BajaNomad

La Paz dinner recommendation wanted

El Jefe - 2-7-2014 at 03:55 PM

Going to be in La Paz along the malicon Saturday. Looking for a dinner recommendation for our party of 5. A fun place with good food and atmosphere is what we want, and price is not important.

Walking distance from La Perla hotel would be a plus, but would drive to the right place.

Thanks Nomads!!

[Edited on 2-7-2014 by El Jefe]

willardguy - 2-7-2014 at 04:54 PM

weebray - 2-7-2014 at 05:10 PM

Not!

apple - 2-7-2014 at 05:31 PM

The Shack is good for burgers and wings and stuff and has a great happy hour deal.
For decent food I'd avoid almost every restaurant on the Malecon, except Mariscos Laureles which is on the northwest end. Maybe a 15 minute walk. All the other mariscos places on the Malecon serve basically the exact same meals. Harker is a good pizza and burger place up in that direction.
Koi is also up there and is one of the better sushi places in town.
Just off the Malecon is El Tupe which was highly regarded in this thread, but I haven't been there yet.


NIM is three blocks off the northern part of the Malecon. Probably the most talked about new restaurant in town.
Otra Vez is also a new Italian restaurant and well regarded. It's just off Cinco de Mayo on Madero.
Tres Virgenes($$$), Buffalo BBQ and Trocadero are also close to the Malecon and have good reputations.

[Edited on 2-8-2014 by apple]

BigWooo - 2-7-2014 at 06:09 PM

We like Il Rustico (sp?), very good, fresh italian food with nice courtyard outdoor dining, and Campestre for steaks and good Mexican dishes. Just about every time we have to go to La Paz we stop at one or the other. My wife is better at directions, I never pay attention to street names, so if you want actual street locations U2U me and I'll ask her.

David K - 2-7-2014 at 06:13 PM

We had the most wonderful meal with BajaTripper at (Nomad JESSE's) TRES VIRGENES... The best steak and Baja-craft dishes... This was in July, 2012. Last time I suggested Tres Virgenes I got messages the place wasn't so hot since then???

It is the kind of restaurant I think you would find the governor, mayor, business folks eat at... See there Facebook page.

StuckSucks - 2-7-2014 at 06:38 PM

I've eaten at Nuevo Pekin several times (including Christmas, 10 years ago). Good food, friendly people. Of course, liking Chinese food is helpful. It's at the corner of the Malecón and Guadalupe Victoria. Google says it's a 800m walk from La Perla.


Udo - 2-7-2014 at 06:50 PM

Within walking distance from La Perla, and across from the water are Palermo's (really good Italian), and Bizmarquito (a fun seafood place that is generally inhabited by locals.Both are south (or west) of La Perla...anyway...to the right of the hotel, one to three blocks.

vandenberg - 2-7-2014 at 07:08 PM

Palermos, a good choice if money is no object.
We love Campestre, but it's not in walking distance. (close to Walmart)
Shack has great burgers, but not a place for a nice dinner.
Hence the name.:P:biggrin:

rsadcock - 2-7-2014 at 08:12 PM

Never had a bad meal or experience at TailHunters. It's a lot of fun to sit on the second floor and look out over the Malecon. Good food, good prices, great atmosphere and the best view for sunsets!

monoloco - 2-7-2014 at 08:16 PM

We haven't had a chance to try it out yet, but I've heard good things about El Tupe.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g150771-d410182...

acadist - 2-7-2014 at 09:21 PM

all of the above.......just love La Paz!:bounce:

Bajafun777 - 2-7-2014 at 10:50 PM

My buddy and I rented a two bedroom house between Nuevo Pekin & Tailhunters plus there is a Mariscos on the same block as Nuevo Pekin that has good food. It was a good time, as when we did not want to go far we had three places just down the steps from our rental house. The food at all three places was good but the Nuevo Pekin Chinese food is not even close to the places in Mexicali, being spoiled on great Chinese food Nuevo Pekin not even close. Tailhunters was good time and good food, laid back easy time there. The Maricos on that same block area is great and really gets packed with locals because it is really that good.

