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First-time travelers come for the sun and sea, but it's PV's wonderful restaurants that create legions of long-term fans. You can pay L.A. prices for perfectly decorated plates but also get fresh-caught fish and hot-off-the-griddle tortillas for scandalously little dough. Enjoy a 300-degree bay view from a cliff-top aerie or bury your toes in the sand. Dress up or go completely casual. It's the destination’s great variety of venues and cuisine that keeps returning foodies blissfully content.
During the past 30 years, immigrant chefs have expanded the culinary horizons beyond seafood and Mexican fare. You'll find everything from haute cuisine to fish kebabs. Some of the most rewarding culinary experiences are found outside of fancy restaurants and familiar chain eateries at the street-side tacos stalls and neighborhood fondas, humble spots serving bowls of chili-laced pozole and seafood-heavy Mexican comfort food.
The trend of the day is restaurant-lounges. Ten years ago, DeSantos (co-owned by the drummer of the Mexican rock band Maná) was the first to combine dining and dancing in a hip new way, with its noisy ground-floor bar-restaurant and pulsing dance club above. Today DeSantos, Mandala, and other lounges provide places to party with the locals beyond the cool and chill dining rooms.
For those who prefer dining alfresco (and wearing flip-flops) over the glamour scene, almost every popular beach has a palapa shanty or two selling fish fillets and snacks, sodas, and beer. Some offer the Pacific Coast specialty pescado sarandeado (butterflied red snapper rubbed with salt and spices and grilled over a wood fire) or the devilishly simple (and fiery hot) dish aguachile, which is a ceviche salad. The catch of the day may vary, but the white plastic tables and chairs in the sand are permanent fixtures.
Style and sophistication is what you get when eating at Café des Artistes. Owned and managed by famous French chef Thierry Blouet, this restaurant is top-shelf for gourmet cuisine in Puerto Vallarta.
Locals come frequently for breakfast; visitors come for the great service and consistent Mexican and international cuisine. The lunch-dinner menu has fabulous appetizers, including superb Mexican shrimp al pastor with lemon-zest beurre blanc, delicious blackened salmon fillet, and perfect, spicy tuna tacos. The tortilla soup is popular, too. Start with a signature daiquiri and move on to the extensive wine list. The open patio dining room frames a view of Playa Los Muertos, creating a beautiful, simple scene to enjoy while you sip that drink.
This large, welcoming, thatched-roof eatery is open to the breezes of Playa Los Muertos and filled with wicker-covered chandeliers, art-glass fixtures, and lazily rotating ceiling fans. The menu meanders among international dishes with modern presentation: roasted stuffed chicken breast, pork loin, seared yellowfin tuna drizzled in cacao sauce. It's pricey, but the beachfront location and, in the evening, the low lights and romantic atmosphere, keep people coming back. Breakfast is popular with locals as well as visitors.
Trio is simply Puerto Vallarta's best restaurant. Waiters are professional yet unpretentious—either the sommelier or the maître d' can help you with the wine—but the main reason to dine here is the consistently fabulous food, which is also a great value. The grilled oyster from Cabo Corrientes is a great appetizer and then you can treat yourself with the rabbit roasted with aromatic herbs and red wine. The kitchen often stays open until midnight, and during high season the restaurant opens the back patio, second floor, and rooftop terrace.
Sensational views of the sunset and sparkling city-light panoramas after dark make this one of the best restaurants in PV for a celebratory toast—of life, love, or the perfect vacation. Dedicated observers can spot whales spouting offshore almost any day during the winter months. An army of attentive waiters brings baskets of delicious, buttery rolls and whisks away plates. Try the stellar crab-and-sea-bass cakes, lobster tacos, or sashimi with truffle-and-soy vinaigrette and avocado coulis. The chef adds new dishes every few weeks; the barman stocks top-of-the-line spirits; and there is a large wine cellar representing several continents.
For an informal bite on any given evening, there's nothing like Food Park PV. Here you'll find a variety of snacks, beer, live music, and good vibes, all in a refreshing outdoor atmosphere.
Ivy climbs blond, hacienda-style columns, and chandeliers bathe in a romantic light in the second-floor dining room of this stunningly restored boutique hotel and restaurant. The chef has a restrained hand when it comes to salt and spices; recipes are straightforward yet neither bland nor boring.
This restaurant, part of a small inn, might look like just another Mexican restaurant from the outside, but there is more than what meets the eye. The cuisine is mostly international, with Greek dishes like gyros.
If chef Alfonso Cadena weren't so cool (he looks like a refined, former rock star because he is one!), then La Leche's main dining room, an all-white rotunda lined with shelves of milk cans, could come off as gimmicky. But each night as Cadena personally presents a different menu on a chalkboard, his "blank canvas" dining space becomes the perfect backdrop for a unique meal. For instance, a delicate seafood bisque, unveiled in whimsical ceramic tureens, might precede an exquisite mahimahi in a citrus reduction that provides the perfect balance of sweet and sour, rich and refreshing. Servers are attentive and friendly, but there is ample time between courses, so be prepared for an enjoyable but lengthy evening. Reservations aren't required but are a good idea.
Chilaquiles, pancakes, waffles, baked goods, omelets … whatever you want for breakfast, they have it. This Nuevo Vallarta newcomer has been a total success and a great excuse to leave your nearby hotel to eat good food any given morning. It tends to be full on Sunday, so reservations are a good idea.
From exclusive chef's tables to traditional à la carte dinners, Pueblo 25 offers organic, personalized dining experiences. Pueblo means "village," and the whole idea behind Pueblo 25 is to support local farmers and fishermen while offering guests unique and environmentally friendly culinary creations.
Open to the ocean air, the wood-and-palm exterior of this restaurant looks right at home on Conchas Chinas Beach. The menu is a mixed bag of Mexican specialties such as chile relleno, international cuisine add-ons like chicken masala, and seafood dishes like the delicious crab enchiladas with chipotle sauce. There are wonderful views of waves crashing on or lapping at the shore at its bar El Set. If you're driving, look for the sign for Hotel Lindo Mar on the coast highway.
At night, candles flicker at white-skirted tables with comfortable cushioned chairs, and tiny white lights sparkle in palm trees surrounding the multilevel terrace. This riverside restaurant is recommended for breakfast and for the evening ambience. If you're not into a romantic dinner, belly up to the intimate bar for a drink and—on Friday and Saturday evening—live jazz.
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