If I had to eat from only one place for the rest of my life, it's be Mateo's. The ambiance is pretty unassuming, it's laid back, there's lots of wood and pebbles. The food is absolutely outstanding. I had the best fish tacos and ceviche of my life here. I also had a deliciously creamy pina colada which topped off one of my best culinary experiences. The service is also great. Despite the language barrier, our waiter entertained us and joked with us and got our order perfectly. This is not some small plated, 5 star experimental food. This is I've-walked-all-day-and-want-to-stuff-my-face food. A++ read more

Awesome place for lunch or dinner. Amazing seating, feels like you are eating in a tree house. The smoothies are great, and so is the food. All the seafood is cooked very well, and the shrimp is delicious. They have many games to play downstairs, like fuseball and ping pong. All the waiters are very helpful and the food came pretty quickly. It was a little pricy but you get what you pay for. Would highly recommend. read more

Extremely mediocre. Tepid food; even colder service. No atmosphere.

Possibly the best shrimp tacos ever. Pretty much solid and authentic on all counts. And amazing service gets the 5 stars for sure. Try the sunset at upstairs for a great happy hour view. read more

Good food and good atmosphere, a really nice place to relax and enjoy some drinks and food. Typical Mexican fare and above average quality. They have expanded quite a bit over the years but the pleasant atmosphere has stayed the same. The grilled meats are my favorite for dinner, and the smoothies are great with breakfast too. read more

For anyone who is looking for a Mexican American experience, this is your place! They bring you chips and fresh salsa apon arrival, no need to ask. They have ESPN, all the channels, including ESPN U and will change the tv to whatever game you are looking for. Their fish tacos are amazing, especially if you order them on corn tortillas. They have this Agua natural with pineapple that is so refreshing and delightful, you forget it's hot and humid outside. They also give you a fan apon request which makes the outside seating more bearable. Overall, the best place for mexican American food. read more

Mateo's is an absolute MUST! We went in a group of 6 and everyone LOVED their food! The guacamole is out of this world and the chips that they come with are the best chips I've ever had! We ordered a quesadilla, burrito, tacos and everything was great! The drinks were also tasty , the atmosphere is great, and the service was also one of the best out of all the places we went in Tulum . #TwoThumbsUp read more

Came here for breakfast last week. The only good things I can say about this restaurant is the location and the coffee. My boyfriend and I both got the chilaquiles, I green, and he red. Both of our sauces are not good, the eggs on top were runny. I have had a lot of chilaquiles and these were some of the worst, you wouldn't expect that from a restaurant in Mexico. read more

If you're going to choose to come to Mateo's, understand that you're in a very touristy area and as a result, the value you get for your peso will likely be impacted accordingly. I would expect that you would have a similar experience at other nearby establishments. That being said, it should be known that Mateo's is a nice looking venue, but exceptionally underwhelming from a price standpoint. We ordered two entrees: (i) Chicken Kabobs and (ii) Steak Tacos. The chicken kabobs tasted reasonably good, however, if you're expecting to eat chicken, then I would turn to another item. The two kabobs provided each only had two small pieces of chicken (4 in total) which may have totaled .1 lb of meat in total at best, the rest green pepper, a few pieces of onion and pineapple. This came alongside a small amount of rice and a mediocre salad. The "steak" tacos are actually just ground beef. Understanding we're talking about the same animal, this is a little misleading. The food was fine, but we would have been much more satisfied had we gone to the local street taco stand for 60 pesos and picked up a delicious meal, then gone to Mateo's for some beers. Instead, we paid ~$45 USD for a meal that was about as good as your average [insert underwhelming U.S.-based Mexican chain restaurant]. Mexico is great at trying to take advantage of tourists every chance they get and this venue is no different. But if you're just in it for the venue and atmosphere, this may be a good choice for you. Oh yeah, despite their prominently displayed sign indicating happy hour from 4-7pm, M-F, our server decided not to honor it for us at 4:30pm on a Monday. No explanation, just, "no, not today." Nice bait and switch. read more

Mateo's - Coco-loco - Mexican Near Me - Tulum, ROO

Best view in Tulum. I recommend enjoying some Happy Hour-priced drinks on the roof and watching the sunset over the jungle. If you stay for dinner, get the fish of the day - it is huge and so delicious and you can pick from a variety of preparations and dipping sauces. The night I ate here, there was the most amazing band playing and the whole restaurant was singing and dancing. Overall a really great experience. read more

Favorite restaurant in Tulum!!! Hands down. After the small disappointments and high bills of some of the "blogger" eateries, Mateos is the real deal. This is the authentic diamond you are looking for. Come for sunset and have a beer in a sunset lounge hammock - ultimate vacation relaxation luxury. Then head downstairs for the live music and Baja fish tacos for dinner. Keep the party going and finish with ping pong with your sweetie in the back courtyard. Tulum doesn't get any better than this. read more

Great vibes, good music and delicious drinks in the perfect location right on the strip. The food was pretty decent.

