*This post was last updated July 2024*
I am die-hard Mexico City, as you, my dear readers, know all too well. For me, no other city in the world compares. That said, I am game to explore some other, lesser-known-to-me cities in Mexico and am starting to make the rounds. Guadalajara has been a place I keep going back to again and again. Originally I was tempted by rumors of its public transportation system and bike share program (started in 2014), both things which to me portend urbanism, something I can dig into.
Neighborhoods
On my first visit, I found the city to be less urban than I thought but then I learned a little bit of its back story and things started to fall into place. For instance, Guadalajara is actually composed of five different delegaciones (originally all separate towns) each with its own central plaza, main church, etc. which is why it feels a little sprawly and lacks a solid center. The city is also very much built for vehicles, despite the good public transportation system that will take you most anywhere (I am talking buses and metro buses).
There are a couple of neighborhoods that felt more like a city than the others. The streets on either side of Chapultepec Sur (Americana and Obrera neighborhoods) as well as on either side of Hidalgo y Costilla up to Federalismo are showing signs of artsy evolution — elaborate street graffiti, tattoo parlors, skate shops, craft beer bars, upscale modern Mexican cuisine. AND, despite what some locals were telling me about the neighborhood around the San Juan de Dios market (“dirty, poor and dangerous”) I would say that after the areas that I just mentioned get buzzing, the money will move there — its buildings are lovely and historic (if wanting for investment and upkeep) and it’s a compact area with a lot of old-school charm. Poor, dirty, and dangerous were what people thought of Mexico City’s Centro Historico for years. Look at it now.
Food & Drink
What impressed me most about Guadalajara was the food (like that’s a shock). Incredible food. Unpretentious food — despite the fact that the Tapatios tell me that “in Guadalajara, people wear heels to the grocery store.” And there is so much new food and drink that continues to thrill me every time I visit. Here is a list of some of my favorites, in no specific order.
Tikuun Comedor Local: This is my most recent find in Guadalajara and the dinner I ate there just blew me away. While the food on the menu defies categorization, there is some focus on Mexican classics like a fancy (and delicious) duck tlacoyo with some of the best mole I have ever had. The beet salad with salted muesli, crottin cheese, and microgreens was what stole my heart initially, but then I had the scallops with peppermint, chile de arbol, pea microgreens, and glasswort, and that put me over the top. I wouldn’t come just for the cocktails, but the mojito and gin flores were both way more than decent. And the place is adorable and not pretentious and there is an outdoor patio (always a selling point for me).
Panadería del Barrio: A tiny and quirky place in Colonia Americana with great breakfasts like Shakshuka eggs or Croque Madame and good coffee with a very neighborhood vibe.
De la O: I’m starting to think that it’s easier to find a cool bar ambiance, with laidback folks, AND great cocktails in Guadalajara. (In Mexico City one of these elements is often missing). De La O is a bar that I just keep going back to. The place looks like an old pharmacy or general store with the bar serving as the front counter and weird little Tchotchkes and art everywhere.
The staff is hip but helpful and the cocktails are some of the most inventive I have ever had — on my last visit I had the Cynar Daiquiri with artichoke liqueur, lime, and pineapple simple syrup and I think squealed for glee a little. They offer a range of mezcal and raicilla (another agave spirit local to Jalisco), and although I haven’t tried the food, several people have raved about it to me.
La Panga del Impostor: A great little hip seafood place, really low-key and cool, with most of the seating outdoors on the patio. This is the place to come if you’re hungover, but the menu will make you happy even on a regular day. Try the clam birria for a punch in the tastebuds, but also make sure to sample at least one of the firey aguachiles and maybe the Chinese Tuna tostada with soy sauce, chamoy, sesame seeds, and wasabi peas. Wash it all down with an ice-cold beer, there really is nothing better.
El Gallo Altanero: These guys have rocketed to fame after being named on the 50 best bars of North America list (Guadalajara’s only spot on the list), but I think it’s deserved. I love the vibe here, it feels kinda like a friend of a friend’s Sunday barbeque filled with cool people getting wasted and singing love songs one minute, dancing to hip hop the next. The bartender I talked with was a little too mansplainy about the drinks and the spirits for my liking, but the rest of the crowd was so fun who cares. These guys also lean toward traditional Mexican spirits and have great concoctions on the ever-changing cocktail menu like the Paloma, one of my favs.
