Food

What to eat in Puerto Vallarta

You’re on the Pacific in Jalisco, so the food splits two ways: seafood off the bay, and the state’s meat-and-agave traditions. Both are worth planning around.

The dishes

• Pescado zarandeado. Whole fish butterflied and grilled over wood with a chili-and-citrus rub — the coast’s signature plate, meant to be shared.
• Shrimp and marlin tacos, aguachile, ceviche tostadas. The everyday seafood you’ll eat at markets and beach palapas.
• Birria. Jalisco’s slow-cooked, chili-braised meat, best from a morning stand with consomme on the side.
• Tortas ahogadas. The Guadalajara “drowned” sandwich, spicy and messy, shows up here too.
• Raspados and fresh fruit from carts along the malecon for the heat.

Where to eat

• Beach palapas at Los Muertos for grilled fish with your feet near the sand — convenient, mid-range, not the cheapest.
• Market fondas (Mercado del Mar and the town markets) for the freshest seafood at local prices.
• Basilio Badillo and the Zona Romantica for the sit-down restaurant scene, from taco joints to higher-end kitchens.
• Versalles neighborhood for the local foodie strip at fairer prices than the seafront.

Rough prices (approximate)

Street tacos and market plates run a few dollars; a sit-down seafood meal in the Zona Romantica is mid-range; the seafront fine-dining rooms climb from there. Approximate — the site verifies current prices separately.

What a friend here would tell you: order the zarandeado to share and eat your tacos two streets back from the water.