Puerto Vallarta Gastronomy

After a full day of sighteeing, daytripping, sun worshipping, water sporting, and shopping, you are going to want to eat. Fortunately, Puerto Vallarta has, oh, a restaurant or two - okay, maybe more.

Indeed, Puerto Vallarta has come a long way from a simple fishing village that used to roll up the sidewalks at sundown. Hundreds of restaurants - serving everything from Seafood - a specialty - to French to Swiss, German to Italian, Argentinean to, believe it or not!, authentic Mexican - are found throughout town in establishments ranging from casual cafes to high-end retaurants to beach bars.

During the day, most visitors prefer to eat right on the beach. Delicious barbecued fish on a stick, with plenty of fresh-squeezed lime, is the traditional specialty sold by beach boys who catch them and cook them on the spot.

In the evening it's fun to head to a favorite beach bar and watch the sun set from under the palm fronds of a palapa roof. Dinner choices range from beachfront cafes to hillside restaurants with wonderful bay views. Diners can also enjoy a meal from inland, where colonial-style buildings overlook narrow village streets.

Most of the restaurants are in Vallarta's downtown area. Others are in the major hotels and scattered up and down the coast.