8 Best Restaurants in Querétaro, San Miguel de Allende and the Heartland

Nothing fancy here, just some of the best traditional Mexican fare in the city since 1940—tacos, enchiladas, gorditas, pozole, guajalotes (sandwiches made from a hero roll and bathed in mild red sauce), homemade desserts, and wonderful agua de lima (purified water mixed with the juice of a tropical citrus fruit with a flavor all its own). Find a table among the Mexican families in the simply furnished, cavernous space, and enjoy! Open for dinner and late into the night for those sampling the clubs and bars on Cinco de Mayo.

Clean, bright, and charming, this Italian restaurant has a privileged location on pedestrian-only Andador Cinco de Mayo, just steps away from Plaza de Armas. Customers return again and again for the good pizza, great wine selection, excellent service, and creative and super-tasty entrées in a historic old home converted to three-story restaurant.

The Naples-style pizza is served upstairs.

This restaurant, named after Querétaro's version of Robin Hood, is on the quiet Plaza de Armas. It's strong on regional dishes like goat-filled tacos and shrimp with nopal (cactus) and corundas (a kind of tamale from the neighboring state of Michoacán). Right next door, Restaurant 1810 offers much the same fare.

Across the street from the Teatro de la República, this sunny, colorful restaurant offers traditional Mexican cuisine such as arrachera, enchiladas queretanas (with cheese, potatoes, and cream), and pechuga fin de siglo (chicken breast filled with zucchini blossoms and cheese and topped with a zucchini-blossom sauce), all served with homemade corn tortillas hot off the griddle. On weekends there's an extensive buffet luncheon.

The flower-filled grand patio in this perfectly restored hacienda just outside the city offers great outdoor dining (shaded by umbrellas). The house specialty is carnitas, pieces of pork stewed overnight and served with oodles of guacamole, beans, and homemade tortillas. There's live mariachi music Wednesday through Sunday from 4 to 5, and various musicians also stop in to serenade the bar crowd as well.

Note that this restaurant's hours might be a little awkward for some; while technically it is open for lunch and dinner, the hours are 1 pm to 6 pm. However, the bar also serves food and is open from 1 pm until at least midnight.

Well situated on the pedestrian portion of 5 de Mayo near El Centro's star attractions, this narrow, festive restaurant can accommodate most appetites for a casual nosh. The glass display case holds many desserts (including apple strudel, homemade flan, and ice cream), as well as soups and sandwiches and such typical Mexican snacks as tacos and gorditas (cornmeal cakes with a savory stuffing). From the ceiling, papier-mâché clowns hang from balloons and swing from trapezes. It opens at 10 am for a late breakfast and stays open until 10 pm (until midnight Thursday through Saturday), and no alcohol is served.

A wrought-iron mariposa (butterfly) overlooks the entrance of this cafeteria-like local favorite. Although it's been popular since the 1940s for breakfast, coffee and cake, or a light Mexican lunch of tacos, tamales, enchiladas, or tortas (sandwiches), the food is underwhelming. Cakes can be stale or simply nondescript, although the tacos are good. It's more of an institution than a culinary experience. Don't plan on this for a main meal.

Locals bring special visitors and loved ones on special occasions to this restaurant, one of the best in the city, which is out near the bull ring beyond the city center. The house specialties change from time to time, but the menu always includes Mexican dishes with modern touches, including filete Chemita (steak sautéed in butter with onions). Save room for the creamy coconut ice cream. A classical pianist performs most weekdays between 3 and 5 pm, during lunch, and there's a duet Thursday through Saturday 8 to 10 pm.