It was the 10th SMART Awards Gala Dinner, the time when we honor and toast the San Miguel de Allende restaurants that subscribers to Don Day in SMA vote as their favorites.

The routine is pretty much the same. The winner of the previous year’s top award welcomes guests to an ultra special, multi-course dinner and I do an old-fashioned AM radio-style top ten countdown.

I started the 2025 edition with a little history that shows how much our treasured little town has exploded in the last decade. At awards time in 2015, Trip Advisor showed that there were 233 restaurants in San Miguel. Today, there are a staggering 648. 

Of that extraordinary number only 104 restaurants received any votes at all in this year’s voting.

 I waited until Chef Antonio had served a very imaginative chilled almond soup and a perfectly-cooked mi-cuit shellfish plate and guests had downed one, perhaps two glasses of wine before I nervously did my “whoooooaaaaa” to quiet the audience.

I started by giving recognition to the restaurants that didn’t quite make the top ten but, with so many different restaurants getting votes, I suggested that any restaurant that received double-digit numbers “should still be considered extraordinary”.

There were eight came-close-but-no-cigars: For Cien 24, Rustica and Cafe 1910, it was quite an accomplishment, for these three restaurants aren’t even open in the evening, 

Three others that just missed the cut were San Mezcal, the quite new Nudol, and a restaurant that had about seven different name variations my favorite of which was “the Italian that comes to a point where Zacateras ends”, I think, but even I’m not sure, it’s officially called Antigua Trattoria Romana; 

The last two that didn’t quite make it to our countdown were the been-in-San Miguel-as-long-as-I-have Hecho en Mexico and, perhaps, showing how competitive the SMARTs have become, for the first time in the history of the awards, The Restaurant got nudged out of the top ten.

After a a few mouthfuls of cavatelli with fresh peas and pancetta and another glass of wine to calm my nervousness, I started the countdown.

“I think it’s very appropriate that numbers nine and ten were side by side in the voter’s rankings as they sit geographically side-by-side on Salida a Celaya. They’re both new to the town, therefore new to the list and both offer somewhat similar Italian fare. In tenth place was Fari. Nipping it into the ninth spot by only two votes was Da Carmela.”

“Now if Toño Aranda, one of Fari’s owners had just heard he’d been narrowly nipped by his next door neighbor, he might be gritting his teeth a little. But I may have had a way to change that to a smile. In eighth place was a restaurant that is also co-owned by Toño. At number eight was one of my personal favorites, Bocaciega.”

Seventh place went to another longterm resident of the top ten. If I want a big burger, beef or, even better, their lamb, this restaurant is always near the top of my list. It’s also always near the top of the SMARTs list. Number seven was Pork Belly.

It is very rare that a restaurant featuring Asian cuisine makes it onto the SMARTs list but there’s one that’s recently joined the top ten and climbed up the ladder even higher this year. It’s quite appropriate that the awards are called the SMARTs because I think the chef/owner is one of the smartest restauranteurs in town. In sixth place was Franco Davalos’ Asia Orient Express.

Each year, I present a pine cutting board to the three highest scoring restaurants as well as a board to the top scoring restaurant that opened since January of the previous year. That award this year went to a restaurant that seems to be soaring in popularity recently. Number five and the best new restaurant of 2025 was the very elegant former residence on Hernandez Macias that is already renowned for its service. At number five was Ziracco.

Next on the list was no stranger to the Best New Restaurant Award. They’d won the cutting board back in 2018 and have never been out of the top five every year since. They’re the restaurant that put rooftop, chef-driven fine dining on the map in San Miguel de Allende. In fourth place was Chef Arturo Sandoval’s Atrio.

I took a break before announcing the big three, switching to an Italian Montepulciano and savoring Firenze’s legendary robalo and their Argentinean style picaña steak.

Over the years, we’d had a number of occasions where two restaurants that shared the same owner had both made the SMARTs top ten. We had never had a year where three that shared ownership had done it. Until 2025.

When I initially announce the voting I try to stress the importance to Don Day subscribers of recognizing what you get for your pesos when making your choices for the SMARTs. In third place was a restaurant that’s an excellent example. Voter Wendy Girvan said about them, “Best value, wonderful food, great service.”

It’s extremely difficult for what I classify as a “casual dining” restaurant to make it to the big three but, this year, one managed it. It was the third restaurant in the top ten that’s run by the Ananda brothers. In third place was Tostévere.

And then there were two. And when Marco Massarotti, the chef/owner of Casa Nostra stepped inside Firenze’s front door, I’m sure everyone in the room knew what two restaurants were numbers one and two. They’re similar in many ways. They’re both classy but neither is pretentious. They both feature international cuisine with an Italian slant. They both have well-attired servers who know it is better to be seen than to be heard. They both know that food has to please all of the senses not just the tongue. They both bend the rules for certain dishes but never break them. They’re both owned and managed by extraordinary restauranteur/chefs.

Firenze’s owner Antonio Arrieta gave Casa Nostra’s Marco a giant bear hug when he saw him. They talked about being friends not competition. I did the slight delay, just like the actor stumbling to open the envelope at the Oscars and announced that in the number two position was Casa Nostra. San Miguel’s favorite restaurant, year after year, was still Firenze.

Antonio brought out his staff and thanked them for being the main reason his restaurant has been this town’s number one for so many years.

Don Day’s Wife and I cheered the chef with a sweet red and did a, “so looking forward to you hosting another great dinner next year.”

In the taxi, we rubbed our heads and stroked our chins and wondered if any restaurant will ever beat Firenze in the annual SMART awards.