85 Best Restaurants in Guatemala

An old Antigua favorite, this place has three locations serving the same Guatemalan and Mexican fare. The newest branch is housed in a colonial home, spacious enough to offer indoor and outdoor seating. Musicians stroll about on weekends. The menu includes queso fundido and the restaurant's famous caldo real (a hearty chicken soup). Other locations are the original on 5 Avenida near Parque Central, and a newer branch just across the street from that one.

This restaurant's second-story balcony overlooking Plaza Mayor is a great place to watch the vendors set up on the eve of the market. The pollo chimichurri (chicken in an herb sauce) is one of the best choices from the mostly traditional menu. There are also a few surprises, such as pizza and pasta.

The thatch-roof place a couple of blocks east of Calle Principal with two resident pelicans on the premises—hence the name—is our favorite stand-alone restaurant in Monterrico. You'll appreciate when the server lights a mosquito coil under your wooden table, and you'll dine on a yummy selection of pastas and seafood, all to the accompaniment of soft music. Peruse the book-exchange shelf while you wait.

With two locations within a block of each other, it's hard to miss this longtime favorite. The smaller of the two has patio seating right on the Parque Central, where you can watch the vendors setting up their stalls while you feast on Belgian waffles or sip one of the finest cappuccinos in the country. If you're in a hurry to get to the market, remember that the service here can be miserably slow. The other location, called simply Los Cofrades, a block away on 5 Calle, has a less hectic atmosphere on a second floor that lets you survey the fringes of the market.

Grilled meats are the specialty at Huehuetenango's most elegant restaurant, although simple típica tablecloths are the only nod toward decor, actually making it the sole place in town with any atmosphere. The menu has a surprisingly broad range of options. There are even Chinese entrées, which you won't find anywhere else in town.

An eclectic collection of local handicrafts brightens the walls of this excellent second-floor steak house. The chef, formerly of the Hotel Santo Tomás, grills up a great steak, but there are plenty of other options, including a delicious longaniza (a spicy sausage similar to chorizo). Music and a full bar keep things lively, but not intrusively so.

You'll see the posters and leaflets for this small Thai restaurant—just a scant five tables and extremely informal—all over town, so by the time you get here you feel you already know the place. Look for the circular orchid-symbol sign with no name at the front door. (Orquídea means "orchid.") The English–Spanish menu is a mix-and-match affair. All the dishes, whether pad thai, coconut-milk soup, or green- or red-curry stir-fry, come with a choice of chicken, tofu, or shrimp.

One of Huehue's better eateries offers everything from filet mignon to pizza, which is reputed by many locals to be the best in town. All can be washed down with a nice selection of liquados (fruit or yogurt smoothies). With live music on weekends, this is also a good place for after-dinner drinks.

This modern, family-style restaurant is a good place to stop for lunch or a snack after touring the nearby Parque Nacional or El Calvario. Located on the second floor of a small shopping center, overlooking the street, it offers a wide variety of grilled meats and seafood, as well as lighter fare such as burgers, sandwiches, pizzas, pasta, and salads.

A pretty white colonial facade with picture windows welcomes you to one of Guatemala's best steak houses. Most meats, including the rib eye and chateaubriand, come from the United States, including the specialty of the house, a skirt steak called the churrasco los ranchos. Ask your server to recommend one of the excellent wines from Argentina, Chile, Spain, or France. And save room for dessert, which ranges from tiramisu to tres leches, a type of cake soaked in condensed milk, evaporated milk, and cream.

Tired of frijoles? There isn't a single bean to be found at this café, which serves up outstanding crepes. Choose from a small but creative menu of savory dinner crepes—fill them with vegetables, tofu, chicken, or pork—and sweet dessert crepes—we like the banana–brown sugar–yogurt Jamaica one—or pick and choose among your favorite ingredients. While you wait, you can thumb through a pile of back-issue magazines (including, oddly enough, the New Yorker).

A longtime Old City favorite, this courtyard dining room brims with the charm of another era, from the wooden balconies hung with colorful huipiles to the traditional highland dress worn by the waitstaff. The menu has an extensive selection of both international and Guatemalan fare, and among the desserts the coconut cream pie is a standout. On Sunday there is a brunch buffet with live marimba music.

