Want to know where the locals eat in Cabo San Lucas? This post shares (in our opinion) the 14 best local restaurants in Cabo San Lucas.
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Where the locals eat in Cabo San Lucas
Crazy, colourful chaotic Cabo San Lucas is a resort city at the southern tip of the state of Baja California Sur in Mexico.
While Cabo has a reputation as a raucous tourist town, there are two distinct sides to Cabo San Lucas. The part developed to cater for Western tourists and the areas reserved for the locals.
Whilst tourism has had a positive economic impact on the area, it can be difficult to find the ‘real’ Cabo.
This especially extends to the cuisine, with many places in the touristy Marina and Medano Beach areas offering a menu adapted to tourist tastes (with the prices to match).
But when we visited Cabo San Lucas, we wanted to eat what the locals ate (at the prices they paid!).
With a bit of research, and simply walking away from the touristy areas, we found some real gems dishing up authentic Mexican cuisine.
This post shares (in our opinion) the 14 best local restaurants in Cabo San Lucas. Prepare to drool!
Food tours in Cabo San Lucas
Before I get stuck into the list I want to briefly mention the food tour we took in Cabo.
If you really want to get into the local dining scene in Cabo San Lucas and uncover the best local spots, cheap tacos and authentic Mexican food, we 10000% recommend taking a food tour with Juan More Tacos.
It was one of the best things we did in Cabo, and we’re so glad we did it right at the beginning of our trip, so we could go back to all the places their guide showed us.
We learnt so much about Mexican food, how to eat, what to pair things with and different dishes on the menu that we wouldn’t have tried otherwise.
Highly recommended!
🌮 Book your Cabo San Lucas food tour with Juan More Tacos here
14 Best local restaurants in Cabo San Lucas
1. Los Claros
- 📍 Location: on Google Maps here
- 🍴 Eat here for: lunch or dinner
- ⏰ Opening hours: 10:00 am – 9:00 pm daily
- 💰 Approximate cost: from 45 MXN per taco
- 🌮 Speciality dish: seafood tacos and ceviche tostadas
If you are looking for some delicious seafood tacos at an amazing price, you cannot go past Los Claros!
A typical local restaurant, complete with plastic chairs and upbeat Mexican tunes, the food here is mouthwatering. These were probably the best fish and shrimp tacos we had in Cabo San Lucas, and we went back multiple times it was so good!
Their fish (pescado) and shrimp (camaron) come in a variety of options, but we highly recommend the ‘crunch’ option. This is their version of battered/fried, and it was light, fluffy and delicious.
The salad bar here is by far the best we have visited, with an amazing variety of salads, chillies, salsas, sauces and more. We loved the ceviche tostadas too for something different.
At the time of writing, their tacos were between 45 – 60 pesos, which is around $2.50 – $3.50 USD – not bad at all!
Oh, and their flavoured margaritas were absolutely delicious (try the jalapeno if you like a bit of spice!). When we visited they were just 99 pesos, which is the cheapest we found all over Cabo San Lucas.
2. Taqueria el Paisa
- 📍 Location: on Google Maps here (second location further downtown here)
- 🍴 Eat here for: breakfast, lunch or dinner
- ⏰ Opening hours: 8:00 am – 2:00 am daily
- 💰 Approximate cost: from 50 MXN per taco
- 🌮 Speciality dish: al pastor and carne asada tacos
What started out as a single taco stand has grown to a Cabo icon, for both tourists and locals alike.
In the heart of the nightclub area of Cabo, Taqueria el Paisa grew in popularity as a spot for late-night tacos after a night of drinking.
Opening from 8 am – 2 am daily, it has earned multiple TripAdvisor awards and is a firm favourite for tacos at any hour. Expect a short wait for a table as it is so popular, but the quick service means you shouldn’t be waiting too long.
The name of the game here is al pastor (pork cooked on a Mexican-style spit, with pineapple), and carne asada (steak) tacos.
There are two main preparation stations which we thoroughly enjoyed watching.
