Most of what I read about eating in Guadalajara tends to focus on restaurants of old guards at the service of Jalisco classics like Birria, Pozole, Menodo and Tortas Ahogadas. Often neglected is the modern culinary scene of the city and peak.
But there is a lot for a global gourmet to be passionate beyond essay and real. You will find below four destinations cannot miss destinations where Mexican chefs formed in some of the best kitchens in the world offer modern sockets on the classics – or innovate with local ingredients in a entirely theirs.
Xocol
Since 2018, The team of chef and wife of Chef Xrysw ruelas and Oscar Segundo led one of the most creative (and coolest) restaurants in all Guadalajara.
Located in the humble Quarter of the working class Santa Tere, the restaurant combines a dynamic open kitchen with a single long common table extending the entire length of the dining room. The suspension of the black ceiling is hundreds of ears of dried corn Usband and the team of head of the wife Xrysw Ruelas and Oscar Segundo Part Art Installation, political part.
Around the massive dining table, a festive mixture of local gourmets and adventurous tourists dine in the minds of agricultural workers who broke bread after a day in the fields.
“Xokol” is the Aztec word for pinto corn. And while corn is a must for each Mexican cuisine, Xocol chefs promote heritage varieties long absent from the urban culinary scene.
The Xocol menu changes seasonally, giving chefs the opportunity to highlight the versatility of heritage corn. The menu is divided into three sections: sea, no meat and with meat. While fish and crustaceans are present in many dishes, vegetarians are also well supported in Xocol.
If you find yourself tripping over indigenous words and obscure ingredients (like me), staff are ready to help with translations in English.
The out -of -competition dishes of our last visit were a Ceviche de Vivaneau bathed in tiger juices with green cactus pear, pumpkin tamals with a sea sea plan bisque and wild mushrooms with a side of quesadillas and a priest of terrible mushrooms.
Whatever you do, please do not ignore the Taco Mazahua ceremonial with an elaborate design made with indigo ink naturally derived from the Cochenian insect. This signature dish – A vegetarian taco – is better twinned with smoked, tasty and fiery complementary salsas.
The wine list draws strongly from Europe, with dark grape varieties like Gruner Veltliner rarely encountered elsewhere in Guadalajara. There are also local craft beers and cocktails, that is to say fermented potions that have apparently emanated from the laboratory of a crazy scientist.
XOCOL. Herrera and Cairo 1375, Santa Tere, 44600 Guadalajara, Jal. About US $ 75 per person.
Alkalde
Classified n ° 12 In the 50 best restaurants in Latin America in 2023, Alcalde establishes the standard for peak contemporary Mexican cuisine in Guadalajara. Chief chief Francisco “Paco” Ruano brings stellar references, having worked at Mugaritz and Noma before opening the restaurant in 2013.
ALCALDE culinary proposal.Frank cuisine. “” Think of traditional Mexican ingredients with precise European style veneer. The guests can choose from an elaborate tasting menu, which changes about four times a year, or the à la carte menu.
During our last visit, my favorite plate was the octopus of another world at Sikil P’aak. This dish wrinkled on a traditional Mayan recipe from Yucatan, mixing ground pumpkin seeds, roasted tomatoes, habanero peppers, onion, garlic and other seasonings. He delivered smoked, salty, spicy and creamy notes so addictive, I would have licked the bowl if it was not in public.
Another star was a tostada with bar, black beans and peppers, garlic and oil. Inspired by Mexican street food, this dish was prepared using Japanese technique a kombuywhich involves curing sashimi with algae to intensify its flavor.
Besides magnificent food, the service of Alcalde is also exceptional. The staff know all the nuances and details of the ingredients, dishes and drinks. Our server suggested a Roussely Sauvignon White Iron in 2022 of the Loire not listed in the menu as an ideal correspondent for our dishes. He joined forces so well with the meal of which we were talking about a few days later.
