Here are some of our favorite restaurants in San Miguel, updated for 2009:
Café de la Parroquia, Jesus #11, 152-3161. 7:30 am – 4 pm, until 2 pm Sunday. Closed Monday. Outdoor patio. Great for breakfast. Come back at night to sample tasty bistro fare at the Restaurante La Brasserie, located in the inside dining room to the right of the cafe’s entrance (Tues through Saturday, 5 – 10 pm).
The Restaurant, Sollano #16 (inside the Sollano 16 home décor store in the central patio), 154-7862. This is San Miguel’s newest citadel of haute cuisine, with changing seasonal menus and occasional wine pairing dinners. Expensive, but exquisite, arguably the best restaurant in town. Dinner only, Tuesday – Saturday, 5 pm – 10:30 pm. Reservations are a must. Bar tables in rear, but main dining in courtyard and the red room.
El Pegaso, Corregidora #6; 152-1351. 8:30 am – 10 pm. Closed Sunday. Varied menu, something for everyone! Three great meals a day (plus scrumptious desserts) served by bi-lingual waiters.
Villa Santa Monica, Baeza #22, 152-0427. 8 am – noon, 1:30 – 10 pm. The setting can’t be beat: an elegant courtyard, complete with flowers, birds and a fountain. Great for its Sunday brunch buffet.
Nirvana, Mesones #101 (inside Casa Linda), 150-0067. Daily 8:30 am – 10 pm, closed Tuesdays. Breakfast/lunch/dinner. Modern Mexican fusion cuisine, a favorite of the local ex-pat community. Sit in the cozy dining room or outside in the covered patio. Also has a wine bar. Try the hibiscus quesadillas and the watermelon gazpacho!
El Correo, Correo #23, 152-4951. 9 – 10 pm. Closed Wednesday. Small restaurant, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner close to El Jardín. Sopa Azteca here is one of the best!
Posada Carmina, Cuna de Allende #7-A, 152-0458. 7:30 am – 6 pm. Closed Tuesday. Enjoy a leisurely lunch in an orange-treed courtyard. Good value for the daily prix-fixe comida.
El Campanario, Canal #34, 152-0775. 1 – 11 pm. Closed Thursday. Upscale, traditional Mexican candlelight dining with excellent service. One of the better places for fresh seafood in town.
Planta Baja, Canal #28, at the corner with Hernandez-Macias. 154-6555. Open Sun-Thurs, 1-11 pm, Fri-Sat, 1 pm – 12 midnight. Modern Mexican cuisine, with small plates, grilled items, and a lively bar.
Food Factory, located at Fabrica La Aurora Design Center (inside to the left). Calzada de la Aurora (north of town, just past bridge and to your right). 152-3982. Mon-Sat, 12 noon – 10 pm. Closed Sunday. Lovely bistro with international cuisine. Close to a fun wine bar for before/after dinner!
Bugambilia, Hidalgo #42, 152-0127. Noon – 11 pm. Authentic Mexican food in a patio setting. One of the oldest restaurants in San Miguel. Chiles en nogada are a specialty.
Tio Lucas, Mesones #103, 152-4996. Noon – midnight. A San Miguel classic, across from the Angela Peralta Theater. Excellent steaks, arrachera, and flaming desserts. Live jazz at night. Bi-lingual owner Max is the consummate restaurant host, making everyone welcome.
Harry’s New Orleans Café, Hidalgo #12, 152-2645. Noon – midnight. Creole, Cajun and Mexican cooking. Lively bar scene.
Dila’s, Ancha de San Antonio #31, 152-4050. Tues-Sun, 12 noon – midnight. Closed Monday. Tired of Mexican food? Try San Miguel’s only Sri Lankan restaurant for curries and great noodle dishes. Nice, warm atmosphere.
Hecho en México, Ancha de San Antonio #8, 154-6383. Noon – 10 pm. Consistently good comfort food at reasonable prices served by bi-lingual staff. Try the brownie-a-la-mode and peanut butter pie!
Casa Payo, Zacateros #26, 152-7277. 1 – 10 pm, 9 pm Sunday. Argentinean grill with indoor/outdoor dining areas. Manolo’s Sports Bar is part of the restaurant – widescreen TV.
Pueblo Viejo, Umarán #6, 152-4977. 8 am – 1 am. Good selection of traditional food in a Mexican setting. Music at lunch and dinner. Near El Jardín. Check out the rooftop bar (entrance is inside Pueblo Viejo Restaurant) called La Azotea!