One is the al pastor spit, where you can watch the impressive knife work of the chef thinly slicing the meat into a waiting tortilla and topping it off with a slice of pineapple, some onion, cilantro and a splash of salsa. The speed at which all this occurs is mind-boggling, and you will be sitting in awe (and drool!).
The other station they have is for the asada (steak). You can see large pieces being grilled over hot coals, before being transferred to a board to be finely chopped at breakneck speed.
They offer a whole range of other tacos and menu items, but take our advice and stick with these two. The al pastor tacos were some of the best we ate in Mexico.
They are very affordable too, with both options costing 50 pesos per taco at the time of writing.
3. Taqueria el Zarape
- 📍 Location: on Google Maps here
- 🍴 Eat here for: dinner or late-night tacos
- ⏰ Opening hours: 11:00 am – 5:00 am daily
- 💰 Approximate cost: from 115 MXN for a serving of 5 tacos
- 🌮 Speciality dish: al pastor tacos
Forget about late-night McDonalds to soak up a few drinks. In Mexico, it’s late-night tacos and if you’re in Cabo, Taqueria el Zarape is where you’ll be stumbling to.
One of the best local restaurants in Cabo San Lucas for a late-night feed, Taqueria el Zarape is open each day from 11:00 am – 5 am.
You will smell it before you see it, with patrons greeted by the mouthwatering al pastor cooking on the spit outside the restaurant.
We were staying down the road at Cabo Inn and did a happy dance when we turned down the street to see the restaurant open after a night of New Year’s celebrations.
Be sure to ask for a menu in pesos, as they have a separate ‘tourist’ menu in English listed in US dollars.
Some reviews on TripAdvisor speak of being scammed, but it’s not like this doesn’t occur all over the world. And I would hardly say being charged the equivalent of 50 pesos per taco on the gringo menu is being ripped off.
If you get local prices, props to you – but the al pastor tacos are worth it at any cost in our eyes! Especially at 3 in the morning after a few too many margaritas.
4. Tacos Gardenias
- 📍 Location: on Google Maps here
- 🍴 Eat here for: breakfast, lunch or dinner
- ⏰ Opening hours: 8:00 am – 10:00 pm daily
- 💰 Approximate cost: from 65 MXN per taco
- 🌮 Speciality dish: seafood tacos
Whilst Tacos Gardenias is a little on the pricey side and definitely a popular option with tourists, it is still a beloved local restaurant worth visiting in Cabo San Lucas.
The restaurant has been run by a local family for over 30 years, growing from plastic tables and chairs! The service was fantastic and we loved chatting with the friendly staff.
This was the first place we ate after arriving in Mexico, after a very long journey from Australia. Maybe it was just the relief and joy of finally touching down, but we still think these are some of the best seafood tacos we’ve ever had!
You get the perfect assortment of salads and salsas delivered to your table and the fried fish and shrimp tacos melt in your mouth.
Expect to pay around 65 pesos per taco (at the time we visited). The margaritas weren’t the cheapest we had (around 180 pesos), but they were served in an enormous challis and were practically two drinks in one.
5. Birrieria Los Paisas
- 📍 Location: on Google Maps here
- 🍴 Eat here for: breakfast or lunch
- ⏰ Opening hours: 7:00 am – 6:00 pm daily
- 💰 Approximate cost: from 40 MXN per taco
- 🌮 Speciality dish: birria tacos and quesadillas
One spot we didn’t have the pleasure of eating at was Birrieria Los Paisas, but not for lack of trying! We walked past many times, and each time there were lines out the door and not a spare table in sight.
Birria tacos gained international fame on social media in 2021, and are now served in Mexican eateries all over the world.
But birria isn’t a new thing in Mexico.
This Mexican stew is traditionally made with goat, but more commonly with beef or lamb. Slow-cooked for hours, the soft, delicious goodness is then put inside a taco.
Our top tip? Order it ‘dorado’ or golden. The tortilla will be dipped into the juices from the stew and fried, creating a crispy exterior with a juicy inside. DROOL!
If you can get a table, head here and try the famous birria tacos. We also read that their quesabirrias (birria quesadillas) are delicious.
