Where to eat and drink on Tulum Beach
Back in March of 2017, my husband and I spent a whole blissful week exploring and relaxing in Tulum, the Yucatán Peninsula’s most stylish and bohemian resort town. As the destination’s popularity among Americans has grown, so has the number of friends asking us for recommendations on what to do, see, eat and drink while they’re in Tulum. After drafting a couple of mile-long emails, I realized I may as well make my list of recommendations public and official here!
The thing about restaurants and bars along Tulum Beach road? They’re all beautiful. Some boast straw roofs, sandy floors and sweeping views of the impossibly turquoise waves. Others sit ceilingless in the dense, tropical jungle across the road, open to the stars and sultry air. But while almost every establishment in Tulum’s romantic, naturally aesthetically pleasing environment is Instagrammable to the max, only a few can claim both style and substance.
Before I dive in, I’d like to share a few general tips about eating and drinking along Tulum’s beach road:
- Always, always bring cash…in pesos. Many restaurants take debit cards, and almost all take U.S. dollars. But if you pay using either of these methods, you’ll be charged significantly more, as restaurants calculate the dollar value of their dishes using an unfavorable exchange rate. Save your hard-earned money by hitting the ATM regularly and withdrawing local currency. Note that you’ll have better luck at the ATMs in the actual town of Tulum; along the beach road, the density of foreign tourists causes machines to run out of cash and malfunction regularly. We always used the machine inside the gas station at the intersection of Avenida Coba and the Tulum-Cancun highway.
- Don’t wear high heels. As I explained in my last post, Tulum isn’t a dressy town. You’ll look and feel out of place if you try to go full glam. (Plus, who really wants to ruin their nicest shoes on that dusty, gravelly, pothole-ridden beach road?) Stick to flip flops, flat sandals or espadrilles.
- Eat early. We found that Tulum’s dining schedule is pretty much the opposite of Portugal’s. It isn’t a late-night town — probably because it’s not on the Mexican electrical grid and thus is quite dimly lit at night — so its best restaurants fill up well before dark. If top-notch food is what you seek, plan to eat dinner around 5:30 or 6 p.m., unless you’re able to make a later reservation. If you’re full of energy after your meal, fear not: There are a few places where you can grab post-dinner drinks before turning in for the night.
And now, without further ado, here are some of my Tulum favorites!
Taqueria La Eufemia
Situated right on the best stretch of sand in Tulum, Eufemia is the ultimate destination for those who need midday sustenance but don’t want a break from beach-bumming. The sandy hut serves up a variety of fruit juices, margaritas, brunch foods and delicious yet extremely affordable tacos. Customers who opt for meat, fish or veggie tacos can visit Eufemia’s extensive toppings bar to add fresh salsas, fruit and crema to their food. From there, they can choose to sunbathe on the beach, sit at an umbrella-shaded table or stay cool inside the hut, where the most coveted seats face the waves. Visit closer to lunchtime and you’ll practically have the place to yourself; visit around 3 p.m. and you’ll find yourself competing for space with dozens of scantily-clad, sunkissed and chic twentysomethings who have biked in from town.
Casa Jaguar
Looking for post-dinner drinks? Allow me to recommend Casa Jaguar, an open-air restaurant on the jungle side of the beach road. I can’t comment on the quality of the food here — reviews of the eats were so-so, so we skipped out — but I can say that the cocktails were creative, delicious and beautiful. The decor, all southwestern-print pillows, candles and young palm trees, wasn’t too shabby, either!
Casa Banana
We may never have visited this Argentinian restaurant had it not been so conveniently located right across the road from our hotel, Nueva Vida de Ramiro. Argentinian food, after all, tends to be beef-forward…and I’m, well, not. Lucky for me, red meat isn’t all they do well here. I ordered a whole roasted fish and was delighted with it: the buttery flesh melted in my mouth, and the skin was perfectly crispy. Like many other excellent destinations in Tulum, the cocktail list was adventurous and aesthetically pleasing; my mezcal drink came with a sparkler that doubled as a stir stick when the flame died down.
I Scream Bar
Walk by this funky, casual place after dark and you’ll hear locals and tourists luring you in with chants of “I Scream Bar! I Scream Bar!” Answer the call and you won’t be disappointed. This wonderfully unpretentious shack sells bottled beer for $2 and offers a variety of ceviches and tacos. But the real star of the show is its vegan ice cream, which is served in creatively upcycled beer bottles and comes in both traditional and wacky flavors, from cacao to coconut to mango ginger. Pay a little extra and the bartenders will mix in some mezcal or tequila.
Hartwood
Tulum’s most popular and buzzed-about dinner spot absolutely lives up to the hype. The menu changes daily, but you can always count on fresh seafood, unexpected herbs, homemade juices and cocktail mixes, and impeccable flavor. Our ceviche, octopus and local fish dishes were scrumptious, and our cocktails were lovely and refreshing. Hartwood opens daily at 5:30 and doesn’t take reservations, and you’ll see a queue start to form quite early. To guarantee a table for two, show up 20-30 minutes before opening; if your party is larger, try to get in line by 5.
Restaurare
As a lifelong vetegarian-recently-turned-pescatarian, I’ve always loved seeking out great meatless restaurants. Restaurare, an entirely vegan establishment, was one of the best I’ve visited — and not just because it was drop-dead gorgeous. The coconut ceviche and mole-inspired curry were to die for, and the restaurant’s own all-natural, homemade bug spray at every table was such a nice touch! Sadly, I just learned that Restaurare closed last year after its landlord hiked up the rent. This happens to far too many vegan and vegetarian restaurants in hip, desirable places, and I find it heartbreaking. If you’d like to give vegan food a try, I encourage you to patronize places like Raw Love and Charly’s Vegan Tacos while you’re in Tulum. Let’s work together to keep these healthy, inclusive and yummy restaurants in business!
So there you have it — my top eating and drinking picks for Tulum Beach! What’s at the top of your list? And if you’ve visited Tulum before, what were some of your favorites?
