Living LARGE in San Miguel

How to pick the 'best' restaurant in the city? I am hard- pressed. Would it be the quaint, family-run place with the whole chickens turning on the spit in the window or the more formal (if there is such a thing as formal in this casual city)Italian dinner complete with white tablecloths and candleight in the courtyard? Would I pick enjoying chilo rellenos and margaritas that can knock your panties off while listening to a local musician playing hauntingly beautiful love songs or would I pick a good old American cheeseburger and fries with the commadarie of other Americans as we cheer the Kansas City Chiefs on to victory on a large screen TV? The choices of eateries in San Miguel are large and varied. Perhaps one of my favoirite things to do, after a full day of sight-seeing is to call Pepe and have one of those handsome sons (or cousins) deliver a pizza to my door. Ah so many choices....so little time!

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Around San Miguel you can easily walk to wherever you want to go or, if you prefer, taxis are readily available. There's even a limited local bus system although, I confess, I haven't used it on any of my visits. I recommend walking. Get a map at the library. Hit the streets and if you get lost, just ask anyone for directions.
The people of San Miguel are very 'tourist-friendly.'

If you want more than just a meal and want to be entertained while you eat then Bugambilias is the place to go! It's a noisy, friendly place with the stereotypical Mexican decor only perhaps one notch up on the 'good taste' scale.
Very friendly waiters will help you select a wonderful dinner. We had chili rellenos and a few margaritas strong enough to knock your pants off! Local musicians often perform here casually during dinner. A man singing hauntingly beautiful Mexican love songs wandered about from table to table taking requests.Then he perched on a stool and put on quite a nice show.
One last mention of the good parts about this place. Ice cream! Excellent ice cream and lots of choices of flavors! While this may sound like a small thing, for an ice cream fan vacationing in the land of refrozen crystal meltdown, finding a place with decent ice cream was a real score!

This is a small, family-run operation but it's a very large family. Everybody seems to have a job with mam in the kitchen, the sons busy bussing tables, daughters bringing you large platefuls of good old-fashioned Mexican home-cooking. The whole chickens turn on the spit in the window from early morning until evening. Everyday, there is a special but one special is pretty much like the one the day before.
Very friendly place with the family members having varying degrees of being able to speak English. This is a good place to try out your Spanish. They may laugh, but it will be with you and not at you.
Very friendly atmosphere, decent food and a cheap, cheap, CHEAP place to eat.
Addemdum: I have visited San Miguel many times and NEVER, I repeat NEVER gotten sick from the food.

We came here after listening to a jazz concert at the Theater Angela Peralta which is across the street and about half a block closer to town. We arrived without reservations but that didn't seem to be a problem. We ate a delicious Italian pasta dish and crisp salad outside on the courtyard lit only by the stars and the single candle on our table. It was a very romantic and plesant evening. The food was delicious, the service excellent.
One funny thing happened, though, that reminded us that standards are different in Mexico from what we are accustomed to in the States. We were eating quite late - perhaps 10:30PM and when we ordered our meal the waiter told us "No pan" (bread) meaning they were out of bread. No problem to us actually, but the funny part came when another large table of diners left and our waiter removed the bread from their table and brought it to us! Not something you'd see at home!

This friendly little pizza place about a block north of the Jardin (main meeting place and park in town) has nothing special about its decor. Fairly small with tiny, rough cut wooden tables and chairs and a little in the way of atmosphere but the GREAT thing about Pepe's is that he delivers! Yep, that's right. Just call him up and, just like back home, within 30 minutes you'll have a piping hot pizza delivered right to your door! This is one of my favorites things to do after a busy day of sightseeing.
Also, vegie pizza is available for those who aren't carnivorious.