Puerto Vallarta Restaurants - Dinning Guides
Puerto Vallarta restaurants are plentiful, so if you're looking for delicious food you will be spoilt for choice. The town started life as a fishing village, so it's not surprising that fish is still an integral part of most menus. Lobster, oysters, shrimp and different kinds of fish are specialties in many restaurants. For example, Las Tres Huastecas in Olas Altas (near Playa de los Muertos) specializes in seafood and serves up good value, quality fare. It's also possible to buy freshly caught fish on the beach. Vendors sell this fish roasted on sticks.
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The only disadvantage of Puerto Vallarta restaurants is that they tend to be rather expensive. However, for the money, you will often get some free entertainment along with your meal, often mariachi bands playing traditional Mexican music. Many of the expensive restaurants also have beautiful views and romantic lighting.
It is possible to eat more cheaply in Puerto Vallarta; if you head to the market area, you will find some inexpensive, unpretentious comedors (the word literally means "dining room") serving traditional food. The Olas Altas area is also home to some reasonably priced places. Of course, if you're just looking for a quick snack, it's always possible to grab a taco or a hot-dog from one of the stands on the streets.
Vegetarian visitors will be glad to hear that Puerto Vallarta also has an excellent vegetarian restaurant: Planeta Vegetariano, near the intersection of Hidalgo and Iturbe. You can go there for breakfast, lunch or dinner. For about $6, eat your fill of soup, rice and at least ten different salads.
As for nightlife, the malecón is where it's at. This is an oceanfront boardwalk that runs along the main downtown street. You can visit the malecón just to sit on a bench and watch the waves, but at night most people go there for the clubs. They play all sorts of music: everything from techno to salsa, including pop, hip-hop and reggae, sometimes all in the same club. Because so many good clubs are to be found on this mile-long boardwalk, it's easy to compare entry prices and find the cheapest deal before you go in. There are usually plenty of happy hours with offers on drinks designed to entice people through the doors. Entrance usually costs between $5 and $15, but some clubs occasionally offer free entry. Presenting a flyer at the door sometimes gives you an extra discount; take them from the people who wander the malecón handing them out.
You will also find a few clubs south of the river; they tend to be less high-energy and glamorous than those on the malecón, but there is a variety of music styles and atmospheres. This is where you'll find most of the gay nightlife in Puerto Vallarta; see our page on the gay scene for more information about this.
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