Our Favorite Cozumel Restaurants

Everybody who visits Cozumel frequently has a list of favorite places they like to visit every trip. After years of extensive research, here’s our list:

January 2007

This trip’s dining theme: hearty soups. On first consideration, our instinct is to avoid hot soup in a warm weather climate destination like Cozumel but for what I’m sure is a sound scientific theory, after the initial heat, soup actually seems to make us feel cooler.

During our quick week in Cozumel, we enjoyed a pasta soup at La Choza, bean soup at Candella, pasole at Super Hit II & Otate’s and soupa de lima at Super Hit II.

Pasole is one of our favorite local specialties but to be perfectly honest, it is sometimes a little inconsistent at Super Hit II. This won’t keep us from ordering it there the next time we visit but probably due to what’s on hand at the time; the ingredients may change from one visit to the next.

It is something of a house specialty at Otate’s so if you’ve never had pasole before, that’s a good place to give it a try. Be sure to load it up with everything on the condiment tray served with it like lime, radish, onion, cabbage and oregano. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.

In addition to going back to a lot of our old favorites (Turix, Guido’s, Santa Carla Pescaderia, and of course Las Serras Taqueria) we did try one new spot: Taco Pique on Av. 30 between Benito Juarez y Calle 2 Norte. A dive master friend recommended it so we thought we would give it a try one night.

It’s right across the street from the San Francisco Supermarket on Av. 30 and just a few doors down from Taco Diaz. I digress but Taco Diaz is also known as “The Head” taqueria as they serve all parts of the cow and pig (including brain) there. I’ve only eaten there once and did enjoy it but for some reason, can’t convince my better half to go with me.

But back to Taco Pique: it has an extensive menu with lots of dishes other than tacos and a wide assortment of beverages including jamaica, horchata, aquas, soft drinks and beer. There is a nice sized garden area in the back where you can dine. The food was good and I have to say the bathrooms are an improvement over Serras but to our taste, the tacos al pastor don’t stand up to Serras.

April 2006

While not by design, the dining theme of this trip turned out to be “Eat Local/Eat Cheap.” We didn’t pick places necessarily because they were cheap. It was really more of a case that we ate where we wanted to eat and most of those places turned out to be cheap.

The most expensive meal of the entire week was a dinner at Casa Denis that ran us $220 MXN (or about $20 US) for two. Can you believe it? We spent a whole $20 for dinner for 2. It’s an outrage I tell you. An outrage!

We would have spent more than that if we had eaten at Guido’s but they were closed the day (Sunday) we went there for lunch. Too bad. We love this place.

The cheapest meal we had was a take away breakfast that consisted of freshly made hot empanadas from 3 Patitos Empandas at the corner of Ave 30 and Calle 15 and fresh squeezed orange juice from Fruiteria Milpa across the corner on the same intersection. Four large empanadas and a liter of juice came to a grand total of $32 MXN or less than $3 US for a meal for two. The empanadas were great and the juice was so sweet that if you told me someone had dumped sugar in it, I would have believed it.

We ate breakfast at our house on most mornings but did go out for a late breakfast one day at Cofelia’s on Calle 5 about a block off the waterfront. It was good as usual.

One trick to eating inexpensively in Cozumel is to take a clue from the locals and eat your largest meal at lunch when there are bargains to be had and plan on a lighter meal for dinner. With this thought in mind, we ate lunch a couple times at Candela’s at their new location at the corner of Ave 5 & Calle 6. They change entrées daily and if you want, you can get a look at what’s on the menu that day as you enter the restaurant and walk by the kitchen. The meal includes a choice of soups, a main course that includes a meat and 2 sides and unlimited supply of iced jamaica drink (hibiscus flower tea); all for a grand total of $45 MXN (or just over $4 US) per person. We tried a couple of the chicken in sauce dishes, a grilled chicken kabob and a beef in green sauce dish and all were excellent. And one day we splurged on key lime pie which was equally good. We have heard some people complain that they were charged more for their meal at Candela’s but we were only charged $45 MXN for the basic meal and drink. We did speak a little Spanish and even threw in a Mayan word or two and maybe that makes a difference. But even if they were to charge you $60 or $65 MXN, lunch at Candela’s would be worth it.

