Good food is easy to come by in Tepoztlán, Mexico, located just a couple of hours south of Mexico City on the highway to Acapulco. There is a generous variety of restaurants catering to the weekend visitor and tourists. Local food is centered on rolled tortilla sandwiches with pork, chicken, cheese or vegetables. Hot peppers are available if you like. Roast beef dishes and traditional Nahua-style meals are also plentiful, but pizzas and burgers are in short supply. Local dishes are hearty, hearty and tasty. The streets in the central area of the city and the colorful and exotic market located behind the main square (also called the Zócalo) are full of select places to dine on any budget. Here are a few to try to get started:
Xochipilli Vegetarian Restaurant located at Ave. Revolución No. 10
A beautifully decorated place with tempting non-meat specialties. It’s a bit “touristy”, but the service is good and the menu is varied enough to make it a worthwhile stop on your schedule. Prices for local delicacies range from 20 pesos to around 50 pesos for a larger meal.
Los Colorines Restaurant located in Tepozteco No. 13
A Tepoztlán landmark with its bright pink exterior that is hard to miss. It is decorated in colonial Mexican style and has a menu of typical Mexican dishes. Blue corn tortillas are a specialty here and make their enchiladas interesting to look at and on the palate. Prices are moderate for most main dishes, ranging from 30 to 50 pesos for most. If you are a chocolate lover try the “Chicken in mole sauce” or chicken in mole. Chocolate is an important ingredient in mole sauce. This dish is popular throughout central and southern Mexico to the Yucatan.
In the market
The most unique food in Tepoztlán can be sampled in the spacious Mercado Central located immediately behind the Zócalo (main square). In addition to the usual vegetable, meat and poultry stalls, there are family stalls that serve dishes that you will have to see and taste to believe they are hanging from one entrance to the other. The food on all of them looked good, but of the several that were tried, here are two that we recommend to start with:
Mexican Antojitos Irma – Edith located in the Central Market of Tepoztlán:
You will hardly know where to start with the multitude of “Quesadillas” served here. These are hot tortilla sandwiches warmed with the ingredients of your choice, alone or in combination, inside. They cost from 5 to 12 pesos each (: 50 cents to $ 1.20 cents) and they are simply wonderful. Fillings include cheese, pumpkin flower (it’s a bright red flower whose flowers are cooked and eaten!), Sausage potatoes, mushrooms, nopales (these are a type of cactus commonly known as nopal in the southwestern US). USA), Chicharrón (fried pork skin) and tinga – a mixture of shredded chicken, peppers and spices. The very dark looking tortillas are made with blue corn, a regional specialty from Mexico.
Tacos (forget about Taco Bell forever) are served with thinly sliced fried beef, sour cream, and spices and are called “Tacos de Cecina.” If you don’t want yours, I’ll take them! How about you have it all with an Ameyal tropical fruit soda? There are kiwi, tamarind, Jamaica (a drink made from dried hibiscus flowers that is popular in the West Indies), mandarin (mandarin orange), and peach, called peach in Spanish and considered an exotic fruit in Mexico.
Doña Lucía is located in the Central Market of Tepoztlán:
Here you will be struck even more by flavors, aromas, sights and sounds that will indelibly mark your senses. Start with Cecino de Yecappistla: blue corn totillas, thinly sliced fried beef, a locally produced cheese, and spices. The tantalizing scent alone will drive you crazy. How about the triangular “Itacates”, a pasta that is served as a kind of sandwich with melted cheese? Don’t escape without trying at least one “Flor de Chompancle” quesadilla, also called “Flor de Colorines” by some locals. While you’re at it, you can snack on some “Chapulines” (they are fried grasshoppers), they are offered for free. Don’t get carried away by us now! Test. I absolutely guarantee it: you will never forget the experience.
A mystical place in itself, Tepoztlán is home to dozens of artists, poets, writers, and mystics. There are also frequent sightings of UFOs (called UFOs in Spanish) in the area. Several notable cathedrals adorn the city. The most prominent of them is the Dominican Ex-Convent of the Nativity, which also has a museum on the premises. The side streets are steep and tend to run uphill, especially west of the main square. The sheer 300-meter cliffs that border the city to the north are an astonishing sight. But don’t just take our word for it. Come see for yourself.