Por Qué No? Cafe — Restaurant in Sacatepéquez

One of the best dining experiences in all of Antigua, for sure. And busy enough to reflect this. My wife and I had stopped by regularly for six weeks, hoping to get a table, and there was never an opening, plus a small crowd waiting for a seat at the bar (where you can also eat a full meal, you'll just be chatting with the bartender the whole time... which in this case is a feature, not a bug, to be honest). Finally we made a reservation—in person!—for the following Saturday night (Friday was booked solid).

We had been attracted to the place every time we walked past it: cool jazz, lovely warm lighting, amazing smells, happy people, "run-down chic" and oozing character. But when we finally were allowed behind the decorative rope that serves as a "door" when they are open for business, we saw the knotted jute rope laying alongside the steep ladder-stairs going up to the loft tables, and we remembered: THIS is the quirky-cool place we loved the last time we were in Antigua, TEN YEARS earlier! I swear it must be the same old rope, still sturdy (and handy: I didn't need it but my wife was happy to hang onto it). I am so, so glad this place survived the pandemic shutdown.

The food was every bit as good as we remembered, maybe better. I had the curry chicken, my wife the shrimp pomodoro, and we heard a guy at the table next to us gushing over the steak ("lomito de res"). We did our share of gushing with praise too. Even the humus plate appetizer was amazing: on the menu it just says "hummus" but it's a whole plate full of purple carrots sliced lengthwise (and maybe blanched briefly? Crunch-tender) and pita wedges, and curly yummy garnish vegetables on top of the big slab of hummus... AND THIS WAS JUST THE "PLAIN HUMMUS." You cannot imagine the exquisite quality and beautiful plating you'll enjoy in this intentionally "ugly duckling" of a restaurant.

And honestly, if you were a restauranteur looking for a venue in Antigua, you would not choose this place. Not in a million years. There's no parking lot (but ample street parking because there are no competing restaurants or bars nearby). The door is right on the shaved-down corner of the building, with about one square meter of concrete sidewalk in front of it as a "foyer." The entire footprint of the restaurant is about as large as a single master bedroom— I've visited restrooms in certain conference hotels that were larger than this entire restaurant, and it did not seem extravagantly large at the time. So the place is small, but hey, it has an upstairs level too right? Um, yes. Did I mention the ladder? The floor area of upstairs is even smaller than downstairs, since it is open to below, with just a low railing around it. It's like an L-shaped balcony above the kitchen and bar beneath it. And the open-beam pitched ceilings are low enough that anyone over 5'9" will need to duck half the time until they finally sit down. Basics of restaurant design like lighting, seating, flooring, ventilation, stairwells, restrooms, crowd control, bus station space, kitchen size and flow, bar depth, this venue had NOTHING going for it. It was laughably wrong for a restaurant.

The PorQueNo? folks obviously looked this venue over, had a good laugh, and said ..."?Por que no?" (Sure, why not?) I've never heard the real story of how the restaurant got its name, but I have family in the restaurant business AND the construction business, and just looking at this place, I'm guessing my scenario must be close to the truth.

And like a magic trick, they make it work. It isn't "laughably wrong" at all. It is perfect. Compactly, delightfully, warmly, cozily perfect because of the spirit and vibe, the hard work and abundant love, the owners have poured into it over the years.

I am in awe. Of the quality of the food, the quality of the service (yes, the one waitress is perfectly hilariously fluent in English, and equally witty in Spanish, and she goes up and down that ladder about two hundred times per night), the quality of the decor and space utilization, everything.

I...

Between google reviews and a new foodie friend's enthusiastic recommendation, we were excited to try Por Que No. We lucked out and got in on a Saturday night without a reservation when someone else didn't show for their reservation. The beer and sangria we had were good. The service was great. Our waitress recommended her top three or four dishes and we picked two of them. I wish we had enjoyed them more, but we found them good but not great.

One was their Lomito de Res, advertised as tenderloin but definitely not tender like good filet mignon. We chose it with the wine sauce. The sauce was good but the steak needed generous application of salt, and was considerably tougher than we expected tenderloin to be.

The other entree was Camarones Cobanero, shrimp with a creamy sauce flavored with cobanero chiles. This had a very nice flavor. It was served over a large bed of rice in a flavorless tortilla bowl. I think the dish would be improved by serving it in a pasta bowl instead of the tortilla shell, reducing the rice and adding vegetables. (Would love to get more vegetables here in Antigua restaurants generally!)

They offered only one dessert, a brownie sundae, which is not normally my go-to dessert. However, this one was fantastic and we found ourselves fighting over the last bites and thinking we should have each gotten our own! Highlight of the meal. The brownie had crispiness on the outside with melting chewy gooeyness inside, two scoops of good vanilla ice cream, and drizzles of very good chocolate sauce.

The place is tiny, with bar, kitchen, and bar stool seating for about 7 on ground floor. There is a narrow stairs with no handrails and a rope to help haul yourself up to get to the upper level where there are about 10 tiny tables that seat 2 each.

Given the reviews and the dessert, I would go back. Other dishes might wow us more. Dessert and service get five stars, entrees get three so I averaged that...

Disappointing Experience – Poor Service & Mediocre Food

I rarely write reviews, but I rely on them when trying new places, so I feel compelled to share my experience. Despite the many glowing reviews for Por Que No, my visit was a complete letdown—some of the worst service I’ve encountered in Guatemala, paired with underwhelming food.

The restaurant is small, so waiting for a table was expected. However, the real issue was the blatantly uneven treatment and lack of basic courtesy. The male waiter/host warmly greeted the woman ahead of me, handed her a menu, and even took her order while she waited—all while ignoring me entirely. No acknowledgment, no menu, nothing. After about 10 minutes, a female hostess finally noticed and apologized, saying, “Shame on the other waiter.” She seated me shortly after, but unfortunately, I was stuck with the same indifferent waiter. To make matters worse, my table was wobbly—one leg shorter than the others—to the point I worried it might collapse.

I ordered the shrimp cahaboneros, which arrived quickly but was disappointingly bland. The shrimp were tiny, likely frozen, and lacked any freshness or flavor. Given the rave reviews, I wondered if I’d just chosen poorly—but even then, better service might have softened the blow. Instead, the entire experience felt like a waste of time and money.

Por Que No? Definitely not. I do...