We took advantage of another local trick at lunch on another day. There is no mention of it on the menu but if you ask your waiter at La Choza if there are any lunch specials, he’ll list several dishes including some that are on the menu and will only charge you $50 MXN for your meal. But you have to ask. Drinks are not included in the deal and there are no discounts off the menu prices at dinner.

We also had a couple great lunches at our favorite fish place, Santa Carlos located on Ave. 50-B between A.R. Salas and Calle 3. I doubt he will do it for everyone but the owner, Diego, who coincidentally hosts a morning show on the radio and local cable channel, gave us a complimentary plate of mixed ceviche while we waited for our main meal. We got one plate of the fillet and another of a small whole fried snapper along with a beer and a soft drink for a total $150 MXN. Fish just doesn’t get much better than this.

So after we have our larger meal at lunch, a key part to eating cheaply means finding something lighter for dinner. But that doesn’t mean you have to make any great sacrifices with your evening meal. As we usually seem to on every trip to Cozumel, we made several visits to El Serra tacqueria on Ave 30 for dinner. We got our usual plate of tacos al pastor con piña (grilled marinated pork with a slice of pineapple) with an occasional chuleta con queso taco (pork chop with cheese) for a change of pace. Dinner for two including soft drinks ranged from $70 to $85 MXN depending on how hungry we were that night. And these tacos are so good we dream about them when we’re not in Cozumel.

We had eaten there before but a friend turned my wife onto the vegetable burrito at Otate’s on Ave 15. She said it was one of the best vegetarian meals she had ever eaten. Not a single bean or grain of rice could be found in the burrito. Rather it was filled with sautéed and grilled vegetables and topped with a mild cheese. She liked it so much we made a 2nd trip there on another night. On our first trip I had the posole soup chock full of hominy, pork, chicken, onions, tomato, garlic, cilantro and who knows what else. It was a terrific meal that I’ll enjoy there again in the future.

November 2004

We’re just back from a quick trip down to get our place ready for the rental season.

On many of our trips, we find that our eating pattern follows a theme. One trip turned into the search for the best fajitas on the island. On another, it was the quest for the perfect flan. This trip might be described as “eating local.” Because we were so busy working, we didn’t really make it to all of our favorite restaurants this time but we did manage to eat very well and for the most part, very inexpensively.

We enjoyed dinner on more than one evening at Serra’s, our favorite taqueria on Ave 30. With Tacos Al Pastor at $4.50 pesos, two of us could eat very well for US$6-$7.

After driving by it for years and always seeing a good local crowd, we finally had dinner one night at Otatah’s on Ave. 15. In addition to the usual selections, we loved the pasòle: pork (or it could have been dark chicken meat) soup with hominy and vegetables.

We had a great seafood lunch at Santa Carlos back on Ave. 50-B. A starter of mixed conch and octopus ceviché followed by a whole fried snapper with several beers ran us about $160 pesos for two. Since our last trip there, they’ve expanded and improved the seating area for dining out back.

A new discovery that we liked so much that we ate there twice was El Candela at the corner of Calle 6 and Ave. 5. This place does a big take away business but also has a few tables that usually fill with locals by about 2:00-2:30pm. For a set price of about $50 pesos, you get a choice of soup, a choice from 3 entrées, either rice or spaghetti, a choice of steamed vegetables or new potatoes and unlimited refills on jamaica, an herbal tea-like cold beverage made from hibiscus flowers. The selection of entrées changes daily but usually includes a chicken cutlet stuffed with ham and cheese, the same pork in tomato sauce recipe that we’ve always loved at La Chosa plus one or two others. We only ate lunch there so I’m not 100% sure they are open for dinner.

Twice during our trip when we were so busy we couldn’t take a lot of time for lunch, we stopped by El Laurel on Calle 11 between Ave 25 & 30 and picked up lunch to go. A lunch of chicken salbutas, bean and cheese empanadas and chicken tamales ran us about $50 pesos total for two.

