7 Best Restaurants in Puebla, Side Trips from Mexico City

High ceilings, dangling wood beams, and distinctive light features hint at the marriage of traditional and contemporary approaches to Mexican cuisine at this stylish restaurant across from Museo Amparo. Creative takes on mole are a specialty, including sweetbreads with escamoles (ant larvae) and a white mole sauce, and 36-hour-braised short rib with an ancho chile adobo sauce, but you'll also find dried-beef tartare with jalapeño oil and blue-corn masa filled with black beans, pork shank, and cotija cheese. Save room for the inventive desserts. 

This eatery does a welcome, contemporary take on the cemita, Puebla's version of the classic Mexican torta sandwich. The smoked brisket comes with a plantain puree and flavorful pepper sauce while the chilaquiles are garnished with watercress in avocado oil. The usually basic milanesa (breaded pork loin) has a Parmesan-garlic breading and artisanal cheese from the nearby town of Chipilo. Terrific soups and salads round out the menu. The stylish decor and hip crowd is a rarity in conservative Puebla.

Among the city's countless restaurants specializing in Pueblo-style mole sauces, this relaxing spot set in a gracious galleried building with wood-beam ceilings, soaring arches, and tile floors is one of the finest. The sampler plate with chicken or cheese enchiladas smothered under three different kinds of mole sauce are a delicious way to learn about the differences in preparation of these complex sauces. Other beloved dishes like Tacos árabes with shaved lamb and albóndigas (meatballs) with a slightly spicy jalapeño sauce are executed perfectly here. The friendly staff can help explain the differences among the many kinds of mole sauces offered. 

Break up your explorations of Pueblo's Centro Histórico with perfectly crafted single-origin coffee or cold brew featuring locally roasted beans from acclaimed Subversivo Roasters at this hip little café around the corner from the colorful Sapos Alley. There are a few tasty food items, too, including flatbread with cheese and ham.

Many are drawn to this restaurant for its dramatic setting in an early 19th-century former Jesuit college that now contains a museum filled with pre-Hispanic artifacts and exhibits, but the superbly crafted traditional Pueblan food is excellent, too. Start with a breakfast of eggs in a stew of poblano chiles, corn, and epazote, or later in the day, try the pork chalupas or guacamole with chapulines (grasshopper) followed by chicken in a green pumpkin-seed mole sauce. There are also a number of international dishes, too, like tuna tartare, and bananas Foster for dessert.

A few blocks south of the Zócalo, there's often a line outside at this beloved ice-cream parlor known for rich and creamy frozen treats. Favorite flavors include avocado, cajeta, and hibiscus.

This longtime favorite is the place for a tasty traditional meal. The interior decoration is typical Puebla—complete with tile floors, colorful murals, and a newspaper stand inside—as is the menu. The mole is as traditional as it comes, and the sopa poblana (a cream soup with poblano chilies, mushrooms, and corn) is exceptional. This is also a great place to enjoy grilled meat.