Best Restaurants in Antigua Guatemala: Our Top 20 Spots

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Looking for the best restaurants in Antigua Guatemala? You’re in luck, there is no shortage of incredible dining options in Antigua. 

Antigua is a foodie heaven! No other city in Central America has a dining scene like this one. We spent two weeks in Antigua and only managed to scratch the surface of our ‘to-eat’ list. 

Wander down any cobblestone street in the city centre and I guarantee you will pass at least a dozen restaurants rated 4/5 or higher on Google, a few aesthetic cafes with excellent barista coffee, a rooftop bar or two and a brewery.  

Guatemalan, Italian, Mexican, vegan, Indian, Asian, breakfast, lunch, dinner, sweets, coffee, wine, cocktails, beer – literally anything your heart desires is available in Antigua! 

Throw in the fact that most of these restaurants are housed in charming colonial buildings with leafy internal courtyards or on rooftops overlooking volcanoes – Antigua is a foodie and design lover’s dream! Even their McDonalds and Starbucks are gorgeous! 

I don’t think you could have a bad meal here, but after sampling as many places as we could, we’ve narrowed down our list to 20 best restaurants in Antigua Guatemala. I’ve divided this list into breakfast and coffee, lunch and dinner options and bars and breweries. 

Let’s eat! 

Planning a trip to Antigua

STOP! Before you keep reading about the best restaurants in Antigua Guatemala, I’d recommend reading our Antigua travel guide first. It covers all the other important info you need to know about the city, like getting there, getting around and other handy tips to get your bearings.  

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Best restaurants in Antigua Guatemala

Breakfast and coffee

1. Artista de Cafe

• 🍴 Eat here for: coffee
• ⏰ Opening hours: 7:00 am – 6:00 pm daily
• 💰 Approximate cost: latte 25Q
• 🥗 Must order: barista coffee

Artista de Cafe is one of the most beautiful cafes in Antigua, serving up some of the best coffee we tried. We ordered a latte and a cappuccino and both were excellent. Using local beans, perfect barista skills and nice latte art too. 

They serve a small range of sweet and savoury breakfast options, but we only had coffee. They’re one of the few cafes that open early (7:00 am), so if your hotel in Antigua doesn’t have a kitchen or breakfast included, grab your coffee here to fuel up before a day of exploring the city!

The style of the cafe is gorgeous with a sleek white-washed building with gold lettering and simple furnishings. You can sit inside in a number of little rooms, at a big communal table, or outside in their courtyard. 

2. AM BKFST

• 🍴 Eat here for: breakfast
• ⏰ Opening hours: 7:00 am – 3:00 pm daily
• 💰 Approximate cost: breakfast combos with drink 50 – 75Q
• 🥗 Must order: french toast 

AM BKFST was our favourite breakfast spot in Antigua. It’s a really unique concept where you can build your own breakfast. There is a range of bases to choose from, and you build your ideal toppings and flavours. 

They have classic egg breakfast options where you choose the sides, croissants or bagel sandwiches with your choice of fillings, and french toast or waffles for the sweet tooth. Every option comes with a drink, which includes barista coffee. 

I went with the French toast, where I could choose 2 toppings, 1 side and 1 drink. I went for strawberry jam and cinnamon cream cheese (to DIE for!), with a side of fruit and a latte. Brayden made a croissant sandwich with scrambled eggs, extra bacon, cheese, avocado and caramelised onions with a coffee, which he loved. 

We love having choice and being able to pick your perfect combo, and the prices here were so reasonable considering they include a drink too. Usually, you just get Americano coffee included in breaky packs, but we were able to choose a proper barista coffee which made it even better! 

3. 12 Onzas

• 🍴 Eat here for: coffee
• ⏰ Opening hours: 7:00 am – 7:00 pm daily
• 💰 Approximate cost: standard barista coffees 23Q, speciality coffees 28Q
• 🥗 Must order: dirty chai latte (‘El Shuco’)

12 Onzas was another coffee highlight for us. The cafe is very centrally located in the city centre and we found ourselves constantly walking past it. 

It’s a gorgeous space, really light and bright inside and they also have a leafy, internal courtyard like most buildings in Antigua (although not quite as tropical as some of the restaurants in Flores, which felt like being in a jungle!). 

