17 Best Restaurants in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Background Illustration for Restaurants

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.

La Palapa

$$$ Fodor's choice

This large, welcoming, thatched-roof eatery is open to the breezes of Playa Los Muertos and filled with wicker-covered chandeliers, art-glass fixtures, and lazily rotating ceiling fans. The menu meanders among international dishes with modern presentation: roasted stuffed chicken breast, pork loin, seared yellowfin tuna drizzled in cacao sauce. It's pricey, but the beachfront location and, in the evening, the low lights and romantic atmosphere, keep people coming back. Breakfast is popular with locals as well as visitors.

Sonora Prime

$$$ Fodor's choice

One of the most sophisticated restaurants in Puerto Vallarta and a favorite of meat lovers, Sonora Prime is a renowned chain that serves high-quality steaks, imported directly from the northern Mexican state of Sonora.

Trio

$$$ Fodor's choice

Trio is simply Puerto Vallarta's best restaurant. Waiters are professional yet unpretentious—either the sommelier or the maître d' can help you with the wine—but the main reason to dine here is the consistently fabulous food, which is also a great value. The grilled oyster from Cabo Corrientes is a great appetizer and then you can treat yourself with the rabbit roasted with aromatic herbs and red wine. The kitchen often stays open until midnight, and during high season the restaurant opens the back patio, second floor, and rooftop terrace.

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Wikari Beach Club

$$$ Fodor's choice

Wikari Beach Club is a cozy restaurant located on Quimixto Beach with great service and delicious food. You can spend the whole day at their beach club, enjoying access to all the services and cold cocktails served by very friendly staff. Their dishes are typical of Jalisco and Nayarit. Animals are welcome and Wi-Fi is available.

Barcelona Tapas

$$$

One of the best all-around restaurants in El Centro, this place offers great food and excellent service. The paella Valenciana has no equal in the Banderas Bay area, and if you come for the tapas then you can't miss the spicy garlic shrimp or the Galician-style octopus. The restaurant is air-conditioned in summer; the rest of the year the windows are taken off to let the breeze in.

Calle Matamoros 906, 48300, Mexico
322-222--0510
Known For
  • Best tapas in town
  • Outstanding view of the bay
  • Fresh sangria
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential

Kaiser Maximilian

$$$

Viennese entrées dominate the menu, which is modified each year when the restaurant participates in PV's culinary festival. The adjacent café has sandwiches, excellent desserts, and 20 specialty coffees—all of which are also available at the main restaurant. To avoid the stream of street peddlers off the patio, eat in the charming, European-style dining room.

La Coscolina

$$$

La Coscolina is a stylish restaurant with gorgeous Mexican decor and Moroccan flavors. Its atmosphere changes several times during the day: fresh-pressed juices and salads dominate the early hours, vegan options and handmade gelatos are served in the afternoon, and cocktails are enjoyed at night.

La Duna Restaurante and Sunset Bar

$$$

During breakfast the cuisine is typically Mexican, while at lunch it goes more Mediterranean, and after 4 pm, La Duna becomes a sunset bar and social club. The atmosphere is a bit more relaxed than in other establishments inside the Costa Careyes development. La Duna is right in front of Playa Careyes. 

Le Kliff

$$$

Perched on a hill overlooking the Boca de Tomatlán little cove, Le Kliff has an extraordinary setting; couples choose to get married here because of the views. Though a bit stuffy, this is a great place to impress a date. The menu includes exotic delicacies such as oysters zarandeado style and satay shrimp with coconut and cream cheese. 

Carretera a Barra de Navidad, Km 17.5, 48394, Mexico
322-121--4935
Known For
  • Great views
  • Lobster tail with avocado emulsion
  • Wedding venue

Le Kliff

$$$

You'll find the best views at a series of open-air patios under a huge palapa roof at Le Kliff, south of PV.

No Sé Nada

$$$

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.

Porto Bello

$$$

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.

Pueblo 25

$$$

From exclusive chef's tables to traditional à la carte dinners, Pueblo 25 offers organic, personalized dining experiences. Pueblo means "village," and the whole idea behind Pueblo 25 is to support local farmers and fishermen while offering guests unique and environmentally friendly culinary creations.

Pintores #6, Mexico
315-351--2059
Known For
  • Peruvian octopus
  • Gorgeous wine cellar
  • Exclusive chef's tables
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon.–Wed.

Punto Como

$$$

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.

Paseo de los Artesanos s/n, 48892, Mexico
315-351--2014
Known For
  • Brick-oven pizzas
  • View of the open-air cinema from the terrace
  • Lively atmosphere
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon.

River Cafe

$$$

At night, candles flicker at white-skirted tables with comfortable cushioned chairs, and tiny white lights sparkle in palm trees surrounding the multilevel terrace. This riverside restaurant is recommended for breakfast and for the evening ambience. If you're not into a romantic dinner, belly up to the intimate bar for a drink and—on Friday and Saturday evening—live jazz.

The Blue Shrimp

$$$

The Blue Shrimp is a beautiful beachfront thatched-roof palapa restaurant right on the heart of the Zona Romántica. This is one of the go-to place for expats living in the area and tourists who want to try the famous Mexican seafood cuisine. The Blue Shrimp serves delicious dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and some of the best cocktails in PV. For lunch, you may want to try the Campechano Cocktail, which comes with a mix of shrimp and octopus, while the lobster enchiladas are a must for dinner.

Vitea Oceanfront Bistro

$$$

When chefs Bernhard Güth and Ulf Henriksson, of Trio, needed a challenge, they cooked up this delightful (and quite intimate) seaside bistro. The decor of the open, casual venue is as fresh as the food. It's a nice place for breakfast overlooking the malecón.