74 Best Restaurants in Los Cabos, Mexico

Set under a soaring palapa overlooking the rollicking surf, this restaurant above the beach in the Hacienda del Mar Los Cabos blends Asian and Polynesian ingredients with local products for a menu that showcases well-executed Pacific Rim fusion. Seafood-heavy dishes are the specialty. Try the blackened catch of the day accompanied with mango-papaya relish, or the famous coconut shrimp with lilikoi horseradish sauce and chipotle cilantro cream. For an impressive presentation and fresh flavor, the yellowfin tuna comes with cajun spice, guajillo, seaweed salad, and mango relish. Also on offer is one of the largest wine selections in all of Mexico with nearly 3,000 bottles, as well as private dining in the wine cellar for 10 people.

Puerta Vieja translates into "Old Door," and the beautiful door you enter through, imported from India, is indeed over 160 years old. Though Puerta Vieja serves lunch, we suggest dinner at sunset, when the view of El Arco is the most impressive. The cuisine pulls from Continental, Latin, and Mexican traditions, with a touch of Asian flavorings. Entrées feature lobster, shrimp, and Sonoran cuts of meat. There's live piano music nightly from 7 to 10 pm.

Everything is delicious, and prices are reasonable at this cheerful little restaurant painted in bright yellow and orange. Meats are the specialty here, but just about everything on the menu is good and choices are abundant. The tacos de arrachera, a kind of beef taco, are particularly tasty. You can pop in anytime, day or night, since this restaurant is open 24 hours.

If you need a break from tacos and have a hankering for a steak like they cook 'em back home, Ruth's Chris at the Puerto Paraíso mall facing the marina is your best bet. It's known for its wide range of meaty cuts from fillets to porterhouse, and also serves veal, chicken, fish, and lamb. For dessert there's crème brûlée and Key lime pie, both freshly baked, and specialty cocktails from martinis to Manhattans.

The local gringo cadre has nothing but bueno things to say about this affordable and dependable little Italian spot, located by the pool at the Siesta Suites Hotel in downtown Cabo San Lucas. Baked rigatoni, osso buco, chicken Parmigiana, lasagna, and lamb ravioli are just some of the many Italian staples offered at this funky little spot. Portions are large and prices are reasonable. Finish dinner off with tiramisu before hitting the main drag for some serious nightlife.

Chef and owner Brian Solomon runs one of the most popular restaurants on the Cabo San Lucas Marina, supplementing great seaside views with first-class service and an enormous range of quality food and beverage. Fresh local seafood is the specialty of the house, but pastas, steaks, and traditional Mexican favorites are also staples of the lunch and dinner menus. For dinner, start with a traditional tortilla soup, enjoy a Caesar salad prepared table-side, then try the fresh catch of the day prepared in your choice of the restaurant's seven signature styles. Live music is featured on Saturday night, and visiting oenophiles should ask about monthly food and wine–pairing events.

Stunning views of El Arco from cocktail tables along the cliffs make this restaurant just outside Cabo San Lucas the best place to toast the sunset. If the breeze is still, stay outside and enjoy dining alfresco; if not, move into the candlelit dining room under a palapa. Chef Jacob Ramos' menu offers seafood lime risotto or shrimp wrapped in a phyllo dough stuffed with mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes. The beef tenderloin is delivered on a hot stone and grilled table-side. Portions are on the smaller side, so it's worth splurging for the Mona Lisa tasting menu, which includes five or seven courses, respectively. If you arrive without a reservation, you can always head upstairs to the more casual Sunset Point, a wine and pizza lounge with daily tapas specials from 5 to 6 pm.

