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$$$$ | |
Set aside three hours for this extraordinary dining experience inside a cozy little house. Celebrity chef Jair Téllez's ambitious prix-fixe menus (there are four-course and eight-course versions) change frequently, but may include chione clam soup, yellowtail tartare, and braised beef with butternut squash and cauliflower purée, all served with excellent regional wines. After the main entrée, cleanse your palate with refreshing orange-carrot-mint sorbet, and then sink your teeth into one of their savory desserts like churros with carob tree ice cream. Don't be surprised if a bonus course suddenly appears at some point throughout your meal. If you aren't satisfied with the portions, simply ask for more at no extra charge. Polished woods and windows overlooking the valley make the dining room and outdoor plaza as sleek as the menu. A meal here is well worth the drive.
Highway 3, Km 83, Baja California Norte, 22750, Mexico
Known For
- Eight-course wine pairing
- Twist on Mexican and international flavors
- Farm-to-table with everything local
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, Closed Sun.–Tues. and late Nov.–early Jan. No dinner Wed. Last orders taken at 8:30 pm Thurs.–Sat, Reservations essential
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$$$ | Centro |
A romantic courtyard shaded by fruit trees, classic rancheras (Mexican folk music), and traditional preparations of regional Mexican specialty dishes are the hallmarks at Los Tres Gallos. Discover their delicious heritage dishes such as cochinita pibil (slow-roasted pork) and molcajetes (stone bowls) filled with flank steak, shrimp, chorizo, nopal, and panela cheese. The downtown eatery's name pays tribute to three of the greatest stars of Mexico's golden age of cinema. Photographs of Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante, and Javier Solís—collectively referred to as "the three roosters"— adorn the walls of one of the dining areas, and their music often plays softly in the background, adding to the restaurant's old-fashioned charm. A second location has recently opened in San José del Cabo.
Calle Leona Vicario at 20 de Noviembre, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, 23469, Mexico
Known For
- Old-fashioned charm
- Delicious flan for dessert
- Tribute to stars of Mexico's golden age of cinema
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$$ | Marina San Lucas |
This large, casual, sportfishing-oriented cantina, just around the corner from the Tesoro Los Cabos Resort, draws crowds with its all-day drink specials. Boasting a top marina location near L-M-N Dock, an excellent view of the sportfishing and mega yachts, $2 cervezas all day, affordable eats, and American sports on multiple TVs, it's a favorite of the sportfishing deckhands and boat captains. You can enjoy a Captain's breakfast special for under $8, a budget-friendly afternoon appetizer menu, or splurge a bit more for daily seafood and steak specials. Most meals can be had for under $20. Saturday night is Ladies' Night—ladies drink free from 8 to 10 pm—and if you stay late, you'll catch the live DJ and dancing. Free Wi-Fi is accessible throughout the restaurant.
Dock L-M-N, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, 23450, Mexico
Known For
- Late-night DJs and dancing
- All-day drink specials
- Budget-friendly eats
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
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$ | Marina San Lucas |
In addition to its great selection of beer and wines, as well as organic and frozen foods, healthy and low-calorie offerings, and cheese, this corner shop carries familiar products and brands from the United States. A second location has been added at The Shoppes at Palmilla.
Blvd. Marina at Camino del Cerro, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, 23401, Mexico
Known For
- Excellent prices
- Extensive beer and wine selection
- Healthy and organic options
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun
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$$ | Centro |
Lobster's the thing here, but daily specials like surf-and-turf combos round out the list. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, this typical Mexican sit-down locale has a happy hour that runs from 8 am to 6 pm—and prices are super cheap. You can get a lobster tail with rice and beans for 14 bucks; El Charro tequila shots are a mere 20¢; and Don Julio tequila shots are less than $3. As you sit under the open-air palapa enjoying this feast fit for a king, strolling mariachis will pass by, providing your dining soundtrack.
Hidalgo at Zapata, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, 23450, Mexico
Known For
- Excellent people-watching
- Open-air dining
- Incredibly cheap and generous food
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, Closed Sept
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Recommended Fodor’s Video
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$$$$ | Playa El Médano |
One of the more upscale choices near hectic Médano Beach, Edith's is the sister restaurant to popular The Office on the Beach. The Caesar salad and flambéed banana crepes are prepared table-side at this colorful and popular restaurant. Wally's Special, which includes lobster, shrimp, and fish, is also a popular menu item. The focus here is on Mexican ingredients—quesadillas feature Oaxacan cheese and are filled with seasonal zucchini flowers; meat and fish dishes are doused in local chili or tropical fruit sauces. Edith's air-conditioned wine room offers a large selection of domestic and imported wines and is ideal for hosting small intimate dinner parties of up to 10 people. Families dine in early evening, so come in later if you're looking for a less crowded experience.
Camino a Playa El Médano, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, 23450, Mexico
Known For
- Wally's Special
- Wine cellar for small private parties
- Focus on Mexican ingredients
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
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$$ | Centro |
The original Bismark is a bit out of the way, but it attracts families who settle down for hours at long wooden tables, while telenovelas (Latin American soap operas) play on the TV above the bar. Tuck into seafood cocktails, enormous grilled lobsters, or carne asada served with beans, guacamole, and homemade tortillas. Seafood tacos and micheladas are specialties at the malecón location, called Bismark-cito.
