Eat and Drink

Where to Eat in Cabo San Lucas: 10 Places Off the Marina

By Cabo Wander

When friends are staying in Cabo San Lucas, the text I get on about night two is "okay, where do we actually eat?" It usually comes right after a so-so lobster dinner on the marina that cost a lot more than they expected.

My answer is Metate, a wood-fire patio restaurant up in El Tezal, about ten minutes by car from the marina. After that it's Mariscos Las Tres Islas for a seafood lunch, Salvatore G's for the best-value dinner you can walk to, and El Farallón once if you want the big night on the cliff.

Here's the thing that took me a lot of checks to learn. In San Lucas, what you pay depends mostly on which street you're sitting on. A plate of garlic shrimp is about US$25 on Calle Revolución and US$50 to $60 on the boardwalk, and the boardwalk plate is the one I've forgotten by the next morning. Nearly every restaurant I'd send you to is two to six blocks inland from the marina, or a short ride up the hill. None of them is where you'd end up by just wandering, which is why I'm writing this down.

I ranked these by how good the food is for what it costs, and then made sure the ten cover a breakfast, a cheap lunch, tacos, a beach table and a splurge, in every part of town. If I ranked on value alone, Las Tres Islas would sit above El Farallón and Salvatore G's above Nicksan. This is the San Lucas half of my list of the best restaurants in Cabo, with more places and more detail than I had room for there.

Two things before we start. Several places in this post are closed on Mondays, and I've flagged each one. And independent kitchens here tend to take a vacation in late summer, so in September and early October I'd confirm a place is open before I get in a car.

So let's get into it.

1. Metate

El Tezal, a ride from town. Lunch and dinner.

Metate is the best cooking for the money in Cabo San Lucas, and if you only book one dinner in town I'd make it this one. It has a Michelin Bib Gourmand, which is the award for good food at a fair price, and I think that's exactly the right label for it.

It's regional Mexican food with a lot of Oaxaca in it, cooked over a wood fire and served on an open stone patio under trees and string lights. You find it by turning in behind a Modelorama beer store. I order two or three small plates for the table and then one main each. The grilled bone marrow is still the first thing I'd send you for, and the Cochiloco (ceviche with little fried pork tacos) is the second. For mains, the catch of the day was spectacular the last time I had it, and the mesquite octopus and the seafood soup cooked in a stone bowl are both worth ordering.

Here's what it really costs. Small plates and mains run from about 250 to 700 pesos, so two people sharing a couple of starters, a main each and a dessert, with beers and a tip, spend about US$120 to $160. Two cocktails each pushes that to US$180. The tomahawk steak is close to 2,000 pesos on its own, and it's how a check here doubles. There's also a six-course chef's menu with wine at about US$140 a head, if you'd rather not choose.

I skip the cocktails. They're expensive and they've never been as good as the food. The patio is all outdoors, which is lovely in winter and really hot from August to October. And there's a live saxophonist some nights who changes the mood of the place quite a bit. I could take him or leave him.

One more thing I should be straight about. Metate is away from the tourist strip, but it's no secret. Most of the tables around me are other visitors who read the same things you're reading now.

My tips:

• Take a car. It's about US$10 by taxi and less by Uber, and the driver will know the name better than the address. There's parking if you're driving. On a late night, if the app stalls for the ride home, ask the host to call you a taxi.
• Call before you plan an early dinner. Lunch starts at 2 and dinner at 7. Whether the kitchen serves between 5 and 7 has changed on me, so if that's when you want to eat, phone first.
• Book. A few days ahead in the quiet months, a week or more from December to April.
• Check the map pin. Some booking sites file it under San José del Cabo. It's in Cabo San Lucas.

2. El Farallón

Pedregal, at the Waldorf Astoria. Dinner, at sunset.

This is the splurge, and it's number two because it's the one view dinner in town that I think is worth doing once. You sit at a rail cut into the cliff with the Pacific breaking right under you, and the sun goes down into the water.

Know the number before you sit down. The set menu is a little over US$200 a head with tax and the hotel's 18% fee already inside it, drinks are extra, and two people with wine spend US$450 to $600. The fish is good and simply grilled. I'd say about half of what you're paying is for the cliff.

Book it as soon as your flights are booked if you're coming between December and April, and ask for a table on the rail about 45 minutes before sunset. I'd leave kids under ten at home for this one. The whole evening, including the second check that's waiting for you at the Champagne Terrace, is in whether El Farallón is worth it.

