Most of what I read about dining in Guadalajara tends to focus on old guard restaurants serving Jalisco classics like birria, pozole, menudo, and tortas ahogadas. Often overlooked is the city’s modern, cutting-edge culinary scene.
But there’s plenty for a global foodie to get excited about beyond the tried and true. Below are four can’t miss destinations where Mexican chefs trained in some of the world’s best kitchens deliver modern takes on the classics — or innovate with local ingredients in ways that are entirely their own.
Xocol
Since 2018, husband and wife chef team Xrysw Ruelas and Oscar Segundo have led one of the most creative (and coolest) restaurants in all of Guadalajara.
Located in the humble working-class Santa Tere neighborhood, the restaurant combines a vibrant open kitchen with a single long communal table stretching the entire length of the dining room. Hanging from the black ceiling are hundreds of dried corn cobs usband and wife chef team Xrysw Ruelas and Oscar Segundo part art installation, part political statement.
Around the massive dining table, a festive mix of local foodies and adventurous tourists dine together in the spirit of farm workers breaking bread after a day in the fields.
“Xokol” is the Aztec word for pinto corn. And while corn is a staple of every Mexican kitchen, Xocol’s chefs favor heirloom varieties long absent from the urban culinary scene.
Xocol’s menu changes seasonally, giving the chefs ample opportunity to showcase the versatility of heritage corn. The menu is divided into three sections: sea, no meat and with meat. While fish and shellfish feature in many dishes, vegetarians are also well cared for at Xocol.
If you find yourself tripping over indigenous words and obscure ingredients (as I do), staff are ready to help with English translations.
Standout dishes from our last visit were a ceviche of snapper bathed in leche de tigre juices with green cactus pear, pumpkin tamales with sea urchin bisque, and wild mushrooms with a side of quesadillas and an earthy mushroom pate.
Whatever you do, please don’t skip the ceremonial taco Mazahua featuring an elaborate design made with indigo colored ink derived naturally from the cochineal insect. This signature dish — a vegetarian taco — is best paired with the complimentary smoky, savory and fiery salsas.
The wine list draws heavily from Europe, with obscure varietals like Gruner Veltliner rarely encountered elsewhere in Guadalajara. There are also local artisanal brews and cocktails, i.e. fermented potions that seemingly emanated from a mad scientist’s lab.
Xocol. Herrera y Cairo 1375, Santa Tere, 44600 Guadalajara, Jal. About US $75 per person.
Alcalde
Ranked #12 in Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2023, Alcalde sets the standard for cutting-edge contemporary Mexican cuisine in Guadalajara. Head chef Francisco “Paco” Ruano brings stellar credentials, having worked at Mugaritz and Noma before opening the restaurant in 2013.
Alcalde’s culinary proposition is described by Ruano as “cocina franca.” Think traditional Mexican ingredients with precise European-style plating. Diners can choose from an elaborate tasting menu, which changes about four times a year, or the à la carte menu.
On our last visit my favorite plate was the otherworldly octopus in sikil p’aak. This dish riffed on a traditional Mayan recipe originating in the Yucatan, blending ground pumpkin seeds, roasted tomatoes, habanero chilies, onion, garlic and other seasonings. It delivered smoky, savory, spicy and creamy notes so addictive, I would have licked the bowl if not in public.
Another standout was a tostada with sea bass, black beans, and macha sauce of chilies, garlic and oil. Inspired by Mexican street food, this dish was prepared using the Japanese technique kombujime, which involves curing the sashimi with seaweed to intensify its flavor.
Besides the stunning food, Alcalde’s service is also exceptional. The staff know every nuance and detail about the ingredients, dishes, and drinks. Our waiter suggested a 2022 Clos Roussely Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire not listed on the menu as the ideal match for our dishes. It paired so beautifully with the meal we were still talking about it days later.
Pro tip: Be sure to visit the restroom at some point during your meal. The staircase provides a bird’s eye view into the kitchen where this beautiful food comes together.