Parking at night was tough due to people going to those places so I had to move my car twice during the evening to get it back up to the house we were staying in. We rented from LaPazBay Rentals a Simon Loftus helped us. Great location when you can get a house right across the street from the Malecon and next to places to eat. Yeah, the music and people were loud at night (Friday, Saturday & Sunday) but since we stayed up later than when back home along with drinking talking about old times the noise was not a problem. LOL Take Care & Travel Safe-----"No Hurry, No Worry, Just FUN" bajafun777

bajalorena - 2-7-2014 at 11:27 PM

I would recommend Tres Virgenes!
Otra Vez used to be in Los Barriles, but moved to LaPaz. If the food and service are the same, I would NOT recommend going there.

willardguy - 2-7-2014 at 11:36 PM

"fun place with good food and atmosphere" on the malecon. I'd go to the shack!

La paz

captkw - 2-7-2014 at 11:52 PM

I will make this short as La Paz has some great places to eat if you know were to go as in any place !! coming into town ,,say from the airport heading to marina de la paz ( mac &marys) on the right before the green Agencea place is a Papa place...Its been there for as long as I can remember...Damn good food.. and I have ate there for over 25 years and have never seen a tourest eating there ?? Wait a minute...I've been in mex since 68..baja since 77...does that make me a local,,,yes !! a good food place right before the Malicon !! I don't know if the " la Perla" has reopened,since the fire ??? and at the other end almost to the playground on the left side (bay) on the right is a marisco joint that packs them in...almost at the end of the Malicon.....enjoy !!! whoops,,almost forgot...going west/north right before the purple hospital ( fide paz) on the right is el compestre another local food place.. PS..I'M Homesick !!

[Edited on 2-8-2014 by captkw]

[Edited on 2-8-2014 by captkw]

Genecag - 2-8-2014 at 12:43 AM

Azul at Costa Baja Marina is excellent and the best fine dining in La Paz. Tail Hunter is great for fish tacos and sashmi and burgers and cold beers.

El Jefe - 2-8-2014 at 07:48 AM

Thanks everyone for the great responses. Heading north in a couple hours. Should be a beautiful day!

coconaco - 2-8-2014 at 11:10 AM

Does anybody like Katrina's.
In the alley next to La Perla, on Sat nite it is a great places to watch the girls coming out for their weekly fashion show before going dancing.
This would be a great suggestion for 5 fine fisherman.

This would be a much better option than La Perla, Apple Bees or Burger King.


Does anybody like MAR y PENA?
not so close but a very solid restaurant.

MitchMan - 2-8-2014 at 12:10 PM

I like Rancho Viejo II on the malecon, next to "The Jungle" and near the corner of 16th of September. Excellent for a casual meal, prices are great and I have found the food prepared consistently well.

Also, Tony's on the malecon next to the only OXXO on the malecon and near Fritz's. Service is attentive, you can eat outside on the sidewalk, prices are very fair, pizzas and c-cktail hour food are good and always served hot and some interesting suggestions for mixed drinks...very casual place. Fritz's seems more "exciting", but for some reason, every time I go to Fritz's, I wind up eating and drinking more at Tony's.

There is a restaurant in the alley next to La Perla, could be Katrina's mentioned above. They have a dish called "Molcahetes" that is a stew served in a really hot stone bowl. You can get it as a sea food stew that has shrimp, fish, scallop or sea snail, sausage, cactus, roasted jalapeno and a great delicious chunk of hot panela cheese...to kill for. Get the flour tortillas with it. My wife and I always split one order and we both get full. Watch out for their pricing, though. The waiter out smarted me and charged me 25 pesos for each soft drink, charged extra for a few chips and salsa, and then added 11% IVA to the bill when 16% IVA was already included in the price of each item.

Lastly, you might try the crepes at a place on the malecon a couple of doors north of the corner of 16 de Septiembre. It's a small place that specializes in crepes. I love their basic crepe of butter, cinnamon and sugar...can't get enough of them...$28 pesos each and well worth it. They have all kinds of crepes, haven't eaten any other than the basic cinnamon crepe, but looking at other peoples' orders, they certainly look fabulous. I go there for a dessert treat as a traditional last night on trips to Baja in La Paz (six times a year). Great thing to do in the early evening preceding a stroll on the best board walk (malecon) in all of Mexico.

[Edited on 2-8-2014 by MitchMan]

vandenberg - 2-8-2014 at 02:13 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by MitchMan
Watch out for their pricing, though. The waiter out smarted me and charged me 25 pesos for each soft drink, charged extra for a few chips and salsa, and then added 11% IVA to the bill when 16% IVA was already included in the price of each item.


