Food

What to eat in Bernal

Bernal punches above its size on food, and most of it is cheap, handheld and cooked in front of you. You do not need a reservation or a plan; you need an appetite and small bills.

The dishes worth planning around

• Gorditas. The town’s signature. Thick corn pockets split and stuffed with guisados like chicharron in salsa verde, requeson, or beans. A couple of these is a meal for very little money.
• Tacos and quesadillas from the square-side stands, especially with local requeson and nopales.
• Ate and cajeta. Bernal is known for ate, the firm fruit paste sold in slabs, often eaten with cheese. Buy a block to take home; it keeps.
• Local wine and cheese. You are on the edge of Queretaro wine country. Many spots pour regional wine, and the cheese from farms nearby is the real thing.

Where to eat

• The stalls and small comedores around the main square for gorditas and tacos. Follow the longest local line rather than the fanciest storefront.
• Sit-down restaurants on and just off the plaza for a longer meal with a rock view and a glass of Queretaro wine; expect to pay more here.
• The market area for the cheapest, most everyday eating.

Approximate prices: a couple of gorditas or a plate of tacos runs in the low tens of pesos; a sit-down meal with a drink lands in the mid hundreds of pesos per person. Treat these as ballpark, not gospel. Cash is king at the stands.