Av. Degollado at Calle Altamirano, La Paz, Baja California Sur, 23000, Mexico
Known For
- Seafood cocktails
- Long dining experience
- Good for families
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
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$$ | |
This restaurant is the malecón location of its affiliate restaurant El Bismark, also in La Paz.
Alvaro Obregón, La Paz, Baja California Sur, 23000, Mexico
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$ | Marina |
This two-story palapa restaurant, named “The Drunken Sailor,” is always packed with locals and tourists alike. It’s no wonder: the location across from the marina is the perfect spot to watch the sunset while enjoying a ginger mint mojito or tamarind margarita. Several dishes feature unexpected Vietnamese and Costa Rican influences, such as the panko-crusted fish taco with ginger cream and the shrimp enchilada with coconut pineapple sauce and fried plantains. The shrimp burger on homemade bread comes with chili lime fries and pairs well with an ice cold michelada (salt-rimmed Mexican beer with lime, spices, and hot sauce). Timid palates must overcome any hesitation and try the best dessert in Los Cabos: the avocado-lime chocolate cream pie on graham cracker crust.
Puerto Los Cabos, San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, 23200, Mexico
Known For
- Unique ceviches menu
- Best Los Cabos dessert: avocado-lime chocolate cream pie
- Sunset view
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No credit cards, Closed Mon
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$$$$ | |
It's well known that Las Ventanas is one of the best hotels in Mexico, and the on-site dining likewise does not disappoint. A diverse Mexican menu pays homage to the country's culinary traditions, with a focus on family recipes. Highlights include seared octopus with mole chichilo, poblano chili stuffed with seafood, and kurobuta pork with puréed corn. For a social appetizer, start with the "Taco Experience," a customized taco bar for two served on a rotating turntable. If you haven't already blown through your dinner budget, order the tiramisu, eclair, or mango crumble. There's live music nightly, and private cooking demonstrations in the Rosewood herb garden (by reservation).
Carretera Transpeninsular, Km 19.5, The Corridor, Baja California Sur, 23400, Mexico
Known For
- Gourmet tacos
- Traditional Mexican dishes from around the country
- Nightly live music
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$ | Centro |
If you're looking for some entertainment to go along with your tacos or tortas (sandwiches), listen for the blaring Beatles' tunes at Gordo Lele's, then watch owner Javier Reynoso don his Beatles wig and sing along to "I Want to Hold Your Hand" or "Let It Be." The walls here are filled with Fab Four photos and album covers. Javier's tacos and tortas are made with loving care, and his fans can have two or three ham-and-cheese tortas for what would be the price of one anywhere else, plus an assortment of generously sized tacos.
Matamoros, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, 23450, Mexico
Known For
- Delicious affordable tortas
- Generously sized tacos
- Beatles decor
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No credit cards
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$$ | Centro |
Celebrity chef Tadd Chapman and partner Miguel Guerrero joined forces to re-launch this traditional Mexican restaurant in its new location and with fresh new culinary techniques. Opt for lunch specialties of octopus tacos and black scallop ceviche, and for dinner, try the seafood risotto, or the grilled NY strip with habanero chimichurri. Exceptional breakfasts—ranging from stuffed French toast to eggs Benedict prepared five ways—are served from 8 to noon for about $10.
Jose Maria Morelos 134, San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Known For
- Home-baked banana zucchini bread
- Guacamole with chapulines (grasshoppers)
- Octopus tacos
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$ | Centro |
Massive globes of 15 types of margaritas and a Mexican guitarist singing American covers makes this a magnet for tourists, but it also draws locals. If you're looking for cheap and delicious Mexican food, you've come to the right place. Tacos stuffed with chorizo, marinated pork, and flank steak pervade the menu, though it's the quesadillas, with fillings like pumpkin flower, poblano pepper and onion, and pork skin that shine. Chilangas, or fried, folded-over quesadillas with melted cheese, also merit the trip, while the volcanoes (hard-shell taco cups filled with cheese and your choice of meat) are not to be missed. The outdoor-garden setting of Las Guacamayas is kitschy, with trees sprouting up from the floor, and Christmas lights strung from branch to branch. Painted murals run along the walls, and wooden chairs surround tables with plastic coverings.
Calle Paseo de los Marinos, San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, 23410, Mexico
Known For
- Outstanding marinated pork tacos
- Great prices
- Live music and outdoor seating
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$$ | |
Locals swear by the mole poblano and chiles en nogada at this pleasant outdoor restaurant. The menu is ambitious and includes several organic, vegetarian options—rare in these parts. At night the place sparkles with star-shaped lights. Take a stroll through the adjoining landscaped desert garden while you wait for your food.
