Hosteria del Arte

[gringal]

Someone passed out fliers about this "New Italian Restaurant", Hosteria del Arte, and described it as "inside the Japanese Nursery."

The only other information was directions: as West Road n.527 next to Pemex between Ajijic and San Juan Cosala. No hours; no phone number.

Anyone been there or have any other information?

[Hernan Santiago]

Not sure, but think this is the same nursery that tried a drive through several months ago, which failed. Maybe they have reincarnated into Italian. Good decision, as there certainly is a dearth of Italian restaurants lakeside.

[maw7815]

I heard that the owners of the Ice cream store (Manhattan?) next to the Bagel shop opened up the Italian restaurant.

I seem to remember there being Italian groceries on their shelves besides selling Blue Bell ice cream.

[Shira]

I have seen it on the right hand side of the caraterra traveling west. It is by the big vivero known as the Japanese nursery near los Sabinos.

[FHBOY]

Dat's the place - been getting good word of mouth from the Sabinos, Arroyos crowd because it is so handy.

Hey, meat lasagna for $95, gotta give that a whirl!

[chelseagirls]

The food is great, The husband of the lady that owns the bluebell ice cream place is from Northern Italy- they had a restaurant in Guadalajara and have brought their two chefs from there, here.

It is inside the nursery (not the drive through place, which was run by others)- new kitchen etc built where the cash desk/offices used to be.

Hours are 11-8pm closed monday I believe.

Try the strawberries in balsamico for desert- wonderful!

[gringal]

Went to the nursery today and while esposo was checking out plants, I went over to the ristorante and checked out the menu: usual prices for pasta; nice variety. Man with Italian accent asked I he could answer questions. I asked if he used Mexican pasta or Italian pasta. He looked a trifle startled and said; "of course we use real Italian pasta!" So there you have it.

The only downside is that all the tables are outside, facing West, so this could be pretty hot in the afternoon. No one else was there today around 1 pm.

[maw7815]

I was there Saturday afternoon at 12 :30 with 4 other ladies. We were all sitting under the shade cloth- no sun in our eyes and had a nice view of all the plants. The menu is printed on a blackboard and the owner told us about each of the selections. 3 of us had the meat lasagna which was very good. 1 had the mango salad and the other had the pulpo carpaccio which she enjoyed also.

What happened next while we were sitting there was something else!

2 Mexican men and 1 Mexican woman- well dressed in navy blue suits came in and they moved a table in the empty space where we moved our 2 tables together. The woman sat there by herself and the 2 men sat in the other row close to the wall. I thought that was odd and also who would wear long sleeved suits on a Sat afternoon in this heat- I thought they were Jehovah Witnesses or something. Another couple-gringo- were sitting at the other end- the table next to the MX woman. Of course all of us were busy talking and didn't notice what happened until the gringo lady asked us if we saw where the 3 MX people went? We all said no and she stated that her wallet was missing from her purse! The police were called and were there within minutes. One in our group noticed that one of the men put his suit coat over the top of the table where the MX woman had been sitting. After a short while he came back to that table and picked up his coat and they all left- we figured that while picking up his coat he must have leaned over and took the wallet out of the purse of the woman at the 3rd table. At the time the gringo woman went to the rest room and her husband was near by looking at the plants!

I seem to remember reading elsewhere that the thieves who steal your wallet in the grocery stores were well dressed!

maw

[gringal]

I'm sorry this happened, and glad you had a good meal there. We'll try it one of these days.

Assuming that a certain percentage of any populace is larcenous, good advice would be: never, ever leave your purse in a place that it is accessible to anyone. That means; not hanging it over the back of your chair; never putting it in a shopping cart; never leaving it next to a railing above the sidewalk and basically, never letting it leave your body, your lap or between your feet. This was passed on by the travel agent on a tour I took. Sounded good to me.

[Ferret]

Just went to this restaurant today...

This Italian restaurant is located INSIDE the garden centre and has been open for just three weeks. If going from Ajijic, it is just before the Pemex...obviously just after the Pemex if you're coming from San Juan Cosala going to Ajijic.
Open air but covered and it was nice and cool there today. Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and they are only closed on Mondays.
Lots of parking and is Handicapped Accessible.
The owners are Stefano Quaiotti and his wife...cell phone 045-331-410-1718
They originally owned an Italian Restaurant ,for 20 years, in Guadalajara that seated 300. They have enticed their Chef from that restaurant to come and "retire" with them Lakeside. Lucky us.
It is a varied but choice menu with something for everyone. I had Lasagna and hubby had Chicken Voltini in an Alfredo mushroom sauce with a small salad. Nearly all entrees are 95 pesos.
DIVINE...they buy their produce from the organic market.
Unfortunately, we didn't have room for the Tiramisu or the Baked Apple and Ice Cream.

[Travis]

This place is good! The homemade bread with aioli is spectacular. The fried calimari is the best I've had since moving here, and the dipping sauces it comes with are delicious (one of them made my eyes melt it was so tasty). The mango salad was really good,too. Partner really enjoyed his "Country" pasta with Italian sausage, I enjoyed my Tortellini. (Our second visit.....on first visit I wasn't personally thrilled with the pasta a la vodka - it was okay though - it's just I make a version myself that I like better.) Can't wait to try the Caprese salad....saw him picking fresh basil while we were there. I've heard others rave about the tiramisu, but have never had enough room to try it.

The weather doesn't get any hotter than it was this afternoon, and still it was perfectly pleasant on the outdoor patio.

Go!