Favorite Restaurants in San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende is one of our favorite places to visit in the world. It is in the heart of Mexico, a colonial town, about 3 1/2 hours north of Mexico City. The temperature averages 72 degrees year round, rarely getting too hot or too cold. The town is filled with a mixture of retirees from the US and Canada and long time Mexican residents. It is a haven for artists, with beautiful scenery to paint and sculpt. It also has become quite the foodie town, with dozens of terrific top notch restaurants, serving every kind of cuisine imaginable.
Since we’ve now been here about a dozen times, gratefully spending weeks not days, we thought we’d compile some of our favorite restaurants in San Miguel de Allende.
Favorite Restaurant for the first night in San Miguel de Allende: Los Milagros Terraza.
Los Milagros
Everyone wants to run to Centro for the first night. On the recommendation of our friends, who live in San Miguel, we start at Los Milagros. The food is terrific, in an authentic experience with fabulous views.
And the margaritas! We visited Los Milagros twice in our recent visit, both for lunch and dinner. We requested Grande Margaritas and they did not disappoint. Hint: when ordering a house margarita, just go with house tequila. Premium tequila is not needed in our opinion.
The view of San Miguel from Los Milagros in the daytime.
Chicken enchiladas in a traditional Verde sauce. They were so delicious, homemade and authentic. Los Milagros is celebrating their 16th anniversary and these delicious enchiladas are part of the reason why.
But in our opinion, the star entrée is Los Milagros’s specialty, The Molcajete bowl. It is a traditional Mexican dish made with either meat or shrimp (or both) served in a volcanic rock bowl that is fired in the oven. It comes out sizzling and stays hot throughout your entire meal. There is cheese on the side that eventually melts into the bowl into the protein, sauce and vegetables. It is sooooo good. Should you go here, we highly recommend giving the Molcajete a try!
In the evenings a live band plays. The whole side of the restaurant is open air, with the most fabulous view of San Miguel. Great restaurant to kick off a San Miguel de Allende visit.
Favorite New Restaurant: Bocaciega.
Bocaciega
Hostería mediterránea or Mediterranean Inn
This is a relatively new restaurant located in Hotel Casa Quebrada. It was recommended to us by friends who live in town, so we decided to try it out. We were so glad we did!
The setting is absolutely beautiful in this new location. Fortunately, the food lived up to the atmosphere. Everything was delicious! The food is Greek, Mediterranean with a touch of Moroccan flavor.
We started with “bread service” as they called it. It was the most delicious Naan bread we have ever had, served warm. Alongside there was a dish of topping for the bread that included, Greek yogurt, honey, nuts and a sweet jelly of sorts. It was a fabulous start to our delicious meal.
We drank a glass of Casa Madero 2V Chardonnay. This is one of our favorite Mexican white wines. It was served perfectly cold and oh so good.
We ordered the calamari, Greek salad and the foie gras croquet. The flavors we all so amazingly delicious in everything. The standout was the foie gras croquet. It was like a traditional tapas type croquet on the outside with the foie gras warm on the inside. A definite must try!
Such a beautiful restaurant with excellent food, unique for San Miguel de Allende. We loved it and will be back on our next visit.
Favorite Date Night Restaurant: Zibu Allende at Live Aqua.
Zibu Allende
Live Aqua opened in San Miguel in 2018. It is a beautiful, stylish hotel that sits at the base of Ignacio Allende dam. We’ve stayed at this hotel previously and found it very beautiful throughout. On this night we just went for dinner.
We started with a field greens salad with brie wrapped in prosciutto. It had a mixture of berries and nuts with a Rasberry dressing. It was delicious and definitely shareable for two.
For dinner, I had the salmon. It was on a cedar plank served with a truffle butter sauce. It was fabulous! The rice had a banana leaf shaped as a pyramid over the top when it was served. The waiter removed it to reveal delicious steaming rice.
Texans get hungry for their steak and this rib eye did not disappoint. It came out on a sizzling cast iron plate. The sauce was a lemon citrus. Overall, this restaurant remains consistent in serving great food in a beautiful atmosphere.
If you want a romantic place to finish the night step upstairs to the Spice Market. On this night we sat outside under the stars with a glass of wine. We loved the food and the experience, once again and will be back!
Favorite Restaurant Where All the Locals Go: Tacos Don Felix
Tacos Don Felix
This is not a restaurant where first time tourists go. It’s off the beaten path, not near the Jardin, actually in a neighborhood. But it is some of the best food we’ve had in San Miguel and maybe in all of Mexico.
Here’s the interesting part; they are only open Friday and Saturday 1-9PM. And more recently, they are open Sunday for breakfast. That’s it! During the week they run the food service for a couple of public schools in town. Those lucky kids get some good food!
It’s a very nice, traditional restaurant from the moment you enter. It’s always very lively and if you hang around long enough in San Miguel, you are sure to see a local you know.
The margaritas are plentiful and delicious! On this night we sat outside on the patio. It was a beautiful night.
My favorite is the Chicken Enchiladas Verde. And oh those beans, they’ve been cooking all day. So, so good!