Most mornings we ate breakfast at home. I love to get up early, put the coffee on and run down to the fruiteria at the corner of Ave 30 and Calle 15 for fresh squeezed juices. This trip we discovered tangerine juice. Yum.

After our experience at Casa Dennis last Christmas that is described below, we were interested in giving it another try. We are happy to report that everything was back to normal. We had the same waiter as in our Christmas story. I don’t think he remembered that visit and but he remembered us well enough to know that I like the Sandia Grande as a beverage without me having to order it. The prices seemed a little higher than I remembered but the food and service were terrific this time.

We had a nice leisurely dinner one night at El Turix on Calle 17 between Ave 20 & 25. The owners there are such nice people and the food including desert are still good. Right next door to El Turix in the space formally housing La Cocay is a new restaurant, Mesa 17. We didn’t have the chance to try it but talked to lots of people who did (including the owners of El Turix) and everyone raved about this place. The prices are a bit high for Cozumel but if the food is as good as we heard, very much worth the expense.

Holiday Dining in Coz

We had what now seems like a rather funny experience at Casa Denis over Christmas/New Years 2003. Let me first say that we really like Casa Denis. This particular night was the 2nd time on our trip that we had eaten there and we will go there again. But if it had been our first visit, I doubt we would ever go back again.

As anyone who has been to Cozumel before knows, the restuarants on the square usually have someone standing out front trying to wave customers in. Some are more anoying than others. As it turns out, the guys at Casa Denis are less anoying than most of the others. But at Denis, they are not only calling you in to eat at the restaurant, they are calling you in to sit at a specific table where the person seating you will be your waiter (and earn your tip.) We’ve eaten there often enough that we have a couple guys that we like to wait on us and we sat at a table served by one of our favorites. As soon as we sat down, we could tell our waiter was full of holiday cheer. In other words, he was plowed. But it was Christmas time in Mexico and we know how they party down there so it didn’t bother us all that much. I doubt I would have even shown up for work if I was that drunk.

We ordered our drinks – a mineral water for my wife, a coke for our son and a sandia grande or large watermelon water for me. The waiter arrived with our drinks except for me he had a large sangria. Before I could say anything, he looked at the drink and said "stupid bartender" and took the drink back. We ordered our dinner – quesa dia for my wife, beef shis-ka-bob for our son and chulta or pork chop for me. The waiter and I had a discussion about the relative merits of the smoked pork chop vs. the grilled pork chop and he and I agreed that the grilled version was preferred so that’s what I ordered.

A few minutes passed and the waiter returned to the table to say "We don’t have any steak tonight." So I said, "What about chuletas? Do you have chuletas?" The waiter said they did so I said, "I would like the grilled chuleta." My son said "Do you have brochetta (shish-ka-bob)? I’ll have brochetta." The waiter happily returned once again to the kitchen with our order and we all had a laugh. "What just happened?"

After a longer than usual wait, the waiter brought my wife and son their meals. About 5 minutes later, he shows up with a plate of fish for me. I said, "I didn’t order fish. I ordered chuleta. He looked at his pad and at my plate and said "stupid cook" and went back to the kitchen. We could hear a lot of yelling back and forth and figured the waiter was not the only employee who had partied that day before work.

So about 20 minutes later, my wife and son had long since finished their meals and what had once seemed humerous was not getting tedious. A different waiter shows up at our table and says "I have enchiladas."

I’m sorry to report that I lost it a little. I wasn’t abusive and I didn’t curse but I was tired and hungry and sometimes I’m not a pleasent person to be around when I’m tired and hungry. I asked again if they had the pork chops and they said they did but a minute later we called the waiter back over and cancelled the order. So eventually, a nice looking young man stops by our table and asked if eveything was all right. I assumed he must be the owner or maybe the son of the owner and he knew everything was not all right and he was going to buy me a drink and apologize or something like that but instead, he invited us to visit his restaurant and promised this wouldn’t happen at his restaurant. To this day I don’t know who he was. At least he wasn’t drunk.

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