22 Must-Visit Restaurants in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Published November 18, 2022

There’s no denying it. San Miguel de Allende is gorgeous. In some ways, it reminded me of Prague. It’s almost too pretty to be real.

This colonial-era city nestled in central Mexico’s Sierra Madre mountains has been dubbed the “most charming small town in Mexico”, famous for its cobblestone streets, baroque architecture, and old world charm.

For the past fifty years or so, San Miguel de Allende has been a popular destination for American expats and tourists. It’s so accustomed to welcoming foreigners that an estimated 10% of its population isn’t Mexican. Some go so far as to describe it as “Mexico’s Disneyland for adults”. It’s a fairytale destination that oozes with charm though it can feel overly gentrified at times. This manifests itself in many ways, one of the most noticeable being the food.

While it isn’t hard to find upscale Mexican cuisine or boutique hotel restaurants in San Miguel de Allende, it’s a little harder to find good local food. The street food scene is nowhere near as gritty or exciting as Guadalajara or Mexico City, but if you look hard enough, then you’ll find the real San Miguel coexisting with the city’s many trendy restaurants and third wave coffee bar concepts. You’ll just have to stray farther from the city center to find them.

Anyone who knows us well knows that local food, especially street food, is what really turns us on about a new destination. Touristy restaurants don’t do it for us so we scoured the internet, asked locals, and did a lot of walking to find what we believe to be the best restaurants in San Miguel de Allende.

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