39 Best Restaurants in San Miguel de Allende and the Heartland, Mexico

This restaurant is in a marvelously restored, plant-filled 17th-century mansion. Specialties include the full range of local dishes as well as Argentine-style massive steaks. Salads, pastas, and homemade soups round out the menu. The bar resembles a cozy living room; copper trays serve as tables, and the painted, domed ceilings resemble the sky. The wine list includes a selection of Mexican wines.

Morelia's current hot spot serves Michoacán cuisine, and not just the ubiquitous whitefish and corundas found at tourist-oriented eateries. Diners choose a seat under the popular portico facing the Plaza de Armas, or inside, where large, open windows overlook the same scene. Otherwise, the plain dining room is brightened only by original paintings and prints of Michoacán scenes. Sample a salad of jicama bloom with cotija (a dry, white cheese produced in the area); tamales of tender new corn; green ceviche; and other upscale versions of classic regional fare. For under MX$300, there's a four-course tasting menu consisting of starter, seasonal salad, main dish, and dessert. How about some chocolate blended with hot chilies and mezcal and topped with avocado ice cream? It's open for unusual breakfast treats, too.

Locals go to Lupita on a regular basis for the large menu, reasonable prices, and easygoing atmosphere. There are several rooms inside with tables but, weather permitting, most folks choose the open patio with equipale (pigskin) chairs, umbrella tables, and colorful walls and tablecloths. There are breakfasts from light to full; and for lunch and dinner, five soups and seven salads to choose from, as well as antojitos (snacks like tacos and burgers; tostadas with guacamole), seven pasta dishes, and a full gamut of seafood and meat dishes. There's Wi-Fi and an honor-system lending library up the back stairs.

As you sit at umbrella-shaded tables in a gracious courtyard framed by bougainvillea, serenaded by Mexican music, you'll be transported back to a simpler Mexico. The margaritas are good, and the menu is interesting, from a well-developed pozole verde (a rich soup made with hominy) to juicy cochinita pibíl (pork baked in banana leaf) with black beans and the traditional pickled onions. The enchiladasMéxico Lindo and enchiladas mineras are also crowd-pleasers. The restaurant is out in the quiet residential neighborhood of La Presa de la Olla, a nice neighborhood for a walk, and it opens at 9 am for breakfast if you're out early.

It can get chilly in winter; make sure to wear warm clothing.

Opened in the summer of 2014, Paprika has no Hungarian dishes, as some diners expect. Rather, there's "contemporary comfort food" for an internationally oriented palate, like the large bowl of pasta puttanesca, or spaghetti topped with shrimp and clams in a subtle, fresh, white-wine sauce. Enjoy hearty main salads, panfried broccoli gomasio (a Japanese condiment of sesame seeds and sea salt), and perfectly seasoned rack of lamb. Candles bless the colonial courtyard (and its authentic altar) in the evening; the inside dining room is comfortable shabby-chic.

Founded in 2008 by chef Donnie Masterton, formerly of New York's Bouley, Montrachet, and Tavern on the Green, The Restaurant is where well-heeled and shabby-chic expats dine with fashionistas and movers and shakers, though they cede the pleasant vine-covered patio to wealthy Mexican visitors come the weekend. The menu emphasizes organic ingredients and changes according to the season and whatever inspires chef Masterton in the local market. Specialties include homemade ravioli with goat cheese and poblano peppers, crab cakes with guacamole, miso-marinated Pacific salmon, sautéed salmon trout in curry brown butter, and, for dessert, panna cotta made with goat yogurt and honey. Thursday is burger night, with a whole menu of specialty burgers.

Situated a 10-minute drive southwest of the city center, this elegant spot specializing in sophisticated contemporary Mexican and international cuisine is a lovely destination for an unhurried dinner. The house specialties change regularly, but typical fare includes steak Rossini with foie gras and a red wine glaze or rare-seared tuna with risotto and a balsamic–black olive reduction.

Even though it's far from the city center, the tables at this positively plain taco shop are packed at lunch. People come for the delicious grilled meats, prepared Michoacán style, with salsas and mountains of fresh, hot tortillas made on-site. The pionero (beef, ham, bacon, onions, and cheese, all grilled) is the only option served in a half portion, which is plenty for most appetites. It closes at 7 pm.

Totally local yet beloved by visitors, this place is the real deal, morning, noon, and night. Multigenerational Mexican families dine among a spattering of granola-crunchy tourists, all comfortably ensconced within several chummy spaces. At breakfast, egg dishes reign supreme, and enfrijoladas (corn tortillas layered with refried beans, cheese, and sour cream) are an excellent choice. It's also hard to go wrong with the traditional lunch plates, which include enmoladas (tortillas bathed in mole sauce and baked), enchiladas (the same, but in a spicier sauce), and chicken dishes. It's open later than most spots in town.