30 Restaurants Kids & Families Love in Guadalajara, Mexico
Wonderful spots with lots to keep kids busy while their grown ups enjoy a great meal
One of our favorite things about Mexican culture is their adoration of little people - kids are universally loved and welcomed, with none of the uppity expectations for silence, stillness, and compliance we’re used to from our own upbringings.
In line with the local pro-family culture, many restaurants in Guadalajara have playgrounds or play areas the kids can enjoy while the adults have a relaxing and looooooong meal (if you do as the locals do!). Some even have dedicated nannies/caretakers (niñeras) who watch your kids while you sip on your cappuccino and/or mimosa and talk politics.
These spots are just a little harder to find if you’re not a local (and especially without Spanish) as many of them aren’t advertised as well as one might see in the US. Luckily, we’ve been doing our homework for more than a year now and wanted to share our favorite places to eat out hopefully helping other grown ups and their littles in future!
Most of the links below lead to Google Maps pages for ease of planning. Be sure to check the exact open days and hours of the restaurant you pick before heading out :)
Before we begin, a few helpful notes about eating out in Mexico
Meal times: locally, breakfast often goes until 1PM, lunch is at around 3-4PM, and dinner as late as 8-11PM. Almost no restaurants (other than Starbucks) will be open before 8AM. If your family eats along more Western timelines, you will find that you naturally (and joyously!) miss restaurant rush hours.
‘Thank you’ means ‘no’: If you are offered something and you say “Gracias”, it is likely the person will leave. Think of “gracias” in this context as “[No,] thank you”. If you want something that is offered to you, say “Si, por favor!” (Yes please!) to be clear. This one took me a while to figure out, and is always a little surprising to our visitors.
Getting the check/bill (la cuenta): Your waiter will not bring you the check unless you ask for it - doing so would be considered rude. Meals are a thing to be savored and drawn out in Mexico.
Tipping servers & caretakers: A 10% tip (“propina” or “servicio”) is the norm here for tipping your server. It is also customary to tip any nannies/caretakers at these plays paces (unless you paid for the service separately) so don’t forget your pesos! We have three very busy kids so we generally tip $50 pesos or more, but anything is better than not at all and very much appreciated.
As a general tip, avoid ordering pizza here if you are a bit of a pizza snob (like Dad is).
Kid-friendly Eateries for Any Meal
Inmaculado Cafe (in Tlaquepaque Centro) earned its reputation for its beautiful decor including a glass roof but it also has a nice children’s play area and toys to bring to your table.
El Patio (also Tlaquepaque) is known for its traditional Mexican food and set in a colonial mansion with a central patio and fountain, and a children’s play area towards the back.
Cafe Chai restaurants across the city have an associated “Mockocity” play area. There is also always at least one caretaker watching that the kids are safe, so you can relax. Its awesome to get a wonderful cappuccino or meal delivered while your munchkins have a blast. You pay by the hour here for the Mockocity service. Locations:
Espacio Gallerias: a large play area with trampoline and play structure connected to a large CHAI cafe
Americas (Colonia Americana)
Chop (Colonia Americana)
Rosas (Chapalita)
Tlaquepaque - in Forum Tlaquepaque mall
Santo Coyote in Zapopan is a beautiful traditional Mexican restaurant. The play area has a ball pool, games, and crafting materials as well as caretakers at no additional cost (although we always recommend tipping). The other and more well known Santo Coyote in Colonia Americana is stunning with very cool gardens and even a fire pit/fountain area, but no kids play space.
Great spots for Breakfast, Brunch & Lunch
Nanna’s Farm has a lovely terrace outdoors and a mixture of cuisines from Mexican to French. Kids can play on and run around a nice play structure set out in the grass.
El Rey de las Crepas (Crepe King): specialists in incredible, over the top breakfast meals that kids (and adults) drool over, their play areas have caretakers. Very popular locally for birthdays! There are 2 locations:
El Rey GDL has an indoor play area; small but still fun for all ages and good on rainy days
El Rey Chapalita has a covered full size playground structure
Cafeto: a (mostly) outdoors restaurant serving breakfast/brunch with different options for the kids per location:
Cafeto Pablo Neruda - shady jungle gym with swings + trampoline; can be chilly on early winter mornings
Cafeto Cd Granja - large sunny grassy area with soccer goals + 2 jungle gyms with swings
Cafeto Aviacion - way at the back of the restaurant is a shady small play area with 2 small jungle gyms; there’s also a cute veggie garden in the middle of the restaurant
Casa de Tata: A very authentic Mexican breakfast spot but with a kids menu to please eaters of any pickiness and 2 large play areas for the kids to enjoy (one each for little and bigger kids).
La Antigua restaurants across the city seem universally well-regarded and high quality. They have pretty large play areas with staff to care for your children (although this service is at an additional cost, like Chai/Mockocity). Locations:
Golfo de Cortés (Monraz area)
Zona Real (Valle Real)
Flor y Nata near Chapalita also offers traditional Mexican breakfast with indoor and outdoor seating, and has a kids club.
