5 Restaurants To Try In Tulum, Mexico

It’s always important to know about the cuisine and good food spots when you visit somewhere new so I try to always list a few options for you. Here are five restaurants in Tulum, Mexico ranging from touristy to traditional, low cost to high cost, and small cafe vibes to beach view vibes. We paid at all of these restaurants with card except one (Cetli is cash only) and we also did not have a wait at any of these places. I can’t complain about any of the food I ate while in Mexico and certainly not the drinks I had either because all of it was delicious. To note, we only ate fruit for breakfast everyday whether from the supermarket or street carts so I don’t have many suggestions in the way of that and a couple of our meals were provided with the tours we booked (see here), but all of these restaurants listed would be good for lunch or dinner.

1. Burrito Amor

When you go to Mexico, you obviously should try Mexican food whether that’s tacos, tamales, quesadillas, fajitas, enchiladas, empanadas, or tostadas. There are more Mexican dishes than I can name, but one of my favorites is a burrito, hence the reason I’d choose Burrito Amor on our first night in Tulum. The restaurant has such a cute vibe and even better food. I had the Al Pastor Style Pork with added chicken and it was easily the best burrito I’ve ever had. If you don’t know what “al pastor” is, it is thinly sliced pork that has been seasoned with chili peppers and pineapple and roasted on a vertical spit according to google. All that meant to me was that it was richly flavored. I also had the fresh lemonade which was good as well. This was the cheapest restaurant we dined at and I should note that they also took card, cash and Zelle, which was really convenient. Check out the menu here.

2.Juanita Diavola

One thing that surprised me was how much Italian food you can find in Tulum. Juanita Diavola had a really great vibe from the patio dining to the tasty drinks to the jazz style music renditions. The pasta is fresh made each morning and the pizza is made in a brick oven centered right in the dining area. The staff was super friendly and the manager even came out and chatted with us for a bit. We had the Bruschetta Cappresse as an appetizer and it was to die for and then I had the meat lover pizza, also very good, and two Mexican lullabies to drink. I really loved this place and wish we had gone back to try the pasta, but perhaps you’ll try and let me know what you think. Price wise, I’d say this was midrange. Juanita Diavola takes cash or card. Check out the menu here.

3.Cetli

Of all the restaurants we tried, we had the most authentic Mexican dining experience here. It’s further out of the main area of the city and they only take cash. We specifically wanted to try mole because we had never had it before and I heard it was delicious but extremely difficult and involved to make so why not go somewhere that probably had experts making it according to recipes passed down for generations. I thought the decor was so authentic, beautiful and unique, but equally unique was their most popular dish of rolled chicken. There are a couple different versions of it, the one I had being the rolled chicken with cactus fruit jam. It was like an explosion of flavor in my mouth and unlike anything i’ve ever had before because I didn’t even know you could roll chicken. We spent just at 1000mxn here which wasn’t so bad, so I’d also put this in the midrange as far as prices. We went on a weekday so we had no problem walking right in and getting a table, but I’ve heard that it can get packed and that’s possible to make a reservation here. There’s also a small shop in the back and some items for sale in the dining area so you may want to bring extra pesos for that as well. You can find the menu here.

4.Mamazzita

We had the most interesting experience here of the five restaurants we went to. Mamazzita is super charged with energy and there’s alot to take in. If you’re easily overwhelmed then I wouldn’t recommend this place. It’s also the most expensive restaurant we dined at, likely because it’s more on the touristy side of dining here. It’s located on the strip and is described as a Mexican soul restaurant. There are stages on either side of the restaurant with dancers swaying (off beat I should say) and the waiters aren’t shy to twerk and grind with the customers. It’s loud, they’re playing a mix of music genres and at any point they will bring you sparklers and begin collectively chanting. I didn’t hate the experience, it was just unexpected.

As far as the food, I thought it was great. They bring you a large chicharron, or pork rind, instead of bread that a normal restaurant would serve, but it was delicious, in my opinion. As an appetizer, we ordered the Nigerian Shrimp which I thought was outstanding. I had the Call me Senorita to drink and then the marinated shrimp tacos and USDA prime fillet tacos that were amazing. If you’re looking to spend more money for excellent food and you don’t mind the noise, Mamazzita is worth a try. The menu is here.

5.Ziggy’s Beach Club

For lunch we stopped at Ziggy’s Beach Club, which I have to say, I may not have picked if I had known we wouldn’t be able to access the beach from here due to the seaweed. I recommend Ziggy’s for the drinks, juices and scenery more than for the actual food. The service was great as the wait staff was super friendly and you can catch a nice breeze off the water while enjoying something really refreshing to drink. I had two daiquiris which were really good. Ziggy’s was in the midrange pricewise and we also didn’t have to wait for a table, likely because it was a weekday and also not peak season. Here is their menu.