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Prepare yourself for a gourmand's delight. The competition, creativity, selection, and, yes, even the prices are utterly beyond comprehension. From elegant dining rooms to casual seafood cafés to simple taquerías, Los Cabos serves up anything from standard to thrilling fare.
Seafood is the true highlight here. Fresh catches that land on the menus include dorado (mahimahi), lenguado (halibut), cabrilla (sea bass), jurel (yellowtail), wahoo, and marlin. Local lobster, shrimp, and octopus are particularly good. Fish grilled over a mesquite wood fire is perhaps the most indigenous and tasty seafood dish, while the most popular may be the tacos de pescado (fish tacos): traditionally a deep-fried fillet wrapped in a handmade corn tortilla, served with shredded cabbage, cilantro, and salsas. Beef and pork—commonly served marinated and grilled—are also delicious. Many restaurants import their steak, lamb, duck, and quail from the state of Sonora, Mexico's prime pastureland, and also from the United States, though many of the high-end spots are only using local ingredients.
In San José, international chefs prepare excellent Continental, French, Asian, and Mexican dishes in lovely, intimate restaurants, and it's where the major portion of the area's explosion in new eateries has occurred. Following in the footsteps of Northern Baja’s Valle de Guadalupe, several restaurants on the outskirts of San José del Cabo are offering farm-to-table cuisine, as well as cooking courses and tours. This organic movement has spread from the Farmer’s Market in San José del Cabo to the luxury resorts along the coast that rely on the farms for their daily menu. The Corridor is the place to go for exceptional (and expensive) hotel restaurants, while intense competition for business in Los Cabos means many restaurants go through periodic remodels and reinvention, the Corridor restaurants included. With San José emerging as the hotbed of culinary activity, it’s fair to say that Cabos San Lucas lags somewhat behind. But Cabo has comfort food covered, with franchise eateries from McDonald's, Subway, Johnny Rocket’s, Domino's, and Ruth's Chris Steak House.
Dining at Casamarte offers the quintessential La Paz experience: truly nothing can beat slurping back raw oysters and chocolate clams while people watching on the malecón at sunset. Though the menu is pretty diverse, the seafood (and the raw bar, especially) is what you come for.
Baja Californian chef Raul Soto delivers an elevated culinary experience at Cocina del Mar, the elegant restaurant in the exquisite Esperanza Resort. Using daily market ingredients and focusing on simple seafood, Soto presents inventive dishes such as charred octopus, grilled Kumiai oysters, or the zarandeado-style blue colossal shrimp. Comondu lamb chops are accompanied by salsa verde, pink guava, and ember-roasted onion. Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, the waiter delivers a mango and passion fruit sorbet that will leave you wanting for more. Opt for a table on the cliffs where waves crash so close, you can feel the spray.
Read the sign on wall that asks, “Do you oyster?” and then dive into a culinary journey that blends an alfresco shell bar with local sparkling wines. Bypass the à la carte options of poke, and shellfish tostadas (although equally delicious), and go straight for the seven-course tasting menu ($100) that makes this place one to brag about. You’ll be shaking your head in amazement with oysters on the half shell, clam ceviche, seared abalone, and tempura oyster tacos. The vineyard view takes it up a notch, with communal tables under market lights, and an open kitchen where you can watch the chef top dishes with steaming chili butter and crunchy pork belly chicharrones. If you know your oysters, you’ll be treated to only the finest species of pai pai, chignon, and kumiai. Bring your phone because this place is definitely Instagram worthy.
This marina-front restaurant is a hole in the wall that will blow your mind, starting with the six-course menu. The small patio gives a front-row seat to the boardwalk action where locals stroll, sailboats bob, and seagulls squawk at the day’s catch. Reservations are highly recommended, especially since there are just four tables inside. Octopus sashimi, yellowtail tuna, and “Marisquite” (a spin on shrimp cocktail with buttery corn broth) are all as fresh as it gets. The guava mousse looks like whipped cream but tastes like heaven. Note that this cozy eatery on the boardwalk closes at 6:30 pm.
If you need fuel after a day at the beach, walk across the street at Km 41 to this two-story blue collective where you’ll find everything from poke bowls to craft beer. A tribute to surfing and all-things-local, Colectivo Surf serves produce from local farmers, fish from pangueros (fisherman) along Baja's coast, organic wine from Valle de Guadalupe, and small batch beers from their own brewery. The local gem is the brainchild of humble owner, Noel, a San Diegan who spent the better part of his life paddling into Rosarito’s best breaks. In 2016 the surfing entrepreneur manifested his vision to build a business that would empower the local economy. By using local ingredients, creating jobs, and providing killer cuisine, Noel has impacted an entire community one “order up” at a time. The house mezcal will put hair on your chest, and the 15 beers on tap will keep you on pour-repeat. Ceviche, fish tacos, poke bowls, and ocean-to-table sushi are the perfect postsurf meal. In summer months (June–August), there’s live music Friday–Sunday from 6 to 11 pm.
