40 editor picks in Puebla.
40 mid-range places in Puebla, editor-picked. the comfortable everyday-good restaurants in Puebla, with real cooking and no surprise on the bill. All Puebla food.
Profetica Casa de la Lectura pairs a 16th-century courtyard in Puebla with a cafe bar, a bookshop and a literature library open six days a week.
TipThe courtyard is the quietest place to work in the Centro Historico, and the cafe bar opens an hour before the bookshop.
Profetica Casa de la Lectura pairs a 16th-century courtyard in Puebla with a cafe bar, a bookshop and a literature library open six days a week.
OrderWeekend breakfast in the courtyard, with an Aeropress alongside.
Miel de Agave keeps more than 170 artisanal mezcal labels on 7 Poniente in Puebla, plus fresh pulque and Pueblan snacks, until two on weekends.
TipMore than 170 artisanal labels sit behind the bar, so hand the choice to the bartender rather than reading the list.
Miel de Agave keeps more than 170 artisanal mezcal labels on 7 Poniente in Puebla, plus fresh pulque and Pueblan snacks, until two on weekends.
OrderPueblan snacks
TipThe kitchen keeps going as long as the bar does, so a late mezcal here comes with something more than peanuts.
Comal looks straight at Puebla cathedral from 16 de Septiembre, cooking blue-corn chilaquiles, chanclas, pelonas and mole poblano from breakfast to midnight.
OrderBlue-corn chilaquiles at breakfast, chanclas in guajillo salsa after dark.
TipThe upstairs tables look straight at the cathedral, and they are the first to go on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Comal looks straight at Puebla cathedral from 16 de Septiembre, cooking blue-corn chilaquiles, chanclas, pelonas and mole poblano from breakfast to midnight.
OrderEnchiladas de tres moles: pipián verde, pipián rojo and mole poblano.
TipBreakfast starts at eight and the kitchen runs to midnight, which makes Comal the one Centro address that covers both ends of a day.
Clemente Cafe opened on 2 Sur in Puebla in 2020 with a steady espresso bar, molletes and the Cosme sandwich of brie, gouda, pesto and honey.
TipIt closes on Mondays and Saturday hours shift, so a Tuesday to Friday morning is the safest window for a long sit.
Espiritu Cafe roasts its own crop in Jardines de San Manuel, Puebla, and offers sixteen filter methods plus an espresso tonic worth the detour.
TipSixteen filter methods sit behind the bar, so tell the barista what you like rather than reading the whole list.
Espiritu Cafe roasts its own crop in Jardines de San Manuel, Puebla, and offers sixteen filter methods plus an espresso tonic worth the detour.
TipThe owners grow and roast their own crop, so ask which lot is on the bar rather than which blend they serve.
Bilderberg Taproom Centro pours six rotating lines on 5 Oriente in Puebla, from a rice lager to a Russian imperial stout, brewed over in Cholula.
TipSix lines rotate, brewed in Cholula, and the range runs from a five per cent rice lager to a twelve per cent imperial stout.
Bilderberg Taproom Centro pours six rotating lines on 5 Oriente in Puebla, from a rice lager to a Russian imperial stout, brewed over in Cholula.
TipSix lines rotate through dubbel, saison, rice lager, IPA and a Russian imperial stout that runs to twelve per cent.
Comal looks straight at Puebla cathedral from 16 de Septiembre, cooking blue-corn chilaquiles, chanclas, pelonas and mole poblano from breakfast to midnight.
OrderChanclas and mole poblano
TipThe kitchen runs to midnight seven days a week, which is unusual for a Centro dining room of this quality.
Comal looks straight at Puebla cathedral from 16 de Septiembre, cooking blue-corn chilaquiles, chanclas, pelonas and mole poblano from breakfast to midnight.
OrderBlue-corn chilaquiles, with a cathedral view from the upstairs tables.
Clemente Cafe opened on 2 Sur in Puebla in 2020 with a steady espresso bar, molletes and the Cosme sandwich of brie, gouda, pesto and honey.
OrderThe Cosme sandwich: brie, gouda, pesto, honey and spinach.
Hackl Panaderos Artesanos has baked natural-leaven bread in La Paz, Puebla, since 2001, with rye, ciabatta and viennoiserie across the counter.
TipBaking here since 2001 and the counter also runs pan de muerto in late October, which sells out by mid-morning.
Cafe Cultura works high-altitude Mexican beans on 4 Sur in Puebla across several brew methods, and hangs work by local artists on the walls.
TipOpens late on Sunday at 15:00, and the walls double as a rotating show of work by artists based in Puebla.
Atta Salon Cafe works only with specialty coffee on 5 Sur in Puebla, balancing espresso against alternative methods and its own pastry counter.
TipWorks only with specialty coffee and bakes its own pastry, which makes 5 Sur the tidiest coffee stop south of the Zocalo.
Atta Salon Cafe works only with specialty coffee on 5 Sur in Puebla, balancing espresso against alternative methods and its own pastry counter.
OrderChilaquiles, then an espresso from the specialty bar behind them.
Cafe Cultura works high-altitude Mexican beans on 4 Sur in Puebla across several brew methods, and hangs work by local artists on the walls.
OrderA Chemex of high-altitude Mexican coffee with whatever is baked.
Antojitos Mellos is the weekend mole and pipian stop in Barrio de los Remedios, Puebla, with pozole and mole de panza on the board the rest of the week.
OrderMole poblano or pipián, but only at the weekend when both are cooked.
TipPozole and mole de panza cover the weekdays; the mole and pipián are Saturday and Sunday only, from one in the afternoon.
Antojitos Mellos is the weekend mole and pipian stop in Barrio de los Remedios, Puebla, with pozole and mole de panza on the board the rest of the week.