Ma’thilda Brunch has a kids club area with large windows so you can watch your little ones at play while you enjoy the beautiful modern & colorful setting.
Ciudad de los Almuerzos (‘Brunch City’) has a great and large menu bound to make anyone happy, including a kids’ menu. The play area here is smaller but still fun with a play house and other activities. This is situated near the Guadalajara Expo Center.
Cafe la Paloma in Providencia offers traditional Mexican breakfast, indoor and outdoor seating, and a nice children’s play area.
Wonderful Kid-Friendly Restaurants for Lunch & Dinner
Bombo - I could not figure out how to categorize this one, so its up here! This restaurant pays homage to Marvel & DC comics with figurines all around as well as Nintendo NES-equipped TVs and a play area with bounce houses and more. Its located within the La Perla shopping mall.
Traditional Mexican
Los Otates (near Guadalajara Centro) has great and large traditional Mexican foods (pozole soup, sopes, tacos, etc.). There is sunny terrace and a play space with a slide and ceramic painting.
La Tequila represents Jalisco state’s and Mexico’s best ingredients and flavors well in an upscale setting. There are 2 locations, both of which have caretakers for the kids:
Landmark Mall* (see the * note at the end of this article).
Seafood
Los Arcos - delicious Pacific Coast-inspired seafood. These 2 locations have play spaces:
El Farallón de Tepic (Chapalita) has been around for ~50 years and has a very authentic feel and outdoor seating if you like that (we do!). It features food from the coastal state of Nayarit, specializing in fish, shrimp & octopus dishes but with many other choices too.
Colomitos (Chapalita) offers Jalisco-style seafood, with plates full of interesting combinations and tons of flavor. The Chapalita location has a play area with a caretaker on weekends.
Save (pronounced “sah-vay”) buildings across the city have an instantly “beach” vibe with their grass-thatched roofs. Save serves cuisine from the state of Sinaloa, along the Sea of Cortez. Their play areas have caretakers. Locations:
Steakhouses & Grills
Sonora Prime (Puerto de Hierro/Andares area) - the State of Sonora is well known for its meat, and this upscale steakhouse fittingly features very special cuts including wagyu and black angus. They have great cocktails too, and a full playroom for the littles to enjoy.
El Almacén del Bife is (yet another) great steakhouse in the city. Their Providencia location has a nice play space; we haven’t yet checked out their new location in Andares mall but the mall itself has 3 great playgrounds - see the * at post’s end.
Don Carbón (Midtown Mall, Providencia*) - as the name implies, they specialize in grilled foods (steaks, burgers, ribs, etc.). Their playroom has a mini-play structure.
Meet Restaurante (Providencia) is quite formal and specializes in grilled food. They have caretakers in their play area, and on weekends offer special activities for kids.
Fuego Asador is another, less formal great meat-lover’s option offering specialties from Argentina (e.g., choripan). The two locations with play areas are:
Outback Steakhouse - while far from authentic Mexican food, this Australian steakhouse chain has two locations we know of with kids areas - please let us know in the comments if you know of others!
La Hamburguería offers a twist on usual fast(er) food with wings, rips, and a variety of burgers. Each location has a play area:
Aviación (Valle Real area)
Gourmetería (heading south of the city - see our Day Trips post for awesome places to see down this way!)
International Fare
El Italiano (Monraz area) - one of the top-rated Italian restaurants in the city, their playroom has nannies to care for your children (and a lovely long wine list!)
Suntory (Midtown Mall, Providencia*) offers delicious Japanese food, including tables around traditional grills as well as sushi specialties. They renewed their children’s area recently.
Moshi Moshi in the La Perla Mall has Asian-fusion (largely Japanese-inspired) foods including sushi, rice bowls, and noodles. Their smaller play area for kids has a caretaker, art/craft space, and a slide. There is also a Moshi Moshi in Landmark Mall but we haven’t checked on its kid-ness :)
*Andares, Landmark, and Midtown malls have many delicious restaurants as well as mall playground structures - there are 3 play structures at Andares, 2 at Midtown, and 1 at Landmark - we cover the Landmark and Andares playgrounds in our post here. The ones at Midtown are on the first floor in the corner by the MiniSo and up in the food court on the top central floor.
Other posts you may enjoy & helpful resources for families visiting Guadalajara:
For the top cultural and historic spots for visitors to Guadalajara, with routes kids can enjoy, see our post here!
For the best playgrounds, indoor play places, parks & attractions for kids in Guadalajara, see our post here!
Interested in venturing a little further outside of the city? Our post about great family activities within about an hour’s drive from Guadalajara is here!
For variable and seasonal events in GDL, go to This Week in Guadalajara (TWIG).