Just down the street from our house, on the corner of avenida 10 and calle 12, in what can easily be considered the "zona turistica" is perhaps the least "touristy" restaurant in town. Restaurante La Guadalupana has become a secret oasis for Rob and I over the past three years. The restaurant opens its doors at 1pm, serving the customary late Mexican lunch and stays packed until 11pm. The kitchen puts out the expected Mexican fare including empanadas, tostadas, milanesa, arrachera, and tortas as well as more unusual menu items like sliced tongue, sautéed octopus and beef tartar. The mocajetes are not to be missed. Generally known as a place for Mexican business men to gather, eat, drink, watch futbol, play table games and conduct business matters, Guadalupana is kept chilled to near-arctic temperatures ensuring a pleasant lunch on a hot Playa day with no risk of sweating into your client's soup. The walls are lined with pencil sketches of well known locals: some famous, others.... infamous. One can only speculate the number of deals that have been clinched over a cold beer on these rustic wooden tables. Rarely do we see another foreigner dining here, and certainly not another gringa! The owners and staff have grown to know and like us and tolerate our insistence on interrupting their afternoon prep time with our ridiculously early lunch. (1pm is commonly considered ridiculously early.) The dining experience at La Guadalupana starts with the “botana”, a small starter plate of food, served with your drink and a hot basket of tortillas. This appetizer varies daily, (is often unidentifiable) but is always delicious. The soup follows, a piping hot and generally spicy concoction of whatever is tasty and fresh. Today, Rob, Stewart and I celebrated a sale (fingers still crossed) with a lunch of hearty arrachera, pork milanesa and torta cubana.


Restaurante La Guadalupana - Avenida 10 con calle 12


An early lunch.


A well stocked bar and cigars for sale.


Botana and Beer.


Stewart enjoying his arrachera.


Arrachera with refried black beans, rice and guacamole.


A healthy serving of pork milanesa style.


Rob basking in the afterglow of his torta cubana.


Tables with built in shelves for storing drinks and ashtrays out of the way. Brillliant.

Restaurante La Guadalupana. Next time you're in our neighborhood, give it a try. The food is delicious, the A/C is cold and the staff is friendly. What's not to like?