Food
Guatemalan cuisine is delicious, very flavorful and less spicy than  Mexican cuisine.  The most common Guatemalan dishes include black beans, guacamole, and chicken dishes of pepián (sauce based on roasted sesame seed) and jocón (sauce based on cilantro and other greens).  However most high-end restaurants stick to an "international" repertoire or ethnic (such as Italian). The "soup and sandwich" lunch is a fairly recent import, with places that offer such fare mostly in the café category.

Salads
As a rule of thumb, steer clear of lettuce. In better restaurants and on campus, salads with pealed vegetables (carrots, for example) or with apples or tomatoes, both easily washed, are fine.

Water
Outside the hotel, stick to filtered or bottled only. In better restaurants and on campus, filtered water called Salvavidas is served and fine to drink.

Beer
Among the Guatemalan, the best is reputed to be Monte Carlo. Moza is also excellent for those who like a bock-type. The most commonly available foreign beers are German and Mexican.

Liquor
A local prize winning rum, Zacapa, is aged and as good as a brandy.