The little shop filling the entranceway to Sabe Rico is a sweet place, in all senses of the word. It stocks specialty foods both packaged and homemade, including gluten-free products ranging from chocolates and granola to bread and pasta. The already impressive establishment is increasingly amazing as patrons walk deeper; the shop gives way to a courtyard, then two separate garden areas filled with lush greenery and charming shaded tables. The menu lists a delicious variety of dishes, and pleasant surprises like teas brewed from herbs grown organically just a few feet from your table... or, with luck, the pure white rabbit who was too cute to cook might pop out of the vegetation to lend a fanciful feel to your dining experience.
A small bookshop in the entrance of this well-known Antigua establishment stocks a good number of titles, and a gamut of seating arrangements provide the ideal spot to curl up with your new read or discuss it with new friends. To keep you fueled, the menu offers a variety of cuisines (including plenty of vegetarian food), such hummus and falafel, traditional breakfasts, and plentiful drink selections. Happy hour runs from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. every evening, with live music most nights and lectures about local history and environmental initiatives every Tuesday.
The biggest supermarket in town stretches for a full block - you can enter just east of the Mercado de Antigua, across the Alameda Santa Lucia, through the doorways on either the 4a or the 5a Calles. Space is tight, but choices are plentiful, with all kinds of packaged foods, dairy products, baked goods, alcohols, cell phones, and cosmetic products offered on just the ground floor. For produce, however, most Antigueños prefer to cross the street to seek out fresher options at the open air market.
Tienda Delicio, S.A., true to the word play in its name, offers a laundry list of delicious gourmet goods. Prepared sandwiches await suggestively near a case of beers, wines, and liquors, or the cheeses and dips make great accompaniments to their homemade baked goods. Pastas, meats, fish, and spices are welcome sights for those with access to a kitchen, and the deli even offers delivery... although, only two blocks from center, the location is conveniently accessible from most of Antigua.
Amongst the beautiful gardens of Antigua, Escalonia offers a particularly enchanting seating area. Tables are sheltered by umbrellas lit with strings of white lights in the evenings, or sit under a vine-filled arbor with flowers dangling overhead like living ornaments. The restaurant serves a menu focused on lovely desserts, coffee drinks, and breakfasts. The establishment is also a plant nursery, and customers can carry home a variety of floral, artisanal, and culinary souvenirs, as well as their memories of the time spent in this lush garden.
Passers-by peering through the open doorway of El Telar get a tantalizing glimpse of gorgeous tasseled hammocks, one example of the textile creations sold here. The artistry and quality of these products is impressive; each design is testament to months of work by hand. The emphasis of the merchandise is on home accessories, such as carpets, cushions, table cloths, and pillows.
Conveniently located across the street from the Parque Central, El Mercadito (the little market) is an excellent source for high quality folk art. Shoppers can expect to find wood carving, waxworks, glass work, and ceramic pieces along with softer artesania such as clothing and textiles, or sparklier artesania such as jewelry. The entrance hall is lined with brilliantly colored examples of traditional embroidery, visually luring passerby into the pleasantly colorful store.
Vending folk artwork from the highlands of Guatemala, Casa de Gigantes grabs customers' attention immediately with two huge carved wooden statues of a man and a woman standing midway through the store. They are traditional artifacts from the Baile de los Gigantes of the Fiesta de Corpus Christi, celebrated 60 days after Easter each year. Founded in 1963, Casa de los Gigantes is proud to offer both traditional and original designs of furniture and home accessories in pine wood, as well as providing a retail venue for women from around Guatemala who work in other materials. Textiles, pottery, beading, and carved stone crafts are available in the store.
Amongst the many, many artesania shops in Antigua, Nim Po't clearly stands out, even at the first glance inside from the street… an enormous circular kite, traditional during the Santiago de Sacatepéquez celebration of Día de los Muertos, occupies the foreground of the deep warehouse space. It is a combination retail showcase for craftspeople, retail stores, and consignment shops. Nim Po't collects their products with care, including some of the bags, wooden carvings, bracelets, and many other items that are commonly sold in town, but also including previously worn huipiles (woven and embroidered blouses), cortes (woven skirts), fajas (woven and embroidered belts), and all the other textiles making up traditional indigenous clothing. These last are remarkable portrayals of traditional life in Guatemala because the traditional garb is hand-woven in patterns unique to each town, which each woman carries out according to her individual creativity. The weaving of a huipile, unlike the multitude of items for sale to tourists, can take months of work. Nim Po't is engaged in a project chronicling the materials and design motifs of villages throughout Guatemala, and is worth visiting both to explore their samples of textile work and to find some souvenirs of your trip. Prices are set fairly, as a visit to the Mercado de Artesanias will quickly demonstrate.
Just under the beauty of the Iglesia El Carmen, a bustling market of artisanal folk crafts winds between a couple entrances… you might have to ask for directions when you want to leave! An enormous selection of everything from weavings to woodworking, flutes to footwear, bracelets to backpacks, and purses to postcards awaits for the express purpose of being sold to you. Many of the crafters are there in person, selling their work, and are excellent resources for finding out about the history and process of creating your souvenir.
A small restaurant, café, and shop for gourmet and imported foods, Culinaria melds European and Guatemalan influences in creating satisfying dishes and tempting desserts. Focaccia, fusilli pasta, and a traditional Guatemalan soup called chapina are among the favorites choices on the menu—although children tend to prefer a simple quesadilla. The sweet treats behind glass cases, such as tartaletta de limón and tourist-recommended brownies, are a great way to finish the meal. In the shop, pick up specialty meats, bottles of wine, and imported cookies and cheeses to take home.
This small, clean shop is staffed by experienced tattoo and piercing artists who make an indelible mark on many travelers' experiences of Guatemala. Relative to U.S. prices, tattoos are extremely affordable for their quality here - and the fact that the establishment has been in business since 1998 testifies to that quality. The shop in front carries some truly unique items, such as hand-carved jade plugs for gauged piercings, made by a local artist for the shop.