Restaurants in Central Pacific Coast
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Joe Jack’s Fish Shack
Seafood aficionados flock to this joint for fish and chips, garlic shrimp, whole red snapper and great slabs of mahi mahi. Large groups are graciously accommodated on the pleasant rooftop terrace. The service is jovial and quick, and the music classic rock.
reviewed
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La Tramoya
Hearty Mexican meat dishes are set out on spacious sidewalk tables. Ravenous? Try the carne azteca – a steak stuffed with huitlacoche (corn fungus) and served on a bed of nopal es (prickly pear cactus).
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Café de Olla
This well-loved traditional Mexican restaurant nurtures a lively atmosphere with its sidewalk grill and open kitchen.
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Wala Wala
This cheerfully decorated restaurant serves inexpensive, tasty home-style meals. It’s mostly basic Mexican and pasta with a few specialties such as lobster (M$225) and pollo con naranja (chicken with orange, M$80). There’s live music three nights a week.
reviewed
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Café des Artistes
Many consider this to be Vallarta’s finest restaurant. Whether or not you’re prone to superlatives, you’re sure to enjoy its romantic ambience and exquisite French cuisine. The service is formal but unobtrusive, and reservations are recommended.
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Casa de Pancho
It couldn't be more simple: a few plastic tables set up in a mostly-bare room. But the economical pozole, enchiladas and other basic dishes are simply splendid. Carlos, the genial waiter/cook/owner, loves to spread the gospel of salsa.
reviewed
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La Espiga Dorada
Doña Betty Pompa has operated this bakery for nearly 50 years from her home in a grand old building built in 1837. Try the fluffy sweet bread called concheta or a perfect meringue cookie. There's no sign; just follow your nose.
reviewed
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Casa Elvira
This old hand turns out some tasty food like oysters Rockefeller, jumbo steamed shrimp and broiled octopus with garlic. Vegetarians will appreciate the soup, salad and spaghetti choices. Order the coconut custard for dessert.
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Miso Sushi
Mazatlán has several sushi restaurants, but none as cosmopolitan as this trendy favorite, recommended for its hipster decor, good music and super-fresh, well-presented fare.
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Vittore Italian Grill
This elegant spot with romantic patio seating features delicious calorie-rich pasta dishes and memorable seafood and beef dishes. The service is rather formal.
reviewed
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Fredy’s Tucan
This gringo breakfast paradise serves waffles, omelets and almost anything else you could want in an ample courtyard three blocks from the beach.
reviewed
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El Arrayán Cocina Tradicional
Owner Carmen Porras takes special pleasure in rescuing old family recipes from obscurity and finding new converts for real traditional Mexican cuisine. Her restaurant, with its open kitchen and romantic courtyard, emphasizes local ingredients: the delicious panela cheese comes straight from the small dairy south of Puerto Vallarta, and the corn used for the tortillas is locally produced and comes directly from the mill. House specialties include crispy duck carnitas with orange sauce – scrumptious! – and rib-eye steak marinated in Mexican spices and tequila. Raise a toast to a truly memorable meal with a shot of fiery raicilla, a rare agave distillate produced in Jali…
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El Fogón
Red-checked tablecloths, an airy dining room facing La Costera and neon lights blazing out the names of Mexican specialties all create a welcoming atmosphere at this eatery popular with local families. If you’re hungry, try the house special, molcajete acapulqueño : enough steak, pork, ranchero cheese, grilled nopales (cactus), avocado slices and freshly made tortillas to feed two people! There is another branch as the corner of La Costera and Alaminos ( [tel] 484-50-79; open 8am to midnight Sunday to Wednesday, 8am to 3am Thursday to Saturday).
reviewed
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Mama Rosa
Grab a table on Mama Rosa’s pleasant outdoor patio and load up on sopes (tortillas with a layer of beans, cheese and salsa), tamales, chilaquiles, nopales, chorizo, eggs and delicious salsas from the scrumptious breakfast buffet. Supplement it all with bottomless cups of café de olla (Mexican coffee spiced with cinnamon) or chilled glasses of the homemade basil-lemon drink, and don’t forget to save room for the tantalizing desserts, including rice pudding, honeyed bananas and cheesecake.
