A city guide to Santiago de Querétaro

According to Cervecería Hércules export and fermentation lab manager, Alejandro Dominguez.

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Alejandro Dominguez

Header photo:
Arturo Ochoa

Saturday 30 May 2026

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This article is from

Mexico

issue 131

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Bárbaro Asador (IG @barbaroasador)

As the name suggests, Bárbaro Asador is a meat-led restaurant, best known and loved for its barbacoa. Unlike Chilean or Argentine asados, which involve cooking meat over the flames of charcoal or wood, barbacoa is a nose-to-tail style of barbeque that slow roasts pig, cow, sheep or goat by placing the whole, prepared animal in a clay oven with herbs and spices, and locking moisture into the meat by layering agave (maguey) leaves on top. It’s generally served on a taco with white onion, coriander and a side of the cooking juices (consomé).

PHOTO: Bárbaro Asador

El Reinita (IG @el_reinita)

Small but mighty, El Reinita is a modern eatery with a menu that can be hard to define but is always interesting. Expect a rotating menu of Oaxacan classics rendered in playful, modern formats, and the vibrant atmosphere that has made it a hotspot for foodies in Santiago de Querétaro.

PHOTO: El Reinita

Apapacho Café (IG @apapachoqueretaro)

Mexico isn’t short of incredible coffee shops, owing to the fact that coffee grows readily within its borders. The proximity of farmer to roaster energises the coffee scene here, with Apapacho café’s belief that “coffee is a link that unites us with our origins” perhaps best explaining how. This coffee shop is one for the nerds, cool kids, and the rest of us mere mortals too. Harbouring an environment in which there are no dumb questions, Apapacho café is the perfect place to get acquainted with Mexican coffee.

PHOTO: Apapacho Café

Brewer Gastropub (IG @brewergastropub)

The hospitality arm of Cerveza Toro, another family-owned brewery in Querétaro, Brewer Gastropub offers bar-food classics and fresh local beer in a setting that combines elements of the American dive bar with the open, airy splendor of Mexican courtyards.

PHOTO: Brewer Gastropub

Cuatro Palos Taproom (IG @tap.cuatropalos)

Friends of Hércules, Cuatro Palos Brewing is a local, independent brewery producing a variety of modern and traditional styles that are best enjoyed in sunshine and fresh air. Inspired by the Mirador Cuatro Palos — a particularly spectacular vantage point in the Sierra Gorda de Querétaro — this brewery sees the landscape around it as embodying beauty, nature, grandeur, and freedom. Swing by its taproom in central Querétaro for fresh beers and a bite to eat.

PHOTO: Cuatro Palos Taproom

El Curandero Mezcalería (IG @el.curandero.qro)

It should come as no surprise that cocktails are an artform in Mexico; its near-constant availability of fresh fruit, wealth of endemic ingredients, and long history of fermentation is a recipe for proportionally sophisticated palates. El Curandero Mezcalería is a mezcal and cocktail bar that uses native Mexican ingredients in all its drinks. Any mezcalería worth its salt (pun intended) will introduce you to the vast and varied world of the agave (maguy) plant, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn about the 200+ species of wild agave that are frequently used in the production of mezcal.