Even the fisherman pier has been converted into a restaurant (source)
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Going out to dinner is one of the great pastimes in Acapulco, and you have to work hard to spend more than $50 a head, even at the fanciest restaurants. As is often the case in Mexico, more expensive restaurants won’t get you better food, only more waiters to serve it.
Snacks and Breakfast
100% Natural is a chain of 24-hour restaurants local to Acapulco. The food is good, although without much originality. The restaurants usually distinguish themselves with lush tropical premises and giant fruit cocktails (try the Conga!). The menu is packed with healthful sandwiches made with whole wheat bread, soy burgers or chicken enchiladas - about the only meat you'll find on the menu. Several of these restaurants are along the Costera Miguel Alemán. The one with the best view is right on Playa Hamacas, occupying the old fishermen pier (pictured above). The original restaurant is across from the Acapulco Plaza hotel.
Another 24-hour restaurant chain is the Sanborn's (formerly Denny's), offering a more international menu and many US favorites, especially for breakfast.
Seafood Restaurants
Good seafood restaurants are not as easy to find as one might think. Most locals just go to some of the downtown beaches or along the esplanade to buy some fresh clams and oysters from beach vendors or fishermen. They are usually served in a half-shell on a bed of ice. While there, try also a Ceviche, a raw fish marinated in lemon juice, or enjoy a freshly caught fish grilled over open fire. Huachinango (snapper) are particularly popular and common. As for a drink, just spot a beach vendor carrying coconuts on his back, or tequila cocktail on his head.
If you want something more comfortable, try Marscos Pipos, a family-run restaurant 3 blocks from the Zócalo, on the Alameda Boulevard across from Acapulco International Center. No view, but half a dozen kind of fresh fish on the menu, good service, and reasonable prices. Favorites include the Huachinango veracruzano (red snapper baked with tomatoes, peppers, onion, and olives) and fillet of fish in mojo de ajo (garlic butter). $15-$25pp. Tel. ++52 (744) 484-0165
An equivalent but cheaper alternative is Marscos Nachos, corner Juarez and Azueta, where you will be hard pressed to spend more than $15.
Golden Acapulco
Eating by the beach - where there's some kind of restaurant at every turn - is of course very much more expensive, and increasingly so as you head east. There are a few excellent places hidden between fancy tourist traps.
An Acapulco landmark, the Carlos'n Charlies has been one of the most popular restaurants in town since the late Carlos Anderson. The atmosphere of the premises is a subtle mix of the eccentric and the zany. Prankster waiters, a jokester menu, and eclectic decor add to the chaos. Not surprisingly, the crowd is mostly young and relaxed, seemingly oblivious to the rush-hour traffic noise that filters up from the street. The menu straddles the border, with ribs, stuffed shrimp, and oysters organized by categories such as "Slurp", "Munch", "Peep" and "Zurts".
Costera Miguel Alemán 112. Tel. ++52 (744) 484-1285. $20 to $30.
A local favorite, the Madeiras serves a four-course, fixed-price menu for about $30 per person excluding wine. The bar-reception area is decorated with eye-catching coffee tables carved as animals. All dishes and flatware were created by silversmiths in nearby Taxco. All tables offer a superb view over the bay toward old Acapulco. Specialties include a delicious red snapper baked in sea salt, tasty chilled soups, and a choice of steaks and other seafood. Wine is somewhat overpriced. You do need long pants and some type of collared shirt. Reservations are strongly recommended, especially on weekends.
In partnership with the Madeiras, Le Jardin des Artiste, across from the Continental Hotel, has also had good reports. El Olvido, on Diana Circle, is set on a terrace just above the beach, also offers excellent dishes but in a more relax setting. El Campanario has a magnificent view, but the food is sometime disappointing, so you might want to go only for drinks. Casa Nova and Coyuca 21 are the most expensive in town, but not always worth the bill.
For true Mexican cuisine and more Latin ambience, try El Cabrito with a large choice of steak, chicken and goat dishes, the house specialty. Dishes come with your choice of Mole, and typical Mexican chocolate-chile sauce. A few uncommon dishes are also on the menu, like shrimp in tequila.
Downtown Restaurants
To eat cheaply, though, you're confined to the area around the zócalo . Places actually on the square tend to be quite expensive but are great for lingering over breakfast at an outdoor table.
Right by Caleta beach, on the street leading to the bull ring and across from La Jolla Motel, is the little family restaurant La Cabaña de Pedro, offering daily luncheon specials for US$3.00 and a wide variety of classic Mexican dishes. Try the pechugas con mole or carne a la Tampiqueña.
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