This past October I was lucky enough to visit Guadalajara.
And one of my favorite things about Guadalajara is the quality of the food. The food is amazing.
And best of all? You don’t have to break the bank to get a great meal. Your dollar goes very fall in the city. I ate out pretty much every night when I visited the city.
Three restaurants I ate at in the city really stood out to me, so I decided to do a quick post about each one.
Here are in my opinion the three best restaurants in Guadalajara:
1. La Chata
Out of all the restaurants I ate at in Guadalajara, I think La Chata was one of the best in terms of traditional Mexican cuisine and the speed of the service.
The restaurant is in the historic district, a few blocks south of Guadalajara Cathedral.
I actually met a woman at the airport who recommended this restaurant to me. Her name was Beatrice, so if you’re reading this, thank you so much!
The food here is incredible and it’s really cheap as well. The restaurant has been around the 1940s (I believe).
But because the food is so good, you’ll often have lines out the door. I waited about 15 or 20 minutes to get a spot when it was around 9 PM.
There’s also a big line during the lunch hour. I went back for lunch a few days later and waited about 15 minutes.
The front of the restaurant is where all the chefs work from. They cook everything in plain sight to there’s nothing to hide from. Everything is made fresh and cooked right before your very eyes.
The food is incredibly rustic. It’s just like a home made meal.
In the end, I had the chicken entree, a desert, and two beers. Guess how much that cost? A whopping $11!
Most of the staff don’t speak English, but there’s usually one or two members who are able to understand a little.
The restaurant has a very diverse menu, which includes pork, chicken, tacos, soups, and a lot of other items. And they also have milkshakes. I didn’t order one, but they looked very good.
I would highly recommend getting one of the chicken platters. The chicken is cooked in an open pot (looks kind of like a wok) and it’s incredibly tender and soft. It basically falls apart when your fork sinks into it!
2. Lula Bistro
I had my eyes on Lula Bistro ever since I started researching for my big Guadalajara trip.
There were so many positive reviews on TripAdvisor and on other travel blogs.
And when I found out the head chef, Darren Walsh, had worked at several Michelin Star restaurants in Paris, I decided I needed to check this place out ASAP!
The actual restaurant is designed beautifully. It has very open space and looks kind of like a loft. The bar looks amazing and they have a ton of wine and whiskey bottles on display in the back.
The waitress for my table didn’t speak the best English. I know for some people that’s not a good thing, but I actually didn’t care. It made the experience a lot more interesting, because I didn’t know what I was eating haha.
Anyways, the one thing that can be said about this place is WOW!
The restaurant is sort of a fusion, but not in the traditional sense. Basically, Darren brought over some of Europe’s cooking techniques and applied it to traditional Mexican cuisine.
The presentation on all of the food was spot on. They looked like pieces of art!
If this restaurant was anywhere in Western Europe, it would most certainly have one ( and maybe two) Michelin Stars. Yep, it’s that good.
This restaurant doesn’t get as much respect as it should.
The quality of the good is top notch and the service is excellent too.
When I was there they only had tasting menus (8, 10, and 12 course dinners). Of course I opted for the 12 course dinner, which was 1,600 pesos.
Let me tell you, for 1,600 pesos (about $80 bucks), this is a freaking steal! My total turned out to be 2,200 peos because I ordered an old fashioned, a few glasses of whiskey, and an espresso to cap off the night.
Out of all the dishes, here were my two favorites:
1. Passion fruit cheesecake
Hands down my favorite part of this dish was the passion fruit cheesecake. It was so good. The plating was amazing and the sorbet melted in your mouth.
The cheesecake was nice – very dense and had nice texture to it because of the walnut and fruits on the top.
2. Tuna Tartare
I think this is one of the best tuna tartare’s I’ve ever had!
It’s made from fresh yellowfin tuna (my favorite!). One of the really cool elements was the addition of bits of apple in the dish.
I’ve never had apple paired with tuna before, so it was a nice surprise.
Needless to say….I pretty much gobbled the dish in two bites!
I think my only complaint of the restaurant is how fast they cook! I know…it’s a weird complaint. But it felt like when I finished a dish, the next one would come out about two minutes later.
I would have liked more time between the tastings to sip on some whiskey and think more about what I just ate.
Overall, this restaurant gets an A+ easily. If you’re in Guadalajara this place is 120% worth the money!
3. Hueso
Hueso was recommended to me by my friend Clayton at Experience Tequila.
The restaurant is a little off the main strip and actually looks like a house.
Hueso means “bone” in Spanish. And when you walk into the restaurant you’ll understand why they named their restaurant this!
The restaurant is name Hueso because there are a lot of animal bones on display at the restaurant. You’ll see various animals like bulls, cows, and more.
And the restaurant is basically all white. The floor is white marble (I believe) and the walls are white as well.
There’s only one long central table that goes almost the entire length of the restaurant. The restaurant stresses a communal eating environment.
Basically, you are sat next to complete strangers. I actually like this restaurant concept because it allows you to talk to people from completely different backgrounds.
I talked to a nice family that was visiting from Mexico City and a couple that were from the area.
The kitchen is out in the open as well. You can peak in and watch the chefs cook in action. And they are super friendly as well in case you have any questions!
I opted for the 5 course tasting menu at the restaurant.
Like Lula Bistro, they cook with many traditional European cooking techniques and even sous-vide some of their meats!
The food is excellent. One of the things I really loved about the restaurant is they tailor the tasting menu to you. Basically, they ask if there’s certain foods you don’t like and try to really gauge the kind of food you’ll likely respond well to.
One of my favorite dishes from the menu was the clams (my second tasting dish). The broth was so amazing – better than anything I have ever tasted.
And they gave you some nice bread to go with the dish (not pictured). The bread was awesome…crunch on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside – just how I like it!
My favorite part of the tasting menu was the pork. They sous-vided the pork (I forgot for how many hours) and the meat was so tender.
It basically fell apart as soon as my fork touched it!
And the fat was rendered down well.
And don’t forget about desert! They sent me a giant cheesecake with assorted berries. It looks bigger than the picture here.
The cheesecake was nice and rich – my favorite was the strawberries.
Looking back it’s funny how both Lula Bistro and Hueso served me cheesecake as a desert haha.
Also, many of the staff here speak excellent English. In fact, I would say they spoke some of the best English I encountered at restaurants in the city!
Final thoughts on the best restaurants in Guadalajara
Overall, I had a great time eating in Guadalajara. The food was amazing and you don’t really have to break the bank to eat great food.
If you’re in the city, I would highly recommend checking out these places. I ate at probably 15 – 20 different places in my week in the city and these stood out to me!
If you have any other food recommendations in the city, be sure to leave a comment below!