Zenteno Café — Restaurant in San Miguel de Allende

It rained heavily all night long, and I fell asleep to waking dreams of falling water, secret shelter, and that wistful feeling of existing right on the edge of breaking through to so many quiet desires.... I awoke to a bright, grey day. The rain had stopped and looking out from my rooftop terrace in the cool of the morning I watched low clouds skirting along the mountains to the south and east, and I was filled with a desire to walk the city.

But now, once again, San Miguel is raining. The cobblestone streets are dancing with passing cars, scurrying footsetps, and the constant pitter-patter of small rivulets making music in counterpoint to the ebbing grey skies. Wet and wandering, I found the perfect little coffee shop where I am nursing a latté y croissant. ¡What a lovely morning!

There's a pretty girl sitting next to me, also quietly watching the falling rain, probably thinking of someone special, probably also writing a review of Zenteno, as am I; I think I may be too shy to say hello. Blushes

I think it's the perfect time for...

Since the plan was to stay six weeks in San Miguel, and I can’t live without good coffee, I embarked on an adventure to try and find a place that has the best roasted beans to go. First I tried Inside Café, which three months ago had excellent coffee. Sadly this time around the in-house coffee quality had gone downhill drastically, and at USD $60 per kilo, I wasn’t about to buy the minimum of a quarter kg to try it out at home. Then I tried café La Mancha, and they sold me beans that were a month old and had lost their mojo. Then I bought some beans from Cumpanio, as their in-house latte was delicious. Unfortunately the beans that they sold me were rather old, and again the coffee at home was unacceptably sub par. Finally, at a friends recommendation I get some beans from this place, but not before smelling them and making sure that they were freshly roasted. When I prepared a latte at home, I had a big grin on my face: finally good coffee to...

I hate to have to do this but I feel I need update my glowing review from last year to a less positive one for this year's visit. It looks like they renovated but that is not all that changed here. Was the place sold to new owners? The once fantastic baked goods were now lacking. They were not warmed through and even beyond that, they were just not as good. The coffee was O.K. but it wasn't as flavorful and rich as last year. I can't really recommend this place anymore as it was mediocre in the upscale coffee shop category but the prices are top end. We were quite disappointed with our visit and feel we will need to Branch out next...