3. Mariscos Las Tres Islas

Downtown, on Calle Revolución. Open all day, best at lunch.

Las Tres Islas is the lunch I send everyone to, because it's the same kind of seafood the boardwalk sells at about a third of the price. It's a ten to fifteen minute walk inland from the marina. You leave the boardwalk at Puerto Paraíso, cross the main street and keep going.

It's a big, bright, noisy hall under a palapa roof with plastic chairs and about a hundred people in it. I love it. I just wouldn't take a date there.

The whole fried red snapper is what I order most, and it's been good every single time, which is not something I can say about a lot of places here. The garlic shrimp is the other sure thing. If you like heat, get the camarones a la diabla, and there's octopus cooked in garlic that I'd order again. A shrimp aguachile to start is the classic move, though if raw seafood isn't your thing, just stay on the grilled and fried side of the menu and you'll eat very well. For a group, the seafood platter covers everything in one order. There's flan.

What I'd change is small. A couple of the sauces have missed for me, and one sea bass came with skin I couldn't eat. The plainly cooked fish and shrimp are what this kitchen does best.

A whole fish and a beer comes to about US$25 to $28 a head. Add the platter, a dessert and the fishbowl margaritas and it's closer to US$50 each, so two people spend somewhere between US$50 and $100. That top number still buys you one person's dinner on the marina.

You can't book, and you don't need to, except that Sunday lunch is family day and it's packed. A band will come to your table. A song means a tip of 50 to 100 pesos, so decide before they start, and a friendly "no, gracias" is fine. Kids are welcome and there are chicken tenders. Pay in pesos.

If you're off a cruise ship for the day, this is where I'd walk for lunch, and how to fit it around the tender is in my Cabo cruise port day post.

4. Nicksan

The marina, a few steps off the boardwalk. Lunch and dinner.

Nicksan is the one dinner around the marina that's really about the food. It's been serving Japanese food made with Mexican ingredients since the 1990s, and there's no host outside waving a menu at you. Around here I take that as a good sign.

Start with the tuna tostada and the sashimi serranito. If you love fatty tuna, the toro is worth every bit of the splurge. The omakase at the bar is creative, and it's what I'd do as a couple.

The fish has never been my complaint. The check is. Two people spend US$180 to $300, which is big-city sushi money, and I've felt that take a little shine off an otherwise great dinner. You're also indoors with no view. In August, I'll admit, I count the air conditioning as a plus.

It's open straight through from late morning, so a late lunch is easy to get without planning. For dinner I'd book a day or two ahead, and a week ahead for a weekend in winter. There's a second Nicksan at Palmilla if you're staying toward San José.

Bottom line: if you're staying at the marina and want one serious dinner without getting in a car, this is it.

5. Salvatore G's

Downtown, two blocks behind the marina. Lunch and dinner.

I did not expect the best-value sit-down dinner in Cabo San Lucas to be red-sauce Italian in the courtyard of a budget hotel, but here we are. Salvatore G's is inside the Siesta Suites, on the corner of Zapata and Guerrero, with tables under vines and palms and colored lights.

The portions are the whole story. A main starts around US$25 and feeds two people easily, and four of you can share one dish without anyone going hungry. I can't picture finishing one on my own. So split everything. The lasagna is the one to get. The osso buco and the chicken parmesan are both good, and I'd start with the bruschetta. If you somehow have room, there's tiramisu and cannoli.

Two people sharing a main, with a starter, dessert and a couple of drinks each, spend about US$70 to $120.

Honestly, I don't have a real complaint about the food. It's simple, generous cooking and it knows what it is. The catch is the obvious one, which is that you flew to Mexico and you're eating spaghetti. I think that's totally fine on night three or four, when a family or a group wants a big, easy, happy dinner and nobody wants another taco.

Book ahead, because the courtyard is small and it fills up even in the slow months. It's all outdoors. On Sundays it doesn't open until 4.

6. Hacienda Cocina y Cantina

Médano Beach, the far west corner. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

When someone asks me where to eat on Médano that isn't a party, this is the answer. Hacienda Cocina sits right on the sand in the corner by the breakwater, where the beach meets the mouth of the marina, looking straight across at Land's End. From the marina it's the walk past Puerto Paraíso toward the beach.

The kitchen holds its own against that view. I'd get the guacamole made at the table, the tuna ceviche tacos and the octopus tiradito, then the catch of the day or the chicken with mole. On a hot afternoon I've been handed a cold towel when I sat down and churros at the end, and I didn't ask for either.