They do serve food here, but we only had coffee. It’s a nice place to sit for a while, as there are plenty of chairs and it never felt crowded or super busy. Whether you’re working on your laptop, reading your book or just having a rest from exploring the city, this is a great spot to do it. 

We tried lots of different coffees and everything was good, but their specialty coffee options were particularly nice. They’ve got a dirty chai latte (‘El Shuco’) which we always love, as well as a dirty horchata (‘La Chata’) which was so tasty and different! I loved that they didn’t charge extra for the iced option, and they were so refreshing in the Antigua sun. 

They do serve food but we didn’t eat here. The reviews are mixed on the food, and we were happy to enjoy their coffee and spread the love and eat elsewhere. 

4. Fat Cat Coffee House

• 🍴 Eat here for: coffee
• ⏰ Opening hours: 7:00 am – 7:00 pm daily
• 💰 Approximate cost: latte 25Q
• 🥗 Must order: barista coffee

Fat Cat is one of the original and best coffee houses in Antigua. They take coffee seriously, with every kind of extraction method you could imagine and high-quality local beans. 

We’re big-time coffee snobs (we grew up in Melbourne) and we went back to Fat Cat Coffee House multiple times, so it must have been good! 

The cafe itself is quite small and can get really cramped when it’s busy. I don’t think it’s a place you’d like to sit and work or hang out for an extended period of time.

My top tip is to get your coffee take-away (BYO reusable cup) and walk next door into the Centro Comercial la Fuente, which is a gorgeous food court type of place, with a leafy courtyard and plenty of seating around a central fountain. 

Fat Cat does offer a small menu of food, but like most of the other coffee houses, we opted to stick with coffee and save the food for elsewhere. 

5. Union Cafe

• 🍴 Eat here for: breakfast
• ⏰ Opening hours: 8:00 am – 6:00 pm daily
• 💰 Approximate cost: latte 20Q, porridge bowl 40Q, typical breakfast 50Q
• 🥗 Must order: porridge bowl, breakfast burrito, smoothies

Union was another great breakfast spot. Their coffee was also good, but we came here primarily to eat! 

The cafe is super cute, with tons of little rooms, it felt like walking through a maze. There are neon signs, huge murals, lots of plants and nice decor. 

Their breakfast menu is small but has a good range of local and international and sweet and savoury options.

I went for their porridge bowl, which was so nice on a chilly Antigua morning. It was served with a side of fruits, granola, jam and honey. Brayden went for the ‘Chapin’ which is their typical Guatemalan breakfast option with eggs, beans, hashbrowns and plantain. We both also had a really nice cappuccino. 

Their Google profile says they open at 7:30 am most days, but their Facebook says 8:00 am, and when we tried to go at 7:30 am they weren’t open yet, so I’d wait until 8:00 am. 

6. Rooftop Antigua

• 🍴 Eat here for: breakfast or a drink
• ⏰ Opening hours: 8:00 am – 7:00 pm daily
• 💰 Approximate cost: barista coffee 24Q, smoothies 34Q, breakfast mains 59 – 69Q
• 🥗 Must order: smoothies

I’m torn about including this on my list of best restaurants in Antigua because the food wasn’t that great. However, the views were EXCEPTIONAL! 

Honestly, this was the best rooftop we went to in Antigua if we’re talking volcano views. Their terrace has a front-row seat to Fuego and Acatenango, with uninterrupted views of Fuego constantly puffing out smoke. But turn your head ever so slightly to the left and there’s Agua looming over you too! 

We went for breakfast on my birthday, and luckily I was so excited about the volcanoes I wasn’t that upset about the food, but it was pretty average. I wouldn’t recommend a huge meal here, but pop in for a coffee or a smoothie, or a small cake or nibble to sit and enjoy the view for a while. 

Lunch and dinner

7. Rincón Antigüeño

• 🍴 Eat here for: lunch
• ⏰ Opening hours: 8:00 am – 4:00 pm daily
• 💰 Approximate cost: roast chicken with sides, tortillas and a drink 40Q
• 🥗 Must order: pollo a la leña

We did not eat enough Guatemalan food while we were in Antigua. I’m usually really conscious of trying local places and eating local cuisine, but honestly, in Antigua, it was actually easier to find international food. 