In addition to the fresh Southern California cuisine, many come to this restaurant to connect with the charming owner Susanna who moved to Rosarito years ago to open a furniture shop. Her love for fine food prevailed, thus turning her store into a restaurant that makes people feel right at home. From the moment you try the fresh-baked bread with homemade butter and tapenade, you know you’re in for a memorable meal (don’t bother asking her for the secret recipe!). Everything here is made from scratch including salsas and vinaigrettes. Entrées are beautifully prepared, like the grilled salmon with strawberries and spinach or the pork chop covered in a mound of apple chipotle salsa. Susanna’s rich flan is made with Grand Marnier and three types of milk, a dessert perfect to share. Larger groups can request the private table in the wine cellar, ideal for private parties.

La Paz has plenty of great taco shacks, but none are better than the small stand owned by the González brothers, who serve hunks of fresh fish wrapped in corn tortillas and offer bowls of condiments with which to decorate your taco. The top quality draws sizable crowds.

Don't be fooled by the bare-bones atmosphere: Tacos Rossy serves some of the best tacos in San José. Fish tacos are the thing at this no-frills joint brimming with local families who munch on everything from peel-and-eat shrimp to ceviche and chocolate clams. Served breaded and fried, the shrimp, scallop, and fish (flounder) tacos here are cheap and delicious. Dress them up however you like at a condiment bar that offers avocados, chilies, cabbage slaw, onions, and an assortment of sauces from tomatillo to habanero.

A beautifully redone adobe home sets the stage for this classy dining experience on an open courtyard under the stars. A lengthy tequila list tempts diners to savor the finer brands of Mexico's national drink, and an extensive wine cellar will give you plenty of choices for what to sip as you sup. The menu is a blend of Mediterranean and Mexican influences; select from excellent regional salads made from produce grown on the restaurant's organic farm, then move on to seafood choices like baked lobster, tequila shrimp, or catch of the day in pineapple curry. Another wonderful dish is rack of lamb in Cabernet sauce. The garden setting attracts mosquitoes, and the waitstaff requests tips in cash, so come prepared.

By day it looks like a hole-in-the-wall, but when the sun goes down, the rummage-sale-meets-taco-stand atmosphere of this open-air local favorite truly comes to life. Get beyond the ghoulish silhouette logo—ahorcado means "hangman" in Spanish—and you'll find that the food is pretty good. One of the few area restaurants open late, it's packed until closing, usually around midnight. Old pots, baskets, antique irons, sombreros, and other tchotchkes hang from the walls and rafters. Quesadillas come with vegetarian fillers such as flor de calabaza (squash blossom), nopales (cactus), and rajas (poblano chilies), while meatier house specialties include beef tongue tacos in mustard sauce, cochinita pibil tacos, Cantonese-style beef rib tacos, and cuchiviriachis—a tostada filled with cheese and meat and roasted for a perfect melt. This is the place to get a chilled Corona for a handful of pesos.

At least once during your visit to Los Cabos, you should visit The Office, the original breakfast spot on Médano Beach's sandy shore. The Office screams "tourist-trap," bedecked with tiki torches and colorful tablecloths, but it's all in good fun, and it's always packed with revelers enjoying the near-perfect views of El Arco. Start your morning with a shrimp and cheese omelet, fresh-fruit smoothie, and powerful cup of Mexican coffee. The French toast is another favorite. Service is super-friendly but the menu is a bit expensive. Later in the day, decent, if not stellar, ceviche, nachos, fish tacos, seafood, and burgers are served in large portions that justify the high prices. Dinners of grilled shrimp or fish with garlic, and steaks are popular, especially when paired alongside cold beers and goblet-sized margaritas.

Popular with the surfing crowd, this palapa-covered joint is right on Cabo Azul beach, just south of San José del Cabo. Though their burger is the reason to come, the aroma of grilling lobster and tacos, and a sound track of surf tunes are why many return. The crowd can get downright rowdy. There's no question that owner "Big Tony" feeds you well for your pesos. With half-pound burgers, slabs of prime rib, or steak and lobster for two at under $30, you'll leave the beach a glutton, albeit a jolly one. Bring the kids in the daytime; they'll enjoy running from the dining table to the sand between every couple of bites. Sporting events sometimes blare on the TV, and live music is offered nightly.