The best meal we had in Bacalar! Although I'm not a fan of dimly lit restaurants, the ambience,…read moredecor and overall style of this place was very authentic and aesthetic. Upon entry, the open air cooking is fully exposed so you can see them making fresh tortillas on this open fire pit, grilling meats, food prep, everything. We received it and a large round table in the middle of the restaurant right next to the little boutique shop. The menu was filled with so many different dishes, we went overboard. You start with these freshly made tostadas and several homemade salsa for dipping. The tostadas were a bit on the hard side, but I think it's because they are made fresh. They also give everybody a small cup of what tastes like kombucha to eat in digestion. For starters, we had the mixed ceviche, guacamole, tuna tar tare, Koji sliders, watermelon salad. I felt like after that everybody was stuffed, but since the main entrees said it would take anywhere from 40 to 60 minutes to prepare, we had already ordered our main entrees dishes so we knew we were in it for the long haul. The sliders were sizable and had a nice sweet flavor, loved the tuna tar tare, fresh, perfectly seasoned, the guac was chunky and tasted very fresh. It was served on top of these crispy little possibly plantain chips. well the watermelon salad was good. We just weren't bands of warm fruit in a salad so that might've been the only miss of the night. For entrées, we ordered the tuna steak, one ribeye, one fillet mignon, the Thai salad, and I believe the sea bass. To Be honest, I was already 4 margaritas deep so I can't remember much but I do remember that the food being gooood! Everybody was very happy with their meal. My son said it was the best steak that he'd ever had. Drinks are definitely strong.... And we also enjoyed all of the desserts which the tiramisu was my favorite. We had an amazing service from Erik and Marisol. Great restaurant and food, impeccable service. I would highly recommend for a special occasion as you could easily dress up and make it a very memorable dinner. My only warning would be that because of the open kitchen style of the restaurant. It does get a little smoky in there while you're eating, but that's the small price to pay for a great meal.!

I visited Bacalar in November, and two months later I'm still dreaming about coming back just to…read moreeat here. My boyfriend and I arrived for dinner without reservations but got there right when they opened and were seated immediately. Our waiter was fantastic. He explained how the restaurant works, offered us a tour, and walked us through the menu with thoughtful, spot-on recommendations. We were brought complimentary chips and salsa, and since we were told our entrées would take 45 minutes to an hour in the wood-fired oven, we started with the ceviche de maracuyá. So worth it. For our mains, my boyfriend ordered the steak and I got the lobster. Both were excellent, but the lobster... wow. I'm from the Bahamas and grew up eating great lobster, and I can honestly say this was the best lobster of my life. Something about the seasoning and the wood-fire cooking made it unbelievably rich and decadent. I haven't stopped thinking about it since. By the time we were finishing our meal, the restaurant had filled up, but it never felt too loud or chaotic. The space felt intimate, with dim lighting, planets scattered throughout the decor, and perfectly spaced tables that made the whole experience feel special. Out of all the places we ate in Bacalar, this was hands down the best, and the one we still talk about.

The food sucks but the view and swimming are great. I'd say just go here for drinks and swimming…read more The service is slow, but the wait staff is very friendly and kind.

Terrible food. (Was a bug made in with my eggs) Terrible…read moreservice. (Treated me like I wasn't there) Terrible ambiance. (Scorpions crawling everywhere basically a hut with bugs) WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND

PERMANENTLY CLOSED. It used to be a great place…read more Beautiful location, great view, Excellent food at reasonable prices. However the property was recently sold and the restaurant had to close down permanently. Let's hope they can find a new location with equal beauty so they can continue with great food and great service.

Delicious food and amazing service! We had the ceviche and salads, both ample enough to share and…read morealso in quality. As long as you eat or drink you can use their pier and chairs to enter the lagoon. It's amazing option. We also arranged to take a tour for tomorrow, 2 hours and 20 minutes for 400 pesos. Can't go wrong. I will come back here again and again!

The part I enjoyed the most was the atmosphere. There was sand everywhere, beautiful restaurant…read more Some of the servers were friendly. The food can take a while to arrive but it was served hot so worth the wait. Cocktails were phenomenal.

This is a. Wet cute clean place located in the centro area. Morning is known for their breakfast…read more I've had the chili quilas and the enmolidas and both were amazing. I've also had a sandwich before and that was also really good. Not a lot of non tortas down here but this was one of the best I've had

To start, the service and mezcalita's were amazing. We started with the tuna tatar, so good!…read more(Forgot to take a pic) I had the salmon Bacalar, it was so delicious and my bf had the grilled lobster hamburger, and enjoyed every bite! Both dishes arrived hot and with very little wait. We would highly recommend this place and would love to come back again.

the atmosphere and food were divine! we ordered the chips and guac which tasted freshly made. we…read moreordered the steak with rice and beans and the filet fish with rice and beans. the steak was delicious but i did ask for medium, and it came out more on the rare side. my boyfriend ordered the fish which was so tender and fresh. affordable and delicious. we ordered two entrees, an appetizer, and two rounds of drinks for all under 55 USD. and there was amazing live music that played the whole night. would recommend to anyone visiting!