Ok food and amazing service! Very cute place and was so fun to watch the soccer game however it's way overpriced!

Although (fish) tacos were good, they weren't great. Service was great. Fun vibe, good music. Speedy service. Prices are decent compared to everything else on the strip. Portions are generous. read more

Got chips , few drinks and fish tacos :) not gona lie one of the best tacos i have ever had

This place is the bomb! For me it was one of the better places to eat in Cancun. I had the burrito both times that I have been here and it was so good. I had both the chicken and the steak and they are not skimpy on the meat. The first time I had the chicken burrito plain without the chile green pork sauce and it was delicious. The second time I had a steak burrito with the sauce and it was amazing. My wife had the fish tacos which everyone raved about. The only bad thing I could say was I did order the Nada coloda and it is what it was called. It had Nada in it but ice water no flavor at all. Other than that it was great and fun atmosphere. read more

Maria and I shared (a meal unto itself) the veggie kabob. She followed that up with a massive veggie burger and I the fish tacos.

Amazing food! We had the tex mex burgers and they were so filling and delicious! It wasa bit expensive since it was a beach road restaurant. But the beers were fairly priced. read more

Good food and drinks every time we stopped by this place. They really did have the best fish tacos I've every had and all the other food we ate was fresh and delicious (even the drinks, so so fresh if you get something fruit based) I will say that the service seemed a tad slow for being such a slow time of the year (they were never "busy" while we were here) but I'm giving them extra points for jsut being open (many of the popular restaurants in Tulum were closed do to renovations during our stay (Hartwood, Posada Margherita, Gitano). Plus, I think some of these smaller places are underrated compared to the ultra-hipster spots... I am actually glad those spots were closed so that we could experience some of the smaller "hidden gems" (as my husband called them). Anyway, you have to visit Mateos if you are in Tulum and yes, get the fish tacos! read more

Rapist!!! My girlfriend, my family and friends all went to Mateos for a nice dinner which turned out to be a nightmare! I brought my girlfriend out to the car in the parking lot to get ready to leave for the night. I went back inside to get the rest of our group and upon our return someone had RAPED her in the back seat of the car! I can not even start to explain how upset I am and was. We immediately went to the manager to get help and called the police. Both were of little to no help. The rapist left his walkie talkie in the back of the car, evidence of who it was that was there and the manager would not tell us who's it was! There were only so many men working at the restaurant that night and when we did a line up of all the workers there were two missing. How the police and manager don't who it is, is beyond me. I am so frustrated and disheartened by this whole event and cannot tell you all enough TO NEVER PUT YOURSELF ON THE PREMISS OF MATEOS!!. read more

I was here 2 nights ago during the week. It was a pretty quiet night, live music and good service. It's a bit overpriced and that's why I give 4 stars. Waiters were friendly. Awesome rooftop seating for a great view. read more

Food was okay, I personally ordered the Arrachera tacos (beef) and the beef is weird. Not sure whether it is the texture or what. Others had chicken tacos, burrito, and whole fish and they were not satisfied either. We had just driven in from Cancun and was really hungry. Apart from this, our food took very long and they were not that full. It seems this place and others near by are more for drinking. After a few days in Tulum, Cancun, Chichen-itza I would have to say that beef is not available as much and pork is. read more

Scamming waiter.....Went there for dinner last night.. Everything was actually amazing!! Food was fresh and music was great. The only reason this place does not get a great rating is because of our server. We had to flag him down every time we needed something. Seeing this is our honeymoon we did order a bunch of drinks and had a great time until that same waiter attempted to rip us off. I Asked if service was included and he said NO. CLEARLY A LIE WHEN I READ THE WHOLE BILL....He played dumb and even when i wanted change, he took as long as possible to return. I let him have the 7 bucks. I'm sure he will eat it after this review... read more

Incredible fish tacos and yummy drinks! Try the Baja fish tacos (add the tamarind sauce and the secret sauce) and a mango margarita.