Rincón Antigüeño was the exception to that. You might hear it called ‘Rincon Tipico’ or something along those lines, but they’re one and the same. With over 3,000 reviews on Google, you know this place is the one! 

It’s busy, with queues out the door for lunch every day, and it’s noisy and hectic inside and very very hot with a wood-fired rotisserie cooking dozens of whole chickens! They have a small menu with a range of fixed items, as well as daily rotating specials throughout the week. 

The best thing to get is their pollo a la leña (wood-fired chicken) which is available daily and dirt cheap (refer to previous comment about the wall of rotisserie chickens!). It’s served with two sides of the day (salad and roast potatoes when we visited), a stack of fresh tortillas and unlimited refills of the refresco natural drink of the day (ours was my fave flavour, tamarind!). 

8. Toko Baru

• 🍴 Eat here for: lunch or dinner
• ⏰ Opening hours: 12:00 pm – 9:30 pm daily
• 💰 Approximate cost: curries with rice 58Q
• 🥗 Must order: rendang, dahl

I think Toko Baru is one of the most underrated restaurants in Antigua Guatemala! It’s affordable, delicious and filling. 

They have a mix of Indonesian and Indian cuisine, with other Asian influences and a dash of Middle Eastern flavours. I tried their dahl curry and Brayden loved their beef rendang. The curries are served with rice and a side salad and the servings are enormous! 

They’ve also got lots of nice nibbles and entrees, like falafel and kofta balls which get rave reviews. Honestly, the curries are so big though, you really don’t need an entree, or order a few nibbles and share one curry between two. 

9. Fridas

• 🍴 Eat here for: lunch or dinner
• ⏰ Opening hours: 12:00 pm – 9:30 pm daily
• 💰 Approximate cost: serving of 4 tacos 63 – 79Q, mezcalitas 55Q
• 🥗 Must order: any kind of tacos, mezcalitas and margaritas

I spent my birthday in Antigua and tasked Brayden with choosing a nice place for dinner. We love Mexican food, and he knew I’d be happy with tacos and margaritas, so we went to Fridas. 

For a relatively small city, there are dozens of Mexican/taco restaurants in Antigua, but Fridas is probably the fanciest, high-end option. The restaurant is super funky, with dim lighting, neon signs and classic Frida Kahlo art pieces, and the service is excellent. 

We shared a couple of servings of tacos. I jumped at the chance to have cochinita pibil, which is one of my favourite types of tacos but not something we find often in Australia. They were delicious, and we also enjoyed the Baja-style fish tacos reminiscing about our beloved Baja California Sur, the best place in Mexico! 

I knew they’d have margaritas, but as a cherry on top of my birthday, they had mezcalitas too! Their cocktail list was literally my dream, and I could not decide between a tamarindo, jamaica, maracuya or aguacate mezcalita. I think between the two of us we tried all of them and they were delicious! 

The waiters were so lovely, and Brayden sneakily organised a dessert (flan, another one of my all-time faves!), which they very sweetly brought out with candles, and gave to us on the house. 

10. Luna de Miel

• 🍴 Eat here for: lunch, dinner or sweet treat
• ⏰ Opening hours: 11:00 am – 9:00 pm daily
• 💰 Approximate cost: sweet crepe 28 – 48Q, savoury crepe 38 – 58Q
• 🥗 Must order: they all look good! 

One word: crepes. 

Another one of my sweet tooth weaknesses, trying to choose just one crepe from the menu at Luna de Miel was a form of torture (both for me trying to decide and Brayden having to wait!). 

Luna de Miel has over 5,000 positive reviews on Google, and they’ve definitely earned their title as one of the best restaurants in Antigua Guatemala. 

I’ve included Luna de Miel as a lunch or dinner option, but if you don’t think eating a chocolate and ice cream slathered crepe for lunch is acceptable (no judgment!), they have just as many savoury choices.

Their menu is almost too big, and every combo they’ve created sounded delicious. I can’t even remember which one I chose because I spent so long debating, but it was something sweet, chocolatey and totally gluttonous. Brayden, of course, went for a savoury crepe, with cheese, pesto and tomato. 