Great food selection between appetisers, steaks, pastas, chicken dishes, chivitos, and empenadas…read more There is also a nice wine selection and we enjoyed a bottle of a Chilean red. On our first visit here, I enjoyed beef carpaccio, a minute steak, and a salad -- I was bursting at the seams and still took food home. My husband had a queso fundido con chistorra and a salad and was satisfied. The carpaccio was outstanding-- so tender and flavourful; absolutely perfect. The minute steak was perfectly seasoned and cooked. My husband was thrilled with the fundido--hot rich cheese and spicy salty meat morsels; what's not to love? On our most recent visit, we entertained friends who were impressed and really loved their meal. The steaks and salmon were fantastic; great wood smoke char on very tender beef and a glorious butter-drenched fish. They also had the papas gajo, twice fried wedges that were light and crisp. The sides of grilled onion and roasted mushrooms were large enough to share. And the mushrooms were fantastically browned whole and delectably juicy in each bite. A meal all by itself. The chivito sandwich with picaña. Wow! Big sandwich with avocado, tomato, lettuce, onion, mustard, cheese, ham, and thick slices of steak. BIG sandwich. 1/2 went home with me. The chivito bread is fantastic and also served as a side with your steak. Service was professional and courteous. The waiter was knowledgable and gracious with a group of Americans who spoke little to no Spanish. The menu is available in English. The restaurant is a little older, but the simple decor and thoughtful details make for a charming dining room. Definitely recommend getting empenadas. If you can't squeeze them into your meal, get some to go. The pastry is delightfully crisp and tasty. The range of fillings is generous as is the size of the empanada. Enjoy!

My family always come here to dine in because we think it is one of the best steak places around…read more They are very picky eaters, so if they end up liking a place, it means it is extremely good. They are located perfectly near the sea side, and not that hard to find. If you have multiple family members drinking the same drink you're able to order a jug instead of a glass. We got their orange juice and Jamaica drink. They are really good, especially the Jamaica. Some may find it too sweet so you can always dilute it with a bit of water and it still ends up pretty good. Their free bread that they've provided to us was perfectly made. It has been stuff with butter, garlic and what looks like cheese. It was very delicious especially with the side oil garnish they provide. We started off with empanadas meat and cheese stuffing. It was really good especially with a side of pepper sauce. We also order sausages. It was just those prepackaged sausages so nothing special about those. We ordered spaghetti and some steaks. You can never come here and not eat steak. The steak portion we order is huge so we always end up eating family style. The spaghetti was alright, but the steak was the best thing. We got medium well, but the meat was super tender and juicy. The way they made it was wood BBQ, so the amount of char was the best. The service here was very quick when we came. That probably have something to do with us being the only table here. My family said the food doesn't usually arrive that quickly. This is a great place to dine at. Perfect for a fancy date or casual gathering as well, depending on your budget.

Very chill and again fabulous service in Bacalar. Truth be told, La Pina was super close to our…read morehotel and I had a broken finger from an accident that occurred earlier. As we strolled up to the restaurant there was obviously a cook having a beak sitting on a small stool out front. I asked her what we should order. Without hesitation she replied huaraches. Now I believe the name refers to the shape being similar to the soles sandal's but the dish that arrives stacked with fresh crispy lettuce on top of a delicious mix of steak drunks and shrimp sitting on a 2mm thick handmade blue miaz tortilla. Two cream drizzles and the open fire kitchen flavours permeated the entire dish. We also ordered a felafel and a chilli rellano. Both were very good. Excellent authentic flavours packer full of loving care. Bravo and thanks.

Everything here was bad except the copal they were burning…read more We ordered a burrito, fries, guacamole, a fish filet, ceviche with tomatoes as a sub for pineapple and mango, and extra tortillas. We also ordered two drunk smoothies with two shots in each (basically blended alcoholic drinks). Out of what we ordered, here's what we got: -Filet fish, without extra tortillas, it was bad. -one blended smoothie with not alcohol to be tasted in it, and one regular mixed drink with seemingly only a shot in it -a small molcajete with decent guacamole and hard, overly greasy chips--this was the best thing on the table -the vegano burrito was okay, but flavorless And the fries that came on the side were too undercooked to want to eat -the ceviche had 8 pieces of fish that was basically just poke/sashimi because it hadn't soaked in the acid bath that is required to make ceviche, and it also had 10 pieces of shrimp, which was just basically Raw shrimp. The majority of what was on the plate was long, raw red onions and a third of a tomatoes that was sliced and laying on top. -I didn't order anything else because I didn't trust them to make anything good after everything we ordered was bad and they forgot our order of fries. The staff was also rude, and would walk away while we were still talking, and made no eye contact with us when we ordered or exchanged words. Our Spanish wasn't great, so perhaps they were just jaded about tourists

Every time we visit Bacalar, we always dine here. Everything that they do is on point. From the…read morefood, drinks, service and ambiance. Yolanda is our lovely and kind server tonight. She gave us wonderful recommendations on the menu. The Corazon burger is amazing!!! And that fillet tuna is definitely a favorite. I highly recommend visiting this place to finish off a great vacation in Bacalar. Thank you El Barril!!!

I'm not sure how this place has so many great reviews. We went for dinner on the recommendation of…read moreour host. We were sat quickly and had our choice of seating. The atmosphere was nice. The server was nice but inattentive. We repeatedly had to ask multiple times for water, the bill, basic condiments. She didn't bother to return after delivering the food to see if everything was OK. The waitress had to go ask someone about every request, even the simplest ones. We ordered the mixed grill which was edible but an uninspired pile of mostly chicken with one pork rib, one sausage and a few vegetables thrown in, all smothered in BBQ sauce, which left everything tasting more or less the same. We also had the guacamole, which was decent but needed salt which I had to ask for. If I had visited the bathroom before we ordered I wouldn't have even bothered to eat there. The women's bathroom was out of order so I was pointed to the men's room. The water in the sink was not working and there was a bucket of cloudy soapy water in the sink presumably to "wash" my hands in. There was a pile of dirt and rocks all over the counter next to the sink. They don't accept credit cards and when we paid cash the exchange rate they gave was well below what is typical for the area. This in a place that is frequented by tourists. The food was expensive for the quality and service provided. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. There are other much better options in the area.