6. Los Tacos May
- 📍 Location: on Google Maps here
- 🍴 Eat here for: breakfast or lunch
- ⏰ Opening hours: 7:00 am – 4:00 pm daily
- 💰 Approximate cost: from 35 MXN per taco
- 🌮 Speciality dish: traditional tacos not for the faint-hearted
Los Tacos May is a typical hole-in-the-wall taco shop in Downtown Cabo San Lucas.
They serve up some interesting taco options, that aren’t for the faint-hearted but are very popular and typical with the locals.
The menu features lengua tacos (beef tongue), cabeza tacos (beef head) and corazon tacos (beef heart).
We visited Los Tacos May as part of a food tour with Juan More Taco, and our guide suggested if we wanted to try something a little different, but not too crazy, the heart was the most conservative option.
Brayden and I tried a beef heart taco, and if I’m honest it wasn’t bad! It tasted very meaty, like a stew, but once you added some salads and salsas it was pretty good.
They seem to have started offering some more standard options since our visit, like barbacoa (brisket), mole de pollo (chicken mole), bistek con papas (steak with potato) and chorizo.
These are some of the cheapest prices for tacos we saw in Cabo San Lucas, around 35 pesos per taco at the time of our visit.
🌮 Heading to San Jose del Cabo too? Sample all the best tacos in San Jose!
7. Guy Who Sells Tamales In Front Of MILANO
- 📍 Location: on Google Maps here
- 🍴 Eat here for: dinner
- ⏰ Opening hours: 5:30 pm – 10:00 pm daily (or until sold out)
- 💰 Approximate cost: from 30 MXN per tamale
- 🌮 Speciality dish: tamales
Yes, the name of this place in Google Maps is ‘Guy Who Sells Tamales In Front Of MILANO‘ and I am so happy he has become so popular he has his own Google profile!
There’s not much more to tell than you this is literally just a guy who sells tamales on the street out the front of the department store Milano.
He arrives at around 5:15 pm each evening, and you can bet there will be a line of people waiting! He comes with two or three huge pots filled with tamales and will stay until he’s sold out.
He’s got a range of different flavours, like pollo (chicken), puerco (pork), poblano con queso (poblano pepper with cheese). They’re dirt cheap, filling and delicious.
8. Tacos Guss
- 📍 Location: on Google Maps here
- 🍴 Eat here for: breakfast, lunch, dinner or late night
- ⏰ Opening hours: 8:30 am – 6:00 am
- 💰 Approximate cost: from 40 MXN per taco
- 🌮 Speciality dish: all kinds of tacos
Yes, you read correctly. Every day, Tacos Guss opens its doors at 8:30 am, and it doesn’t shut until 6 am the following day. 21 hours per day of taco goodness!
If you’re looking for cheap, quick and typical tacos, Tacos Guss is your place. This really is where the locals eat in Cabo San Lucas!
In typical Mexican fashion, you’ll get a tray of salads and an assortment of salads delivered to your table, to dress your plain tacos how you like.
If you want to branch out from tacos, they also make great tortas (Mexican sandwiches), oh and the margaritas are good!
9. Carnitas Los Michoacanos
- 📍 Location: on Google Maps here
- 🍴 Eat here for: breakfast or lunch
- ⏰ Opening hours: 7:00 am – 5:30 pm daily
- 💰 Approximate cost: from 40 MXN per taco
- 🌮 Speciality dish: carnitas
Another traditional type of taco you should try in Mexico is carnitas. Originating in the state of Michoacan (hence this restaurant’s name), carnitas is basically Mexico’s version of pulled pork.
The meat is flavoured with spices and slow-cooked for hours, creating a juicy, fatty and delicious taco topping. Los Michoacanos is the best place in Cabo to try carnitas.
Every Wednesday and Saturday they have a promotion with 2-for-1 tacos, and on Mondays 2-for-1 tortas. Check their Facebook page to confirm the days haven’t changed. It’s worth planning your visit for an extra cheap meal!
