Chef Claudette Zepeda’s Favorite Foods in Jalisco, Mexico

For chef Claudette Zepeda, Jalisco is a feeling — one that deeply influences her style of regional Mexican cooking. The San Diego-based, award-winning chef is known for her bold cooking and lifelong love of Mexican flavors.

“Jalisco makes you feel like you have one foot in two different periods of time,” says Zepeda, who spent five to six months each year in Guadalajara visiting her grandmother and extended family. “You walk past sleek, forward-thinking restaurants, and a block later, you’re in a provincial, colonial plaza.”

Located in western Mexico, Guadalajara is the capital of Jalisco and the country’s second-largest city. The region is celebrated as the birthplace of mariachi, tequila, and some of Mexico’s most beloved dishes. Here, earthy flavors rooted in dried chiles and herbs collide with bright pops of vinegar and acid in classics like carne en su jugo and tortas ahogadas.

For Zepeda, the best way to experience Jalisco is to let it unfold around you. “It’s beautiful in its ability to give you everything you need when you didn’t even know you needed it,” she says. In that same spirit of discovery, here are Zepeda’s favorite spots to taste the best of Jalisco. 

The best tortas and lonches

Zepeda says eating a torta ahogada is non-negotiable when arriving in Guadalajara. These sandwiches layer tender meat inside a crusty birote roll before being “drowned” in a tomato- and oregano-based sauce. Despite the assumption that this results in a soggy sandwich, Zepeda and locals attribute Guadalajara’s water for the bread’s perfect texture to absorb flavor without losing its crunch. She likes hers with plenty of chile de árbol. ”I like my food to make me sweat,” she teases. For an authentic experience, Zepeda recommends Tortas Toño. 

Across Jalisco, you’ll also hear the word lonche — slang for any sandwich built on that same birote roll. One of Zepeda’s go-tos is Café palReal, a punk-casual spot run by chef friends with a sincere respect for Mexican ingredients. Claudette orders the lonche de pancita, which features confit pork belly, beans, and salsa verde. Stick around for their impressive coffee program that sources beans from states across the country — ”it’s one of my favorites,” Zepeda adds. 

Where to try carne en su jugo

A must-try regional dish, carne en su jugo features thinly sliced beef cooked quickly to draw out its juices, creating a rich broth that Zepeda says, “feels like a warm blanket.” It’s a true labor of love, which is why her aunt taught her it’s better to go to the people who are experts at what they do. At Karne Garibaldi, that expertise shows. Order a bowl alongside the restaurant’s famous frijolitos con elote, which Zepeda calls “the perfect accoutrement.” 

For a fun night out

Head to Sin Yolanda, a modern cantina that holds deep roots for Zepeda. It stands in the same building where her aunt once ran Las Calandrias, the family restaurant that first sparked her love for restaurant kitchens. Come for the delicious antojitos — small bites known as little cravings — and a round of tequila, and stay for the people-watching once karaoke begins. 

For an unforgettable meal

While Zepeda loves the endless array of Jaliscan street food, she often ends her days at what she calls an “avant-garde meal.”

One of those meals might be at Bruna, a restaurant she gushes over for its architecture, flavor, and in-house art gallery. “They present food like art,” she says, adding that she always orders the octopus. Here, chef Óscar Garza reimagines classic Mexican dishes like probaditas de mole, offers a flight of regional moles, and often creates new plates inspired by the gallery’s rotating artists.

For a lesson in maíz, head to Xokol in Guadalajara. Run by chefs Xrysw Díaz and Óscar Segundo, the restaurant honors heirloom corn and indigenous ingredients through intentional and creative modern cooking. The menu changes daily, and Zepeda says the chefs “are one with corn,” so there’s no such thing as ordering wrong. “They pay so much homage and honor the corn so heavily,” she says. “They don’t just do it to be cool — they do it because they really care.”