My Favorite Puerto Vallarta Street Food & Tacos (DIY Food Tour)

We only had a few days to explore Puerto Vallarta before heading to our new home in Bucerías, but that didn’t stop me from adding an overzealous amount of places to eat to my Google Maps. With certain street food stalls closed on certain days, particularly Tuesdays or Wednesdays, it was like a puzzle figuring out when we could go eat at each place. It was also pretty hot in October, so I forced us to make the sweaty walk across town in search of tacos pretty frequently.

Anyway, it was totally worth having to take two showers a day. Here’s a list of my favorite Puerto Vallarta street food and tacos (and a few other spots) that we discovered during our time there. It’s a DIY food tour of sorts! And all of this research will be put to good use – and hopefully added to! – when we return to PV in a few weeks with friends!

FYI, I’m giving you links to all of these places on Google Maps, but if you’re actually on vacation in Puerto Vallarta and not staring at your computer screen most of the day like us, I’ve heard great things about Vallarta Eats Food Tours. They’ll give you the historical background on different Mexican foods and the families that run the street stalls and restaurants around town. To see what they get into on their signature taco tour, these guys wrote a blog post about it!

Birria Tacos

Oh man, birria is like my dream food. These bad boys were one of the foods I was most excited about trying here. I love anything soupy or saucy, so birria is right up my ally! It’s a spicy, meaty stew (usually goat, but sometimes beef or pork) that actually comes from Jalisco, the state where Puerto Vallarta is located. It’s served in tacos “dorados” which means “golden” in English but all you need to know is that these are crispy fried tortillas instead of the usual soft ones. Marko is a big fan of the hard taco, so these tacos dorados became one of his new favorite things.

At some places, you can actually get a big bowl of birria (and I plan to do just that in Mexico City), but we tried it in taco form – juicy and meaty, surrounded by a crunchy shell. Yeah, they’re going to break all over your hand on the first bite, but they’re SO good. I could probably eat three or four of them (okay, more like five or six if pushed), but alas, I had other tacos on this particular lunchtime agenda. Tacos de birria tend to be a breakfast or lunch thing, so go out early to find them!

Where to Find Birria Tacos: There are lots of places in Puerto Vallarta, but we ventured to Tacos de Birria “Alex” on Calle Matamoros in el Centro, which is a super tiny, family-run spot with a couple of tables, and Tacos de Birria Chanfay on Venustiano Carranza in the Romantic Zone. (Ask for a little cup of the consomme there!)

Fish Tacos… and other Fried Seafood Tacos

One of the best things about basing yourself on the west coast of Mexico is being able to order fish tacos at every meal. These light, crunchy, fried fish tacos are made with a batter that resembles tempura in texture – a lot of the fish taco places we found use a beer batter. And yes, as with most things, some are better than others. We ate plenty of fried fish tacos from Puerto Vallarta to Bucerias to Sayulita, but we found the best ones here at Marisma. They get a lot of hype (for good reason) and we discovered that they have a second brick-and-mortar location at Marina Vallarta, so they are definitely well-established.

Unlike some fish tacos, these guys do one long piece of fried fish, so it’s much easier to eat. And the condiments here are unbelievable. Who doesn’t love that chipotle mayo-ish sauce? You also get a guac-style sauce and pico de gallo. Use it all! Some taco places also give you this toasted chili oil to put on seafood. It’s very addictive but VERY spicy – like lip-burning spicy. Marisma also has shrimp and other menu items, but their fish tacos are the bomb and they’re what you should order here (that’s them in the photo above). Of course, for lunch the next day, we had to try a competitor…

At Mariscos Cisernos, they serve something that sounds so ridiculous that I had to go try it: a deep-fried, seafood-stuffed jalapeño taco. It was good, but I think Marko had the right idea, sticking to the fried shrimp and fish tacos. We found that some seafood places actually do a better shrimp taco because the shrimp here are just so plump, sweet, and fresh before you even add the toppings!

Where to Find Fish Tacos: Marisma Fish Tacos is on Calle Naranja in the Romantic Zone and you’ll find Mariscos Cisneros on Aguacate a few blocks away where you can try lots of different types of fried seafood tacos. You can eat outside at both places!

Marlin Tacos and Ceviche

So I know, these two dishes aren’t for everybody. But since we don’t really eat marlin in North Carolina (despite hosting a huge marlin fishing tournament every year), I had to try them. It does seem a shame to kill a fish that weighs hundreds of pounds and not eat it, right? I know, I know, but it’s a trophy fish! You know they just take a pic and model your giant plastic replica fish after the photo, right? Eat the damn thing! Anyway, marlin tacos are popular around Puerto Vallarta, so you must try them.

I thought marlin tacos might contain chunks of grilled fish or maybe another battered-n-fried number, but nope! The marlin tacos at La Isla de Marin’s were more like stewed fish. And the fish itself was a deep reddish, pinkish color with a sort of gamey flavor. Since a marlin can live 20+ years, you can’t expect them to be the freshest tasting meat in the ocean, but hey, it’s still worth eating! Or at least trying once…

We also ordered a couple of ceviche tostadas, and again, surprise! It’s a little different than your typical ceviche. Here and along the Riviera Nayarit, they chop up the fish really finely and add lots of cucumber, onions, tomato, and sometimes carrots. It sometimes feels like a healthy salad – you almost forget there’s fish in there! You can get it on tostadas like this or order big plates of it to dip your chips into.

