La Bohemia Restaurante-Bar: Good Food, Good Service, Good Location

La Bohemia is a small restaurant conveniently located in Guanajuato's main plaza (Jardín de la Unión) that opened for business on April 2, 2009. Don't let the recent opening dissuade you from eating there, though. The owner has more than 42 years of experience in the hotel and restaurant business. When this property became available a few months ago, the owner decided to combine his two existing restaurants and move to the new location.

The restaurant offers several breakfast choices including omelets, eggs, chilaquiles, French toast, pancakes, a fruit plate, and cereal. For lunch and dinner, it offers everything from quesadillas, hamburgers, and sandwiches to steak, fish fillets and stuffed chicken breasts. The menu also includes several soups, salads, appetizers and desserts.

For a filling meal that won't break your budget, try the meal of the day for $55 pesos. The menu rotates from day to day and includes your choice of two soups and two entrees, salad, rice, bolillos (French bread-type rolls), and a fruit drink. The owner says he has about 50 different meals that he plans to rotate for the meal of the day.

Vegetarians who eat eggs and cheese can have a good meal here as the menu offers a couple of meatless egg dishes, chilaquiles, cheese enchiladas, mixed vegetable salad, green salad, guacamole, beans, quesadillas, queso fundido, several soups, and spaghetti.

Besides coffee, tea, soft drinks, and fruit drinks, the restaurant offers a wide variety of alcoholic drinks.

The service is very good. The food is tasty, well-prepared, and attractively presented.

One thing that impressed me was that the silverware and napkin for each place setting were placed in plastic bags instead of sitting open on the tables.

There are four sets of French doors along two sides of the restaurant, which are kept open during business hours. It is pleasant to sit inside but still have a breeze and be able look out into the plaza. In the evenings, you can listen to the music of several mariachi bands that stroll around the Jardín.

The restaurant is open from 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. and also offers delivery.

Coming soon: New, more comfortable chairs and the menu in both English and Spanish


Favorite Dish: My favorite dish so far (though there are many other choices I can't wait to try!) is milanesa de pollo. This is a chicken cutlet (pounded very thin) that is lightly breaded and fried. It is served with a mound of rice and vegetables, and a small salad (more like a garnish) of shredded lettuce, a couple of slices of cucumber, a slice of tomato and a drizzle of salad dressing. The milanesa was cooked just right....not greasy or too crispy. The salad dressing tasted freshly-made.

The dish was attractively presented and the food was fresh and very tasty. The price ($55 pesos) is about average for downtown Guanajuato.

Theme: Mexican

Comparison: about average

Prices: less than US$10

Phone: (473) 731-9772

Address: Jardín de la Unión No. 4; Guanajuato

Directions: At the tip of the triangular plaza (Jardín de la Unión) across from Hotel Santa Fe. Close to La Michoacana ice cream shop and the Starbucks coffee shop.

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