A couple of things have missed. The margaritas have been forgettable, and one plate of grilled shrimp was a letdown.

I can't give you dish prices I trust, because the menu I've seen online doesn't list them. I'd plan on roughly US$130 to $200 for two at dinner with drinks, and treat that as a rough figure.

My tip is breakfast. It runs from 8 to 11, the bay is flat, the jet skis haven't started, and it's the quietest way I know to get this view. Book ahead for a sunset table. The kitchen takes a break between meals, from 11 to noon and from 4 to 5, so don't show up then.

It's a restaurant only. The loungers next door belong to the residences, so you can't make a beach day of it here. For that, I rank the places that do rent you a bed in the best beach clubs in Cabo, and how to pick your spot on the sand is in my Médano Beach guide.

7. Los Tres Gallos

Downtown, on 20 de Noviembre. Dinner.

Los Tres Gallos is the pretty, traditional Mexican dinner you can walk to, and it's the only restaurant in the walkable part of town that Michelin recommends. It's a brick courtyard a few blocks inland, close to Las Tres Islas.

Two dishes are why I'd go. The carnitas de chamorro is a slow-cooked pork shank that comes with handmade tortillas, and it's rich and really good. The pozole is the best I've had in Cabo. The starters are street food shapes like gorditas and sopes, and the tres leches with tequila is the dessert.

So why is it number seven? Because of what it charges. Mains start around 400 pesos and two people spend US$110 to $170, roughly double the check at Las Tres Islas four blocks away. I've had a dinner here that was just okay for that money. The drinks add up fast too, so look at what a margarita costs before you order a round.

The mariachi comes with the meal whether you want it or not. If you do want the whole act, with the courtyard and the music and a long dinner, this is the place I'd pick for it downtown.

I've seen it listed as opening at 11 and as opening at 4, so plan on dinner and check if you want lunch. Book a few days ahead in season.

8. El Huerto

El Tezal, a ride from town. Breakfast and dinner, closed Mondays.

El Huerto is my breakfast pick if you're willing to take a ride. In my main restaurant list I said I didn't know it well enough to rank. I know the breakfast well enough now, and it's the best one on the San Lucas side.

It's a farm restaurant where the vegetables are the point, and you can taste it. The tomatoes really do taste different there. At breakfast I'd get the fruit plate with the house granola alongside whatever egg dish you like. At dinner, the heirloom tomato fondue is one of the best appetizers I've had in Cabo, and I'd order the cashew hummus with grilled vegetables next to it. If you don't eat meat, this is the table in town I'd send you to first.

I'm less sure about the rest of the dinner menu, which I know less well, and I don't have firm prices for you. My rough guess is US$40 to $60 for breakfast for two and US$90 to $150 for dinner. If it's the famous farm outside San José you're after, that's a different outing, and I cover it in is Flora Farms worth it.

A few things will catch you out:

• It's closed on Mondays.
• There's no lunch. Breakfast ends at 12:30 and dinner starts at 5:30.
• The address is a street with no name. Drop a pin before you get in the car.
• Book, weekends especially.

9. Los Claros

Downtown, on Ignacio Zaragoza. Lunch.

Los Claros is the taco entry, and it's the best all-round taco stop in town. Get the battered fish and the smoked marlin, dress them yourself at the big topping bar, and drink the hibiscus water. Two of you will eat for US$20 to $40, and there's an air-conditioned room, which matters a lot in summer.

Find it by name on Zaragoza, because at least one listing puts it in San José. Bring pesos.

I'm keeping this one short because it leads my list of the best tacos in Cabo, along with the morning birria and carnitas counters on Leona Vicario and the al pastor at Tacos Guss after midnight.

10. Mama's Royal Café

Downtown, on Calle Hidalgo. Breakfast, 7am to early afternoon.

Mama's is the breakfast you can walk to, two or three blocks behind the marina. It's been open since the early 90s, and a lot of the people on the shaded patio come back every year.

The thing to order is the stuffed French toast. It's filled with cream cheese, topped with fruit and pecans, and set on fire with orange liqueur at your table, at eight in the morning, while a guy plays guitar. It's a LOT, and it's delicious. The eggs Benedict and the chilaquiles are both good, and there's a salsa bar that runs from mild to really hot.