11. Once Once

• 🍴 Eat here for: lunch or dinner 
• ⏰ Opening hours: 8:30 am – 3:30 pm & 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Tuesday – Saturday (closed Sunday and Monday) 
• 💰 Approximate cost: entrees 60 – 70Q, mains 90Q
• 🥗 Must order: ravioli

Once Once should be one of your special, treat meals in Antigua. It’s a little pricier than many of the other restaurants on this list, but the setting, service and food are worth it. 

It’s a completely vegan restaurant, and although we’re not vegan, we do try to limit our meat consumption, and we LOVED the food here. 

It’s got to be some of the best vegan food we’ve ever had. The menu is a real mash-up of cuisines and flavours, and they’ve made some creative choices to deliver popular dishes without animal products. 

We ordered the pad thai, cauliflower wings and the sweet potato ravioli. Everything was delicious, but the ravioli was a standout. We were literally licking the plate clean, the creamy sauce was THAT good. 

The cocktails were fine but nothing special, I’d have a nice pre-drink somewhere else and just focus on the food here. 

12. Mi Vietnamese Kitchen

• 🍴 Eat here for: lunch or dinner 
• ⏰ Opening hours: 12:00 pm – 11:00 pm daily
• 💰 Approximate cost: vermicelli bowl 75Q, bahn mi 60Q, pho 80Q
• 🥗 Must order: 2×1 bahn mi on Wednesday

We love Vietnamese food, and being from Melbourne in Australia (where we have huge Vietnamese immigration), we’re spoilt for choice. It’s not often you find Vietnamese food in Latin America, so we jumped at the chance to have some in Antigua. 

Mi Vietnamese Kitchen was pretty damn good, considering the location. It’s not the quality you would get in Vietnam, of course, so go in with realistic expectations, but it was still a nice change from what we had been eating and we knew it would be one of our only chances to eat Vietnamese for months. 

We tried their vermicelli noodle bowls, bahn mi and rice paper rolls and everything was really good. They have pho too which we didn’t try, but would be yummy on a cold night in Antigua. 

They have a great special every Wednesday with 2×1 bahn mi. Dinner for two for 60Q is amazing!

13. Cactus

• 🍴 Eat here for: lunch or dinner 
• ⏰ Opening hours: 12:00 pm – 11:00 pm daily 
• 💰 Approximate cost: serve of 4 tacos 50 – 65Q
• 🥗 Must order: all the tacos are good! 

I told you there were a lot of Mexican restaurants in Antigua! Cactus is another excellent option for tacos. It’s a little more casual and affordable than Fridas but the quality is just as good. 

They have a huge range of really authentic taco fillings, we had a hard time deciding which ones we wanted to try the most! They’re famous for their camaron y tocino (shrimp and bacon) tacos, but honestly, everything looked good. 

Don’t miss their speciality tacos hiding in a different section of the menu either. They’re a bit more expensive, but the birria is mouthwatering. 

14. La Pasta Nostra

• 🍴 Eat here for: lunch or dinner 
• ⏰ Opening hours: 12:00 pm – 10:00 pm daily 
• 💰 Approximate cost: pasta dishes 50 – 100Q, pizza 65 – 85Q
• 🥗 Must order: build your own pasta

There are dozens of Italian restaurants in Antigua, all with reviews claiming to have the best pizza or pasta the reviewer has ever tried. Basically, they’re all good and unless you want to eat Italian every night, you just need to choose one or two to try. 

We landed on La Pasta Nostra, and we were not disappointed! They had pizza and pasta, but we both had a pasta dish. 

The menu is kind of a build-your-own which was fun!

You choose which pasta you want, they have lots of handmade artisanal options like gnocchi, ravioli, flavoured fettuccine etc. Then you choose your sauce, from a range of classic options like bolognaise, carbonara, and alfredo but they also have some more unique options. Some of the sauces specified meat (e.g. beef in the bolognaise or bacon in the carbonara), but for others, you could choose to add chicken or prawns. 