One of Antigua's best small Italian restaurants serves up homemade pastas and pizzas from a wood-burning oven, and a variety of home-baked breads. Choose from an impressive selection of cheeses and wines sold by the bottle or glass. This is mostly a place to stop for a light bite, rather than a full meal. Most of the seating is outside, but you'll find plenty of covering to duck under on a rainy day.

We could picture Che Guevara plotting the revolution in a corner of this café, a hangout of young expats in the heart of Antigua's language-school district. You'll find some meat on the menu, but vegetarian fare dominates. (We love the falafel and hummus dishes.) The place is immensely popular. Don't be afraid to ask if you can squeeze in if you see no available tables indoors or in the courtyard. There are lectures, in English, on some topic of political interest, each Tuesday evening, and live music many other nights.

The walls are literally covered with travel information at Bahía Azul, the most popular tourist restaurant in town. If you're thinking about a trip, you can probably arrange it here. At the curve on the main street, its porch is a great place to watch people stroll past. The large menu includes everything from sandwiches to lobster. Most nights include live drumming by a local band.

The name means "beautiful" in the language of the Q'eqchí, and that's an apt description for the best eatery in El Estor. Built over the water, the palm-thatched building is the perfect place for a breakfast with a view of the majestic Sierra de las Minas or for a dinner accompanied by a spectacular sunset over Lago Izabal. You may even get a chance to snap a photo of a fisherman delivering the catch of the day. Call ahead of time to enjoy a bowl of seafood tapado, a hearty stew prepared with coconut milk and plantains, or stop by anytime for lake perch or river robalo. For dessert, try a pineapple smoothie.

If you're looking for delicious, authentic, homemade Guatemalan food at great prices, you've come to the right place. There's a good chance your whitefish was caught from the lake that morning, and the tortillas are homemade with pride. The grilled chicken is mouthwatering, and the soup is a must-try on a cooler day. The thatched-roof, open-air restaurant is nothing fancy, but you'll get attentive service—and breakfast, lunch, and dinner all hit the spot.

A longtime favorite in Puerto Barrios, this grass-roof restaurant is one of the few right on the water. On a hot afternoon or steamy night the ocean breezes are a tremendous relief. Seafood is the specialty here, especially the tapado, a hearty fish-coconut soup.

This bistro caters to foreign students, so the menu covers a lot of bases. Some dishes aren't the least bit Parisian, such as the succulent chicken-curry kebab. It's all prepared with flair, however. The ambience at this second-floor restaurant is definitely imported, and slightly bohemian, courtesy of the paintings of cabaret scenes. There's also a bar with an extensive wine list.

Stop by on Tuesday evenings; it's movie night, with a French or Italian film (with Spanish subtitles).

For the best curry this side of the Darién Gap head to this small bistro, which sits near the beach. The menu features such international favorites as Israeli shockshuka (an egg soup), chow mein, and chicken à l'orange. Meals all come with tasty salads and garlic bread. The intimate, rustic feel will keep you content while you wait for your meal, which takes a while to arrive.

This big, raucous restaurant/bar in the Plaza Fontabella shopping complex is the Guatemalan outpost of the popular American chain. As the name implies, the food is Italian, with favorites including fettuccine frutti di mare (with seafood), ravioli alla Bolognese (with a variety of meats), and the quattro stagione (four-season) pizza. Top it all off with chocolate mousse, homemade ice cream, or a cappuccino or espresso brewed in an authentic Italian coffee machine.

It's a good place to bring kids if you're looking for familiar cuisine and surroundings.

Take a break from shopping at this tiny eatery—you'll find just 10 tables here—with plain decor on the corner of the Parque Central. This place offers a huge selection of sandwiches—choose from chicken, various cheeses, ham, roast beef, or club—or opt for the daily lunch special, with a main course, usually chicken-based—perhaps a pepián, with a side of rice and vegetables—for Q25. You can fortify yourself early in the day, too, with a breakfast of omelets or pancakes.

Chichi's best selection of hot beverages is served up at Tzigan Tinamit, a small café that sits on the corner of 5 Avenida and 6 Calle, the street you are likely to walk between your minivan shuttle and the market. These folks brew up all manner of cappuccinos, espressos, mochas, and hot chocolate, all perfect to wrap your hands around on a chilly day, of which there are many here. Not that you're likely to be lugging your laptop here on market day, but you'll find Wi-Fi access, too.

Satisfy your sweet tooth on the porch of Café Zurich, a former colonial home. The menu has specialty coffees as well as chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate.