Best Eating and Drinking in Bacalar
Bacalar is fast becoming one of Mexico’s most visited travel destinations. This fragile ecosystem deserves respect and care from tourists and locals alike and there seem to be a list of policies trying to do just that. If like me you travel to eat and drink here is a list of my favorite places in Bacalar for both.
Eating and Drinking
La Catrina
An upbeat crowded bar with live bands that play salsa and cumbia. Get yourself a margarita and sit near the dance floor to watch the action.
Cochinita Don Vicente (This is link is the closest place to the stand, but is not the stand)
This Sundays-only cochinita stand has a line down the sidewalk until they run out of food. Best to come early (before 8am) to make sure you get some. You can eat there but they don’t offer any kind of table service, except for putting the meat on a plate and offering you some minutely chopped red onion to put on top. Go around the corner to the tortillerÃa and get a half kilo of fresh tortillas and you will be all set.
Cheuinic
Opened in January of 2024, Cheuinic is one of the few upscale dining experiences to be had in Bacalar. When I say “upscale dining” I mean the quality and selection of local ingredients, contemporary techniques, sophisticated mixology, and a kind of boho chic vibe to the restaurant. That doesn’t mean anyone’s really dressed up in the dining room with the Brides of Funkstien playing on the overhead stereo. Rodolfo who runs the front of the house will painstakingly explain each dish with the flair of an experienced chef, but the culinary magic is in the hands of Chef Ricardo Mendez.
Nixtamal (Cocina de Fuego y Ceniza)
Probably Bacalar’s most famous restaurant and for good reason. Chef Rodrigo opened Nixtamal ten years ago when there was even less going on in Bacalar than there is now. He subsequently became obsessed with ancestral cooking techniques – open fire everything, nixtamalization, and now fermentation. He has a team that truly seems to enjoy their work and there is always something wild going on in the back lab – when I was there he fed me rich, caramel-colored honey on fresh honeycomb from their hive, candied hibiscus flowers, and a piece of XX growing on barley. Over the years he has integrated dozens of local producers that specialize in cacao, honey, octopus and other local delicacies.
Ixchel
Recommended to me by Chef Rodrigo from Nixatmal I did think that the torta de chilaquiles was phenomenal, as well as my cacao and peanut butter smoothie. But go with the expectation that you’re going to be there for awhile, the service is extremely slow.
Masa madre
A blend of everyday international fare, they have a few interesting items on the menu and the coffee was very good (not something I can say for most places in Bacalar). The Dahl eggs with curry, yogurt, cauliflower, and cabbage, and the Greek eggs with olives and capers are things you likely won’t find at other breakfast spots. They also have fresh-made bagels, but I arrived on a morning when they were coming out of the oven in the afternoon so I missed them.
El Sazon de Doña Bertha
Bertha’s is one of those tin-roofed shacks that you might have seen along the shores of Bacalar 50 years ago. In fact, she’s been there 52 years, cooking up home-style Mexican dishes like milanesa or pork ribs in red sauce which is what I had when I was there. This place is absolutely frill-less so come with that expectation and enjoy the classic flavors of the town.
Maiz Azul
Completely al fresco,the tables at Mazi azul sit among twinkling lights and the strains fo reggae coming from the speakers. Try the triple taco plate and you can get a taste of each of their signature moles: Mole negro (chocolatey, spice), mole verde (herbal and garlicky) and mole de cacahuate (nutty and cinnamony like Christmas). They also have some good, strong cocktails.
Machacados La Peña
Eliazar is a long-standing presence in the neighborhood and while he used to sell salbutes and panuchos along with his machacados, he found the sweet and icey machacados were what people really wanted. Now he’s ully dedicated to these mixtures of mashed fruit and honey (or sugar or stevia he offered) with crushed ice and water. He told me that the locals like theirs with sweetened, condensed milk an vanilla, but that the original is just water so that’s what i tried. Passion fruit and strawberry. Sweet and refreshing in the afternoon heat.
Places that I was told to go but my stomach and my schedule didn’t allow: Taqueria Diaz, Mr. Taco and Hijos de Cocho for drinks, all of which looked good.
Places I tried but where underwhelming: Habitas hotel, Bamoa, Damajuana, Sakya (although the chambarette was very good).
To Stay
Amainah
Just three years old, Amainah has an industrial chic look (think Alberto Kalach) blended with some elements of the region like oversized woven lampshades, palapa-style rooftop, and lots of gorgeous tropical plants. Their location is somewhat secluded down on the south end of the coastal road and the views are just impeccable. Both the restaurant and bar are a notch above the regular, and the chilaquiles I had with castacan (a kind of crunchy pork skin popular here) were divine.
Carolina Bacalar
A touch less lux than Amainah, but a lovely hotel in a much closer (walking) distance to downtown Bacalar. Carolina’s rooms are either doubles or kings, two in each thatch roof tower. The best views are the lagoon rooms but they are right next to the hotel’s bar and restaurant which plays music (albeit inoffensive and mellow) all day. For a quieter stay I recommend a room towards the back. They have a nice covered dock where you can lounge and paddleboards and kayaks to take out and explore the lagoon. Bonus is the staff was phenomenally nice.
