Suggestions for Puerto Vallarta Eating on a Budget The Next Big Adventure
go to original July 5, 2016

Eating well has never been a problem for us in Mexico. The indescribable combination of flavors has drawn us to her shores for decades. That said, one reason we chose to drive the PanAmerican highway is so we would have access to our own kitchen, which has done well by us over the last six months, partly to save money and partly because I simply love to cook. However, eating inexpensively in Mexico does not mean never eating out. In fact, eating well in PV runs the gamut of prices.

While Jim and I generally eat out once or twice a day, we tend towards the small ma & pa shops offering inexpensive comida corrida lunches and $2 tortas cubanas, or our favorite taco carts. With visitors in town our lifestyle changed up a bit for two weeks and we were afforded the opportunity to sample more restaurants than ever before.

One joy for us of this town is that, in spite of the growth, the old town has remained much the same over the years. And luckily, many of our favorite restaurants have managed to survive the lean years. Here follows the best of our last couple of months.

Una Familia

This threesome of restaurants gives me a little smile whenever I see their signs. Located right across the street from our apartment, we first thought three restaurants chose the same name. Not so. It turns out the family decided rather than one restaurant serving 3 meals a day, they divided the space into 3 separate restaurants; with their own unique decor and sign out front. The food is good and the prices extremely reasonable with our favorite being a shared comida corrida workers lunch: soup of the day, choice of one of the entrees and served with beans, rice, and tortillas with a giant aqua fresca for 60pesos. How can you go wrong?

Sandy’s Tortas

Sandy’s draws us back again and again. This tiny restaurant is one block from the main cathedral in central Puerto Vallarta and offers up breakfast and a variety of lunch sandwiches. Her cubana torta won us at our first taste. Featuring pulled pork, ham, and sliced hot dogs, the torta piles on cheese, lettuce, jalapeno slices and onions on a toasted roll. Messy and tasty = lunch perfection for 32 pesos each.

Del Carboncidos Tacos

Oh my, where do I begin? THE best tacos al pastor we’ve found. This taco cart turned into sort of restaurant has delectable al pastor, topped with cilantro and grilled pineapple on a super fresh tortilla. It’s up to you to add your choice of hot sauce and other condiments which are limited but delicious. Our typical order of 7 tacos and 2 cervasas comes to around 150 pesos. My mouth is now watering.

Los Muertos Brewery

Okay, okay. I admit to eating here too many times since we arrived. What can we say, we hail from the land of amazing craft beer and, although an ice cold Pacifico on a hot day is dandy, we crave something more. In addition, Los Muertos has excellent pizza and salads and, in light of full transparency, I will say we order pizza delivery once a week. The pies are huge, delicious and a bargain at 180 pesos. Other days we have wandered over to their location to take advantage of their pints. A fun staff, great setting, and good food and beer. Excellent!

Read the rest and see all the photos at The Next Big Adventure.