It's an American-leaning breakfast and it's proud of that. If you want a local one, see La Esquina Choyera below. The patio has no air conditioning, so in summer go early, and once in a while a plate has come out underseasoned.

I didn't keep a check from here, so take this as rough. Breakfast for two is around US$30 to $50, the prices are reasonable, and I'd take it over a resort breakfast any day. You don't need a reservation. The kitchen has closed at 1:30 when I've been, so don't turn up at 2.

The Ones That Just Missed

A few of these are very good. Each is the right pick for somebody.

La Lupita Taco & Mezcal. This is the lively dinner a block or two back from Médano, on Calle Acuario, with chef-style tacos, a long mezcal list and a band. It's the sister of the one in San José's gallery district. The al pastor with a crust of griddled cheese and the duck with mole are the two to get, and I liked the miso fish taco and the hibiscus margarita here too. It's a restaurant that serves tacos, so two people spend US$60 to $100. I've had one slow night. It's dinner only, it's closed on Mondays, and I'd book for 7 or later.

Don Manuel's. The Waldorf Astoria's other restaurant is the Pedregal table nobody mentions, and I think the food is better than El Farallón's. It's a hacienda-style room with a seasonal Mexican menu and live music at dinner, and you can book it without staying at the hotel. The breakfast buffet is about US$85 to $90 a head with the fees inside, which is the least expensive way I know to get through that tunnel and see the place. There's a tasting menu with cocktail pairings at around US$270 a head. I've had one slow dinner. The reason it isn't in the ten is simple. If you're paying Waldorf prices for a setting, the cliff is next door.

Solomon's Landing. This is the best of the boardwalk restaurants, and I use it for breakfast. Plates are about 210 to 310 pesos and you're looking at the boats. They'll also cook the fish you caught that morning. My dinners there have been up and down, so I eat dinner elsewhere.

The Sand Bar. A feet-in-the-sand breakfast on Médano for about 250 pesos a plate, with coffee refills until noon and no minimum spend. The beach vendors will find you before your eggs do.

La Esquina Choyera. This is the local breakfast, and the order is a machaca burrito, the dried-beef burrito that's Baja California Sur's own. There are a few branches, and the one by Cerrito del Timbre has opened at 4:30am when I've gone, which makes it the fishing-morning breakfast. Dishes start around 160 pesos. I know it less well than the others, so check the hours.

Tacos Gardenias. Battered fish and shrimp tacos on the walk from the marina to Médano. They're good, they're priced on the name these days, and it's closed on Mondays. Say "en pesos" when you order.

Maria Jimenez. A warm family restaurant under a palapa near Las Tres Islas, loved for its combination plates and chile relleno. I'd heard for years that it was the cheap one. It isn't anymore. Two meals and drinks ran me about US$110, which is Los Tres Gallos money, and at that price I'd walk the extra block for fish. It's closed on Mondays.

Outpost. It has a rooftop garden near the marina that's nice at dusk, and the French toast at brunch is good. Dinner has been basic for the price, with a steak that came out gray. Brunch, maybe. I wouldn't book dinner.

The Famous Names, and What I'd Use Them For

Okay, now the part nobody mentions. The best-known restaurants in Cabo San Lucas are all famous for something other than dinner, and you can enjoy that one thing for a fraction of the dinner check.

The Office on the Beach. It's famous for tables in the sand, and breakfast with your toes in it is a lovely way to start a day. I'd stay away from dinner and from tequila. Four shots once showed up on my check at US$115. Order from the menu, and ask the price of anything a waiter suggests by the bottle. It takes a break every year from around mid-August or September into October, so check before you walk over.

Edith's. Same owners, half a block from Médano, and a really beautiful room with a mariachi and a Caesar made at your table. It closes for the same stretch each fall. My problem is that dinner runs well over US$100 a head, and for that I've had food that was just fine and service that swung between hard to find and pushy. Los Tres Gallos gives you the courtyard and the music for about half.

Mi Casa. The courtyard by the plaza is lovely. The margaritas are about US$20 each, dinner with a couple of drinks is US$50 to $60 a head, and the performers work the tables for tips. The same money buys you dinner at Metate.

Cabo Wabo. Go for the band, which starts around 8:30pm, and eat first. A burger, two small margaritas and two bottles of water cost me US$105 with the tip. Where it fits into a night out is in my guide to Cabo nightlife.

