Best Mexican Restaurants in Cabo San Lucas

Grupo Mi Casa is responsible for some of the finest restaurants in Los Cabos, including Peacock's and Caf– Canela in Cabo San Lucas, and La Panga Antigua in San Jos– del Cabo. Colorful Mexican d–cor and traditional standards are available at the group's eponymous restaurants in each of the cape cities, with charming locations overlooking the town square in San Lucas, and nestled amid the historic Art District in San Jos–. Standouts at both Mi Casa restaurants include regional Mexican favorites like Chile en Nogada, Mole Poblano and Cochinita Pibil, as well as Baja style favorites like Almejas Rellenas, queen clams stuffed with bacon, cheese and veggies. Domestic beers and wines are also available, including some excellent selections from Baja's wine country, Valle de Guadalupe. Regional spirits like Damiana make an appearance on the dessert menu.

Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal ranks with One & Only Palmilla as one of Los Cabos' most exclusive and luxurious resorts, with a host of first-class amenities that include two of the area's best restaurants. The cliffside El Farallón is well-regarded for its stunning views and market-style seafood, while the resort's signature restaurant Don Manuel's boasts old-world hacienda style atmosphere, and a large open kitchen that dishes out superb Mexican accented cuisine. Don Manuel's is a fine dining establishment of deserved repute, yet they favor a more comfortable and relaxed approach than most restaurants of the same quality, with a gracious and welcoming staff adding to the charming, old-fashioned ambiance. The menu changes daily to reflect the freshest local ingredients, but some dishes are offered consistently, including the delicious pork belly tamal.

Named for the macaw, each of Las Guacamayas' three locations - two in Cabo San Lucas, and the original in San Jos– del Cabo - feature colorful parrot-themed murals, as well as authentic and affordable regional Mexican cuisine. Popular among visitors for their excellent tacos al pastor, quesadillas are their claim to fame locally, particularly the delicious quesadillas chilangas, a Mexico City style version featuring fried tortillas and a variety of tasty fillings. Other menu highlights include homemade chicharr–n de queso and churros. The newest location in Cabo San Lucas opened in September, 2013, and can be found on Blvd. L–zaro C–rdenas between Matamoros and Melchor Ocampo.

This popular stop for traditional cuisine is located near two other locals' favorites, seafood specialists Mariscos Mazatlán and Tres Islas. All three offer authentic Mexican dining at budget-friendly prices, but María Jiménez is the preferred stop for those seeking signature comfort food standards like tacos, quesadillas, fajitas, chile rellenos and enchiladas. Combo platters featuring multiple options are featured, and there is a good selection of Mexican beers and tequilas on hand, as well as sangría and several delicious margarita varieties. Wines are served by the glass or bottle, primarily from México and the U.S. For dessert, try the caramel flan.

Hotel Hacienda was the first hotel ever to open in Cabo San Lucas in 1963, although there's a world of difference between that modest property, built by pioneer developer Rod Rodriguez (of Palmilla fame), and the luxurious Hacienda Beach Club & Residences developed on the same magnificent site – at the juncture of the Marina and Médano Beach – by another pioneer developer, Don Koll, in the early 2000s. The latter is among the most exclusive, expensive and spectacular properties in the region, although anyone who is either curious or hungry is welcome to dine at the superb onsite restaurant, Hacienda Cocina y Cantina. Traditional Mexican cuisine and an elegant barefoot-friendly setting distinguish the beachfront eatery, which looks out across the bay to Land's End. Tortilla soup, chicken mole, and shrimp chile rellenos are among the many house specialties.

The latest addition to the Baja Cantina Group of restaurants opened in 2009, and specializes in traditional Mexican cuisine. All the recipes were passed down from the owner's grandmother, and hark back to the days of the Mexican Revolution. The cooking and prep methods are likewise old-fashioned, from hand rolled tortillas to guacamoles prepared tableside. Menu highlights include tortilla soup, panela fondue, Mayan-style Cochinita Pibil, and the María Corona platter with chorizo packed chiles rellenos, and chicken smothered in mole sauce. The charming patio dining area reinforces the old-fashioned image, with colorful lights hanging from trees, and musicians Los Príncipes performing traditional Mexican ballads nightly. Air-conditioning is available in the indoor dining area, and cooking classes are also offered.

