“This tour was everything I could’ve asked for. Very generous amount of food and the interconnections with history and land were a huge unexpected bonus.”
— Ishaan, 2026
01 Food tours
Original food tours, curated with our local tastemakers to showcase the neighbourhood kitchens, markets and family-run eateries that define Guadalajara.
02 Meet the tastemakers
The local food experts who help us research, refine and lead every A Chef's Tour.
Birria stewed with guajillo and adobo, torta ahogada drowned in tomato salsa, carne en su jugo, tequila in every glass. Jalisco cooks Mexican classics at their most ranch country.
04 The pantry
- Guajillo, dried red chilli at the base of birria
- Blue agave, from which tequila is distilled in the surrounding fields
- Consomme, birria broth for dipping tortillas
- Cotija, aged salty cheese crumbled over tacos
- Bolillo, crusty French-influenced bread for tortas ahogadas
05 In the kitchen
- Slow-simmering birria in guajillo and ancho broth
- Dipping tortillas in consomme before griddling for quesabirria
- Baking bolillos for the tortas that get drenched in tomato
- Distilling tequila from steamed blue agave hearts
- Griddling carne en su jugo steak in its own beefy broth
06 Eat this first
- Birria de res, guajillo-braised beef with consomme for dipping
- Torta ahogada, spicy pork sandwich drowned in tomato chilli salsa
- Carne en su jugo, beef in its own broth with bacon and beans
- Quesabirria, birria taco griddled with melted cheese
- Jericalla, cinnamon custard with a torched top
What happens inside a hammam kitchen
A morning with the cooks who feed the neighbourhood before dawn. Charcoal, dough, the smell of a bakery working its second oven.
09 Recipes
A collection of authentic recipes we couldn't leave behind.
Fluffy corn masa filled with pork shredded in red guajillo-ancho salsa, wrapped in corn husks and steamed. The classical Mexican tamal, red edition.
Oaxaca's street mash-up: a crunchy tostada base piled with hot esquite corn, mayo, cheese, lime and chile. The prehispanic dish gets a modern platform.
Fried tortillas stuffed with black beans and topped with shredded turkey, pickled red onion and avocado — the Yucatán's crunchy answer to the tostada.
Fresh fruit blended with water and a splash of lime — the mercado thirst-quencher. Jamaica, horchata, tamarindo, sandía or piña, poured from big glass tanks.
A silky caramel-topped custard, richer and denser than the European original. Mexico's most-eaten dessert, born in nuns' kitchens 300 years ago.
Pineapple-marinated pork carved off a spinning vertical trompo, caught on a small tortilla with a flick of chopped pineapple, onion and coriander. Mexico City's most famous taco.
10 Field Notes
Quick field notes to help you get accustomed to Guadalajara.
Weather
Mild highland climate at 1,500m. Warm days (25°C) and cool nights year-round. Rainy season June to September.
Currency
The Mexican peso (MXN). Cash for markets and street food; cards for restaurants and hotels. Small notes helpful.
Language
Spanish (with a distinct Jalisco lilt). English coverage is decent in Chapultepec and Providencia, thinner elsewhere.
Etiquette
Warm and traditional. Modest dress at churches. Expect long lunches. Tequila is the local pride, sip it, don't shoot it.
Getting around
The metro and Mi Macro BRT cover the axis of the city cheaply. Uber and DiDi both work reliably. Taxis exist but ride apps are safer.
Prayer
Deeply Catholic. The cathedral downtown fills on Sundays. The Virgin of Zapopan procession in October brings hundreds of thousands.