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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.
An art gallery that doubles as a gourmet restaurant, this place is classy and sophisticated, and as such it takes its time for every entrée that it serves. During high season it may open for an evening or two during the weekend. You can be sure that when it is open, the culinary experience will be special.
This trendy but casual café also offers lunch and dinner, but it's the breakfast people come here for. Patrons love the enchiladas, huevos al gusto, pastries, and good coffee, though the pizzas and salads served later in the day and into the night are also tasty. It's one of the few places that has a/c during the summer months. Did we mention they also have Italian-style ice cream?
Owned by a couple of expats, this cute restaurant just half a block from the malecón is a hidden gem in Puerto Vallarta's crowded dining scene. Every dish is unique in its own way and no matter if it's the soup of the day or the Korean bulgogi steak, they all look amazing. Come for lunch and stay all afternoon for the cocktails.
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