01 Food tours
Original food tours, curated with our local tastemakers to showcase the neighbourhood kitchens, markets and family-run eateries that define Puerto Vallarta.
Vallarta Flavours
Puerto Vallarta
A curated food tour through the streets, markets and family kitchens of the destination — flavour by flavour.
Vallarta Tales
Puerto Vallarta
A curated food tour through the streets, markets and family kitchens of the destination — flavour by flavour.
02 Meet the tastemakers
The local food experts who help us research, refine and lead every A Chef's Tour.
Aguachile with wild shrimp, pescado zarandeado over mangrove wood, birria de res, tuba coconut wine from a bamboo. Vallarta cooks Nayarit and Jalisco at the shore.
04 The pantry
- Chiltepin, tiny wild chilli grown along the Pacific coast
- Wild shrimp, sweet crustaceans from the Bay of Banderas
- Tuba, coconut palm wine tapped from bamboo canes
- Fresh mahi mahi, from the Pacific fleet
- Sour orange, for marinades and dressings
05 In the kitchen
- Curing aguachile shrimp raw in lime and green chilli
- Grilling pescado zarandeado whole butterflied fish over mangrove wood
- Slow-cooking birria de res in guajillo and ancho broth
- Tapping tuba coconut wine at dawn from palm inflorescences
- Roasting corn elotes at the beachfront with lime and chile
06 Eat this first
- Aguachile, wild shrimp cured raw in lime, green chilli and cucumber
- Pescado zarandeado, butterflied fish grilled over mangrove wood
- Birria tatemada, dry-braised Jalisco birria on a hot comal
- Tuba, coconut palm wine drunk cold with peanuts
- Raspados, shaved-ice cones drizzled with fruit syrups
What happens inside a hammam kitchen
A morning with the cooks who feed the neighbourhood before dawn. Charcoal, dough, the smell of a bakery working its second oven.
09 Recipes
A collection of authentic recipes we couldn't leave behind.
Fluffy corn masa filled with pork shredded in red guajillo-ancho salsa, wrapped in corn husks and steamed. The classical Mexican tamal, red edition.
Oaxaca's street mash-up: a crunchy tostada base piled with hot esquite corn, mayo, cheese, lime and chile. The prehispanic dish gets a modern platform.
Fried tortillas stuffed with black beans and topped with shredded turkey, pickled red onion and avocado — the Yucatán's crunchy answer to the tostada.
Fresh fruit blended with water and a splash of lime — the mercado thirst-quencher. Jamaica, horchata, tamarindo, sandía or piña, poured from big glass tanks.
A silky caramel-topped custard, richer and denser than the European original. Mexico's most-eaten dessert, born in nuns' kitchens 300 years ago.
Pineapple-marinated pork carved off a spinning vertical trompo, caught on a small tortilla with a flick of chopped pineapple, onion and coriander. Mexico City's most famous taco.
10 Field Notes
Quick field notes to help you get accustomed to Puerto Vallarta.
Weather
Tropical Pacific. Hot and humid year-round (26–32°C). Dry season November to May (peak). Wet season June to October brings dramatic afternoon storms.
Currency
The Mexican peso (MXN). US dollars widely accepted in tourist areas but at poorer rates than pesos. Cards work almost everywhere.
Language
Spanish. English is widely spoken thanks to tourism.
Etiquette
Warm and casual. Modest dress at churches; the beach is more relaxed. The city has one of the most vibrant LGBTQ+ scenes in Latin America.
Getting around
The Malecón is walkable end-to-end. Local buses are cheap and cover the whole bay. Uber and taxis both work. Water taxis reach the beaches south of town.
Prayer
Predominantly Catholic. Our Lady of Guadalupe (with the crown atop the church) is the town's spiritual landmark. The daily pilgrimage in December fills the streets.