La Gruta
| La Gruta | |
|---|---|
 | |
 The restaurant interior in 2024 | |
  Location within State of Mexico  Location within Mexico | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1926 |
| Food type | Mexican (pre-Hispanic-influenced) |
| Location | Circuito Arqueológico, Av. del Puente s/n, San Francisco Mazapa, 55820 San Juan Teotihuacán, México |
| Coordinates | 19°41′20″N 98°50′22″W / 19.6889°N 98.8395°W |
| Website | www |
La Gruta (Spanish for "The Grotto") is a Mexican restaurant located inside a natural volcanic cave in San Juan Teotihuacán Municipality, State of Mexico, adjacent to the Teotihuacan archaeological zone. The cave was used for private banquets hosted by President Porfirio Díaz during the early-twentieth-century archaeological rescue of Teotihuacán, beginning on 9 April 1906.[1] It opened as a public restaurant in 1926 and serves Mexican cuisine drawing on the pre-Hispanic culinary tradition of central Mexico.[1][2]
History
[edit]Geological setting and pre-Hispanic use
[edit]The cave is a natural cavity of volcanic origin, formed by activity of the Cerro Gordo and Patlachique volcanic complex.[3] During the apogee of the city of Teotihuacán (approximately 100 BCE – 650 CE), the cavity is reported to have been used by the city's inhabitants to store maize and other grains.[4][1]
Establishment as a restaurant
[edit]The cave was used during the Leopoldo Batres-led archaeological rescue of Teotihuacán, which Porfirio Díaz had commissioned in preparation for the 1910 centennial of Mexican independence and which culminated in the formal opening of the archaeological zone on 13 September 1910.[5] Díaz held private banquets in the cave for diplomatic delegations beginning on 9 April 1906.[1][6] Between 1910 and 1926, the space continued to be used for banquets and special events.[1]
In 1926, Filiberto Cedillo, then manager of the Hotel Regis in Mexico City, acquired the cave and, together with his wife Asunción Arce, opened it as a public restaurant.[1][2][7]
Description
[edit]La Gruta is located approximately 200 metres (660 ft) from Gate 5 of the Teotihuacán archaeological zone, behind the Pyramid of the Sun.[8] The cave's seating capacity has been reported as between 500 and 700 diners.[9][10] Daytime light enters through openings in the upper part of the cavity; in the evenings, the space is illuminated by candles.[10][11] The cave maintains a constant interior temperature substantially below that of the surface.[10]
The restaurant serves dishes drawn from Mexican and central Mexican pre-Hispanic culinary traditions, including tlacoyos, quesadillas, escamoles, maguey worms, tortilla soup, corn soup, mushroom and nopal soup, sopa de fideo, barbacoa, mixiote, and various preparations of mole, including a house mole created in 1927.[12][13][14][15] Margaritas are prepared with xoconostle or with the fruit of the prickly pear.[16] The restaurant operates an in-house garden and grows much of its own produce.[11]
At the conclusion of a meal, diners are presented with a candle; lighting it and placing it on the cave wall is described as a symbol of rebirth, drawing on Mesoamerican cosmological associations between caves and the underworld.[11][17] Mexican folk dances and pre-Hispanic dance performances are staged on weekends.[18]
La Gruta has been associated with numerous notable diners since the early twentieth century. Porfirio Díaz hosted banquets in the cave during the rescue of Teotihuacán, beginning in 1906.[1] Elizabeth II is reported to have dined at the restaurant during her state visit to Mexico in 1975.[19][14] The members of the South Korean group BTS visited the restaurant in October 2014 during their participation in the KBS Music Bank in Mexico broadcast; member Jimin documented the visit on the group's official blog.[20][21][22] Other figures the restaurant lists among its notable diners include Emiliano Zapata, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Octavio Paz, Jorge Luis Borges, María Félix, and Akihito.[12][17][2]
Sustainability and producer programs
[edit]La Gruta works with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) on a maize-supply program for native Mexican maize varieties grown in the Teotihuacán Valley, known as the Proyecto Teot, launched in 2017.[3][23][24] Through the program, the restaurant purchases native white, yellow, blue, and red maize directly from smallholder farmers in surrounding communities, with technical assistance and post-harvest infrastructure provided in coordination with CIMMYT.[3][23] All masa used at the restaurant is nixtamalized on-site from native maize.[12]
The restaurant has reported additional sustainability practices, including segregation and recycling of solid waste, conversion of used cooking oil to biodiesel, in-house cultivation of heirloom tomato varieties, and sourcing of textiles from Mazahua artisans for staff uniforms.[25][26] In 2025, La Gruta received the Sustainability Award (Premio a la Sustentabilidad) at the Premios Gastrolab, organized by the Mexican gastronomy publication Gastrolab.[27]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Así es 'La Gruta', restaurante que Ebrard visitó en los 60, donde Porfirio Díaz hacía banquetes privados" [This is 'La Gruta', the restaurant Ebrard visited in the 1960s, where Porfirio Díaz held private banquets]. El Financiero (in Spanish). 12 August 2025. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Come en una cueva" [Eat in a cave]. El Universal (in Spanish). 6 May 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Maíz teotihuacano: sabor y sustentabilidad" [Teotihuacán maize: flavor and sustainability]. