We have been hearing for decades that the only place to buy or order furniture is in Guadalajara. Our house on the beach in Zacatitos had originally been furnished from Guadalajara by a business that was in San Jose del Cabo at the time. So of course when we made our trip to the region, furniture stores were one of the places we stopped – looking for items for the new one bedroom condo that is being built in Todos Santos.

On our visit to Tlaquepaque, we discovered Galeria El Dorado on the main walking street, Independencia in town. There were signs all over the store that said the pictures weren’t allowed. After we had found a live edge coffee table in which we were interested and I asked the manager, Mony Kabande for a price and explained the need to measure to see what would fit and that I was going to write a story about the store, she gave me permission to take all the pictures that I would like.

The store has been in place for 40 years and the contents of the store were incredible. This was especially true of the live edge tables and hand-made dining room chairs. In room after room there were examples of unique dining room tables including one very large round one with glass in the center. The furniture on display included beds, dining room tables, coffee tables, bars, side tables, desks, shelving units, buffets and china cabinets, wood and fabric dining room chairs, leather and hide covered living room chairs and more. But it was the accessories that were also stunning. They ranged from paintings and sculptures (small to very large) to lighting of all kinds to one room dedicated to fabrics to mirrors framed in wood and metal to decorated wall items in wood, metal and ceramic to vases of all sizes, shapes and colors. There was also a good selection of pewter and silver items on display. At the front of the store, there were display cases of unique jewelry and small carvings.

The diversity and quality of the items on display as well as their prices demanded that we spend a significant amount of time in Galeria El Dorado. And we picked out a small live edge coffee table that will fit in our small condo in Todos Santos that can be shipped when it is finished being built. We also found out the Galeria El Dorado designs and produces their items around the world and can work with its customers to create the furniture or decor that works best for their home.