41 Best Restaurants in Cancún, Mexico

With its flamboyant live mariachi music and energetic waiters, this place is a Cancún classic. The menu isn't fancy, but it offers good, basic Mexican food—including sizzling fajitas, thick burritos, and 30 different taco dishes. Two reliably tasty choices are the mixed grill (with chicken, beef, and shrimp) and the Tampiqueña-style steak. Combining entertainment and cuisine, waiters flame broil lobster, salmon, shrimp, and filet mignon directly at your table. There’s also a wide selection of tequilas to accompany your meal. In the hotel zone, visit its La Isla Shopping Mall location.

This cheery café and bakery has comfortable equipales (rustic Mexican chairs) to plop into as you sample terrific soups, salads, and fish dishes. The eggs Benedict and crepes keep the locals coming back in the morning and the turkey breast crepes make a perfect lunch. If you have a sweet tooth, a variety of delectable desserts is baked on-site. Somewhat difficult to find, this downtown gem is on bustling Avenida Cobá near Walmart.

Flowers and artwork lend warmth to this sophisticated Italian restaurant, where the cuisine includes linguine with lobster, angel-hair pasta with seafood, specialty lasagnas, plus assorted meat and fish dishes. The waiters are laid-back and seem to know everyone who walks in the door. (Most patrons are locals who've been dining here for more than 20 years.) On any given night, many of chef Paolo Ceravolo's offerings are colorful and innovative specials that do not appear on the menu. If you're coming for lunch, plan on a late one—Locanda Paolo opens at 2 pm daily.

This Cancún landmark since almost the beginning draws crowds with its scrumptious wood-fired pizzas. The most popular, Pizza Del Padrone, is topped with tomatoes, prosciutto, arugula, and mascarpone cheese. The calzones are smothered with olive oil and packed with fresh ingredients like asparagus, mushrooms, and ham. You can’t go wrong with the homemade pasta dishes like the veal-stuffed ravioli or linguine with clams and white wine, either.

This unglamorous cantina, marked by a string of Christmas lights dangling over the patio, is a tribute to masked wrestling champion El Santo. Its reasonable prices, retro decor (picture rainbow lawn chairs and sculptures of the Virgin Mary holding plastic roses), plus surprisingly good food attract locals who work in the Hotel Zone. Menu highlights include fried cheese tacos and shrimp tacos with seven types of sauces. Tamarindo margaritas are also very refreshing. A bright red bar dominates the downstairs, and upstairs there's a dining area with a small outdoor patio.

This isn’t a fine-dining spot, so don't be surprised if the one waiter on staff serves you in stages.

Six thatch-roofed cabanas—each housing four tables—are staggered on a hill and dimly lit with candles and lanterns. The menu features traditional Thai cuisine such as spring rolls, pork dumplings, red duck curry, and pad Thai with chicken or shrimp. The mango crème brûlée with ginger sorbet makes it worth a special visit. Plank floors lead to a bamboo bar where fruity mojitos and martinis are prepared. Despite the street-facing views, this open-air restaurant has one of the most pleasant settings in Cancún.

A truly local joint that seems out of place in the Zona Hotelera draws crowds in the morning for its smoothie bowls and later on for its tacos and burritos. Forget your own private booth at this 24-hour place—you’ll eat at long tables and really get to know your fellow diners. This hangout sits a short distance from Cancún’s party central, but it’s a world away in style. Partiers converge here for a quick after-hours bite.

The inexpensive croissants and freshly brewed coffee make a delicious breakfast combo at this place tucked behind the Soriana grocery store on Avenida Tulum. At lunchtime, stop in for a huge sandwich stuffed with all the deli classics, but be prepared to wait awhile since lines are long. You’ll also find a few vegetarian items on the menu. The "Ty-Coz Express" signs you see around town are mini-branches of this restaurant, usually connected to local gas stations or convenience stores.

The oldest Japanese restaurant in Cancún serves the best sushi and sashimi in El Centro with a menu of traditional Japanese dishes like chicken teriyaki and tempura for those who prefer their food cooked. Large groups can order combination platters of sushi, sashimi, kushikatsu, and gyoza. The dining room is tranquil, with Japanese art and bamboo accents, but you can also call to have food delivered to your hotel room.