Travel & Leisure

One of the many nice things about visiting an off the beaten track vacation destination is tourist pricing has not arrived yet.

While in La Manzanilla you can find lots of delicious and inexpensive food, much of it from food stalls that open only at night. Here are a few of my favorites all priced from $1-$2 dollars each.

Tacos at Chop Chop’s- most evenings this fantastic taco stand is serving to a packed crowd. Don’t bother looking for this place during the day; it is only open at night. They serve tacos asada (grilled beef), chicken, lengua (tongue) and my favorite quesadilla with chorizo. Tacos are served with a selection of salsas and beans.

Pozole, this is a traditional Mexican soup made with hominy, pork or chicken, chilies and spices. It’s topped with shredded cabbage, thinly sliced radishes and a squeeze of lime. Along the main garden you can find at least one or two restaurants serving their version of Pozole, try them all and decide for yourself whose is the best. The restaurants serving Pozole also usually have enchiladas, tacos dorado (fried tacos filled with potatoes), and tostados.

Tortas at Mi Kasita. This restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch and is located on the main street into town, just before you get to the main garden. A torta is a Mexican sandwich, served on an oblong 6-8 inch firm, crusty white sandwich roll, called a bolillo. I like the Cuban Torta which includes a wide variety of ingredients: ham, white cheese, spicy pork, tomatoes and I always go for the jalapeños as well. The bread is toasted and it is a bit messy to eat but very tasty and coming in about $2 it’s a filling lunchtime meal.

Tamales from Juan. Each evening Juan sets out in his tuk-tuk with fresh tamales. You can choose from pork, chicken, poblano peppers or strawberry. If you see him on your side of town on one evening be warned, he won’t be back on the following evening. He can only service half the town each night so he rotates his route. The tamales are around.50 each and 3 is a really big meal.

Beer at the beach. Ok, so technically this isn’t food but when you can get a beer served to you at restaurant on the beach and it costs $1 it needs to be mentioned!

There are many dining options in La Manzanilla, you can definitely spend $50 for two at on of the upscale restaurants in town. If you need to stretch your budget, choosing to eat at the food stalls or simple Mexican owned restaurants will help your money last.