9 Best Restaurants in Guatemala

You'll feel like a guest in a private home when you arrive at this restaurant. Take your pick of tables, which are on a patio with cascading orchid plants, by a small pool, festooned with candles and flower petals, in the rear garden, or in one of the elegantly appointed dining rooms. The menu includes homemade pasta dishes, such as anolini served with a creamy pepper-and-cognac sauce, as well as fish and meat dishes served with a variety of sauces. All the vegetables are organic, and the bread is baked right on the premises.

Guatemalan colonial meets French country bistro at this eatery two blocks east of Parque Central. Trout amandine, pied de cochon, and steak frites with béarnaise sauce make up some of the French-themed highlights on the menu, along with an ample wine list that features mostly Chilean and Argentine vintages. You'll find a whimsical hog theme throughout, with pewter, ceramic, and wood pigs used to decorate the room with its dark wood and worn, exposed stucco walls. Lighting is low and romantic, with small spotlights and chandeliers made from frosted-white glass bottles. Jazz and blues provide the background music.

You half expect Enrico Caruso to emerge from the shadows when you walk into this trattoria a couple of blocks from La Merced church. It's generally a bit cluttered and crowded, and it fills up quickly. You'll find overflow seating on the back patio, but sitting out there isn't nearly as atmospheric. For an Italian restaurant, the selection of pastas is small, but the café's signature plates are its various tenderloin dishes—we like the beef prepared with Gorgonzola cheese, nuts, and rosemary. There's also a wide selection of paninis and gelato.

For an around-Guatemala tour of the country's cuisine, we like this down-home New City restaurant with its bright yellow walls and colorful textiles hung from the ceiling. The emphasis is on meat, including typical national dishes such as pollo loroco (chicken-and-vegetables), pepián (chicken fricassee in pumpkin and sesame sauce), and kaq'ik (a turkey stew from Alta Verapaz). Be sure to accompany whatever you order with the restaurant's warm homemade tortillas.

Panajachel's most elegant restaurant, Casablanca has a white-walled dining room with windows overlooking the main street. The handful of tables on the upper level is much more intimate. The menu is ample, if a bit overpriced, and includes a few seafood and fish standouts such as lobster and black lake bass, as well as tenderloin in a green-pepper sauce. Musicians occasionally entertain.

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.

This fun place behind the cathedral has gained cachet with Antigua's foreign population, expat and tourist alike, who have made it one of the city's liveliest restaurants. You'll find a good selection of pizzas and pastas on the menu, along with less traditional dishes such as panfried salmon and grilled beef fillet with sautéed spinach. Italian music—it might be Sinatra, it might be Pavarotti—wafts through the three dark-wood rooms (one upstairs), along with convivial chatter from the spirited bar, making it an especially good place to eat if you're here with a group.

Located in the Plaza Fontabella shopping center, this upscale Chinese restaurant is decorated in a contemporary Asian theme, with slate floors, black booths, and painted murals. Through a picture window you can watch your food being prepared in the spotless, state-of-the-art kitchen. Or if you'd prefer to sit outside, there's a pleasant row of tables with the feeling of a sidewalk café. The menu is an eclectic mix of classics such as Peking duck and beef with ginger, as well as owner/chef Jake Denberg's special creations, like crab wontons and shrimp with chile sauce. The barbecue ribs make a great way to start the meal, and the fried plantains with homemade ice cream are the perfect ending.

Located in the heart of the Zona Viva, this popular eatery feels more like the beach, thanks to its setting in a huge palapa surrounded by tropical plants. At dinner the soft lighting and candles on the tables make for a romantic atmosphere. Although the menu includes a good selection of meat and fish, the specialties of the house are national dishes such as jocón and pepián; Kacao is also one of the best places in town to try an assortment of Guatemalan tamales. Waiters wear traditional dress, and to complete the effect, lively marimba music plays on the stereo.