Antigua in Guatemala is one of the most popular spots in Guatemala and you can see why. The beautiful colonial style buildings, the cobbled streets, the colour, the volcanoes and so so much more! We spent almost 2 weeks in Antigua so have condensed our where to eat and drink guide just for you!
Whilst you’re here, why not check out our other articles on Antigua Guatemala (they’ll open on a seperate page so you can read them after 😊)
- 23 Best Things To Do in Antigua, Guatemala
- The Only 5 Day Antigua Itinerary You Need
- Our Volcan Acatenango Hike Experience
Cafes
El Viejo Café: serving typical breakfast & pastries with amazing seating in the courtyard inside. Excellent coffee too.
👌🏽Best for: sitting in for breakfast & fresh pastries
Once Once: an amazing Vegan Cafe hidden behind the Wicho & Charlies tour office. The warm pistachio cinnamon bun is probably the best thing we’ve had in a while (we came back 3 times) but make sure you go earlier in the day because they do sell out! Other food is amazing too!
👌🏽Best for: pistachio buns and vegan food
Cafe El Portal: great cafe close to the Arch de Santa Catalina, serving great coffee and pastries with lovely indoor seating and a great roof terrace too
👌🏽Best for: grabbing a coffee before or after seeing the Santa Catalina Arch & Igelisa de Merced
Café La Parada: great, inexpensive strong coffees perfect to take away before exploring the town
👌🏽Best for: takeaway coffee
The Garden Cafe: a hidden gem of a cafe hidden in a beautiful garden with delicious coffee and good sized portions!
👌🏽Best for: a relaxing coffee in a beautiful outside garden
Local food
Rincóncito Antigüeño: cafeteria style dining but amazing quality local food. With daily specials for each day of the week, you could go every day and try something different! The pepián on Thursdays is great and chicken any day is delicious! Warning, there can be queues as its very popular
👌🏽Best for: daily specials and local feel
El Portón Tipico: great and inexpensive typical Guatemala breakfast and lunch & close to the main square. If you are struggling for a table at Rincóncito across the road, head here instead
👌🏽Best for: local food in a smaller setting
La Casa de las Mixtas: this is good, basic food. The menu del dia you can get for about Q25 (£2.50) which is a steal! Sit up on their terrace to add to your experience!
👌🏽Best for: price!
Mercado Central Antigua Guatemala: the main market to the west of the city has loads of food stalls to choose from. Here are some options of things to try:
- Pepián (a spicy stew)
- Kak’ik (turkey soup)
- Tamales (steamed corn based dough with a savoury or sweet filling wrapped in a banana leaf)
- Atol (warm corn drink)
👌🏽Best for: wanting to experience a market and street food
There are also a lot of street food vendors around, especially outside the Iglesia de la Merced.
International Cuisine
7A Norte Pizzeria: delicious pizza with a terrace! You can see the ruins on one side and the mountains on the other – 10/10 spot for pizza and views
Kombu Ramen Shop: delicious ramen, but often a queue (proves how good it is but be prepared!)
Fridas: great Mexican food & cocktails. Options to book a table online too which saved us for our Christmas Day meal!
Toko Baru: a place that really has a bit of everything from piri piri to tandoori to kebabs, hummus and more!
Pappys BBQ: good barbeque food and a good selection of draft beers
The Londoner: anyone craving a British pub experience or some tastes of home (if you’re from the UK) this place is amazing if you’ve been out of the country for a while! Roasts on a Sunday, a pub feel with dogs, a typical London landlord, daily specials like fish & chips and curry Thursdays – what more could you want! They also have a full vegetarian menu!
McDonald’s: this has to be on this list, purely for it’s aesthetic. Once you go through (you don’t even have to eat here) you can head to the garden and see why it’s one of the prettiest McDonalds in the world!
Bars
Tabacos y Vinos La Antigua: a wine bar where for each glass of wine the next one is cheaper, and the next and the next? What a great idea! We got pretty drunk here but enjoyed the vibe a lot
👌🏽Best for: intimate wine bar vibes
Antigua Brewing Company: the best rooftop with views of exploding Fuego on a clear night! With so many good beers brewed locally and on site you could spend a long time trying them all. The food here is meant to be good too! We had a flight of 6 beers to try the top sellers!
👌🏽Best for: roof terrace where you can see Volcan Fuego erupt & local beer!
Ulew Cocktail Bar: speakeasy bar just inside the entrance to the Antigua Brewing Company. Head through the phone booth and get a cocktail here and you won’t be disappointed!
👌🏽Best for: bespoke cocktails and fun speakeasy vibe
Antigua Bar Crawl: Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays from 6pm and 7pm on a Saturday. For only Q150 you get unlimited drinks at the first bar, karaoke, free entry and a free shot at each bar, it’s a booze lovers dream! This bar crawl is always busy and a great way to meet other travellers in Antigua!
👌🏽Best for: meeting new people
El Illegal: fun drinks with a cool menu. Happy hour house drinks and beer are also Q10 (£1) which is a steal!
👌🏽Best for: happy hour beers!
Cafe Sky Bar: rooftop bar in the east of Antigua with a fab rooftop which is great for sunset
👌🏽Best for: watching sunset
Supermarkets
Cooking for yourself? There are loads of smaller markets everywhere, but you probably won’t find everything you need to cook with.
If you are looking for a supermarket the best we found was La Bodegona. They had a great range of food, and also fresh cheese & meat counters.
For a local Guatemalan market experience head to Mercado Central. Make sure to check the prices of the produce you buy before committing.
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