Sunset Monalisa. It gets filed under Cabo San Lucas, but it's about four miles out on the Corridor and nobody walks there. The view of the Arch is the real thing. I'd have a drink in the lounge and eat dinner somewhere else, and I'd ask what the kids' menu costs before bringing children. The rows, the fees and the math are in whether Sunset Monalisa is worth it.

The boardwalk in general. You'll know these when you see them. There's a host out front with a laminated photo menu, two-for-one margaritas, a free tequila shot, prices in dollars and a lobster and steak combo. The food is fine and it's US$80 to $150 a head. The view is of other people's boats. Have a beer there if you like the view, then walk four blocks inland for dinner.

What Dinner for Two Costs

All of these are for two people with a couple of drinks each, tax and tip.

• Tacos and beers: US$25 to $40
• A local seafood restaurant: US$50 to $100
• A good independent dinner: US$110 to $180
• Nicksan, or a view table on Médano: US$180 to $300
• El Farallón: US$450 to $600

Drinks are what move you from one line to the next. A margarita is around 100 pesos at Los Claros and US$20 at Mi Casa, so ask before you order the second round.

A few habits save me money every trip. I pay in pesos, and I say no when the card terminal offers to charge me in dollars. I read the check for a "propina" or "servicio" line before I add a tip, because 15% is normal and I don't want to pay it twice. And when a musician walks up to the table, I decide before the first chord. The full budget, with ATMs and tipping, is in how much Cabo costs.

Walking to the inland restaurants is easy and comfortable in the early evening. After about ten at night I take a short Uber back to the marina from anything more than three or four blocks in, and the fares are in getting around Cabo.

The Verdict

Cabo San Lucas has about a dozen restaurants worth planning around, and they're easy to get to and mostly not expensive. They're just a few blocks, or one short ride, from where everyone naturally ends up.

If you only have time for one, go to Metate.

Here's what I'd pick for you:

• You're staying on Médano without a car: Hacienda Cocina along the sand, then Salvatore G's or Las Tres Islas, each a ten to fifteen minute walk or a short ride.
• You're staying at the marina: Nicksan for dinner, Solomon's Landing for breakfast, Las Tres Islas for lunch.
• You have kids with you: Las Tres Islas, Salvatore G's and Mama's.
• You're on a budget: Los Claros, the morning taco counters, and a machaca burrito at La Esquina Choyera.
• It's your anniversary: El Farallón at sunset. If the food matters more to you than the cliff, Don Manuel's.
• You don't eat meat: El Huerto, then the small plates at Metate.
• You can't stand a mariachi: Metate (there's the saxophone, though), Nicksan or El Huerto.
• You're off a cruise ship: Las Tres Islas, or Mama's if it's before 1:30.

And who shouldn't lean on this list? If dinner is the main reason for your trip, I'd still stay in San José. San Lucas has Metate, cheap seafood and the better tacos, but it doesn't have a row of chef-run dinners you can walk between, and San José does. Those are in the best restaurants in San José del Cabo. How the marina, Médano and downtown fit together on foot is in my Cabo San Lucas guide.

Here's how I'd text it to a friend: Metate for dinner, it's behind the beer store in El Tezal, take an Uber and skip the cocktails. Tres Islas for lunch, get the whole fried snapper. Salvatore G's when you're tired of tacos, and split the lasagna. Breakfast at Mama's or El Huerto. Farallón once if it's a big occasion... and walk past anyone holding a laminated menu.

Quick Answers

What is the best restaurant in Cabo San Lucas? Metate, in El Tezal, for wood-fire regional Mexican food at about US$120 to $180 for two. For a big night with a view, El Farallón in Pedregal, at US$450 to $600 for two.

Are the marina restaurants worth it? For breakfast or a beer with the boats in front of you, yes. For dinner, mostly no, with Nicksan and Salvatore G's a couple of blocks back as the exceptions.

Do I need reservations in Cabo San Lucas? Book El Farallón well ahead, and book Metate, El Huerto, Hacienda Cocina, Salvatore G's, Nicksan and Los Tres Gallos a few days out, or a week or more from December to April. Las Tres Islas, Mama's and the taquerias don't take them.

Where is the best breakfast in Cabo San Lucas? El Huerto if you'll take a ride, Mama's Royal Café if you want to walk, and Hacienda Cocina if you want it on the beach.

Can I eat in Pedregal without staying there? Yes, with a reservation at the Waldorf Astoria. El Farallón serves dinner and Don Manuel's serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and both take bookings from people who aren't hotel guests.