Birria: I am a big birria fan, and after a recent research trip for an article that I was writing about it, I have discovered that I really like beef birria over goat (although the latter can be delicious as well). There were three places that I tried that I really loved, one was Birria de Oro in the Centro Historico, one was El Chololo in Tlaquepaque (goat birria, tatemada, which means finished in the oven so it has a crispy crust on top), and a tiny hole-in-the wall place near the El Baratillo market run by one Doña Yolanda, called Birriera El Chino.
Alcalde: A laid-back luxury diner with a Norwegian furniture vibe. The young chef, Paco Ruano, is a Guadalajara food star and the menu is filled with these incredible riffs on Mexican food infused with international techniques. Things come out so pretty you won’t want to eat them. The only disappointment is that there is a lack of local craft beer on the menu, they’ve got some deal with the Minerva company and so don’t offer other brands.
Hueso: A Guadalajara stand-by at this point, the place is still excellent after over 15 years running. The dining is family-style at a long table that runs through the middle of the restaurant, surrounded by the bleached-white bones of thousands of animals. The chef’s menu is this 8-course over-the-top smorgasbord that doesn’t ease 
you from one dish to the next but slams you against the wall with flavor.
Pigalle: This red-lit bar in Colonia Americana serves a lengthy menu of classic cocktails and despite the sort of boudoir appearance is pretty chill and down to earth. I got great service there and a great negroni. I love the front porch where you can hang out at a bar overlooking the street.
Res Publica: Ambiance isn’t everything, but it sure does make a hell of a difference sometimes. Res Publica has some incredibly tender steaks and chops, cooked to perfection with a limited, but nice (and nicely priced) wine list, and is set up like a backyard BBQ on the deck of your hip, moneyed friend’s place. The crowd is a mix of insulated puffy vests, North Face gear, and cuffed jeans, but who cares.
Ponte Trucha Negro: I love this big, open family-style seafood place. It’s been around a long time in Guadalajara and is obviously a local favorite. I tried the shrimp aguachile with cucumber, onion, and hot peppers and loved it, almost as much as the Taco chupe zarandeado with grilled shrimp in the creamy house sauce. This place is perfect for those really hot days in Guadalajara when all that sounds good is a cold beer and some cold seafood.
Cerveza Loba /UMHO : I visited the Loba brewery on one of my first visits to Guadalajara and fell in love with their beer and hospitality. Now they have added a tap room and a menu of international favs like pulled pork barbeque and roast beef sandwiches along with tons of seafood options like aguachiles and tostadas. The ambiance there is cool, with a dining room set above the tank room and an open terrace feel even though it’s covered.
Anita Li: Oddly enough, kitschy beachy backgrounds, crossword puzzle wall art, and chalk drawings blend seamlessly with marque lighting and mafia-style booths in the back. The menu is a fusion of pan-Asian dishes and local ingredients. They had some really choice local beer brands including Ventura and Loba.
Pa’l Real: My friend Anais, the coffee freak, said she wanted to have breakfast there every day. They have about a million coffee preparations and delicious beans from all over Mexico. Plus the space is wood-covered and cozy and the breakfasts are delectable: biscuits, chilaquiles, fruit bowls, french toast, and fresh requesón cheese.
El Grillo: A tiny outdoor pub with a craft beer list a mile long. Every style has at least a few options from Guadalajara and the prices range from 2.5-8 bucks on average.
Patan: Full disclosure, I have not been yet, but I had great things from a lot of sources. It’s a tap room with a regular selection of about 24 local craft beers and a very good food menu with things like pizzas, burgers, popcorn shrimp, basically bar food stuff. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Mercado San Juan de Dios: I got some funny looks from my cabbie about 
heading to the market, but I just don’t think you can get to know a city without knowing its market. This one is HUGE, two floors with dozens of food stalls. Many sell Jalisco staples — tortas ahogadas, carne en su jugo, birria — there are a handful more that sell seafood, and a lot selling Japanese food, in particular caldo michi a famous dish served by Japanese immigrants in Guadalajara since the 1940s.
A few places you can skip:
Lonches Amparito – This is on the Eater list for Guadalajara but I waited for 
over an hour in the line and thought my sandwich was totally forgettable.
