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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 bu
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 dou
First-time travelers come for the sun and sea, but it's PV's wonderful restaurants that create legions of long-term fan
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.
Frascati is friendly and intimate while simultaneously sophisticated, with a lively soundtrack. Choose your pasta (several are house-made) and one of 12 toppings, including traditional sauces such as Bolognese, pesto, four-cheese, and pomodoro, or something chef-inspired like the Arturito, a sauce of fresh tomatoes, cream, chicken, and basil. The mixed seafood combo, served in an oversize martini glass, is a must-try. In addition to lightly battered and deep-fried denizens of the deep, the appetizer comes with batter-fried julienne zucchini and crispy fried parsley.
Fine Italian food can be found at any of the three locations of this well-known local business. Casual attire is expected, with the location in Nuevo Vallarta being somewhat fancier and ideal for either romantic dinners or family reunions.
La Dolce is the sister restaurant of La Dolce Vista located in the malecón, and although it also provides a variety of Italian dishes, it focuses on serving the best pizzas in the Hotel Zone.
Locals come for the Naples-style pizza, cooked in a brick oven and with a crust that's not too thick, not too thin. There's also great pasta and a good variety of entrées, like salmon with caviar, and lemon and broccoli with fettuccine in cream sauce served piping hot. For appetizers try the tomato-topped bruschetta toasts or steamed mussels with lemon, parsley, and butter. A new location has opened in the residential district behind Costco and the northern hotel zone.
This upscale Italian restaurant, the perfect spot for a celebratory dinner, is literally a stone's throw away from the ocean. They serve great pastas, pizzas, and chicken parmigiana, but there are many more dishes to dive into. The wine selection is also very good.
At this classic of Vallarta's dining scene, yachties, locals, and other return visitors attest that everything on the menu here is good. Since there are no lunch specials and the Italian menu is the same at dinner, most folks come in the evening.
Located in a corner of buzzing Plaza de los Caballeros, Punto Como is an Italian steak house serving traditional Neapolitan pizzas and pastas. The place has an Italian-Mexican atmosphere, with classy design and excellent service. If you dine on the terrace you can enjoy the open-air cinema on the plaza.
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