OrderWeekend mole poblano at 135 pesos, or pipián on the same days.
TipBarrio de los Remedios is a taxi ride from the Zocalo, which is exactly why the queue is local rather than visiting.
Antes Meridiano bakes on Calzada Zavaleta in Puebla and shuts at three, a morning-only room of sourdough toast, house jam and specialty coffee.
TipBread comes out in the morning and the doors shut at three, so there is no point arriving after lunch on Zavaleta.
Antes Meridiano bakes on Calzada Zavaleta in Puebla and shuts at three, a morning-only room of sourdough toast, house jam and specialty coffee.
TipEverything shuts at 15:00, so this is a breakfast and mid-morning address rather than an afternoon one on Zavaleta.
Calendula pours cocktails and pulque a step from El Parian in Puebla, including a kale, cucumber and mezcal build that reads greener than it drinks.
TipA step from El Parian, and the kale, cucumber and mezcal build is the one to order if you want something other than pulque.
Utopia Belgian Beer & Bistro has stocked Belgian bottles on 9 Oriente in Puebla for two decades, in a dark room that also sells beer to take home.
TipTwenty years old, cash-preferred, and it also sells bottles to take away from the shop attached to the bar.
Utopia Belgian Beer & Bistro has stocked Belgian bottles on 9 Oriente in Puebla for two decades, in a dark room that also sells beer to take home.
TipTwo decades of stocking Belgian bottles on 9 Oriente, with a retail shop attached for taking beer home.
Utopia Belgian Beer & Bistro has stocked Belgian bottles on 9 Oriente in Puebla for two decades, in a dark room that also sells beer to take home.
OrderBelgian bistro plates
TipCash is the safer bet here, and the bistro plates are a better late order than they have any right to be.
Antojitos Mellos is the weekend mole and pipian stop in Barrio de los Remedios, Puebla, with pozole and mole de panza on the board the rest of the week.
TipMole and pipián are cooked on Saturday and Sunday only, so a weekday visit gets pozole and mole de panza instead.
Antes Meridiano bakes on Calzada Zavaleta in Puebla and shuts at three, a morning-only room of sourdough toast, house jam and specialty coffee.
OrderSourdough toast with butter and house jam, plus a filter coffee.
Destilado Urbano stocks over a hundred mezcal labels on 6 Sur in Puebla and runs guided flights of three with a chaser from around 250 pesos.
TipA guided flight of three with a chaser starts around 250 pesos, which is the cheapest structured tasting in the Centro.
Destilado Urbano stocks over a hundred mezcal labels on 6 Sur in Puebla and runs guided flights of three with a chaser from around 250 pesos.
TipBook the guided flight of three with a chaser from around 250 pesos rather than ordering blind off the shelf.
Fonda Tipica la Poblana cooks mole poblano and chalupas on 8 Norte in Puebla, a plain fonda that opens at half past eight and runs until eight at night.
OrderMole poblano at about 150 pesos, served with rice and tortillas.
TipThis is a plain fonda rather than a restaurant, so come at lunch when the mole has been on the heat for a few hours.
Fonda Tipica la Poblana cooks mole poblano and chalupas on 8 Norte in Puebla, a plain fonda that opens at half past eight and runs until eight at night.
OrderMole poblano at 150 pesos, with rice and hand-made tortillas.
TipOpen from 08:30 to 20:00 daily, so the mole is freshest between one and four in the afternoon.
Black Cat, Black Rabbit roasts its own beans on 6 Oriente in Puebla and mixes coffee with mezcal in drinks you will not find elsewhere in the Centro.
TipIt roasts its own beans and then mixes them with mezcal, which is not a combination on offer anywhere else on 6 Oriente.
Black Cat, Black Rabbit roasts its own beans on 6 Oriente in Puebla and mixes coffee with mezcal in drinks you will not find elsewhere in the Centro.
TipRoasting happens on site on 6 Oriente, and the bar list crosses coffee with mezcal in a way no other roaster here does.
Licoreria San Pedrito mixes mezcal cocktails on 9 Oriente in Puebla in a small retro room with a dance floor that fills fast after midnight.
TipSmall, retro and loud once the dance floor fills, on the same block of 9 Oriente as the Belgian beer bar.
Mayahuel is the small mezcal bar inside Hotel Marques del Angel on 5 Poniente in Puebla, strong on Pueblan bottles and cured pulques, with Friday music.
TipInside Hotel Marques del Angel on 5 Poniente, strong on Puebla bottles and cured pulques, with live music on Fridays.
Licoreria San Pedrito mixes mezcal cocktails on 9 Oriente in Puebla in a small retro room with a dance floor that fills fast after midnight.
OrderSnacks
TipSmall enough that it feels full by midnight, with a dance floor that takes over once the cocktails have done their work.
Black Cat, Black Rabbit roasts its own beans on 6 Oriente in Puebla and mixes coffee with mezcal in drinks you will not find elsewhere in the Centro.
TipCome for the coffee-and-mezcal builds rather than a straight espresso, which is what the bar is actually built around.
Clementina Cocina Poblana keeps a short mole and pipian list on 6 Oriente in Puebla, a daytime kitchen a block from the Calle de los Dulces.
OrderA mole plate between 139 and 195 pesos, the cheapest sit-down mole nearby.
TipIt sits one block from the Calle de los Dulces, so finish lunch here and walk straight into the camote shops.
Guided tour · 1 hour
Embark on a once-in-a-lifetime experience on your visit to Puebla with a morning hot air balloon ride followed by a wine toast and breakfast.
Guided tour · 12 hours
High Mountain, hiking through pine and oak forests, connection with Nature
Guided tour · 10 hours
Explore the trails that connected the Aztec empire and walk between Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl, feel the power of the earth under your feet, and see an active volcano.