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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.
Early risers and those heading off on fishing charters will appreciate the daily 5 am opening time. The café, which is filled with wonderful art for sale, has fruit smoothies, coffee in many manifestations, and tasty frappés with Oreo cookie bits or frosting-topped carrot cake.
Typical food of the countryside—enchiladas, tamales, pozole, beefsteak with beans and tortillas, and so on—is served in an equally typical family home that has been expanded to welcome guests. Straw-bottom chairs are comfortable enough, and the oilcloths shiny and new. The small bar is at the back behind the large, open kitchen. It's open for breakfast, too.
The original Mariscos 8 Tostadas (there are a few others in the bay) is located behind Blockbuster Video in the Hotel Zone. It features full seafood plates alongside its ceviches, tacos, and appetizers. The odd menu translations at these restaurants are a clear indication that the clientele is local. For instance, the tuna sashimi appears as atún fresco con salsa rasurada, or "tuna cut thick with shaved sauce." The tuna is thicker than that in U.S. sushi houses and is served in a shallow dish with soy sauce, micro-thin cucumber slices, sesame seeds, green onions, chili powder, and lime. The ceviche couldn't be fresher, and portions are more than generous.
In El Centro at Paris Café, a gruff and eccentric Frenchman who bakes bare-chested is PV's version of Seinfeld's "soup Nazi."
Come for the excellent coffee as well as the most scrumptious pies, cookies, and cakes.
For coffee and desserts there is nothing more vallartense than Repostería Los Chatos.
In downtown Vallarta, locals love the quesadillas, shredded beef burritos, and tacos at Tutifruti, where you can also get a sandwich, burger, or fruit smoothie.
For European-style chocolates, succumb to Xocodiva, in Zona Romántica.
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