[Edited on 2-8-2014 by MitchMan]


Not much of a recommendation.
Would have been the last time I ever went to that place and would go out of my way to broadcast this.:no:

Pescador - 2-8-2014 at 02:18 PM

Hands down the very best restaurant in La Paz is the Buffalo BBQ. They have had a new chef for a little while and he is the tops. We really like Il Rustico, Estancia Uruguay, Bismarquito, but our favorite still remains the Buffalo. The last night we were in there we saw Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell ? but that is not necessarily a recommendation for the quality of the food which is off of the charts.

acadist - 2-8-2014 at 03:35 PM

And for breakfast try the


couple of blocks away but a great place with homemade bagels and homemade lox!

El Jefe - 2-10-2014 at 05:20 PM

Just thought I'd report on our night in La Paz. Pescador, we took your recommendation and went to the Buffalo BBQ a couple blocks up from the malecon. Oh my! It was really, really good! We had a giant pile of meat served family style with ribs, prime rib etc. and a couple bottles of wine. Five of us could not finish the meat, but we did manage the wine quite nicely, thank you. I would highly recommend this place to anyone who is interested in a very nice dinner out. Great garden like atmosphere too. This is not a budget place, but well worth it in my book.

(About noon the next day as we were touring artists' houses in Todos Santos we remembered the meat in the to-go box. We scarfed it down is seconds. Great the next day cold.)

We spent the night at the good old La Perla, situated right in the middle of the action. It was the usual perfect evening in La Paz with all the folks walking, skating, biking and cruising their cars up and back. Grandmas, babies, lovers, teens, couples...everyone with a ready smile. You can't beat a balmy evening along the bay in La Paz.

The hotel is kind of a faded glory, but the small, clean room with the quite firm bed was adequate for a night's rest after a long day. We ate breakfast downstairs, watching the world walk by. Our waiter had been employed there for 32 years and we remembered him from many years past. Good time was had by all.

Thanks again everyone for the tips. Can't wait to get back.

willardguy - 2-10-2014 at 05:34 PM

You can't beat a balmy evening along the bay in La Paz.

aint that the truth!:yes:

Bajahowodd - 2-10-2014 at 05:53 PM

I vote for Jonathan Roldan's Tailhunter. It's a three story, or more like 3 1/2 story place with great views of the bay. It's sort of a sports bar, but they have really good food and very fresh seafood, owing to their own fleet. They also have Negro Modelo on tap, as part of a full bar.

Las Virgines may be the best traditional restaurant in La Paz, but if someone says they want to have fun, Tailhunter works.

BajaBlanca - 2-10-2014 at 06:15 PM

I am so glad that you reported back about your final choice and the response to it.

I do also second the crepe place ... really delicious crepes.

Pescador - 2-10-2014 at 08:28 PM

I am glad you had a great experience. I find it amusing that when someone asks about a good dinner experience and then we get reports of Johathan Roldan's Tailhunter or the Shack. I have eaten in both, but that would be like comparing McDonalds or Burger King to Ruth Chris Steakhouse.
Tres Virgenes used to be the top of the list, but the prices have gone up and the quality, in my opinion, has gone down. Palermos is good in terms of ambience but I have had mediocre meals there the last two times.

Floatflyer - 2-11-2014 at 08:01 AM

We had lunch at the Shack this past Saturday. We think that it has slipped in food quality. Still very funky but, for us, we will search out other burger options. Tailhunter's has been consistent and good for us.

We also give a very good recommendation for Il Rustico for a nice dinner spot.

MitchMan - 2-11-2014 at 12:12 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Pescador
Palermos is good in terms of ambience but I have had mediocre meals there the last two times.

I have had similar experience with Palermo's. The Sunday brunch doesn't seem as good as it was 4 years ago, but, love the ambiance and décor; when they have a good pianist playing during the meal, it helps make up for the food.

Bajahowodd - 2-11-2014 at 05:53 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Pescador
I am glad you had a great experience. I find it amusing that when someone asks about a good dinner experience and then we get reports of Johathan Roldan's Tailhunter or the Shack. I have eaten in both, but that would be like comparing McDonalds or Burger King to Ruth Chris Steakhouse.
Tres Virgenes used to be the top of the list, but the prices have gone up and the quality, in my opinion, has gone down. Palermos is good in terms of ambience but I have had mediocre meals there the last two times.


The original post mentioned a fun place. I took that to mean they weren't looking for the finest cuisine in La Paz. I have never been disappointed at Tailhunter, I know that it is what it is.