Reviews: More El Cuyo Restaurants
Recently we traveled to El Cuyo for what was supposed to be a 3-night stay with friends. We lost our key fob, and it took 2.5 weeks to replace it. During this time the ATM in El Cuyo never had cash, so I will preface this article by saying that many of our meals were limited to places that took credit cards. That said, every meal we had was incredible. We never had a bad or disappointing dish the entire stay. Here is our list, and, to be fair, I am listing them in the order we visited, so as not to show favoritism. I also want to note that there were times in El Cuyo when the electricity went out and times when people had no wifi, this also impacts the restaurant,s ability to take credit cards. One time we arrived at the restaurant and asked if they accepted credit cards, they said yes so we ordered and by the time the bill came their wifi was down and we ended up having to pay cash. Life in El Cuyo is much like it was on the Riviera Maya 20+ years ago. That, to us, is part of its charm.
Casa Mate grill
Our first meal was lunch at Casa Mate, where three of us split guacamole and chips and two orders of tacos – one beef and the other shrimp. There were 4 tacos to an order and they were delicious. We also ate breakfast here 3 times and each time the food was very good. I also ordered the barrata salad to go one day for lunch and it was fresh and just the right amount for two people to snack. The restaurant is on the second floor, it has gorgeous bougainvilleas creating an arch. It is dog friendly. The palapa roof makes it very tropical. The only drawback is it is located on the street and there is no view of the beach. You can also, we have heard, rent a beach chair here and have your food brought to you on the beach. There is a fee for this but the money goes towards your drinks and food. Their margaritas are quite good!
Zapote
Zapote (read our review) is a lovely setting, it is like going into your friend’s backyard – IF your friend had a huge wood fired grill and enormous outdoor kitchen. We ate several meals here and every bite was incredible. My favorite items are the tomato soup, the bone short rib which is wood oven braised for 10 hours and the wagu beef burger. But we also, over the course of our stay ordered the fish of the day, steaks, vegan burger, tostones, wings, salads, and chocolate cake. They also have some very good cocktails to choose from. It is pet-friendly and the staff is incredibly warm and friendly.
Naia
Naia is a lovely place to go for breakfast or lunch. We only happened to eat there once because breakfast was included where we stayed and we rarely did lunch. We enjoyed the fresh juices and the chicken pad thai was delicious and enough for two of us to share. We ate in the front, but I learned after they have a lovely area in the back. I would recommend this to anyone looking for fresh and delicious food for breakfast or lunch.
Off The Vine
Off The Vine we also visited several times. We will now be going to their restaurant in Playa del Carmen after having such good food in El Cuyo. The only disappointing thing is we learned they don’t offer their shrimp burger in Playa. In addition to the restaurant, which is open air, there is a lovely wine store attached. We shared a charcutier platter with 6 of us and Mike had the 3-cheese pasta while I was dying to try the shrimp burger. It did NOT disappoint. The next time we went Mike had the shrimp burger and I had the sausage and cheese fondue with tortillas, and the tuna tartar with watermelon and avocado, both were appetizers but there was more than enough to share and make a meal. The sausage was from Valladolid and so flavorful. The last time we went Mike and I split the pate and I had pasta with fresh tomato, oil and cheese. Mike had pasta with smoked tomatoes and chicken. The staff was so good, we wished we spoke better Spanish, so we could have gotten to know them better. The restaurant is located right on the road just past the zocolo in town. It is pet-friendly and has a full bar, as well as a nice, craft beer and wine selection.
Fresh and Zawer
Fresh and Zawer is a lovely Asian-fusion restaurant with outdoor seating on its front porch as well as an area in the back with a bar and fire pit for the evenings, where they offer live entertainment. It is pet-friendly and the food is as fresh as its name says. We ate here twice and both times found the food to be very good. The first time I had the pad Thai and Mike had the fried pork dish. The next time we went we were looking for vegetarian options and we both ordered the stir-fried veggies, I had mine with fried rice.
Can Cocal Restaurante
Can Cocal restaurant is part of a lovely property with a pool, bar and hotel rooms. We met people who stayed there and they said it was a very nice property. It is located across the street from the beach road but the beach-lot is vacant so you get the nice breeze from the gulf. We ate there a few times when we wanted something light. They have a very fresh and refreshing gazpacho soup which I enjoyed. They make nice sandwiches with tomato jam, serrano ham, avocado or any such combination. Another time we went for Happy Hour, which is 2-for-1 drinks, not including beer or wine. We tried their croquettes which were small but flavorful, a really nice snack.
Picolo Italia restaurant & cafe
Piccolo at Hotelito is a lovely little Italian restaurant located in the entrance to their hotel. It is on one of the side streets sort of in the middle of the island. We had the 3 bruchettas and Mike opted for the fetuccini with cream, mushroom and bacon while I had spaghetti carbonera. They served some nice wines and it was a comfortable setting. Also Pet-friendly.
restaurant el Camaron
Camarones is located more on the back side of the island and it is obviously a locals favorite, and after ordering the ceviche we could see why. The food is incredibly fresh and if you are looking for great ceviche or fresh fish, this is definitely the place to go. The the serving was enormous. We opted to get our order to go and enjoy it back by the pool. We treated our tuk tuk driver, Selina, who had been so nice getting us all over the island, to lunch and she ordered the fried pulpo and took it home to her family.
loncheria La Lupita
La Lupita is located in town. They only allow dogs if you sit out on the sidewalk. If the ATM machine had been working, we would have loved to have eaten in more places like this. Mike and I both ordered the chicken soup. I had a chicken torta and Mike had a ham and cheese quesadilla. Along with 2 bottles of water the bill came to 265 pesos! It was just what the doctor ordered.
Aroma restaurant
Aroma Restaurant at La Casa Cielo Hotel is right on the beach, next door to the Navy base. This restaurant has an amazing view, it is on the second floor overlooking the pool and beach! The hotel is adult only and pet friendly. We started with dzikilpak, which is a delicious maya dip made with pumpkin seeds. Mike had the chicken stuffed with cheese and chaya served with mashed potatoes, and I had breaded chicken with tomato sauce served with fries. We both had wine which was a tad pricy at 200 pesos a glass, but very tasty, and eating on the beach, under the stars called for some nice wine.
Food Truck
Best little food truck is tucked in between Anahata café and a little shop with a juice and smoothie stand – which, by the way, has very tasty smoothies!! We had them for lunch several times. This food truck has some incredible tacos and burritos. It is across the street from the beach. The staff is very nice and the food was delicious. The shrimp tacos and pok chuk burrito were our favorites.
Barcacci
Barcacci is an Italian Restaurant and hotel. Located near the pier and right on the beach. You can’t see the beach from the restaurant, but it is a quaint, open-air place. Much to our surprise we ran into a friend from Puerto Aventuras who was visiting friends. She says the hotel is also lovely. Unfortunately, we only got to eat here once because they were closed for a few days before we left. We started with rice balls for appetizers which were incredible. I had the eggplant parmesan and Mike had spaghetti with a white sauce with mushrooms and sausage. We paired it with wine and topped it off with a lovely limoncello.
Sadly, one of the places we ate a couple times closed for good while we were there. Casa Palma will be missed as they did an incredible wood fired pizza. We learned the property has been sold, so sadly the food truck will be replaced probably by condos. I’m glad we got to enjoy it twice.
This list is only a few of the restaurants in El Cuyo. For a small fishing and kiteboarding island there are so many food options. And as I said, most of the places we ate took credit cards and because we stayed longer than we had planned and there was no money in the ATM, we were not able to try some of the smaller local restaurants but will next time and will update our list then.