The BEST atmosphere on the rooftop for drinks. The music is amazing, views incredible, drinks are great. You won't leave without a smile :)

Sweet fajitas. Its like an open lounge/bar with a skyroof balcony. We ate here pretty much everyday or every night before we headed to Cancun for the night. One of the staff gave us an issue with tips one night and the other wasnt really friendly. This is a spot were foreigners visit often and the staff almost act like they hate it lol. But the food was good. Gets no better. read more

this place was cool. try their local beers (not very many places offer it) and their fish tacos are VERY good. this was one of a few places that took cc but only amex. solid spot, i would return. read more

Shrimp tacos were amazing. On our way back to the hotel we stopped in for lunch and we were pleasantly surprised with the quality of food and service. We've now been there three times on this trip and plan to go one last time. read more

The salsa, fish and appetizer sampler were amazing to say the least. It was a higher price than I was hoping to pay and almost walked away after looking at the menu. The fish is super super fresh. Highly recommend read more

FOOD POISONING - DON'T EAT THERE!! My husband and I got the worst food poisoning from this place (we had octopus for lunch, which was praised to be "riquisimo"...), ending up at the emergency room the same evening. We lost 1,5 days of our vacation, and when going back to the place to inform the manager, the only reply was he could not speak to us "because he is having breakfast"... So much about that. Strongly recommend to avoid this place!!! read more

Fun place and food is yummy. Whatever you do DO NOT order Water... Ha ha ha :) will cost you 135 Pesos

We stopped at Mateos for lunch because they had parking, which is a big deal in Tulum. Lunch was incredible and we immediately became obsessed with their smoothies and the coco loco. We decided to come back the next night for dinner. The food was so good and the live music was incredible. If it hadn't been our last night, we probably would've come back every night at least for drinks. The vibe is so cool and chill. We even swung by our last morning to get smoothies for the ride to the airport. I tell everyone to go read more

Second time there in two days, and I still would go again. Best grilled fish tacos on Tulum beach, no doubt! Cocktails are strong and worth it. Staff is on point, very attentive and well organized. If you need to watch a big game- this is your spot (they played the NBA finals and Copa America last night). Was also there during an afternoon and the mood was very relaxed and chill with reggae and dub music. Highly recommend for good food and drink at a decent Tulum Beach price. read more

Bring plenty of cash, a flashlight and bug spray - Mateo's only accepts Amex while the ATM dispenses USD at a 7% service charge; the mood lighting makes the menu impossible to read and whatever lives in the gravel floor will feast on your foot well before you get a chance to taste what Mateo has to offer. Which isn't much read more

Hands down the BEST fish tacos I've ever had! We kept coming back here for lunch and dinner during our one week stay. We ordered the steak fajitas and those were unreal too! If you are planning your trip to Tulum, you HAVE to stop and eat here. read more

one of the best dinners we had during our trip there! Really enjoyed the music and atmosphere. Check it out if you are in Tulum. Its worth it. read more

The taco's here are GREAT and there is usually an infectious ambience with loads of people and live music. The margaritas are fabulous as well (except the jalapeño margarita, that one wasn't for my palate and hard to power through). A great place to go eat when you want to eat in Boca Paila but don't want to break the bank. read more

Great service across from the beach. You can't actually see the beach and they don't live up to the name of best fish tacos but they are good nonetheless.I got the grilled fish taco and it was a little heavy on the fish flavor. My friends got the fried fish taco and it was much more palatable. Anyways, fish tacos are fish tacos and some taste strong. Otherwise the food was great. We had a blast and the drinks were good. A very good place for travelers to meet other travelers. Sometimes it was a little fratty but for the most part a very eclectic crowd of mostly foreigners. read more

Food was decent except anything veggies served with their main dishes. Veggies tasted super bland. Live band was great. The only problem we had was when we had to pay for the check. They said their credit card machine was broken and made us take out American cash from a nearby ATM which had a surcharge of $40 USD for a $500 USD bill. Also, they put the conversion terms in their favor instead of the true value of pesos to USD. Essentially, we were about to pay $100 extra just for paying in USD and not pesos. When we argued, the manager came out and and said he would attempt to charge it to a credit card to see if it would work. It magically worked so we didn't have to pay wish US cash. All this made it seem like they were being shady instead of just accepting the credit card up front for a large bill. If you end up coming here to eat, make sure you bring pesos or be adamant about using a credit card to pay. read more