What to order: Baja seafood worth trying
Baja's seafood is its own thing, not a copy of the mainland. A few dishes are worth seeking out on a first trip, and most of the places below serve several of them. For the wider picture of local dishes, see our Cabo food guide.
- Chocolate clams (almejas chocolatas): big brown-shelled clams from the Baja coast, served raw with lime and chile or grilled.
- Ceviche and aguachile: raw fish or shrimp cured in lime; aguachile adds a green or red chile sauce and more heat.
- Fish and shrimp tacos: battered (Ensenada style) or grilled, finished at a salsa bar with cabbage, crema and lime.
- Smoked marlin: shredded, often in tacos or quesadillas. A Baja staple that surprises people.
- Lobster: grilled, in tacos or as surf and turf. Priced by weight or at market price, so ask first.
- Shrimp molcajete: shrimp in a sizzling stone bowl with salsa, onion and cheese.
Cheap and local: taco counters and palapas
Los Claros is a small local chain of seafood taquerías; the in-town branch on Calle Ignacio Zaragoza is the one locals point to. Battered fish and shrimp tacos, marlin, scallops and a mixed ceviche with shrimp, scallops and octopus, finished at a self-serve salsa bar. Go at lunch, when it's busiest and freshest. It's about 15 minutes on foot from Hacienda Beach Club.
Tacos Gardenias has been family-run for more than 30 years and is now on Paseo de la Marina, a short walk inland from Médano. Order the shrimp molcajete, the house specialty, and grilled fish or smoked tuna tacos. It opens at 8 AM, which makes it one of the few taquerías you can do for breakfast.
Mariscos El Toro Güero is the one we'd pick if you only have time for one local seafood lunch. It's an open palapa in the Mariano Matamoros neighborhood, about 2 km from the villa, seafood only, with ceviche in oversized glasses, chocolate clams and garlic octopus. It closes at 7:30 PM and doesn't take American Express, so plan a long lunch and bring another card or cash.
If you're heading to San José or the airport, Taquería Rossy on the highway side of San José is a fast, air-conditioned stop for fish, scallop and smoked marlin tacos.
On the marina: lobster, sushi and your own catch
Lorenzillo's is the marina's special-occasion lobster house, with an oyster bar on a platform over the water. It's a pleasant walk from the villa along the boardwalk past Puerto Paraíso, and the menu is online as a PDF so you can check prices before you go.
Captain Tony's is where the sportfishing crowd eats, and its "You Hook It, We Cook It" service will cook the cleaned fish you bring back from a charter. It opens at 5:30 AM for pre-charter breakfasts. Solomon's Landing, next to El Tesoro, buys local seafood, makes its own pasta and has a separate sushi menu.
For lobster without the white tablecloth, The Crazy Lobster downtown does lobster tacos and surf and turf at relaxed prices, with long happy hours.
On the sand at Médano
Eating seafood with your feet nearly in the water is half the point of Médano. Hacienda Cocina y Cantina, on the villa's own resort, focuses on regional Mexican cooking and Sea of Cortez seafood with a view of Land's End. SUR Beach House is the polished option, with a raw bar, ceviches and hand-rolled sushi, and loungers that come with a minimum spend. The Office on the Beach has had tables in the sand for decades and does Baja shrimp and lobster plates.
Splurges: where seafood becomes the whole evening
El Farallón at Waldorf Astoria Pedregal is built into the Pacific cliffs, and you pick your fish from a market-style display before it's cooked. You need a confirmed reservation to get through the Pedregal gate. Arrive before dark for the view.
Manta at The Cape was conceived by Enrique Olvera and is listed in the MICHELIN Guide: raw fish with ají amarillo, Peruvian cebiche, tempura fish tacos and a whole grilled fish a la talla. Its published menu includes 16% tax, with a 15% service charge added. COMAL at Chileno Bay has a live raw bar and is also in the MICHELIN Guide. On Médano, Edith's is the candlelit palapa for local fish and lobster on an anniversary.
How to eat seafood well in Cabo
A few habits that save money and stomachs:
- Eat raw seafood (ceviche, aguachile, clams) at busy places at lunchtime, when turnover is highest.
- Ask the price before ordering anything listed at market price or by weight, especially lobster.
- Local fish of the day is usually the best-value plate on the menu.
- Many local seafood spots close by early evening; seafood is a lunch meal in Mexico.
- Carry pesos for taquerías, and check card policies at small places.
Seafood at the villa
Some of the best seafood meals our guests have are at home: a chef grilling the tuna or dorado you caught that morning on the terrace BBQ, or a ceviche lesson by the pool. If that sounds like your trip, see our villa with a private chef, and for the fish itself, our sportfishing page. For tacos beyond seafood, read the best tacos in Cabo.