The restaurant is a lovely, relaxing space. It was quiet enough to talk and there was plenty of room so it didn’t feel crowded. They have a very friendly cat, who spent most of our meal sitting on Brayden’s lap! He is not a cat lover, but this guy was so friendly he won him over. 

15. Samsara

• 🍴 Eat here for: breakfast, lunch or dinner 
• ⏰ Opening hours: 8:00 am – 10:00 pm daily 
• 💰 Approximate cost: mains 50 – 70Q, breakfast 45 – 55Q
• 🥗 Must order: wok noodles

Samsara is another vegetarian/vegan restaurant in Antigua. It’s one of the most popular places in the city regardless of whether you eat meat or not, so don’t be put off if you’re not vegan. 

They’re open for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a really varied menu. They have a lot of Guatemalan options with a vegan and/or vegetarian twist, but also a lot of Asian and Middle Eastern influence. They have healthy sweet treats, smoothies and kombuchas too. 

Their ‘wok’ noodles are their most popular dish, and we tried them when we visited. You can choose what protein you’d like, from tofu, tempeh, mushrooms, falafel balls or quinoa croquettes, which was a nice touch. We also had lao tzu which was like an Asian stirfry with rice, it was very tasty. 

We thought it was a nice spot for lunch. It wasn’t my favourite restaurant on this list, but the dishes were fresh and healthy and felt nice and light. We went before our Pacaya Volcano hike and it was good fuel! 

16. Centro Comercial La Fuente

• 🍴 Eat here for: lunch, dinner or snacks
• ⏰ Opening hours: building: 8:00 am – 11:00 pm daily, individual restaurants vary
• 💰 Approximate cost: varies between restaurants
• 🥗 Must order: a roving meal with samples from many restaurants 

Bear with me, this isn’t exactly a restaurant in Antigua but it was one of our favourite discoveries in the city! 

The Centro Comercial La Fuente, sometimes called the La Fuente Mall and Foodcourt is a gorgeous courtyard in one of Antigua’s beautiful historic buildings. Centred around a big fountain (la fuente), lots of different restaurants share communal chairs and tables. 

It’s a lovely leafy and sunny spot to sit and enjoy a meal or snack, and you can sample lots of different things! 

The restaurants do change quite frequently, and places that we enjoyed have already moved on, and new restaurants have moved in, but there are at least 8 – 10 options to choose from. 

At the time of writing, they have a Japanese restaurant, Kabuki, a steak house, El Cafetal, one of the best pizza shops in Antigua, Brooklyn Pizza. You can also find El Local, a really lovely cafe, a popular bar, La Taverna, and the Vietnamese place I mentioned earlier, just to name a few. There are also little handicraft and souvenir stalls too. 

When we visited there wasn’t a great coffee shop inside, but Fat Cat Coffee House is just next door, so you can grab a takeaway and enjoy it in the courtyard.

Bars and breweries

17. Antigua Brewing Company

• 🍴 Eat here for: drinks, snacks, lunch or dinner 
• ⏰ Opening hours: 11:00 am – 11:00 pm Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 11:00 pm Saturday & Sunday 
• 💰 Approximate cost: beer tasting paddle 75Q, burgers 75Q
• 🥗 Must order: beer paddle

Primarily a brewery but also a great spot for a snack, the Antigua Brewing Company has one of the best rooftops in Antigua! The volcanoes feel like you could reach out and touch them they’re so close. 

The brewery is a huge multi-storey venue, but make a beeline straight for the terrace. It gets busy around sunset, so be sure to arrive early to snag a good seat in front of the volcanoes. 

Being a brewery, the best thing to try is beer! They have a range of classic beers that are always on tap and a smaller list of rotating specials from ABC and other local breweries. You can choose 6 to sample in their tasting paddle. 

They have a small menu of food. I wouldn’t specifically choose to visit for a meal, but if you’re feeling peckish and want something to accompany a drink, they’ve got burgers and bar snacks like chips and wings. 

18. Ulew Cocktail Bar

• 🍴 Eat here for: drinks
• ⏰ Opening hours: 2:00 pm – 12:00 am daily
• 💰 Approximate cost: cocktails 70 – 90Q
• 🥗 Must order: a custom-made cocktail 

Walk through a phone box in a dark corner of Antigua Brewing Company to find Ulew, a hidden speakeasy. 

