panaderia La Luna they're closer to half that. Get there early in the morning (around 8:30) for the freshest muffins (that taste like angelfood cake), rolls and mini-loaves around.

Favorite Dish: DIRECTIONS:
I've searched and searched for an address for this little bakery but I can't find one! Basically, if you're walking to Cafe Tal, heading uphill, just keep going. Go past the market (you can take the pedestrian bridge if you want) and the bakery is a few doors up on the right. We timed the walk from Casa Mexicana (a hostel) and it's four minutes- if you've walked more than six or seven minutes you're definitely on the wrong track.