And then if you are lucky, you’ll get a hug from owners Felix and Dona Guera on the way out! A must try, if you spend any time in San Miguel de Allende.
Favorite Traditional Mexican Restaurant In Centro: La Posadita
La Posadita
When you’re in Centro, walking around the Jardin, staring up at the beautiful Parroquia San Miguel, it would be easy to miss this small doorway. But if you find it, and walk up the stairs, you will find a great restaurant with some of the best views in all of San Miguel de Allende.
La Posadita has been around for a long time. The reason is because it checks all the boxes; great food, friendly service and incredible views of San Miguel. We were there twice on a recent visit and both times started with a little “gift of the chef” or amuse bouche. On this day it was a little flauta, which was delicious.
This was the chili relleno stuffed with just cheese. The portion was big, and so delicious with a mild red sauce. It was served with just rice, great for a mid-day meal.
The second time we visited I tried one of my favorite dishes from the Yucatan Peninsula, Conchinita Pibil. This is a slow roasted pork marinated and cooked in citrus. It is then wrapped in banana leaves to cook, the citrus breaking down the pork to make it incredibly tender. Another important ingredient is usually annatto which gives the dish the dark orange-red color. It is then served with pickled onion, habaneros and fresh corn tortillas on the side. It was probably the best Conchinita Pibil I’ve ever had. A definite must try!
And then on top of great food, this is your view from this beautiful rooftop restaurant. Depending on the time of day, you are also treated to the church bells chiming from the Parroquia. It’s magnificent.
There are 360 views depending on which table you sit at. On this day we enjoyed lunch with our great friends that live in San Miguel and enjoyed what I think is the best table in the house.
Favorite Rooftop Restaurant with Lively Evening Entertainment: Quince
Qunice the Rooftop
If you have one night in San Miguel for a rooftop dinner, this would be my recommendation. The food is very good, but it’s the atmosphere and incredible views that make Qunice a standout restaurant.
It was a little cloudy on this evening and we arrived right at sunset. We had a great table right along the edge with this view to our right.
Our Group Enjoying a Beautiful Evening
This rooftop restaurant is ready for outdoor dining all year round. It has heaters, fans and even patio covers.
We had a bottle of our favorite Mexican wine 3V by Casa Madero.
We started dinner with the Tuna Truffle Sashimi. It was over spring lettuce so it ate like a delicious sashimi salad for two. The truffle sauce, along with the garlic chips made this an outstanding dish. The sushi and sashimi menu is so large, you could just stay with that theme all night.
I got so caught up in the evening, I forgot to take a picture of any more of our food. But everything we had was delicious.
It was right at the end of dinner that THIS started. A tightrope walker going between the roofs of the restaurant with the Parroquioa in the back ground. There was also a violinist playing an electric violin. It was fabulous in an experience like no other.
Here’s a short clip of the fun that night. Listen to the electronic violin playing Have Nagila. Only in San Miguel de Allende!
If that was not enough, the evening ended with beautiful fireworks over the Parroquia.
Favorite Overall Restaurant: The Restaurant
The Restaurant
This is probably one of the most highly rated, well known restaurants in San Miguel. American Chef Donnie Masterton opened The Restaurant in 2008. Many credit him with putting San Miguel on the map as a foodie town and the food lives up any positive review written.
The restaurant is beautiful sitting an a historic building part Mexican colonial and part Moroccan flair. Every detail is well tended to.
On our recent visit we dined twice; once for lunch and once for “Mo’Better Burger Night.” Every Thursday night is burger night, where gourmet burgers are served. It is not to be missed. Unfortunately during this night I was so busy stuffing my face with a “La Suiza” mushroom and Emmental cheese burger I did not get any pictures.
When we went back for lunch we started with this beautiful Shaved Brussel Spouts and Kale Salad topped with pecorino cheese in a lemon vinaigrette dressing. It was absolutely delicious and very light for lunch.
Our friend had the Tandoori Chicken Tacos with cucumber, mint and jalapeno with a tahini-yogurt sauce. They were delicious!
“La Clasica” Burger
There is a burger on the menu every day and this one was fabulous. The chef has a specific blend of meats for the burgers that is ground in house. The Restaurant also prides itself on working local farmers and ranchers to bring the best ingredients to everything.
Our friend had this burger and said it was amazing.
Steve had the Chicken Teriyaki rice bowl. Look at all the beautiful vegetables, along with the chicken topped with Nori. Those of you who know, Steve is pretty good at creating a dish with anything Teriyaki, so when he said this was exceptional, he knew what he was tasting.
But my favorite thing of the day was what I ordered, the Duck Confit Tacos with spicy flor de jamacia-onion jam. They were the perfect balance of spice and savory with the richness of the duck confit, all wrapped in a delicious little corn tortilla.
So there is a theme here that this is a serious foodie restaurant in a beautiful colonial building. It is not to be missed on a trip to San Miguel de Allende.
San Miguel de Allende, a great foodie town and a great place to meet and gather with good friends. The best of many worlds in this beautiful colonial town!
