San Miguel de Allende — sometimes known as the heart of Mexico, sometimes as the best little city in the world, and sometimes as that place that everyone claims to have just discovered — serves many roles. It’s a shopping hotspot brimming with local artisans, a picturesque landscape filled with captivating architecture, and it’s a bustling destination carefully striving to maintain its charm while appealing to the ever-growing influx of both international and domestic travelers.
Beyond visually appealing, San Miguel de Allende is astounding, as if for 500 years the city agreed upon and honed a distinctive aesthetic. It’s optical overload and Instagram heaven with its winding cobblestone streets lined with homes and shops painted in a dozen hues of red, orange, and ocher, flower displays around every corner, and its innumerable gardens, parks, and squares. It is most definitely a feast for the eyes. But what about finding an actual feast? Oh yes, it delivers on that front as well. The city’s culinary scene is sure to tantalize, whether you want a quick bite from a homey shop or traditional market, or an extravagant meal from a formal fine-dining restaurant. Come hungry, come curious, and come ready to try it all.
10 Ways To Taste Your Way Through San Miguel de Allende
Mamá Mela
Forget what you think you know about burritos. Remove that overloaded, Tex-Mex notion from your mind. Now replace it with the thin-rolled, foot-long marvels that are crisped to perfection atop a griddle from within Mamá Mela, a small shop that churns out 200 of them per day.
Owner Humberto pours his heart and soul into the operation, serving up a dozen rich, flavorful fillings such as cochinita pibil, mole, and alambre, along with vegetarian options such as huitlacoche. The shop is little more than a kitchen with a few stools pulled up in front, yet Humberto manages to deliver warm and sincere hospitality alongside the unforgettable tortilla torpedoes that have become his signature.
I’ve sat at the counter sharing laughs with Mexican grandmothers stocking up before heading home to the family for dinner, and fellow visitors searching for a hearty meal. If you travel to seek out legit local experiences, if you want to support small business owners and purveyors, and if you’re eager to do so while enjoying heaping servings of authentic eats, Mamá Mela is a mandatory visit in San Miguel de Allende.
Mercado Ignacio Ramirez
Continue your culinary exploration at the Mercardo Ignacio Ramirez. The city’s central marketplace features rows of vendors with fresh fruit and produce, along with flowers, snack foods, gifts, and crafts, but continue inwards to find what you came for: dozens of food stalls with a sweeping array of specialties. Follow your nose or your eyes to whatever smells or looks the best, with tortas, chilaquiles, tlayudas, tortillas, atoles, and so much more on offer.
NŌIA
NŌIA is a brand new addition to San Miguel’s dining scene. The restaurant is housed within the NUMU Boutique Hotel, itself a new luxury entrant into the town’s hotel space. The property, a member of Hyatt’s Unbound Collection, debuted in February 2023, and features 44 rooms with design inspired by local artists and materials.
Highlights of the hotel include a lush central courtyard — where breakfast at the hotel’s other restaurant, Enrique, is served until 2pm, late sleepers rejoice — and a swanky rooftop pool replete with views of the renowned Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel.
Those views are shared by NŌIA, which is adjacent to the pool on the rooftop and is aiming to make itself a go-to for residents and tourists alike. The restaurant is the domain of executive chef Omar Tovar, who prepares Mediterranean cuisine inspired by his years spent in Spain, while incorporating Mexican ingredients and a few mainstay dishes for those looking for local-centric flavors.
Mercado Del Carmen
Mercado Del Carmen is a more modern spin on a market, taking the form of a food court with more than a dozen purveyors. There are Mexican eats to be found within, but also a range of international offerings, and several full-service bars. It’s a thriving space where you can try a number of different foods in quick succession, and a good choice if your group includes that guy who just wants to eat a burger wherever he goes, even when the rest of you want something falling more squarely in the mole to guacamole spectrum.
Bekeb
Bekeb has put San Miguel de Allende’s cocktail scene on the map. The bar routinely collaborates with big names from across Mexico and New York — founder Fabiola Padilla is an alum of the venerable Cosme from chef Enrique Olvera — and beyond in its quest to showcase the real flavors and indigenous ingredients of Mexico. Even the bar’s name signals its intentions, with “bek” translating to “seed” in the Maya language Tzotzil. The rooftop hotspot also offers an excellent view of the city.