10. Los Tres Gallos
- 📍 Location: on Google Maps here
- 🍴 Eat here for: lunch or dinner
- ⏰ Opening hours: 11:00 am – 10:00 pm daily
- 💰 Approximate cost: from 400 pesos for main dishes
- 🌮 Speciality dish: a variety of traditional Mexican main dishes
I was hesitant to include Los Tres Gallos on this list, as it has become a very popular tourist restaurant. However the roots of this restaurant are authentically Mexican, and they serve up high-quality and traditional Mexican dishes from around the country (try the mole!).
What I will say is that this is an expensive restaurant. It’s not a streetside taco stand. But in addition to hearty meals, you’re paying for the atmosphere.
The restaurant is housed inside a historic open-air brick building, filled with fruit trees, strung with lights and colourful flags. It’s a gorgeous vibe, and they have live music and mariachi bands for a complete ‘night out’.
Personally, we didn’t eat here as it was way outside our budget. But I can see its merit, especially if you’re looking for a more romantic or formal dining experience.
It is rated 4.4 stars on Google from over 1,200 reviews. And whilst many of those reviews are from tourists, I guarantee you’ll still see local Mexican families here, celebrating a special occasion.
11. La Esquina Choyera
- 📍 Location: different branches – Medano | Cerrito del Timbre | Playa
- 🍴 Eat here for: breakfast, lunch or dinner
- ⏰ Opening hours: 4:30 am – 9:00 pm daily ( Cerrito del Timbre branch)
- 💰 Approximate cost: from 160 MXN for breakfast dishes
- 🌮 Speciality dish: breakfast burritos and chilaquiles
If you want to try a traditional Mexican-style breakfast, La Esquina Choyera is the place.
They serve up some famous burritos, as well as other Mexican breakfast dishes such as chilaquiles, huevos rancheros and of course coffee and fresh juices.
We recommend trying the machaca burritos. Machaca is a dried beef, that is very traditional to Baja California Sur. Oh, and if you’re still hungry the empanadas are delicious!
Open early from 6 am, this is a great place to head for a big breakfast before a tour or day of exploring.
12. Jarro Cafe & Grill
- 📍 Location: on Google Maps here
- 🍴 Eat here for: breakfast or lunch
- ⏰ Opening hours: 7:00 am – 3:30 pm Thursday – Tuesday (closed Wednesdays)
- 💰 Approximate cost: from 150 MXN for breakfast dishes
- 🌮 Speciality dish: traditional Mexican breakfast dishes
Another fantastic place for a hearty Mexican breakfast in Cabo San Lucas is Jarro Cafe & Grill.
Offering Mexican-stye breakfast dishes, coffee and fresh juices, this is the perfect place to fuel up for a big day in Cabo. It’s a small place tucked down a quiet side street, but it’s worth hunting out!
If you want to sample all the typical breakfast dishes, order their Mexican Combo. It includes huevos rancheros, chilaquiles, beans, a tamale and a coffee.
13. Churros Rellenos
- 📍 Location: on Google Maps here
- 🍴 Eat here for: dessert
- ⏰ Opening hours: evenings most days (inconsistent hours)
- 💰 Approximate cost: from 25 pesos per stuffed churro
- 🌮 Speciality dish: stuffed churros
You can eat all the tacos you like, but without dessert, the meal is not complete!
Churros rellenos translate as stuffed churros. Not only do you get a delicious sugary churro, but instead of having the sauce on the side, it is piped into the middle of a larger churro.
You can choose from flavours such as chocolate, lechera (condensed milk), cajeta (caramel) or fresa (strawberry).
In Downtown Cabo San Lucas, there is a little Churros Rellenos stand on the street ‘C. José Ma. Morelos y Pavón‘. Look out for Mercado Morelos and it is out the front of that. It’s become so popular it’s now listed in Google Maps, so just follow this location.
I’m not sure exactly what time it opens, as we visited on a few different evenings, and sometimes it was open, sometimes it wasn’t. It’s worth wandering down to check though, as the churros were simply delicious and the perfect after-dinner snack!