The Towers, a resort-within-a-resort concept at Pueblo Bonito's spectacular Pacifica property, sports one of the region's newest and most impressive restaurants: Pen–nsula. Named for its commitment to regional Baja style cuisine and ingredients, Pen–nsula showcases all the fresh local seafood and organic produce one would expect, from San Carlos sourced shrimp and Puerto Nuevo style lobster to cabrilla (sea bass) from nearby La Playita, and a superb split carrot soup whose headliner hails from the local farming community of Miraflores. Chocolate clams, a traditional Baja Sur specialty, are also represented, as is the popular perico, or parrot fish. The restaurant is helmed by chef Octavio Hern–ndez, who will be familiar to long-time visitors for his stint at Hacienda Cocina y Cantina. The design belies the downhome regional cuisine, with chic d–cor featuring sleek accents and a gorgeous entrance highlighted by stone walkways and a water garden. Stunning views of the Pacific Ocean are an added bonus.

Owner Edith Jiménez is originally from the state of Guerrero, but she's been a leader in the emergent Los Cabos dining scene for decades, not only at her namesake eatery, but at restaurants like The Office, La Pintada, and most recently, Don Sanchez in San José del Cabo. But Edith's was the first, and remains her must-try restaurant for first-time visitors. Set half a block from Médano Beach, Edith's offers one of the most reliablly enjoying and invariablly satsifying dining experience in Cabo San Lucas, thanks to a menu rich in Mexican cuisine and fresh local seafood … both enhanced by flavors from the magical mesquite grill. Time-honored offerings here include the Coqueta salad; the "Wally Special '' with grilled lobster, garlic shrimp, and mesquite grilled catch of the day; and the Pancho Villa with grilled chicken breast, stuffed poblano pepper and chicken enchilada. Al fresco seating beneath the enormous palapa is preferred during the high season, but the air-conditioned wine cellar is an excellent alternative during the hot summer months.

The signature restaurant at the Chileno Bay Resort & Residences is certainly a feast for the eyes, with stylish décor from a high-profile Los Angeles-based designer, and a picturesque perch overlooking the Sea of Cortés. The sense most likely to be gratified, however, is taste, thanks to its two top talents: Chef Yvan Mucharraz, formerly Director of Food and Beverage at Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal; and Beverage Manager Osvaldo Vázquez, fresh off a notable stint creating the innovative cocktail menu at The Cape. Chef Mucharraz's menu has shifted from its original Latin American orientation towards a more seafood focused Baja style approach, evident in dishes like grilled chocolate clam, totoaba ceviche and Baja mussels with chorizo. Lovers of traditional mainland Mexican cuisine, meanwhile, will also find plenty of favorites, although often in elevated fine dining form (duck carnitas, wagyu barbacoa, etc.). A generous wine list offers plenty of pairing options - including many from Baja California's Valle de Guadalupe - and Vázquez unveils freshly minted cocktail recipes on a regular basis.

Named for three legendary actors from the golden age of Mexican cinema – Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete and Javier Solís were collectively known as Los Tres Gallos (The Three Roosters) – this charming restaurant has been a shining light of the Cabo San Lucas dining scene since 2010, and is now working the same magic in San José del Cabo thanks to a gorgeous new location in the heart of the city's Distrito del Arte, which officially opened in November 2020. The new restaurant has one of the most remarkable features of any local eatery, since it is essentially designed around a trio of huanacaxtle trees which have grown together into one enormous tree. The focus in both locations, however, is on delicious traditional Mexican cuisine, from mole con pollo to pit-roasted cochinita pibil and much, much more. Michel Zermeño (who owns the restaurants with wife Fabiola Sánchez) is fond of inviting his mother into the kitchen from time to time, to ensure dishes are being made with the requisite love and time-honored methods of cooking and preparation. Chairs and tables are handmade onsite, and reflect Los Tres Gallos' traditional, "old school" oriented sensibility.