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Alux Restaurant & Lounge Review

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Alux Restaurant & Lounge

Address: Av. Juarez, 3 blocks west of Hwy. 307, Colonia Ejidal, on south side of street, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Phone: 984/803-2936

Price range: $$-$$$$
Cuisine: Eclectic
Location: Playa del Carmen

Write a review | Avg. member rating: 3.2/5

Fodor's Review:

Although this restaurant is 15 to 20 minutes from the downtown area by taxi, the locale of this restaurant—it's in an actual underground cavern—is the real showstopper here. A rock stairway lighted by candles leads you down into a setting that's part Carlsbad Caverns, part Fred Flintstone. Some of the "cavernous" rooms are for lounging, some for drinking, some for eating, some for dancing; creative lighting casts the stalactites and stalagmites in pale shades of violet, blue, and pink. Although the food is mediocre compared to the atmosphere, you shouldn't miss this place. It's truly one of a kind.

Credit Cards: MC, V
Closed: No lunch

Member Reviews and Ratings

Reviewed by Chell962 from Chicago on 1/7/09
What an incredibly cool place to go for dinner when in Playa del Carmen! Simply tell the taxi driver to take you to the "cave restaurant" if you can't remember how to say Alux (Ah-LOOSH) and you'll be whisked to the oddest location, leaving you wondering how there is going to be a cave?

After descending a staircase, you will find yourself in the beginning of a very interestingly decorated cave, complete with stalagtites and stalagmites. And fortunately, no bats.

My husband, two daughters (20 and 18) were there for dinner in Jan. 2009. We were escorted to a table in the dining area of the cave (there are separate areas for different activities - a lounge, a bar, a dining area, etc). Our waiter was wonderful, putting up with my incredibly bad Spanish. We ordered a drink and the seafood appetizer that was the rather typical heavily breaded calamari, shrimp and fish -- not bad at all. We decided to stay for dinner and my younger daughter and I had the duck confit in a raspberry sauce with garlic mashed potatoes. Hubby had a large steak (I can't recall which one he settled on) and my daughter had the arracheta steak. While everything was fairly good, it definitely was over-salted (to which someone piped up that Tom Colicchio would have sent the chef home for not tasting before he served). Still, compared to the food at the all-inclusive resort we were staying at -- this was wonderful.

A nice enough wine list was also available as well as an extensive bar and cocktail menu. We had a nice Malbec with dinner... I believe it was from somewhere in South America (had I known I'd be writing a review, I'd have made notes!)

Prices were on the expensive side. We paid about 2200 pesos for the dinner for the four of us, one round of drinks, and a bottle of wine. Not really that different than we'd pay at home, but some other reviews mentioned that it was one of the pricier places in Playa del Carmen. Regardless of the price... I still think it is one of the more interesting places in PDC to go!

Oh... I forgot to mention that the evening's entertainment, a guitarist, was excellent! He sang a combination of American and Mexican music and was very, very talented.