Anyone been to Tlaquepaque?
 

I'm planning a vacation in a non-touristy area of Mexico. I love arts and crafts and am considering Tlaquepaque. Any opinions would be appreciated as well as recommendations for food & lodging.

Have'nt been there for years, but there is a restaurant/cooking school....no name but behind black doors...wonderful. It is/was a lovely craft village and i was able to visit the Sergio Bustamante gallery and also Lillian Puelo dress shop...found many things behind the doors of the old haciendas such as a beautiful hand painted plate which I use to this day...

It's been 6 years since I went to the Rio Caliente spa (www.riocaliente.com) outside of Guadalajara, Mexico. During my visit, I did a daytrip shopping expedition to Tlaquepaque. So many wonderful silver stores .... I didn't even get to the other types of arts & crafts in the town! I cherish the jewelry that I bought there. If I were to go back & stay there, I'd look into La Villa del Ensueno --- http://www.mexonline.com/guad/ensueno2.htm. Looks lovely from its' website and is reasonably priced.

not to hijack this thread, but have any of you been to Chapala Jalisco or Ajiji?
This are is not far I think from Tlaquepaque, and I have heard it's a wonderful retirement area for Americans...?

Not for years to either Tlaquepaque or Chapala or Ajijic... I loved Tlaque for wandering around the little workshops - still have tons of stuff in our apartment from there...
For Frankie - the Chapala/Ajijic is the largest American community outside of the US itself... Unfortunately, unless something has changed in the last 7 years or so, the lake level was dropping drastically due to over use.
I thought the area was "nice" but not necessarily where I would have liked to settle.
Maybe it was a bit too much "Gringolandia" and we prefer more of a local flavor...

Good services etc though and close enough to Guadalajara and even to get to the Pacific coast.

Cheers,
Andrew

thanks, Andrew!
Sorry to hear about the lake level...

We were in Guadalajara for a few days in March 2002. We just spent 1 day in Tlaquepaque, but I loved it! Great shopping and some nice restaurants. I don't remember the name of the restaurant where we ate lunch - I know that one of its recipes was featured in Bon Appetit and everything we ordered was very good. It's a very nice area, and I think there are a few B&B's that are supposed to be good.

How about a dis-recommendation?

I had lunch Sunday in Tlaquepaque at a place called el Patio. It was recommended to me by a local, but I don't particularly recommend it. The atmosphere is very nice, and I loved the female mariachi group they had playing, but the food was quite unexceptional --- I should have been warned when I was handed their gringo-ized spanglish menu with odd translations that made no sense.

The "Aztec soup" was a thin and lackluster tortilla soup and most of the entrees were little more adventurous than carnitas and arrachera. I suppose there exist some folks who would like a place like this...but not me!

Buen proveche!
Mark
www.tiogringo.com

Many thanks for the input. I will use the information to plan a great visit! Gracias.

Was in Tlaquepague last Feb. Stayed at Qunita don Jose. Can't rant enough about the hotel. The owners are quite young ex-pat Americans (ex-bankers!) and the hospitality is bar none. The hotel is close to the best of the art stores, and on the bus route to the best of the historical Guadalajara sites. Allow a minimum of two days.