Like most visitors, when I first moved to Mexico in 2009 I was endlessly fascinated by the diversity, the complexity, and the incredibly bold flavors of the local cuisine. But after a few months away from home, you sometimes just want a nice meaty burger and a crisp pint of ale. That proved hard to find, with most places merely offering thin, tasteless patties with plastic cheese squares in overly sweet or crumbly buns, alongside bottles of commercial lager. Mexico's burger game was lacking.
Inside Pig's Pearls in Guadalajara, Mexico. All photos by Ulises Ruiz Basurto.
A cook mans the grill at Pig's Pearls.
Pig's Pearls offers far more than the standard thin, tasteless patties found at most Mexican burger joints.
A cook plates up the lamb burger with goat cheese.
The maple burger with minced sirloin or pork that's been wrapped in bacon, doused in maple syrup, and topped with melted cheddar and caramelized onion
An appetizer of grilled marrow bone with roasted yellow corn, pickled onion, capers, and chiles.
The marrow bone is served with aioli and local artisan bread.