Restaurante Alcalde. Av. México 2903, Vallarta Nte., 44690 Guadalajara. Tasting menu about US 148 per person. A la carte also available. Vegan diners accommodated with advance notice.
Erizo de Mar
The first thing you notice upon walking into Erizo de Mar, which occupies the ground floor of the Bellwort hotel in Colonia Americana, is that everything is black, including the walls, curtains, barstools, tables and chairs.
You might catch yourself thinking…am I in a nightclub? Once seated, it becomes clear that you’ve entered a food temple where nothing is meant to compete with the food.
Led by head chef and owner Alfredo “Freddy” Monteros, Erizo de Mar (sea urchin in Spanish) is dedicated to serving the freshest ingredients from Mexican waters. While still relatively unknown even amongst locals, Erizo de Mar is rapidly gaining a following for creating some of the most inventive food in Guadalajara.
While Erizo de Mar does offer an à la carte menu, we opted for the tasting menu with wine pairings on our most recent visit. If you’re in the mood to splurge, the tasting menu rewards you with a comprehensive meal showcasing the breadth of ingredients and techniques this talented kitchen can deliver.
With culinary influences from Mexico, Spain, Italy, Japan, and China (reflecting Monteros’s culinary experience on 3 continents) dishes could easily become muddled. But that’s not the case here.
Top plates from our recent meal were a delicate brioche with white sturgeon caviar and snails, a crab wonton dumpling bathed in a smoky dashi broth with chili oil, and a sea bass pil pil (a Basque technique of cooking fish with its skin on to maximize flavor). For dessert, we enjoyed a light-as-air mascarpone ice cream served with a profiterole filled with hoja santa cream.
Drink options include European and Mexican wines, Spanish sherry, and cocktails featuring distilled agave spirits. One glass worth seeking out is a sparkling white wine from San Luis Potosi made exclusively for Erizo de Mar. It’s the perfect match for briny, salty shellfish.
Erizo de Mar. C. Miguel Lerdo de Tejada 2257, Col Americana, Obrera, 44150 Guadalajara. Tasting menu about US $84 per person. A la carte also available.
Allium
Since relocating to the Providencia neighborhood from Colonia Americana in 2023, Allium has really hit its stride — becoming a go-to spot for local foodies in search of a satisfying meal.
We regularly bring out of town guests here because the food is consistently delicious, fresh, and unique. The atmosphere feels informal and relaxing, with the best tables on the outdoor patio facing a towering rubber tree.
The chef team of Adolfo Galnares and Maria Ortega bring lofty credentials to Allium, with Galnares having worked at 3-Michelin star Arkelarre in San Sebastian, Spain and Ortega at NOBU.
The dishes evolve seasonally, but the foundational elements never change. Dishes incorporate Allium’s own produce as well as ingredients from small, local farmers. Think vegetables from Lake Chapala, cheeses from Antonilco, and fish from Nayarit. Their creations embody the best of contemporary “farm-to-table” dining.
If you happen to visit in springtime, one dish that’s worth seeking out is escamoles (ant eggs). While this may not sound appetizing to non-natives, they’re a delicacy sometimes referred to as “caviar of the desert.” Unlike caviar of the sea, escamoles can only be harvested from Mexico’s central highlands between February to April. They are oh so creamy, nutty, and delicious!
Other dishes I love at Allium are grouper fish with capers and an earthy, rich risotto with huitlacoche and smoked shiitake mushrooms. But honestly, I’ve never left Allium feeling like I “ordered wrong.”
Besides the delicious food, another reason we’re so fond of Allium is their knowledgeable and attentive servers, who share their deep passion for food with guests. For my money, it’s hard to eat better in Guadalajara for such excellent value.
Allium. Av. Providencia 2411-Local 106, Providencia, 44630 Guadalajara. About US 80 per person.
After discovering that life in Mexico was a lot more fun than working in corporate America, Dawn Stoner moved to Guadalajara in 2022, where she lives with her husband, two cats and Tapatío rescue dog. Her blog livewellmexico.com helps expats live their best life south of the border.
