The portales — the vaulted arcade running along the north side of Tehuacan's zócalo — shelter a row of cafes and restaurants that are the social default for the city. In the morning they serve café de olla (coffee brewed in a clay pot with cinnamon and piloncillo) and pan dulce; in the evenings they shift to cold beer, licuados, and the occasional botana plate. The setting is the point: the covered terrace faces the garden square and the cathedral, and the clientele ranges from retired men playing dominoes to families out for an evening walk.
There is nothing exceptional about the food or coffee, but the atmosphere is what Tehuacan actually feels like — unhurried, provincial, and pleasantly indifferent to tourism. Arrive in the late afternoon as the heat eases and the square comes to life.