Dining in La Cruz

Patio dining at Xocolatl Fajitas Bar and Grill

 Valentine’s Day in La Cruz…what to do? We planned a dinner out with friends at the yet untried Xocolatl Restaurant. I checked the rating on “Trip Advisor” (the customer voted website) and found all 22 restaurants in La Cruz are ranked. The Xocolatl Fajitas Bar and Grill was ranked #4, but with glowing reviews and comments about the “best views around”…so we headed up the hill, just across town, and up many more steps to a large veranda patio with views overlooking the whole Banderas Bay! Fabulous! We went early, because we like an early dinner hour, but many restaurants are not until much later in Mexico…luckily they were open at 5:00pm. We were the first diners.

Stone wall interior carved out of the hillside

The interior was cool…one side of the restaurant was the stone wall of the mountain, carved out to become the restaurants’ interior wall complete with a fern garden wall trickling with water. 

Fern garden wall with waterfall

The menu offered was mixed with seafood specialties, steaks and lobster. Not the usual fare we've been used ordering and a little higher priced, but hey it was Valentine’s Day!

We started with tasty, strong margaritas on the rocks, a good sign that the restaurant knows what it’s doing. Next we shared a crunchy vegetable salad, another not very common menu item in Mexico.

Brian and I chose the Mahi-Mahi fish special with almond creme sauce and vegetables, John chose the special Chimichanga, Elizabeth tried the mixed seafood platter complete with sauteed octopus. We all tried a piece and I really liked the soft and creamy texture that tasted like sweet shrimp!

Mahi-Mahi with almond creme sauce..yumm!

The views of the bay with tiki-torch ambiance ...and Capt. Juan

Mr. Romantic

Another happy diner or  too many margaritas?

The evening ambiance increased as the sun went and we could see all the lights to around the bay to Puerto Vallarta. They lit the tiki-torches, the crowds came and it became a lively place. Our waiter/owner was very generous with service, information and complimentary after dinner Kahlua cocktails.

We left very happy and satisfied after a delicious dinner at Xocolatl with friends. We highly recommend this restaurant.