1985. Paco had a dream. 28 years ago Paco had a dream. A band of like minded musicians playing Andean music together in a Peña of their own. A home for his band. So, in August 2006, Restaurante La Peña de Sol Latino came in being in Antigua, Guatemala.
Francisco "Paco" Mendoza. Born in Guatemala City 40 plus years ago, the youngest son of one of Guatemala´s Opra singers, he grew up in a home full of music. After time in the university, Paco spent some formative years in the Andean mountain region of South America learning the Andean music style and the craft of fabrcating the instruments used in the music. When he returned to Guatemala he located in Antigua, formed Grupo SOL LATINO and continued to perfect his instrument building craft. Today, 28years later, his flutes. quenas and bombos are much sought after by professional musicians as well as amatures. His band Sol Latino has built a solid following, sticking to their musical roots and perfecting their performances.

Mary Waggener and Bill Harriss retired in 1997 and left Nashville, Tennessee aboard their sailboat and made it their home for 8+ years; S/V Backstage Pass. After cruising the coast of the U.S., the Bahamas, the Caribean, Cuba, Mexico and Beize, Antigua became another hurricane season stop and an attempt to become bilingual and experience another culture. While raising two of their three daughters, Mary´s post graduate education at Vanderbilt was the study of bio-medical engineering and she spent her working years in research and designing control systems for manufacturing and NASA, amoung others. In 1963, Bill, while attending Peabody College Music School, discovered Nashville´s blossming music busines. The next 35 years were wonderfully spent playing the drums in Nashville´s recording and TV studios with the best musicians in the world. Now, while Mary is hard at work keeping our guests and friends in La Peña happy, Bill is usually goofing off playing the congas.

Restaurante LA PEÑA de SOL LATINO is a treasure that these 3, along with fans and friends, cleaning and painting, have created together. It is a different concept in a restaurant. A place where you can make new friends, enjoy the wonderful ambiance of our out door garden, really delicious food, and of course, live music every night at 7 PM. We have the live Andean music (pan flutes) of Grupo SOL LATINO Wednesday through Saturday nights 7:00 PM Till 10. Sunday night, Surprise Music Night with different musician guests. Monday night Malcom performs his original music as well as most of your favorites.

To hear the music of SOL LATINO on "youtube".... search ...Sol Latino Guatemala.... Our fans/friends/customers have been kind enough to record and put the band on "youtube"... Check it out!!!.......

Also, here are some revues from the site "Trip Advisor"

“Fantastic music, friendly service”

La Pena de Sol Latino

5 of 5 stars

MoonChild7 1 contribution

Michigan

Feb 11, 2010

....... This is an awesome little treasure of Antigua, I'm so glad that my friend took me here early in my visit so that I could come back several times before I left. It had a great mix of people and it's definitely somewhere that I felt comfortable coming to alone also. The waiters made me feel welcome, even though they were pretty busy. They played instruments too, amazing! How often do you see that kind of multitasking? It was refreshingly different. This place has a lot of character that to me was missing in other restaurants I went to. The music's just fantastic. It's Andean on most nights, the musicians are impressive, and the music's uplifting. There's also a night of romantic guitar music every week. A small negative, the fish wasn't the best. But the brownie dessert was to die for. I'd highly recommend La Pena to anyone. It was great chatting with the local staff too, actually Pena made my trip!

........ This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

...... “Wonderful Evening” ColoradoSrowen 7 contributions colorado

Mar 20, 2010

..... We were with a tour group and our guide took us to this restaurant. My husband and I were seated directly in front of the band so we were worried that it would be too loud. However, instead, we felt part of the band and I wanted to jump up and dance the music was so moving. The service was excellent along with the food. I even had two margaritas with no worry about the water used. My husband ended up buying three of the bands cds. We would highly recommend this restaurant as a highlight of visiting Antigua.

..... This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

. “Unique, Fun and Very Friendly!”

.... discover-fun 7 contributions

Barrie Ontario

Nov 24, 2009

..... La Pena de Sol Latino is my favorite restaurant in Antiuga! They have great food that is complimented with wonderful live music every night. I have traveled to Antigua with small groups and on my own, and this is the place I feel the most comfortable whether I am in a group or by myself. The house band plays various instruments and sings but highlights the Andean panflute. You have to try the Coconut Lemonade slushy (with or without rum). And what can I say about the staff....they treat you like old friends they haven't seen is a while. This place is truly magical!

For more reviews visit www.tripadvisor.com/antigua guatemala restaurantes
or......
www.lonelyplanet.com
and look for La Peña de Sol Latino .... email....lapenaantigua@gmail.com