I didn’t say that. Bill Biniasz said that. And Bill Biniasz should know as Bill Biniasz also told me, “I don’t cook a lot. I eat out a lot. And I eat an awful lot of sandwiches.”

The sandwich he was talking about was the smoked pulled pork at Peninsula. A couple of weeks ago, the “gentlemen who lunch” checked it out.

Patty and Guillermo Pruneda arrived in San Miguel from the Yucatan and opened Peninsula late in 2022. The first time I ever met Guillermo, he talked (a lot) about wanting a smoker. Now he has two (though he still talks about wanting a bigger one) and now, Peninsula has added a BBQ smoked pulled pork sandwich to their menu.

“I use only the shoulder. That way I avoid the possibility of any fatty bits that certain people don’t like”, Guillermo told me. “I brush on a rub that consists of seasoning salt, pepper, garlic and herbs then smoke them over applewood for a minimum of 10 hours. It is then pulled and mixed with our homemade, fermented habanero honey BBQ sauce.”

The bun is a seeded, hamburger style baked a few blocks away by Buena Vida. The topping is  cole slaw that, at first, seemed an unusual choice for a pulled pork sammy but all of the guys agreed it worked. On the side are crispy potato chips that we also all agreed worked.

The meat was moist, the quantity was appropriate, the rub had a nice heat level to the spicing and didn’t overpower the meat.

Patty encouraged us to try chef Guillermo’s sauces that she brought to the table. The first is composed of smoked habaneros, roasted garlic and olive oil. The second is chipotles, honey and vinegar. Unless you like an extra kick in your spice level, I don’t think you’ll really need either.

Now, one of the guys who was joining us for lunch was a guy called Lou Campese, a guy we sometimes call Mr. Smoke, a guy who smokes a legendary brisket and now is even smoking cheese. Lou and I talked about how we might like a little more of those burned bits from the outside that he calls bark and I call char in the taste of Chef Guillermo’s pulled pork but when we’d finished our foodie gab, Lou’s last comment to me was, “His sandwich was very good. I won’t hesitate to go back.”

If you choose to go back (or go for the first time) to Peninsula, you should know that there business is about 50/50 eat there/take out and you can now also take home 500 gram containers of the BBQ pulled pork and enjoy it at home.

And what’s Bill Biniasz’ number one sandwich in San Miguel? You’ll have to stay tuned to the blog for more.

Peninsula Mayan BBQ is located at Salida a Celaya 14 in San Miguel de Allende. They are open from 9:00 to 5:00, Monday through Friday; 2:00 to 5:00 on Saturday. Sundays they’re closed. Their products are also available at the Saturday morning markets at TOSMA near Mercado Sano and in Los Frailes at Los Enamorados park.