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (in Spanish). 16 June 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ "Restaurante La Gruta de Teotihuacán en México, referente en gestión sostenible integral" [La Gruta de Teotihuacán Restaurant in Mexico, a benchmark in comprehensive sustainable management]. CaterNews (in Spanish). 15 December 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ "Leopoldo Batres en Teotihuacan" [Leopoldo Batres in Teotihuacán]. Memórica – Secretaría de Cultura (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ "La Gruta: el restaurante 'secreto' de Teotihuacán" [La Gruta: Teotihuacán's 'secret' restaurant]. TresPM (in European Spanish). 29 June 2021. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ "El restaurante La Gruta y su camino a la sustentabilidad" [La Gruta restaurant and its path to sustainability]. Culinaria Mexicana (in Spanish). 11 July 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ Balsam, Joel. "A guide to Teotihuacán, Mexico". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ Bellini, Alba (9 August 2016). "La Gruta Teotihuacán, la experiencia prehispánica en el mundo moderno" [La Gruta Teotihuacán, the pre-Hispanic experience in the modern world]. MXC (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- 1 2 3 "La Gruta". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- 1 2 3 Platanella, Bethany (18 March 2024). "The secret cave restaurant hidden beneath Mexico City's pyramids". Mexico News Daily. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- 1 2 3 "La Gruta – Official website". Archived from the original on 17 June 2025. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ "Así se prepara la barbacoa en el restaurante "La Gruta" Teotihuacán" [This is how barbecue is prepared at "La Gruta" Teotihuacán]. Gourmet de México (in Spanish). 9 May 2018. Archived from the original on 13 February 2025. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- 1 2 Ferrant, María José (4 January 2022). "Este restaurante secreto se esconde bajo una gruta a las afueras de Teotihuacán" [This secret restaurant is hidden under a cave on the outskirts of Teotihuacán]. Food & Pleasure (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 June 2025. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ "La Gruta Teotihuacán, el restaurante secreto cerca de las pirámides" [La Gruta Teotihuacán, the secret restaurant near the pyramids]. Chilango (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ Del Castillo, Raquel (11 May 2015). "Teotihuacan del cielo a la tierra" [Teotihuacán from heaven to earth]. Forbes México (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- 1 2 Flores, Mario (28 April 2025). "Conoce este restaurante bajo tierra en Teotihuacán, una joya gastronómica a 1 hora de CDMX" [Discover this underground restaurant in Teotihuacán, a gastronomic gem an hour from Mexico City]. Posta (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ Escribano, Maria (23 August 2022). "Una experiencia gastronómica bajo tierra: en La Gruta de Teotihuacán" [An underground gastronomic experience: at La Gruta in Teotihuacán]. Viajar – El Periódico (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ "Descubre el restaurante que está dentro de una gruta en Teotihuacan" [Discover the restaurant inside a cave in Teotihuacán]. Ciudad de México Secreta (in European Spanish). 12 August 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ Inzunza, Francisco (2 January 2021). "Así fue la primera visita de BTS a México al festival Music Bank, narrada por Jimin" [BTS's first visit to Mexico for the Music Bank festival, narrated by Jimin]. Debate (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ Luna, Andrea Acosta (18 June 2025). "El restaurante mexicano del Edomex que BTS visitó durante su primera visita a México" [The Mexican restaurant in the State of Mexico that BTS visited during their first visit to Mexico]. El Heraldo de México (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ "'Comimos un delicioso filete': La vez que BTS visitó un restaurante del Edomex" ['We ate a delicious steak': The time BTS visited a restaurant in the State of Mexico]. El Financiero (in Spanish). 13 January 2026. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- 1 2 "Gastronomía prehispánica, una opción para la comercialización de maíz criollo con PROAGRO Productivo" [Pre-Hispanic gastronomy, an option for the commercialization of native maize with PROAGRO Productivo]. CIMMYT (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ "Proyecto Teot: ejemplo de producción justa de maíces nativos" [Proyecto Teot: an example of fair production of native maize]. Fundación Tortilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ Fortress, Hazel (17 March 2025). "Premios Gastrolab 2025: restaurante La Gruta, la apuesta ancestral de sabores únicos en Teotihuacán" [Gastrolab Awards 2025: La Gruta restaurant, the ancestral offering of unique flavors in Teotihuacán]. El Heraldo de México (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ López, Liliana (2 April 2023). "12 restaurantes que abogan por la sostenibilidad en México" [12 restaurants championing sustainability in Mexico]. OpenTable (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ "Conoce La Gruta, restaurante destacado por su compromiso con la sostenibilidad" [Meet La Gruta, the restaurant recognized for its commitment to sustainability]. Gastrolab (in Spanish). 8 August 2025. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
