Puerto Vallarta Trip Report June 2025

PedroPero · July 11, 2025, 10:13pm

Wow! So much taco!! Where do you squirrel away all that food?!?! Everything looks delicious .
Gotta ask, and details aren’t necessary, any tummy issues or are you one of the lucky ones that never experience it?

Mr_Happy · July 11, 2025, 10:34pm

It helps to spread the tacos out over a few hours

I’ve been fortunate in that I haven’t had Moctezuma’s Revenge befall me (yet) in Mexico. I’ve had food poisoning a handful of times before while traveling but they all occurred on domestic trips oddly enough. I’ve been taking a S. boulardii probiotic capsule daily leading up to and during traveling lately, not sure if it helps or not but I figure it can’t hurt.

PedroPero · July 11, 2025, 10:48pm

I’ll keep that in mind for my next Mexican adventure, thanks!

WallaceReadsAlot · July 11, 2025, 10:55pm

Great reports! It’s disconcerting seeing the pricing w/ a “$”. Fifty dollars for a taco??? Oh it’s Pesos so about $2.50 US.

tigerjohn · July 12, 2025, 3:17am

During our trip to CDMX, which was heavy on street food and tacos in general, no GI issues. A local indicated big strides made by the national health ministry in ensuring good hygiene across F&B outlets from street tacos to high end restaurants. But I’m sure YMMV…

Mr_Happy · July 12, 2025, 7:08pm

Mariscos Cisneros

I had another seafood lunch on Sunday, at Mariscos Cisneros.

Menu

It was quite muggy, so I started with a cold beer, which was served with a frosty mug. To eat, I had a whole red snapper with garlic shrimp (market price - today it was $350). It was very good. The shrimp on top were perfectly cooked, buttery, and garlicky. The snapper was scored with a crosshatch pattern on the skin and fried, which resulted in a crispy skin and tender, moist meat. It was very nicely fried. To accompany the seafood, there was a portion of lightly seasoned rice, and also steamed vegetables.

Condiments - avocado crema, salsa macha, and a spicy chili salsa

Tortilla chips, saltines, and salsa Mexicana

It came with warm corn tortillas. You could also have bread instead of tortillas.

The main event

Very friendly service, and cash only!

Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/UDoN3TSfj2fUQj116

Mr_Happy · July 12, 2025, 7:15pm

Tacos Sonorita Olas Altas

For dinner I had some more tacos at Sonorita Olas Altas, a sit-down taquería in the ZR.

Charcoal powered trompo

Menu

I had a Margarita ($125) on the rocks to drink. You have a choice of tequilas, and there are mezcal and raicilla options as well.

Salsas and other condiments

I ordered a “huera,” which is a large taco on a flour tortilla with cheese and your choice of meat. I think it’s basically a gringa - huera / güera means “blondie” (thanks Google) which is kind of a synonym of “gringa”. I had mine with prime rib / costilla ($180). This was great. there was a lot of beef there, both chopped up and also in a whole thin bone-in slice. There was silverware provided - it was kind of a knife and fork taco.

I also had some more tacos al pastor ($110 for an order of 3), which were very good. The al pastor was very flavorful and crispy in parts. There was lots of good al pastor this trip.

Good stuff, and a lot of food.

Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/F5HNfcHkSZY2Smeo6

Lix Homemade Ice Cream

After that substantial taco dinner I still had some room for dessert, which was a cup of ice cream at Lix Homemade Ice Cream.

I forgot to write down what flavor this was, but I remember that it was good.

While eating my ice cream I also got to hang out with the guard, who appeared to be sleeping on the job.

Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/4rzL7ydkeSj1QWNR6

Mr_Happy · July 13, 2025, 5:16pm

Marisqueria Los Lirios

On Monday I had another seafood lunch at Marisqueria Los Lirios. They are on a quiet street and have outdoor tables off the sidewalk covered by awnings, which was helpful when there was brief torrential downpour during lunch.