This cocktail bar is staffed by some of the best mixologists in the city, who can shake, mix and stir you up something delicious made exactly to your liking. That’s because they don’t have a menu! Instead, a bartender will come to your table when you arrive, chat about your favourite flavours and what you feel like, and whip up something especially for you. 

I requested something spicy with passionfruit, and Brayden said he loved flavoured margaritas. Both the drinks we got were very tasty, but really it was the vibe and experience that was fun. 

No menu means no prices, and we’re always a bit tense when we don’t know what the bill is going to come to. We ended up paying 187Q for two cocktails with a tip included. It’s much more expensive than other bars in the city, but it was a fun experience and I think it’s worth doing for one drink at least! 

19. Antigua Cerveza El Bosque

• 🍴 Eat here for: drinks, snacks, lunch or dinner
• ⏰ Opening hours: 12:00 pm – 9:30 pm Tuesday – Sunday (closed Monday)
• 💰 Approximate cost: pint of craft beer 39Q, 4 empanadas 60Q, cheeseburger 70Q
• 🥗 Must order: beer, empanadas

The other brewing company in Antigua, Antigua Cerveza might not have the volcano views, but instead, it has a FOREST! 

El Bosque (meaning the forest) is a sprawling green space in the heart of the city. It is one of the coolest venues we visited in Antigua, with different pockets of seating areas, lawn games, fire pits, fairy lights and huge TV screens for sports. It had such a fun, funky vibe, it felt like we were at home in Australia at one of our local breweries. 

It’s a little confusing at first, but basically, the brewery (Antigua Cerveza) runs the venue, and they have a big covered bar in the middle where you order drinks. Food is offered separately by a number of little stalls/food trucks, set up at the back of the venue. 

Our favourite was Chermol, which had perfect beer food! Empanadas, burgers, loaded fries, choripans, nachos – all the stuff you’d want to eat while drinking a few beers. There were other options, including a pizza place from memory, but on the few nights we visited, we ate from Chermol every time and everything we tried was really good. 

Their hours are very confusing and change slightly every day so I’ve simplified it above. Essentially they are open for lunch and dinner every day except Monday. 

20. Tabacos y Vinos

• 🍴 Eat here for: drinks and snacks
• ⏰ Opening hours: 10:00 am – 11:00 pm daily
• 💰 Approximate cost: glass of wine 20 – 35Q
• 🥗 Must order: wine, charcuterie 

A wine bar where the wine gets cheaper the more you drink – is this heaven?! Tabacos y Vinos is a very inconspicuous place on one of the busiest streets in Antigua. Tucked under the Santa Catalina Arch, it sells, you guessed it, wine and tobacco. 

Their wines are priced by the glass, and for every glass you have, the price gets cheaper. 

Prices vary by the type of wine, but as an example, one glass of wine is 35Q, if you have two (per person) it’s 30Q and so on. It caps out at four glasses I believe, and the price gets as low as 20Q! 

If you’re a true wine connoisseur you might not find the variety that special, but for two backpackers who hadn’t had a nice Pinot Noir in months, we happily indulged in multiple glasses. I mean we were practically saving money the more we drank! 

They also offer a small tapas menu, and we got a nice (if not a little pricey) charcuterie board, which was a very nice treat after being without cheese and deli meats for quite a few months!

Restaurants in Antigua Guatemala: Final thoughts

This is only a very small selection of hundreds of amazing restaurants in Antigua Guatemala. This city is a gastronomic delight, and I honestly think you could walk into any cafe, restaurant or bar and have a great experience. 

They do dining well, and you would need weeks to try all the top places. This is just our very limited list of favourites from two weeks in the city. There are many highlights we didn’t get to, and I’m sure you’ll find some favourites of your own as you explore the city!

I’d love to hear what your foodie highlights were, please let me know in the comments.

If you’re visiting Antigua, don’t forget to check out our other posts below to help plan your time in the city.

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• Ultimate Antigua Guatemala Travel Guide + Itinerary
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• 28 Best Things to Do in Antigua Guatemala
• Everything You Need to Know About the Pacaya Volcano Hike
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