Xokol – The vibe here is super cool and I love how corn is at the core of their mission, but I found the food to be lacking in pizzazz, and the cocktails were weak and uninteresting.
Tacos de Barbacoa Arturo (Los de Antaño) – Another spot on the Eater list that I found underwhelming, Eater can’t win ’em all!
Postrería Gdl – The sweets here tasted fake, the service was meh, and I have heard whispers of some shitty working conditions so… skip.
PIMP – I was so disappointed here that I might even go back just to prove to myself that I was not mistaken. The space is absolutely cool as shit. Like a backroom apartment in the 1930s, with a crazy mix of furniture and art, all in the back and upstairs of an oyster restaurant, with a door that looks like a bookcase. The music is fab, everything jazzy and soulful, and there’s an open front wall that gives you a great view of the neighborhood. But MY DRINK! Terrible, weak, and flavorless. So I will try it again one day but I don’t have much faith.
Attractions
The architecture in Guadalajara is a hodge-podge of styles without much consistency, but there are a handful of beautiful buildings to appreciate. Colonia Americana is the super hip trendy spot with all the popular bars and restaurants, and the vibe to me is kinda Havana or Miami, with a lot of mid-century, low-slung houses, with that worn, classy feel to them and tons of tropical plants framing their entrances and decorating their balconies — a little lost in time maybe? In the Centro, there is more of a colonial vibe with flat-fronted two-stories that are more interesting inside than out.
Recently I discovered the El Baratillo Sunday Tianguis in the San Juan Bosco neighborhood and while it won’t wow with its products (anyone who has been to a big tianguis in Mexico will have seen most of what they sell there), it is a massive market that just goes on and on and the food vendors sell GDL classics like birria and tequino with lime ice cream.
It’s a great place if you are a cyclist — there is an entire street dedicated to bikes and bike parts. I also admit to loving all the paca tables — paca is like a free-for-all of used clothing that you have to pilfer through to find the gems, all really cheap. There is another kind of wild flea market in the Parque Agua Azul on Saturdays, which is a lot more vintage and a little pricer but probably with some more interesting items.
Also definitely take advantage of the Sunday bike riding if you are there over a weekend, just like in Mexico City they shut down a main avenue (in this case Hidalgo) and you can bike and rollerskate through the city.
This is a nice list of some of the city’s most worthy monuments and historic buildings including the oldest hospital in the Americas, complete with Orozco murals. I’ve been to the University of Guadalajara Art Museum (which I loved) and the Regional Museum of Guadalajara (which was small and a bit boring except for the giant mammoth bones).
The region is known for tequila and mariachis, You can head to Tlaquepaque for music, with El Patio famous for its all-female mariachi groups. Also less than an hour outside of the city you can spend the day in Tequila, home of… you guessed… tequila. Also nearby are the Guachimontones ruins famous for their stepped, circular pyramid.
Getting there: Guadalajara is only 6 hours from CDMX, making it about an hour’s flight. Airline tickets average around 100 bucks. Bus tickets will run you from 900-1500 pesos depending on how long and at what luxury level you want your ride to be. I also used BlaBlaCar one way and it was about 20 bucks (so around 40usd round trip). You have to decide whether you want to talk to strangers for 6 hours, ride on a bus for 6 hours, or spend a little more and take a flight.
Staying there: There are few high-end hotels there including Villa Ganz, The Quinta Real Guadalajara, the Casa Fayette and the Westin. Casa Fayette and Villa Ganz are in neighborhoods I like where you can get around walking relatively easily. On the other hand, there are lots of Airbnbs and hostels to choose from and a bunch of mid-range hotels in those same neighborhoods that I can’t vouch for. On one trip I stayed at the Casa Sabina boutique hostel and I thought it was really darling, except that I was there during a heatwave, and with no A.C. I was miserable. But I would recommend it in a cooler season. I also randomly stayed at the Hotel Aranzazu in the Centro Historico because I was desperate for a swimming pool and some A.C. but the pool was super dirty and sad, and the rooms were just normal mass-tourism hotel rooms (oh and an evangelical convention was being hosted there — gross).
Check back for more updates, Guadalajara is becoming one of the cities I frequent most outside of CDMX.
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[…] There are six locations around the greater Guadalajara area. I patronize the one at Plaza del Sol, Mariano Otero 3019, Zona Plaza del Sol (nearby hotels […]