25 Best Restaurants in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Barramar Beach Club is both the best beach club in town and one of the very best restaurants in the whole Barra de Navidad–Melaque area. Locals come for the swimming pool and stay for the seafood.

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.

An excellent traditional Mexican seafood restaurant, Boca del Mar is just steps from the sea. The food is extraordinary (you can also take it to go) but the service is even better.

Cande’s is the best dining option in the whole Mayto-Tehuamixtle area. It enjoys an enviable location overlooking Tehuamixtle Bay, just a few steps from the pier, and serves just-caught seafood. It pretends to have Wi-Fi and accept credit cards, but the reality is this place is too far away from civilization to get any kind of signal, and well, that’s its charm, isn’t it?

El Barracuda is that cool restaurant we all dream to have one day when we retire by the beach: casual and relaxed, with some tables right on the beach and others on top of a nice deck overlooking the Banderas Bay. They specialize in the kind of seafood you can find in Mexican markets, but you can also find great steaks and even some veggie options.

The ambience at this patio restaurant facing the boats and the marina is casual and festive; the crowd hums with contentment while other restaurants nearby seemingly have been drained of clientele. There is live music (mainly mariachi) most days.

La Cascada y Bosque, simply known in town as “Cascada,” is a wonderful place for breakfast or lunch even when the waterfalls are just a water drop. The jungle setting here is spectacular and begs for a stroll before or after your meal. For breakfast you can choose typical Mexican dishes or the American-style breakfast with bacon and eggs. For lunch, you should try their fish and empanadas.

La Cevichería is one of the best seafood restaurants in the Marina Vallarta area. It's not as tasty as other places in town but definitely more stylish. Its Nayarit-based cuisine offers flavors not easily found in PV.

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. 

Shell lamps; pictures made entirely of scallops, bivalves, and starfish; shell-drenched chandeliers—every inch of wall space is decorated with different denizens of the sea. Service isn't particularly brisk (pretty much par for the course in laid-back San Blas), but the seafood, filet mignon, and fajitas are all quite good. Afterward stroll over to the main plaza a few blocks away.

Right on the beach just north of the pier at Playa Los Muertos, Langostinos is a great place to start the day with a helping of Mexican rock music, cranked up to a respectable volume. For lunch or dinner, the house favorite at this professional and pleasant place is surf and turf (called mar y tierra), and the three seafood combos are a good value. The kids can play on the beach while you linger over coffee.

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. 

You can spend the whole day here on loungers enjoying the beach, the ocean, delicious food, and refreshing micheladas. They specialize in seafood, pescado zarandeado, ceviche, and obviously coconuts, but you can order absolutely anything and won’t be disappointed. You can also rent a kayak or play beach volleyball. The owner, Oscar, is always ready to help. No stress, no pressure.

Los Conos Restaurant and Bar serves Latin and Mexican dishes and drinks and specializes in seafood. Their tasty lemonade or cold beer will save your life if you decided to hike to Las Ánimas from Boca de Tomatlán. Their fresh sierra ceviche is highly recommended, and shrimp come in very decent sizes (try the coconut ones). The waiters are attentive but not imposing, and the place is really neat and clean.

The original Mariscos 8 Tostadas establishment (nowadays there are a few others in the bay) is widely considered the best seafood restaurant in PV. It's not a flashy place, but it’s clean, offers good service, and serves up simply delicious dishes.

The best fish and shrimp tacos in town are served at Marisma. It started in a little stall away from the big restaurants of the Marina seawalk but has now overtaken most of them, at least in reputation among the locals. 

Located in La Manzanilla, Martin's is one of the best restaurants by the beach in all the Tenacatita area. You can tell that the chef goes the extra mile to serve more sophisticated seafood dishes than the other restaurants in town.

For a fancy lunch with panoramic views of the bay and beach, visit Mismaloya Grill inside the La Jolla de Mismaloya condo complex. Formerly known as María Bonita Restaurant, this place has a long history in the area and arguably is the best restaurant in town. As a starter, calamari fritti is one of the best options, and among the main dishes try the orange-glazed salmon, which is simply delicious. 

Set right on Boca de Iguanas Beach, this restaurant serves the typical seafood dishes of the region. Breakfast and burgers are also available. The restaurant is part of a camping compound with cabins and swimming pool included, so many come for the food and stay for the pool.

This oceanfront restaurant has seen better times, but it still has a reputation as one of the best spots to eat in South of PV. Part of the Girasoles Condominium Complex, it's right on the beach, offering customers extraordinary views of the Pacific Ocean and the legendary sunsets of the region. The seafood is good but lacks originality.

The Yacht Club is a restaurant and bar on the town beach—it's not a yacht club at all. Their breaded fish fillet is famous among the villagers and tourists, as are their chicken dishes. The place is always full. At 10 pm the disco starts and it lasts until 2 am.

This is the best place in town for seafood; the ocean view from under the tall, peaked palapa roof isn't bad either. In addition to the garlic-and-oil fish fillets and breaded shrimp, there's grilled chicken with baked potato, beef tips with rice and beans, soups, quesadillas, steak, great guacamole, and fries. It's open all day (8 am until 10 pm) and serves everyone from white-collar business types to families and friends meeting for lunch to tourists cleaned up for an evening out. Popular with local families, business people, and travelers, it's a simple and unadorned but large restaurant facing Christmas Bay. After your meal, kick your shoes off and take a walk on the beach.