5 Best Restaurants in San Miguel de Allende and the Heartland, Mexico

Within the gracious Rosewood San Miguel de Allende, Restaurant 1826 conveys both ease and sophistication. The upholstered chairs are comfortable enough to linger over various courses. Flavors represented on the international menu—a small but inspired collection of plates—are subtle, with unusual seasonings that truly please the palate. Sinfully large and calorie-laden desserts include a volcano of semisweet chocolate (in presentations from ground to molten), with a fig compote and rosemary ice cream. Almost-floor-to-ceiling windows frame the large, rectangular space, and the artwork of local luminaries like Marilo Carral grace the walls. A pre- or postdinner drink on the rooftop bar, La Luna, offers incredible 360-degree views of the city. Breakfast (starting at 7 am) and lunch offer more Mexican dishes. Cooking classes with chef Victor Palma and expansive Sunday brunchathons happen on the outdoor patio.

This fresh fusion restaurant, in a 1673 building, is at once minimalist, eclectic, international, French-influenced, and tasty. Each dish is marked on the menu with its own nationality. A recipe for disaster? Not in the case of the arrachera fusión, a variation on the classic Mexican marinated steak that includes avocado, goat cheese, and a chipotle–red wine salsa. The menu includes a large selection of creative pizzas. The wine list changes every couple of months, each time featuring a dozen wines from Mexico and other countries. There's live music Friday and Saturday nights. It closes early on Sunday, at 7:30.

This restaurant is in a marvelously restored, plant-filled 17th-century mansion. Specialties include the full range of local dishes as well as Argentine-style massive steaks. Salads, pastas, and homemade soups round out the menu. The bar resembles a cozy living room; copper trays serve as tables, and the painted, domed ceilings resemble the sky. The wine list includes a selection of Mexican wines.

Locals bring special visitors and loved ones on special occasions to this restaurant, one of the best in the city, which is out near the bull ring beyond the city center. The house specialties change from time to time, but the menu always includes Mexican dishes with modern touches, including filete Chemita (steak sautéed in butter with onions). Save room for the creamy coconut ice cream. A classical pianist performs most weekdays between 3 and 5 pm, during lunch, and there's a duet Thursday through Saturday 8 to 10 pm.

Founded in 2008 by chef Donnie Masterton, formerly of New York's Bouley, Montrachet, and Tavern on the Green, The Restaurant is where well-heeled and shabby-chic expats dine with fashionistas and movers and shakers, though they cede the pleasant vine-covered patio to wealthy Mexican visitors come the weekend. The menu emphasizes organic ingredients and changes according to the season and whatever inspires chef Masterton in the local market. Specialties include homemade ravioli with goat cheese and poblano peppers, crab cakes with guacamole, miso-marinated Pacific salmon, sautéed salmon trout in curry brown butter, and, for dessert, panna cotta made with goat yogurt and honey. Thursday is burger night, with a whole menu of specialty burgers.