Expect a range of mezze that can be mixed and matched before diving into shareable, large format entrees with an emphasis on seafood and meats prepared with open-flame grilling. Pair your meal with an inventive craft cocktail or a glass of Mexican wine sourced from nearby producers, appreciate the live music and soak up those only-in-SMA views for a memorable evening.
Casa Dragones
Casa Dragones has built a reputation as one of the world’s leading ultra-premium tequilas. Founded by entrepreneur Bertha González Nieves, the brand has deep roots in San Miguel. Its visitor’s center is housed within what was a 17th-century stable for Los Dragones, a local cavalry unit said to have played a crucial role in achieving Mexican independence from Spain.
The renovated space includes two snazzy bars and several display bedrooms showcasing the work of local artisans, along with a gift shop. Offerings include guided tastings and casual sunset cocktails, as well as a food pairing tasting that demonstrates how its lineup of four tequilas was designed from the ground up to be versatile sippers and fit right in not only at the bar, but also at the dinner table.
It’s not open for walk-in visits, though. You’ll need to book an experience in advance, and at a number of hotels in town, the concierge team may be able to help. For instance, NUMU coordinates such an outing for guests, one of the ways the property aims to prioritize and center local activities.
Restaurante del Parque
Restaurante del Parque is part of the Casa de Sierra Nevada, a Belmond Hotel. But as the property is housed within a number of disparate historic structures in San Miguel’s city center, the restaurant itself is a short walk away from the hotel’s primary address. The beautiful, open-air courtyard setting is its own attraction, along with live music and a wine list for several dozen Mexican bottles on offer. Once you’ve arrived, you’ll find a combination of cuisine from Puebla and Oaxaca, a vibrant, bold mash up that puts forward the diversity in Mexican flavors from one region to another.
Not to be missed is an indulgent mole tasting. Four different moles — poblano, coloradito, black chichilo, and rojo — are arranged on a loaded platter, positioned from sweet to spicy so you know what you’re getting yourself into, and served with scratch-made green corn tortillas, rice, and beans. You also have your choice of protein, including chicken or pork. A similar approach is taken to a themed weekly taco pop-up dubbed Tacography, serving up a variety of traditional taco styles.
Tunki
San Miguel de Allende has an abundance of rooftop spaces with inspiring views of the innumerable churches dotting across the town’s sprawl, if that hasn’t been drilled into your head quite enough yet. Add Tunki, also at the Casa de Sierra Nevada, to the list, particularly if you’re on the prowl for a refined libation or two. The bar program was developed by Handshake Speakeasy, so you can be confident in its cocktailing credentials.
The Local’s Approved List
There’s no shortage of trendy, foreigner-leaning restaurants, bars, and cafes in San Miguel right now. For more from the local’s approved lineup, here are a few strong candidates: Raíces Restaurante is equally as popular for breakfast as it is for dinner, and serves a range of hearty Mexican plates; Tacos Don Felix offers up enchiladas, grilled chicken, a range of soups and combo plates, and of course, tacos, but don’t skip the enormous margaritas to wash it down; and be sure to satiate your sweet tooth craving with a visit to Chocolates y Churros San Agustín, an institution you’ll know you’ve nearly arrived at as its wafting aromas begin enticing you from down the street.
Guanajuato Wineries
Valle de Guadalupe is Mexico’s most well known wine region. However, Guanajuato — the Mexican state where San Miguel de Allende is located — is developing a reputation of its own. Within about an hour’s drive of the city you’ll find a number of well-established wineries to visit. The lineup includes the likes of Santisima Trinidad, Cuna de Tierra, Viñedos San Lucas, and Viñedos Toyan, and most offer onsite restaurants alongside their wines. Santisima Trinidad and Cuna de Tierra are in close proximity, and Viñedos San Luca and Viñedos Toya are neighbors, making it easy to visit several in an afternoon for a fun day trip from the city.
Featured image courtesy of NUMU Boutique Hotel; Travel Curator may earn a commission from shopping links on this page