Perhaps the most revered reservation to score in Cabo San Lucas, cliffside El Farallon provides one of the most breathtaking vantage points in town. There's no typical menu here—rather, that day's selection of grilled entrées, featuring fish, shrimp, scallops, steak, and more, are presented on a large chalkboard, along with the available sides. Every meal also comes with a trio of appetizers, guaranteed to leave you stuffed by the end of the meal. An optional wine pairing for each course is a fine complement, as is a pre- or postdinner glass at the chic Champagne Terrace. Try to score a seating time before/during sunset, if you can; it gets quite dark afterward, diminishing the otherwise stellar view.
A trendy offspring of neighboring Sano’s Steakhouse, “Smoke and Salt” focuses on local seafood with a twist; guests of the casual hot spot can also order from the more formal steak house next door. The bar shakes up tequila and mezcal from small-batch labels and all their wines come from Mexico. The oysters with beet and ginger mignonette whet your appetite for tuna carpaccio bathed in oil and lime or agua-chili shrimp on crispy blue-corn tostadas. Salsas and garnishes, such as the watermelon radishes and lemon-serrano vinaigrette, are punchy and fresh atop tuna belly tacos.
Seafood soup and grilled fish are options at the "House of Lobster," but clearly the lobster, fried Puerto-Nuevo style, is the star. This is one of the best spots in town to try the deep-fried recipe created by Susana Diaz Plascencia in 1956; otherwise, try their fresh lobster steamed or stewed with seafood and salsa inside a traditional molcajete stone. Most wooden tables in the large dining room are covered with platters of fried or grilled lobster and all the standard accompaniments like rice, beans and paper-thin flour tortillas. Start with the clam chowder or jumbo shrimp wrapped in bacon. The medium-size lobsters tend to be a bit more flavorful than the larger ones. There's an actual wine list here, and it has several Baja wines. On a hot day opt for the tart margaritas.
This food-cart stall off Ensenada's bustling Calle Primera is the place where locals get a solid helping of the region's seafood. Established in 1960, La Guerrerense has been featured on international shows like Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. Popularity has led to the opening of a neighboring restaurant by the same name, but it's the original cart that keeps crowds ogling a small army of cooks cracking clams, shucking oysters, and piling the freshest fish onto tostadas. After you choose from the day's catch—shrimp, uni, clams, tuna, cod, lobster, octopus—stand back and wait while your dish is prepared. Once it's ready, make your way through the throng of hungry patrons, and dress your plate from the selection of bottled salsas and condiments on display, which are also for sale. Most-loved is the salsa made with toasted peanuts, oil, garlic, and fresh chilies. Owned by Sabina and Luis Eduardo Oviedo, the spot is a mainstay on the Ensenada food scene, and not to be missed.
Located in the middle of a lemon grove garden, you won't soon forget this alfresco dining experience. Menu items that highlight the peninsula's fresh seafood and produce like bluefin tuna steaks or pork ribs are expertly cooked over an open flame grill.
Want to go where the locals eat lunch? El Tigre is a bit out of the way, in a residential neighborhood (take an Uber rather than walk), but it has the some of the absolute freshest seafood in town. The chocolate clams are obligatory, but get the aguachiles, too, to order like a Mexican.
If a restaurant could be an "It Girl," the queen bee of Todos Santos would be Oystera. The historic building that houses it---the town's oldest (former) sugar mill---is covered with lush, elegant ivy and the oysters here are some of the best you'll find in Baja. The greenery climbs inward, with a mountain of ferns topping the interior bar, and then outward, as patio seating overlooks the beautiful gardens and palm groves of the Todos Santos oasis. But she's more than just a pretty face: Michelin Guide agrees, having recently recommended Oystera in their first-ever Mexico Guide.
Chef and owner Brian Solomon runs one of the most popular restaurants on the Cabo San Lucas Marina, supplementing waterfront views with first-class service and an enormous range of quality food and beverages. 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. The palapa-style architecture is fun yet classy, and the space is pet-friendly, too.
Open for more than 30 years in the Villa Serena neighborhood along the main highway, this quiet, open-air, palapa-covered restaurant offers standard fare, from beef and shrimp kebab to baby back BBQ ribs and lobster tail, with some Mexican specialties thrown in. If you grab an ocean-facing table, you can watch the cruise ships glide past. This restaurant has what most don't: a pool—perfect for dipping your feet while sipping a fruity concoction.
