3 Best Restaurants in Guatemala

Waiters in white jackets and ties move briskly around the pleasant covered courtyard that serves as the main dining room, once the home of Guatemala City's German Club. Founded in 1948, the restaurant is still serving classic Spanish and Basque dishes such as paella, calamares en su tinta (shrimp in their own ink), and for dessert wonderful torrejas (crusty bread soaked in whole milk, evaporated milk, and condensed milk with a touch of anise). A branch in the New City maintains the old style and impeccable service of the original city-center restaurant.

One of the lake's most popular restaurants is affiliated with the hotel of the same name. Look for the A-frame, thatch-roof structure right by the dock as your taxi boat is pulling in. (Many diners arrive that way, although the virtual absence of lake transport at night makes Bambú a better lunch option, unless you're based in Santiago Atitlán.) Spanish cuisine dominates here, corvina and garlic chicken being particular favorites. Fruits, vegetables, and herbs are grown in the on-site hotel garden. A crackling fireplace keeps you warm on chilly evenings, of which there are many here.

The menu here is one of the country's most original, combining flavors from both sides of the Atlantic: you can enjoy such Spanish traditions as paella and roast suckling pig or more local offerings like robalo with a mushroom sauce. During its 25-plus years in business, the restaurant has built a much-deserved reputation for impeccable service.