Bella Italia, Canal #21 (inside Plaza Colonial), 152-4989. Daily 1-11 pm. Basic Italian food and pasta. Live entertainment usually on Thurs-Fri-Sat evenings at 8:30 pm. If Gil y Cartas are playing, and Doc Severinsen is there too, you will need reservations in advance!
El Ten-Ten Pie, Cuna de Allende #21 (corner of Cuadrante behind the Parroquia church), 152-7189. Daily 9 am – 1 am. Casual café with great tacos and homemade tortillas. Reasonable prices.
Dining Update – Newly Opened Restaurants in Summer 2009
Even in this difficult economic year, San Miguel continues to be a great dining destination. During your next visit, be sure to check out this variety of new eating establishments, both simple and high-end, which have opened recently in town (and which you won’t find mentioned in any guidebooks yet!):
El Ochenta Restaurante, Calle Mesones # 80; 152-2897. This elegant new restaurant, set in a sophisticated patio between Teatro Angela Peralta and Banco Monex, is operated by the same chef and restaurant staff who previously ran the now-closed Restaurante Azafran. The menu features “modern Mexican” cuisine using seasonal organic local produce and meats prepared with minimal oils and fats. Definitely a more upscale place… Open daily, 8 am to 11 pm.
Socialitte, Calle Correo # 47-A (just above Chiquitos, 2 blocks east of the Jardin); 154-4816. Contemporary Italian fare is presented here by some of the better trained waiters in town. The owner previously ran restaurants in Florida and Playa del Carmen; seafood pastas are a specialty. Prices are mid-range for San Miguel. Open for comida and into the evening. Closed Sundays.
The new El Buen Café, Calle Jesus # 36. Stop by to make a reservation, or send an e-mail: info@mexicocooks.com Well-known San Miguel restaurateur/caterer Kris Rudolph has moved her beloved café to a new, larger setting just down the street from the former location at the corner of Jesus and Pila Seca. For a leisurely breakfast, try homemade biscuits with strawberry butter while dining in the charming garden patio. Kris also prepares great Mexican specialties and offers traditional Mexican cooking classes.
El Gozo, Calle Zacateros # 85 (at Ancha de San Antonio, across from Espinos grocery). This upscale sports bar/café has a variety of chicken wing preparations, light meals and a tasty Philly cheesesteak sandwich. Great if you want a lively atmosphere, with four flatscreen TVs on the walls for watching sports events.
Sappos Restaurante, Paseo del Parque # 10 (in between Ancha de San Antonio and Parque Juarez); 154-7128. Casual Mexican lunches are served in the lovely fountain courtyard of a grand villa. Order guacamole, chicken fajitas and some margaritas…and while away a leisurely afternoon in this peaceful garden setting.
Cerveceria “San Miguel”, Carretera San Miguel/Dolores Hidalgo, Km. 1; 154-7888. This is San Miguel’s first brew pub, with on tap 8 draft beers and a wood-burning domed oven for baking thin-crust pizzas with “Thai Chicken”, “Arrachera Beef” and “Vegetarian” toppings, among others. A variety of hamburgers is also available. Appetizer specialties are the green-fried tomatoes and deep-fried blooming onion flowers. Open daily, noon until closing.
Fenicia, Calle Zacateros # 73 (between Pila Seca and La Aldea); 154-7874. Come here for Comida Libanesa, representing the large Lebanese community in Mexico (Salma Hayek’s family among them). Open for lunch and into the late afternoon (Mon & Tues, 12 – 6 pm; Wed to Sat, 12 – 8:30 pm) for sampling the succulent chicken kabobs, Middle Eastern salads, and delicate baklava.
Mivida Restaurante, Calle Hernandez-Macias # 97; 152-7482. Chef David has arrived in San Miguel from Genoa with his beautiful partner and co-chef Greta to open “Mivida,” an Italian restaurant with a Mexican touch. This is the new place in the same building where Azafran and Gallo restaurants used to be. Try the shrimp tagliatella on homemade fettucine pasta in a shrimp bisque/pinenut sauce, followed by the organic mango sorbet, infused with green tea, cinnamon and anise and served on a bed of chopped fruits.
Woolis Kabaan (a Mayan phrase, meaning “the world goes around”); Calle San Francisco # 25; 152-1860. Chef Guillermo dishes up Mayan specialties from the southern Mexican states of Oaxaca and the Yucatan at this three-room restaurant/bar located just two blocks east of the Jardin. Seafood delicacies such as flounder en papiote and sea bass steamed in banana leaves are offered alongside pork loin tacos with achiote sauce in homemade tortillas, a spicy variation of chile relleno and the traditional Yucatan sopa de lima. Wednesday is shrimp night.