Address: 158 B Carretera of Chapala - Jocotepec and Calle Allen W. Lloyd, San Antonio, Tlayacapan
Hours of operation: Monday - Saturday 8:30 AM - 4 PM, Sunday 8:30 AM - 2 PM
Summer Hours (May-October) 8 AM - 2 PM Tuesday through Sunday (Closed Monday)
Directions: From Walmart head east on the Carretera approximately 1/4 mile. Cafe Negro is on the left. Across from AbsolutFenix Realty and the bus stop.
First Impressions
Café Negro is a bustling, busy little café on the lateral road next to the Carretera in San Antonio. There are a few tables set up on the narrow sidewalk near the entrance to expand the small indoor dining room. There are two tables with umbrellas to block the sun and a table with no umbrella and as many tables as can be packed into the indoor dining area.
This place is always busy, full of expats and visitors to the area. It is jam packed inside, but freshly painted and clean.
There are no hours posted on the front of the café, no phone numbers, no website or social media posts or reviews for this café. From the menu, it appears as if the café is open Monday through Friday.
Menu
Café Negro has a small menu of daily breakfast entrees that change each day of the week, but we were told we could order anything off the menu. There is a nice selection of beverages - coffee, tea, hot chocolate and juices. You must ask for water if you would like a glass with your meal. The coffee was served hot, but was a bit weak and watery tasting.
The menu includes crepes, several varieties of omelets, scrambled eggs, bagels, fruit, yogurt, and a vegetarian frittata. The morning we visited we ordered a ham and cheese omelet and vegetarian frittata, which were both served with a cup of fresh fruit and toast.
Our meals came out of the kitchen quickly. The ham and cheese omelet was very good with a generous amount of ham and cheese.
The fruit cup had fresh strawberries, melon and kiwi, a nice accompaniment to the breakfast. The shredded zucchini and carrots that topped the frittata were barely cooked, almost raw. I had expected something different, so it is probably my own fault that I was not happy with my meal and could only eat about half.
I would not order this again, though the presentation was beautiful. If the vegetables had been cooked properly, it probably would have been delicious.
Ambiance
Café Negro is a tiny café. There is not enough seating, inside or outside, for the large number of customers. Be ready to sit very, very close to your neighbors. Grab a seat outside, under an umbrella, if a table is available.
There is music playing in the background, not too loud, golden oldies that so many Mexican restaurants assume will appeal to their customers. Café Negro's customers are mostly retired residents of Canada and the US.
Parking is plentiful and located along the lateral road in front of the café. It appears as though many of the customers walk to the café from nearby neighborhoods. Service is prompt, perfunctory, almost brusque. You certainly don't feel like loitering at your table, having another cup of coffee, chatting with your companion or reading the Guadalajara Reporter at Café Negro - get in, eat and get out.
Price
The price for a full breakfast at Café Negro is very cheap. We ate two full entrees and had two American coffees for $138 pesos. What was a little disconcerting was the charge for topping off our coffee. Our bill included a $10 peso per cup charge for each refill.
Really? A charge for topping off my cup of coffee? I could understand a charge for specialty coffee refills, but for heating up a regular cup of coffee when the meal is served? I had to ask several times before an obviously perturbed waitress refilled our cups and told us - in Spanish - that she was charging us for the refill.
It surprises me when businesses do not realize that little things - refilling a cup of coffee, pleasant wait staff - are what bring customers back again and again.
Our Recommendation ***
The food is average at Café Negro and the dining room and serving areas are clean. If you want a quick breakfast, with decent food at reasonable prices and don't mind snarling wait staff and an extra charge each time your coffee cup is topped off, then Café Negro fills the bill.
Our joke about places like this is that if you get on their nerves, by asking for a glass of water or to have your coffee topped off, they add a PIA charge to your bill - because you have been a pain in their posterior. I suspect we got a PIA charge on our bill for bothering them for a refill of our coffee.
But, I could be wrong. Maybe they treat all of their customers like pains in their ...well, you get the idea. Personally, I have come to expect courteous service and the welcoming, relaxed atmosphere of the local cafes, so I will not return to Café Negro. But, a lot of expats like this place, it is always crowded, so there must be some attraction that totally escapes me.
Try Café Negro if you must, but if you feel rushed and unwelcome, and get a PIA charge for asking the waitress to heat up your coffee, don't say I didn't warn you.
The Merendero Lake is located on the corner of Calle Ocampo and Calle Colon, in the heart of Ajijic. It is a pleasant little café, with lunch specials listed on a sandwich board on the sidewalk.
The Menu
We ordered the Hamburger Nortena plate as the $95 peso special of the day, which included a glass of wine. The hamburger was cooked perfectly, no pink at all in the middle, served with a tomato slice, lettuce, caramelized onions and chipotle sauce. This is definitely one of the best hamburgers lakeside. 
