We spent last July 4th in Guatemala, specifically traveling via luxury van from Lake Atitlán to Antigua. Antigua is one of Guatemala’s former capitals. It was destroyed by a terrible earthquake in the late 1700s, but its since been rebuilt and is an adorable Spanish Colonial city about an hour from the Guatemala City airport, making it very popular with tourists and expats. Due to the tourists and expats, Antigua has a very decent culinary scene, many would argue the trendiest in the country. Indeed, you can find everything from hip coffee shops to delicious, incredibly cheap street food to Vietnamese pho. This post reveals what and where we at in Antigua, as well as whether we would return to said locale. Happy eating!
Antigua, Guatemala. This is one of its most famous attractions- the Santa Catalina Arch.
Panaderia San Antonio
Without further ado, I will jump right in with Panaderia San Antonio. San Antonio – for short – is a tiny takeaway-only bakery right on Parque Centrale (next to Cafe Condessa). San Antonio opens daily at 5:30 AM, baking fresh bread-based goodies until the early evening. We, however, came for its “breakfast sandwich” – a Chile Rellenos. And no, this is not the Mexican variety. The Guatemalan chiles rellenos (or at least San Antonio’s) is a sandwich made with freshly baked Guatemalan bread – a bit crusty, but still soft and pillowy. The bread is stuffed with shredded pork meat, scrambled eggs, an unknown starch to hold it all together and wonderfully spicy pickled vegetables. I came here multiple days and always asked for it “spicy” (extra pickled veggies). The sandwich was only about $2 USD. San Antonio only accepts cash and I had to order in Spanish (don’t worry – they are super friendly and I ordered known very MINIMAL Spanish). This is my favorite thing that I ate in all of Guatemala. Come for breakfast, for a budget meal and to try local food. I cannot say enough good things about this place and would return every morning for breakfast.
Panaderia San Antonio. It doesn’t look like much.
The sweet counter at San Antonio. We tried a couple – they were good but quite sweet.
The most delicious aforementioned breakfast sandwich. It is so good!
Here is another photo. It is served in takeaway plastic wrap.
La Casa de las Mixtas
Continuing on the local food train, we arrived to Antigua on the early afternoon of July 4th. Being the good American that I am, I immediately searched for a hotdog and luckily, Guatemala has its own version of the hotdog called a “mixtas”. A mixtas is, at least in Antigua, a corn tortilla filled with a hotdog (or rather, a local sausage), guacamole, cabbage, onion, hot sauce, mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard. On my search, I came across La Casa de las Mixtas, which has been operating since 1994. We decided that this was the place for our mixtas. We sat on the second level of the old restaurant al fresco and were promptly served a beautiful and tasty mixtas and a cold glass of Gallo beer. It was great, and also quite inexpensive. That being said, this was not my favorite “hotdog” for a July 4th treat; I found it to be a different product totally. I think a mixtas is certainly worth trying in Guatemala, but it is not a replacement for the old American hotdog. I would note that La Casa de las Mixtas is local – you will see locals here and its only open until 3 in the afternoon. Cash only. Speaking Spanish may be necessary to order (we, again, got by with very limited Spanish). Go to try local food, for a good budget option and for pretty tasty food.
A mixtas at La Casa de las Mixtas.
An ice cold Gallo beer at La Casa de las Mixtas.
The exterior of La Casa de las Mixtas. It’s nothing fancy – just good food and a good price.
Restaurante Fridas
Leaving the traditional Guatemalan food route, we next visited some online famous restaurants. Restaurante Fridas is a Mexican restaurant very close to the Santa Catalina Arch that is well known and very popular with tourists, especially bachelor and bachelorette parties. Restaurante Fridas is certainly one of the more popular “fancy dinner spots” in Antigua. While Restaurante Fridas is two floors, reservations are recommended due to its popularity, especially on the weekend and during busy periods. On the evening we visited, there was a Guatemalan country-style band playing live music, and we had wonderful seats due to our reservation.
The menu at Fridas is Mexican with an American flair, LOL, but it was pretty good. It reminded me a lot of Mexican that one would find in the US where there are not many Mexican immigrants. We ordered guacamole, coconut shrimp tacos and a steak sandwich for Dan. Our favorite, however, was the corn bread dessert made from local corn – it was fantastic. The food was much better than these pictures; it was simply dark when i took them. For those planning to visit Restaurante Fridas, this is neither traditional Mexican nor Guatemalan, and its not cheap. Go here for a fun night out, or if you are looking for American-ish food. We actually heard from multiple ex pats traveling through Antigua that ex pats in the region like to come to Antigua for the wide variety of restaurants, including American-style food.
The shoestring fries with Dan’s steak sandwich were great.
The coconut shrimp tacos were pretty American.
The cord bread dessert was very. very tasty. My favorite part of the meal. It was prepared with local Guatemalan corn.
