New Restaurants in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

It is hard to keep up with all the new places opening weekly and monthly in San Miguel in response to the demand from locals and tourists!  Honestly, it is astounding.  Will they all last? Probably not.  However,
San Miguel does not seem to experience the failure rate that is typical in the USA.

Many places, my favorites, are the hole in the wall places like Ole' Ole' which did close but now has reopened.  At one point Bon Appetit magazine named it one of the best in San Miguel.  Great fajitas and prices. It is strange that I would like hole in the wall, undesigned places, but I do go for the food, most of the time and not necessarily the concept or ambiance that used to be designed by my firm.

Now there is a true "concept" restaurant that has opened.  It is called Fat Boy's.  Not a name that would have been chosen by me, but it is what it is.  Name aside, it is a fun, funky, well done theme restaurant.

The owner is no stranger to the restaurant scene.  He has been in the business since I moved to San Miguel, which feels like a long time ago.  He was a silent partner in Romano's with Dick Weber, then a partner in
Hansen's in a building he owned and had had a previous restaurant, lo those many years ago. 

Now there is Fat Boy's.  On a huge piece of property located on Cinco de Mayo, there are several dining rooms on the first floor and second.  Space for TV watching, darts, private parties.  You name it, Arvino
has thought of it all.  Open only part of the week from 1pm til.........check out their website for all the info.

It is being promoted as a biker bar.  No feeling of that during the day, but I hear at night it is hopping.  Especially late at night.  Since I'm usually a daytime diner, the times I've been there with friends the service has been excellent as has the food.

Ahh, the food~!  Excellent.  Trooping over there the first time was because I heard they had pate'.  The pate' that Hansen's had served.  They do.  It's yummy

.  But the other items on the menu that our group has sampled from ribs to burgers to French dip sandwiches have lifted the bar for quality and quantity here in San Miguel.

Here are a few photos:

The other point to make is that the times we have been there, both men and women are there.  It is not a typical "biker bar" with dirt and smoke etc.  In my mind, a biker bar was like the ice houses in Texas.  Enter at your own risk, sometimes.  This is in no way like that.   Oh, and did I mention that they have valet parking?  Yup, they think of everything and either own or lease a huge lot for parking! 

Across the street is another new restaurant, Pork Belly.  Oh my, delicious is all that needs to be said.  Our Friday Lunch Bunch group has been there numerous times.  We've ordered just about everything on the menu.  Everything is superb and tasty.  Everything.  The only issue is they don't open til 2PM BUT there is a solution.

Now Pork Belly has a food kiosk at the new Mercado where Don Pedro's hardware store used to be located.  I have not eaten there yet, but it is open from 8AM ..........breakfast and on.  Limited menu, but that will probably change.

There is a new place that I have not gotten to yet but which I hear has a French menu.  Oh la la!  I love French food.  It is on Mesones and called Mon Bistrot.  Owned by a French Canadian I'm told.  It is on my list of a new place to get to soon.

Yesterday our group had lunch at Grandpa's and Sons at La Aurora.  It is a diner kind of menu with hamburgers, hot dogs, great salads and milk shakes, to name a few items.  Well seasoned and well priced in a nice airy semi-outdoor setting just as you enter La Aurora to your left, it could become a favorite place in the near future.

That's about it.  I'm told there are now over 300 dining places in San Miguel.  I don't know if that includes the taco stands or not.  The number is staggering.  All restaurateurs trying to get a piece of the pie of tourists and locals, so to speak.  Buen provecho.