14. Neveria La Michoacana
- 📍 Location: on Google Maps here
- 🍴 Eat here for: dessert
- ⏰ Opening hours: 9:00 am – 10:00 pm daily
- 💰 Approximate cost: from 25 pesos for an ice cream
- 🌮 Speciality dish: paletas (popsicles) and helado (ice cream)
La Michoacana is an unofficial chain of ice cream parlours found all over Mexico. It’s not one particular company, but rather thousands of individually-operated stores sharing the beloved ‘Michoacana’ name and logo.
Cabo San Lucas has a branch of La Michoacana and it’s a great spot to visit on a hot day!
There is a huge variety of flavours of paletas (popsicles) and helados (ice creams) to choose from.
This is also a great place to try aguas frescas, a popular non-alcoholic Mexican drink that comes in many different flavours, like jamaica (hibiscus flower), horchata (rice milk) and tamarindo (tamarind).
Local restaurants in Cabo San Lucas: Final thoughts
Writing this blog post and revisiting these places through my memories and photos has my tummy rumbling.
However you feel about Cabo San Lucas, there’s no denying there is some seriously good food in this bustling tourist town.
Instead of heading for the Marina or Medano Beach area, head in the opposite direction towards Downtown to hunt out some of the best local restaurants in Cabo San Lucas.
I hope this post has given you a good head start, but I know if you go hunting you will find even more tasty taco stands or family-run restaurants.
If you’re also visiting San Jose del Cabo, I’ve got a post on the best tacos there which you might find helpful.
Let me know in the comments below if you visit any of these spots, or find any more that are worthy of being added to this list. Happy eating!
OUR LOS CABOS TRAVEL GUIDES
- ⚖️ Choosing Between Cabo San Lucas vs San Jose del Cabo
- 🥾 12 Amazing Cabo Day Trips
- 🏨 16 Unique and Boutique Hotels in Los Cabos
- 🐋 Humpback Whale Watching in Cabo
- 🏖️ 21 Non Touristy Unique Things to Do in Cabo San Lucas
- 🌯 14 Best Local Restaurants in Cabo San Lucas
- 🐶 Mt Solmar – Hike a Mountain with Dogs in Cabo San Lucas
- 🌴 17 Best Things to Do in San Jose del Cabo Travel Guide
- 🌮 Where to Find the Best Tacos in San Jose del Cabo
OUR BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR TRAVEL GUIDES
The Comments
Mark B
Baja Roast is permanently closed, according to Google Maps.
Sally Rodrick
Mark BThanks so much for letting me know Mark, what a shame. I’ve got this post on my list to update in the next week or so, apologies you found some incorrect info there! Enjoy Cabo, Sally
Simon M
Uber do offer a pick up service from the airport now. They meet you on the upper level where drop-offs are made, thus avoiding the carnage on the lower level. I somehow feel that the whole “Ubers aren’t allowed” thing is just a myth put about by the monopolistic (and therefore over-priced) local taxi union. FYI our trip was MXN 1150 plus tolls. The driver will tell you which door number to meet at.
Sally Rodrick
Simon MHey Simon, thanks so much for sharing. This is helpful to know and sounds like the drivers make it easy to meet them. I think that’s always been a bit of the case to be honest with the taxis pushing out and blocking Uber. Although that price compared to a shared shuttle is quite expensive (~$70 USD vs $20 USD). For a bigger group, Uber would be a great choice.
Peg Peterson
Your post on Cabo is fabulous. I’ve been there 3 times as a cruise ship port but wanted to find more interesting spots than the party bars, etc. at the port. Great guide here with lots of wonderful suggestions. And I am SO excited to try several of these taco spots!
Sally Rodrick
Peg PetersonI’m so glad it was helpful Peg! I think the best parts of Cabo are hiding far away from the busier marina and main beach. You’ve got some delicious tacos to try, I assure you! Enjoy it, hope you get to see something new and different this time around 🙂 All the best, Sally
Jesus
I have stumbled upon Birrieria los paisas about 8 years ago on accident, and fell in love! Ever since, I have not been able to find it until I seen your article! Thank you! And excited to try out your other recommendations!
Sally Rodrick
JesusThey are soooo good 🤤 Have an excellent trip eating all the tacos, tamales and tostadas! 🌮