reviewed
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Bistro del Mar
This beautiful, beachside bistro – part of the Hotel Brisas del Mar complex – exemplifies contemporary Mexican cuisine by fusing Latin, European and Asian flavors. Rotating specialties include jumbo shrimp marinated in a sweet-and-sour sauce, flambéed in tequila, on a bed of sweet-corn cake. With its landmark sail roof over candlelit beachside tables, Bistro del Mar is a romantic treat for the heart, soul and stomach.
reviewed
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Baikal
Baikal is not just a restaurant: it’s an experience for all five senses. Step down the unusual spiral staircase entrance and you emerge into a cliffside wonderland with stunning views over Bahía de Acapulco. The cuisine is a fusion of French, Asian and Mediterranean, and is presented like a masterpiece while live jazz is played in the background. This is Acapulco’s place to see and be seen. Reservations are mandatory.
reviewed
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Los Braseros
With over 20 years in business and 140 dishes on the menu, this is a wonderful place to sample specialties from all over Mexico. Founder Leonel still works the grill on occasion to give his staff a day off. Whatever you do, don’t leave without trying one of the sensational tacos al pastor (M$6). Equally tempting are the trademark alambres, tasty mixes of grilled fish, meat, veggies and cheese.
reviewed
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Chez Elena
Back in the martini era this small, atmospheric restaurant was a meeting place for the likes of Liz Taylor, Richard Burton, Peter O’Toole and other well-known appetites. Without having ever let down its culinary standards, it’s still imbued with gracious allure. Try the savory Maya pork dish called cochinita pibil with achiote chili sauce. And by all means, take in the view from the rooftop lounge.
reviewed
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La Casa Café
What do you get when you take two transplants from Portland, Oregon, and plunk them down on a back street in Zihua? A sweet little café that draws locals, expatriates and tourists alike with M$20 breakfast specials, great cappuccinos and refreshing fruit drinks like the Zihua Zinger, a blend of cucumber, pineapple, pear, apple, orange and cilantro (wipe that skeptical grimace off your face and try it!).
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Red Cabbage Café
Though the atmosphere is casual, with fabulous eclectic and bohemian artwork, the food is serious and features old recipes and uncommon indigenous sauces. The soups – including a cream of peanut and a piquant tortilla soup – are to die for. It’s a pleasant 10-minute walk from the Zona Romántica; from Cárdenas turn right on Rivero del Río, just before the Río Cuale bridge. No credit cards.
reviewed
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Mariscos Tino’s
Calling itself the catedral de los mariscos (seafood cathedral), this family-run Vallarta favorite opened a new branch on the malecón in summer 2009. Feast in the upstairs dining room on dishes like pescado zarandeado and sopa siete mares (a savory stew of fish, shrimp, octopus, mussels and more). And parents, rejoice – there’s even a kids’ play area!
reviewed
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La Isla
With its over-the-top seashell-encrusted interior, this place serves some of the best seafood in San Blas. Indulge yourself with one of the platillos especiales, a mix of shrimp, octopus and fresh fish cooked however you like it, and accompanied by rice, salad and fried banana. La Isla’s sister eatery on Playa El Borrego – Caballito del Mar – serves a similar menu.
reviewed
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Casa del Canibal
Beloved among the town's expat population, this friendly eatery does a dynamite shrimp scampi, a rich beef stroganoff and a perfectly cooked steak. The garrulous owner is a true foodie and it shows. It also offers sumptuously catered four- to six-hour personalized tours including 'secret beach parties,' waterfall hikes, horseback riding, and mountain zip-line tours.
reviewed
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Uncommon Grounds Chill Out Lounge
This welcoming restaurant-café is an agreeable place to spend an evening. Beautifully presented dishes with amiable names (anyone for a ‘Planet Utopia Salad’?) are trotted out from the kitchen with panache by hosts Lydia and Anne. Vegetarians are well taken care of, as are those in need of a cocktail. You can also get a chair massage and shop in the small boutique.
reviewed
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Restaurant Maya
The menu changes regularly, but the quality at this Asian-fusion beachside hot spot is consistently excellent. Dinners include a range of gourmet salads, grilled meats and fish with exotic sauces, and there are appetizers like tequila lime prawns or mussels in chipotle cream. Western favorites like eggs Benedict and rich omelets with brie rule the brunch menu.
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