Café No Sé Restaurants in Antigua - Lonely Planet Travel Information

Address
1 Av Sur 11C, city center

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Lonely Planet review

Advertising uncomfortable seats, confused staff and battered books, this is a pleasantly downbeat option among all of Antigua's finery. There's a little bit of everything here - breakfast (including one option of a shot of mescal and two boiled eggs), burritos, fried chicken, sandwiches, movies, a tequila bar and live music.

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Through a hole in the wall on Antigua’s East Side lies the shadowy world of Café No Sé. It has the feel of a Tarantino film, of a border town dive whose regular crowd consists of ex-pats, wanna-be ex-pats, travelers, locals and enough shady characters to make things interesting. Bizarre art and photographs, images of the Virgin of Guadalupe and other eclectic touches cover the walls. Recently listed in the Guinness Book of Third World Records as the "Taj Mahal of Tequila", Café No Sé serves over 30 kinds of tequila and mezcal, plus Gallo and Moza beer on tap, in three bars inside a long, shotgun-style building. The bar in front features live music every night around 9 PM, spilling into the other bars and attracting as many Antiguans as it does tourists. In the next room, a gnarled wood bar stretches fifteen feet long and is illuminated with candelabras that cast weird shadows on the unfinished wooden walls. The music is just loud enough that you can hear the lyrics and simultaneously carry on a conversation. Bar food, they call it. But with a twist. No Se’s tacos and quesadillas are based on cochinita pibil, a smokey pork dish from Yucatan. Other tasty selections include tortilla soup, chili, salads and sandwiches. For a quiet meal, you can dine in the back room, where a small garden is illuminated by a skylight. Whether you’re in town to party, study, see the sights or just make trouble, Café No Sé is the place to kick off a fun night on the town in Antigua.

No place quite does it for me like Café No Sé. This guy puts it best: "Through a hole in the wall on Antigua’s East Side lies the shadowy world of Café No Sé. It has the feel of a Tarantino film, of a border town dive whose regular crowd consists of ex-pats, wanna-be ex-pats, travelers, locals and enough shady characters to make things interesting. Bizarre art and photographs, images of the Virgin of Guadalupe and other eclectic touches cover the walls. Recently listed in the Guinness Book of Third World Records as the "Taj Mahal of Tequila", Café No Sé serves over 30 kinds of tequila and mezcal, plus Gallo and Moza beer on tap, in three bars inside a long, shotgun-style building. The bar in front features live music every night around 9 PM, spilling into the other bars and attracting as many Antiguans as it does tourists. In the next room, a gnarled wood bar stretches fifteen feet long and is illuminated with candelabras that cast weird shadows on the unfinished wooden walls. The music is just loud enough that you can hear the lyrics and simultaneously carry on a conversation." Once you become obsessed with the place, you'll find yourself a fan of Y Tu Piña Tambien (right across the street, best coffee in town, healthy hangover food, free wi-fi for the morning after), and La Cuadra (The best and only crass, sassy arts and lit magazine in Guatemala). Extra bonus, the barstaff is extra good-lookin' and (almost) always good-humored.