Where to Eat – Veracruz

Photograph ©Manu Bastien www.manuphotos.com

Las Brisas del Mar

This is my absolute favorite restaurant in all of Veracruz. Tomasita Hernandez Melendez opened her kitchen to me and shared many of her wonderful recipes with me.
Zamora No. 310
Corner of Juarez Boca del Rio,
Veracruz Mexico
Phone: (29) 86-2171

Riviera Pardinos
Gutierrez Zamora 40
Boca del Rio, Veracruz
Tel: 229 986 0135

El Varadero Zamora
This is the first place I ate in Veracruz in 1985 and the food is just as good now.
corner of Orizaba
29-86-17-87

Restaurant Acuarios
Boulevard Canales y Revolucion
Boca del Rio, Veracruz
Phone: (29) 86-0351

VERACRUZ CITY

This Veracruz institution is the place for breakfast, afternoon conversation or a bite to eat at dinnertime.

Gran Cafe La Parroquia
Gomez Farias No. 34
Veracruz, Veracruz Mexico
Tel: 229 932 2584
Fabulous ice creams and ices

Centro Nevero Malecon Zamora # 20 (near Landero y Cos)

ALVARADO

This restaurant is a must for any seafood lover. Try the nino envuelto (seafood omelet and the arroz a la tumbada, a local specialty.

Restaurant La Viuda
Malecon Gabriel Carballo
#132 (corner of Bravo) Alvarado, Veracruz

XALAPA

A great supper place. No liquor is served but there’s a fun bar right next door.
La Churreria del Recuerdo
Calle Guadalupe Victoria No. 158
Zona Centro Xalapa,
Veracruz, Mexico 91000
Phone: (28) 18-4520

Great for lunch.

El Salto de Xala
Murillo Vidal No. 238
Xalapa, Veracruz Mexico
Phone: (28) 18-0385

Restaurante La Sopa
They have a great blue plate special for lunch every day and La Sopa is a place where artists and intellectuals gather in the evenings. There is danzon on Thursday nights.
Restaurante La Sopa
Callejón del Diamante 3-A
91000 Xalapa
Tel: 228 817 8069
Fax; 28-120752
Owner/Chef: Pepe Ochoa

Mesón de Alférez
A great breakfast and afternoon cafe place with the best pan de reques a cheese-filled pastry.
Sebastián Camacho esquina con Zaragoza
91000 Xalapa Tel: 28-186351

COATEPEC

Restaurant Casa Bonilla
Juarez esq. Cuauhtemoc
Coatepec, Veracruz Mexico
Phone: (28) 16-03-74, 16

ORIZABA

Restaurante La Fuente
I recommend their daily lunch special which can be as low as $2.25 U.S. It includes soup, pasta or rice, main dish and dessert.
Restaurante La Fuente
Hotel Pluviosilla Poniente 7 # 163
Tel:272-55300
Owners: Gutierrez Family
La Bodega del Abuelo
A good supper place to sample the traditional garnachas and chileatole. No liquor is served.
La Bodega del Abuelo
Oriente 6 # 467
Tel: 272-46115 or 40892
Chef/Owner: Elodia Morales de Pontn

CORDOBA

Bertha Bernal de Rios runs 4 successful in and around the portales (the covered archways) around the center of town.
I particularly recommend
El Tabachon (Tel: 271-21853)
but Cafe Parroquia (Tel: 271-23752) and El Balcón

CEMPOALA

Restaurant Daría
If you happen to go to the ruins in Cempoala, don’t miss The forty-five-year-old Restaurant Daría. They have a limited menu of excellent seafood that is sold by the kilo. I recommend the caldo de pescado (fish soup), acamallas enchipotladas (freshwater langoustines in a chipotle sauce) and the longozaniza (homemade sausage).
Restaurant Daría
Pedro Hernández Sur # 58
Tel: 297-14101
Owner/Chef: Daría Munoz

CATEMACO

Restaurant Julita
My favorite restaurant in the area. Try all the local specialties like pescado en chile limoán (fish in chile-lime sauce), pescado en escabeche rojo (fish in red chile sauce) minilla de anguila (freshwater eel hash) and topotes (fried baby fish) and carne ahumada (smoked meat).
Restaurant Julita
Mar’a Teresa Garc’a # 10
Tel: 294-30008
Chef/Owner: Elia Pretel’n Moreno

Antojitos María Elena
Elia also owns a little supper place for antojitos (little snacks)
Antojitos María Elena
Carranza # 16 Tel: 294-30008

La Palapa
A great bar and appetizer place owned by my good friend and fabulous tour operator Tere Contreras and her husband Armando Centeno
La Palapa
Malecon S/N
294-30808

XICO

El Mesón Xiqueño
Avenida Hidalgo # 148
Tel: 28-130781
Owner: Mary Carmen Peredo

La Molienda
Hotel Coyopolan
Prolongacion de Venustiano Carranza
29 – 120022

COSTA ESMERALDA

Make sure to order the omelet de bananos (plantain omelet), ta rice and oyster soup and any of the dishes made with fish fresh out of the Gulf of Mexico.
Los Brujos
Hotel El Palmar
Km. 83.5 Carretera Tecolutla-Nautla
La Vigueta, Tecolutla Veracruz
Tel 232-10059 Fax 232-10060

Near Costa Esmeralda is San Rafael, a town founded by French settlers in the 1800s. Make grow cattle and make excellent cheeses sold at cheese shops that line the main highway. Though I donÕt recommend you order U.S. cuts like sirloin or t-bone you can get good meat dishes at

Parrilla El Sotano
Boca de Aovejas
Tel: 232-50314

NAOLINC0

If visiting Xalapa make sure to take a side trip to this picturesque town where you can buy cowboy boots and eat the stuffed chipotle chiles and marvel marzipan and fruit pastes (ates) at:

Doña Josefina
Familia Loeza Olmos, owners
Plaza de Armas No. 8
Tel; (282) 15093

PáNUCO

Pánuco: The sacahuil ( a 4-foot long tamal)is served at breakfast at Restoran Virginia. Try the extremely hot pumpkin seed enchiladas too or the mild entomatadas (tortillas dipped in tomato sauce).

Restaurant Virginia
Virginia Villal-n, chef/owner
Calle Tenerife s/n Revolucion Mexicana
Tel: 126-60752

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