Antigua Brewing Company
Antigua Brewing Company is very well known in Antigua. Since its opening in 2015, Antigua Brewing Company has earned a reputation for good beer and a fun atmosphere, attracting both locals and tourists. We visited for lunch on our last day, initially sitting on its rooftop deck overlooking not one but two (!!) volcanoes. We unfortunately had to move inside quickly when it started raining. Antigua Brewing Company offers a food menu of Guatemalan dishes and some American specialities. I really LOVED the fried chicken sandwich – highly recommend. The beer was also quite good. You will see locals, many ex pats, and foreigners here. Go for the rooftop Volcano views, to try local beer and for a decent meal.
One of the Guatemalan dishes.
The fried chicken plate.
A close up of the tasty fried chicken sandwich. It reminded me of German fried chicken.
Hector’s Bistro
I almost didn’t eat at Hector’s Bistro, but it keeeept coming up in my searches for “best restaurants” in Antigua. As such, I made a reservation for our first night. Plus, they make pizza. Like Antigua Brewing Company, Hector’s is somewhat of an Antigua ex-pat institution. Open since 2007 and serving “international cuisine”, Hector’s has a decent reputation. It is also large with two floors, is open air and often has live music. On our dinner visit, I ordered the homemade sourdough pizza with pepperoni. This was good but definitely not the best pizza I have ever had. It did the trick in Central America though. Dan order wings and fries, and he felt about the same about it. Go for a fun night out, Americanish food and to met other travelers or ex pats.
My sour dough pepperoni pizza.
Dan went wings. The fries were very good.
I returned to Hector’s Bistro for a to go breakfast sandwich another morning, as, like the pizza crust, Hector’s makes its own sourdough “bagels.” Dan very much liked the breakfast sandwich, but I much preferred my chilie rellenos from San Antonio.
The breakfast sandwich was pretty good – very close to something I would get at home in New Jersey (which is what they were going for).
McDonalds
Yep, American McDonalds. For those who have been to Guatemala somewhat recently, you will recall the insane amount of US fast food chains. McDonalds, Domino’s, Burger King, Starbucks, Dunkin’, Little Caesar’s – the list goes on… One can find almost every American fast food chain in Guatemala. But, the McDonalds in Antigua has a special place in many people’s hearts. It is located right in old Antigua and offers a clean restaurant, as well as outdoor seating with views of one of the Volcanoes (which I failed to take a picture of – big fail). The setting is pretty spectacular for a McDonalds, but the food tasted just normal. There were some Guatemala specials on the menu, including a Mango sundae and a pineapple pie. Go for an American meal, to see the Volcano views or for a pay area for kids (they had some play area but nothing like the US).
A regular McDonalds chicken sandwich. Not too different than in other countries.
Food Tour of Antigua’s Mercado Centrale
Back to traditional food, we took a food tour through Antigua’s main market, Mercado Centrale, through GetYourGuide. You can read about it in great detail here. In brief, we learned a lot on this tour, rode one of Guatemala’s famous colorful buses and tried some great, very local food that we would never have ordered on our own (we wouldn’t have known how to do it and we unfortunately don’t speak Spanish well enough for that). Take this tour if you are a foodie, are into Guatemalan food or just to see some non super touristy parts of Antigua.
Guatemalan chicharrónes.
A chicken taco from the Mercado Centrale.
Street food in the heart of Antigua.
STEAL OUR DINNERS
Casa de las Mixtas: 3a Calle Poniente 31, Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala. Open Monday – Friday 8 AM – 3 PM. Closed Saturday and Sunday. Cash only. No reservations.
Panaderia San Antonio: H746+9MH, Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala. Open daily 5:30 AM – 7 PM. There is a second bakery in Antigua of the same name; I am not certain if they are affiliated. This one is off Parque Centrale, just next to Cafe Condessa. Cash only. No seating.
Restaurante Fridas: 5a Avenida Norte # 29 Calle del Arco Antigua Guatemala, 03001, Guatemala. Open daily 12 PM (10 AM on Sunday) – 10 PM, until 11:30 PM on Saturday. Reservations highly recommended. Credit card accepted. English spoken.
Antigua Brewing Company: 3a Calle Poniente 4, Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala. Open daily 11 AM – 11 PM, earlier opening on Saturday and Sunday. Credit card accepted. English spoken.
Hector’s Bistro: 6a Calle Poniente 24 Antigua, Guatemala 03001, Guatemala. Open daily 7 AM – 10 PM. Credit card accepted. English spoken. Reservations suggested on busy nights.
McDonald’s Antigua: Poniente 4A 21, Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala. Open daily 6 AM – 10 PM. Credit card accepted.
Food Tour: This is the food tour that we took, booked via GetYourGuide. The cost was $68.00 per person. In addition to the food mentioned, the tour also included a walking tour of Antigua and lots of history. Read about it here.