Calle Hidalgo, Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, 23305, Mexico
Known For
- Mole poblano and chiles en nogada
- Vegetarian options available
- Adjacent desert garden
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
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$$ | Las Animas Bajas |
A former sugarcane mill dating back to 1888, this quaint restaurant is surrounded by farmland that provides organic fruits and vegetables to many of Cabo’s top eateries. Wildflowers in Mason jars and hand-painted clay dishes set the scene at this rustic spot where the menu is based on the season’s harvest. Start with heirloom-tomato soup and a microgreen salad with tamarind vinaigrette. For something fresh and innovative, try the shrimp tacos on thinly sliced jicama (instead of tortillas) topped with a pineapple salsa. A selection of pizzas, and slow-roasted meats like the pork shank with green mole and baked eggplant, are cooked in a wood-fired oven. One of the secrets to the fine flavors is the homemade herbal oil that is dribbled on breads and meats. A cooking class takes place at 10 and 5, by reservation only.
Calle Animas Baja, San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, 23400, Mexico
Known For
- Four-hour cooking classes ($95)
- True farm-to-table dining experience
- Homemade herbal oil on breads and meats
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$ | Centro |
Claiming to have "the best damn breakfast restaurant in the entire country," Mama's is a casual, lively, indoor-outdoor spot in Cabo San Lucas that serves bountiful plates of omelets and poached eggs with avocado and ham, and finger-licking fried potatoes. Mama's lives up to their claim of having the "World's Best French Toast"—a treasure stuffed with cream cheese, strawberries, mangoes, bananas, and pecans, and topped with orange liqueur.
Calle Hidalgo at Zapata, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, 23452, Mexico
Known For
- "World's Best French Toast"
- Homemade salsas
- Fresh-squeezed juices
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, Closed Sept
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$$ | Centro |
One of Cabo San Lucas's top restaurants is in a cobalt-blue adobe building painted with murals. Interior decorations range from Day of the Dead statues and silver crosses and hearts, to T-shirts and tequilas. The place seats up to 550 and is often full of tourists, but the menu is muy auténtico and filled with regional Mexican specialty dishes. Standouts include the molepoblano with chicken topped in a sauce made from dried peppers, seeds, spices, and chocolate; and chiles en nogada, poblano chilies stuffed with a meat-and-fruit mixture and covered with white-walnut sauce and sherry cream sauce. The tortilla soup is also recommended, as is the oven-roasted spare rib in chili and tamarind adobo. Mi Casa offers a variety of different fruit-flavored margaritas, and a wine list focused on Mexican, California, and South American wines. The large back courtyard glows with candlelight at night, and mariachis provide entertainment.
Av. Cabo San Lucas at Lázaro Cárdenas, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, 23452, Mexico
Known For
- Regional Mexican specialties
- Must-try mole poblano
- Live mariachi band
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
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$ | Centro |
Deliciously prepared chiles rellenos are the attraction at Miguel's. The sign out front says so, and so does a faded New York Times article, which proclaims them the best in all of Baja. If you're skeptical, owner Miguel Torres will be happy to show you a framed copy of the story. The hearty peppers come in cheese, shrimp, vegetarian, and other options, but the signature version is made with shrimp and scallops. Don't confuse this semi-outdoor place on the edge of town with Michael's, the Asian restaurant several blocks away near the church.
Degollado at Calle Rangel, Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, 23300, Mexico
Known For
- Friendly owner
- Hearty chiles rellenos with shrimp and scallops
- Semi-outdoor dining
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No credit cards, Closed Sun., Sept.
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$$ | Centro |
You may feel like you discovered a well-kept secret when you find this palapa-roof house with adobe walls, just a few blocks off the main strip and around the corner from the Mar de Cortez Hotel. Sit on the front patio or in a backyard hut strung with weathered lanterns and photographs of the Mexican Revolution. Menu highlights include camarón coco (coconut shrimp with mango sauce), and catch of the day "Veracruz" style, meaning wrapped and steamed in its own juices with olives, capers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, and herbs. Close to a dozen pasta dishes are also available, including sautéed shrimp and sausage diablo.
Calle Vicente Guerrero at 5 de Mayo, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, 23450, Mexico
Known For
- Coconut shrimp
- Pasta and Italian options
- Small bar with photos of the Mexican Revolution
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun.
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$$$ | Centro |
Owner Juan Calderoni has an enormous collection of tequilas, and an extensive knowledge of the stuff. His restaurant is something of a tequila museum, with a colorful array of hundreds of the world's top tequilas—many no longer available—displayed behind the bar. Sample one or two of the nearly 300 labels available, and you'll appreciate the rainbow-colored Oaxacan tablecloths, murals, painted chairs, and streamers even more than you did when you first arrived. Hungry, too? Try fresh local seafood and regional specialties like tortilla soup, chiles rellenos, or grilled pork shank in salsa borracha. For larger appetites, the Pancho's combo, which includes steak, quesadilla, chile relleno, and a chicken enchilada, is the way to go. Pancho's offers special and private tequila tastings, which will give you a greater appreciation of this piquant liquor from Jalisco.
Calle Hidalgo, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, 23450, Mexico
Known For
- Nearly 300 types of tequila
- Oaxacan decor
- Tequila tasting menus
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