Pro tip: be sure to visit the toilets at some point in your meal. The staircase offers a view of the bird’s eyes in the kitchen where this beautiful food gathers.
Mayor’s restaurant. Av. Tasting menu About us 148 per person. Also available à la carte. The vegan guests welcomed with notice.
Sea urchin
The first thing you notice when entering Erizo de Mar, which occupies the ground floor of the Bellwort hotel in Colonia Americaa, is that everything is black, including walls, curtains, bar stools, tables and chairs.
You might be surprised to think …Am I in a nightclub? Once seated, it becomes clear that you have entered a food temple where nothing is intended to compete with food.
Directed by the chief and owner Alfredo “Freddy” Monteros, Erizo de Mar (sea orchin in Spanish) is dedicated to serving the coolest ingredients in Mexican waters. Although it is still relatively unknown even among the inhabitants, Erizo de Mar quickly wins to create some of the most inventive foods in Guadalajara.
While Erizo de Mar offers a à la carte menu, wHe opted for the tasting menu with wine agreements during our last visit. If you are in mood to make follies, the tasting menu rewards you with a full meal presenting the extent of the ingredients and the techniques that this talented kitchen can offer.
The culinary influences of Mexico, Spain, Italy, Japan and China (reflecting the culinary experience of Monteros on 3 continents) could easily be confused. But this is not the case here.
The best plates of our recent meal were a delicate brioche with a caviar and white sturgeon snails, a crab dumpling wonton bathed in a smoked dashi broth with chili oil and a sea bar and a bar Arrow arrow (A Basque technique for cooking fish with its skin to maximize the flavor). For dessert, we enjoyed a light mascarpone ice cream with a cream of Santa Hoja Santa with a Hoja Santa cream.
Drinking options include European and Mexican wines, Spanish Sherry and cocktails with distilled agave minds. A glass that is worth looking for is a white sparkling white wine from San Luis Potosi made exclusively for Erizo de Mar. This is the perfect match for salted and salty crustaceans.
Sea urchin. C. Miguel Lerdo de Tejada 2257, Colora American, worker, 44,150 Guadalajara. Tasting Menu around US $ 84 per person. Also available à la carte.
Garlic
Since he moved to the Providencia district of Colonia Americana in 2023, Allium has really managed to reach his stride – becoming an essential place for local gourmets looking for a satisfactory meal.
We regularly get out of the city guests here because the food is always delicious, fresh and unique. The atmosphere is informal and relaxing, with the best tables on the outside patio in the face of imposing rubber.
The team of chief of Adolfo Galnares and Maria Ortega bring high references to Allium, Galnares having worked in the star of 3-Michelin Arkelarre in San Sebastian, Spain and Ortega in Nobu.
The dishes evolve seasonally, but the fundamental elements never change. The dishes integrate the own allium products as well as ingredients from small local farmers. Think of Lake Chapala vegetables, Antonilco cheeses and Nayarit fish. Their creations embody the best of contemporary meals “from the farm to the table”.
If you happen to visit in the spring, a dish that is worthwhile to be sought is the clues (ant eggs). Although this does not seem to appetite to non-autootone, they are a delicacy sometimes called “desert caviar”. Unlike Caviar de la Mer, the start -ups can only be harvested in the highlands of the central of Mexico between February and April. They are so creamy, nut and delicious!
The other dishes I love in Allium are the messenger fish with capers and a terrly and rich risotto with eightlacoche and smoked shiitake mushrooms. But honestly, I never left Allium, feeling as if I “ordered badly”.
In addition to delicious food, another reason why we love allium is so their competent and attentive servers, who share their deep passion for food with the guests. For my money, it is difficult to eat better in Guadalajara for such an excellent value.
Garlic. Av. Guadalajara. About we 80 per person.
After discovering that life in Mexico was much more fun than working in American companies, Dawn Stoner moved to Guadalajara in 2022, where she lives with her husband, two cats and the tapatío rescue dog. His blog livewellmexico.com Help expatriates to live their best life south of the border.