Menu

Limes, salsa Mexicana, crispy tostada shells, and saltine crackers

I ordered a tostada ceviche de pescado en cuadros ($45), a tostada with whole fish chunks rather than minced fish. It was very good - very fresh fish and thick slices of ripe avocado.

I also had a small seafood cocktail ($145). I was expecting a typical ketchup / tomato sauce based cocktail, but instead this had a thin slightly warmed broth-y sauce. The seafood was octopus and shrimp, and there were also onions, tomatoes, and cucumber along with some avocado cubes for richness. All of the seafood was perfectly cooked - tender but not too tender. The octopus in particular had a great texture.

And also a shrimp burrito ($165). It was on a griddled flour tortilla with large shrimp, melted cheese, and shredded lettuce. It was quite nice, though not quite as good as the marlin and shrimp burrito I had at Tacón de Marlin a few days prior. This also came with a small salad of jicama, carrot, and cucumber

This was an enjoyable lunch. I may have ordered a little too much

Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/MSPFi6665ies7Cf9A

GretchenS · July 13, 2025, 5:49pm

That ceviche tostada looks divine!

Mr_Happy · July 15, 2025, 7:09am

De Cantaro

For a late Monday dinner I had an enjoyable meal at De Cantaro, a live fire grill focused restaurant with a covered courtyard and live music. They also have an air conditioned bar area if you need to get out of the heat.

There was live music.

Menu

To drink I had a cocktail - the Yakwan ($195), which had tuba, smoked mezcal, and red wine. This had a nice coconut flavor from the tuba, but was a touch too sweet for me overall.

Later I also had a Tiki Tropical ($195), which was a refreshing cocktail with rum and fruit juices, served in a tiki mug.

Ceviche Nikei / 160 gr Chef’s specialty ($325)
Peruvian - Japanese fusion ceviche / marinated in soy sauce / kion garlic / guajillo chili oil / avocado / sesame.
To start, I had a Nikkei ceviche, a Peruvian / Japanese dish. It was spicy from the chili oil and had with whole chunks of fish, avocado, and onions. It was quite good.

Saltines and tostada shells.

Zarandeado shrimp / 3 pcs 160 gr ($310)
For a main I had the zarandeado grilled shrimp tacos. Zarandeado is a way of grilling butterflied and marinaded fish, and the filling of these tacos was like that preparation but with shrimp. These were delicious. The shrimp were perfectly done and very flavorful from the marinade. I added cheese as an option, and it was griddled crispy onto the blue corn tortillas. There was also a crispy fried cheese chicharrón.

Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/77Up55SbYsGoUDVi7

erica1 · July 15, 2025, 12:47pm

I’ll say!! If your appetite had been dampened, I’d love to see you when the weather was cool and clear!!

Great, great report!!

Mr_Happy · July 17, 2025, 10:15am

Birriería Robles

I was traveling back home the next day in the early evening. For lunch, I walked over to Birriería Robles in the ZR to try some more birria.

Menu

I was thwarted again in my quest for birria de chivo - they only had beef birria. I had 3 birria tacos with a cup of consommé ($25.05 each). You have the option of crispy or soft tacos. Everybody seemed to be getting the crispy ones, so thats what I had. These were some delicious crispy tacos. There were two corn tortillas per taco that had been fried crispy, and they were stuffed with the beef birria. I dunked them into the cup of flavorful consommé, which was hot and beefy and onion-y. The consommé was nice to sip on between bites of taco.

Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/jAsC23UQEr2k5G6B9

La Romántica churros & café bar

Before I left for the airport I had some churros at La Romántica, which was a short walk from my hotel. They had been on vacation and fortuitously had just opened back up that day.

Menu

I had an order of the churros ($75), which were an order of three churros coated in cinnamon and sugar, with your choice of dip - condensed milk, caramel or chocolate. I chose the caramel / cajeta. These were very nice churros, fried to order and crispy and nice to dip in the sweet cajeta.

They also sell alcoholic drinks in addition to coffee drinks. I did some day drinking with a Carajillo ($165), which is a mix of espresso and Licor 43.