I love anything that involves raw fish or raw meat, but after eating a lot of this stuff, I still prefer my ceviche with larger chunks so you can really feel the texture of it. (I feel the same way about steak tartare). We did find a few places that would chop their ceviche less finely (they might say something like “Peruvian style” on the menu) but either way, I found my raw seafood fix in another popular dish…

Where to Find Marlin Tacos and Ceviche: All over the place, but La Isla de Marin’s is located in el Centro on Calle Matamoros, so you can hit it up before or after visiting Tacos de Birria “Alex” just a couple blocks  away. You can also order big plates of shrimp and fish with rice here if you’re looking for something more substantial. They have good-looking margaritas too! This place isn’t really street food, but our Airbnb host recommended it, saying it was cheap and local – we saw a good mix of Mexicans and tourists eating here.

Aguachile!

Okay, okay, this place is also not street food and this dish is also not for everybody. Though it should be. You guys should really get out of your comfort zone and put your body on the line to try some new things occasionally, okay? Aguachile is fresh, raw shrimp tossed in a sauce of lime juice and chile peppers then mixed with red onions and cucumbers. I mentioned it on Instagram and we ordered it all the time in Mexico! It’s the perfect food to have alongside a cold beer. You can eat aguachile on a tostada or with chips (totopos) and no, the shrimp is not going to come out all pink and lookin’ ready to eat… but it is!

I learned about this place, 1000 Caguamas, when the Grateful Gypsies posted about it – they have lots of great food recs for Puerto Vallarta because they lived there for six months! This bar is such a cool, rooftop spot for afternoon drinks and a pre-dinner app. They serve several different types of aguachile – and not much else! – mixed in sauces made up of everything from serranos, habaneros, pineapple, Maggi, and other chiles, and they serve them to you with chips.

The name “1000 Caguamas” comes from the big bottles of beer they sell here – “caguama” is a nickname for the 940 ml (31.8 oz) bottle – yeah, nearly a liter! – and it’s a double entendre because “caguama” is also the Spanish name for a loggerhead sea turtle! The bar gives a portion of their profits to sea turtle conservation. Clever and kind.

Where to Find Aguachile: You must go for drinks and at least one small bowl of aguachile at the hip 1000 Caguamas in el Centro on Calle Uruguay. It’s through an inconspicuous door and up the stairs. Do it en route to this next spot…

Al Pastor Tacos and Volcanes

Al pastor tacos are now one of my top 10 favorite foods in the world. I knew they were good, but I don’t think I ever fully appreciated them until spending a month and a half in Mexico. You just don’t get tired of them. Fun fact, Lebanese immigrants brought the idea for al pastor to Mexico – that’s why it so closely resembles those spits of lamb used to make kebabs and shawarma. However, Mexicans just dig pork so with al pastor tacos, you get this thinly sliced, moist pork with a tiny sliver of pineapple on top. (Immigrants are great!)

So anyway, you’ve got the slices of pork on corn tortillas, topped with raw onions and cilantro, and then of course, a selection of sauces – usually a spicy red and a green, avocado-based sauce. And maybe a salsa verde too. I usually use all three. Also, lame but true, it makes your food photos a hell of a lot more colorful!

There is one place you must go to try al pastor tacos in Puerto Vallarta and everybody recommends it (even my flight deal newsletter mentioned this place) so this isn’t new knowledge. El Carboncito en el Centro. It’s always busy. You can eat in the little plastic chairs outside and watch the guys cook or sit at a table where a server will wait on you. It’s BYOB but they sell beers there too. We tried the steak tacos, but the al pastor is the clear winner here.

One other thing you should try at El Carboncito, however, are the volcanes de pastor, which use a crispy, toasted tortilla instead of a soft one, you get a little melted cheese in addition to your al pastor meat! The variation of things Mexicans can do with tortillas and masa is endless. Of course, there are other places to try al pastor…

Get them anywhere you see that vertical spit (called a trompo) slowly turning with its large hunk of layered, reddish pork and guys deftly shaving slivers onto tortillas. You’ll see it from the street – I probably wouldn’t order al pastor tacos at a true sit-down or upscale restaurant. During Día de los Muertos, we passed by a little street food market filled with different tents serving up all sorts of Mexican street food… and yet al pastor was still Marko’s selection. (I got pozole but this place wasn’t a permanent situation so I can’t include it on the list!)

Where to Find Al Pastor Tacos: Do what everyone says and go to El Carboncito. It’s on Calle Honduras in el Centro and you won’t regret it. We went twice in three days…

Churros!

Just a quick walk away, you’ll find the best churros we’ve had yet in Mexico… and we basically try them every time we see them. Julio’s Churros are perfect in every way. Fresh and hot, skinny and crispy, the perfect amount of salt in the batter, just brown enough, unadorned except for cinnamon sugar, and cheap! Talk about doing one thing and doing it well!

If you don’t know where it is, you’d easily walk right past it. Right at the edge of a fenced-in school, park, or maybe a church, this couple sets up their tank of gas, container of oil, and sheet trays of cinnamon sugar, and they make the most perfect churros in the world. Seriously, we considered just getting the whole coil. Is coil the right word for THIS?!

Seriously. I can’t wait to go back to Puerto Vallarta just for these. I have photos of other churros in town, but I’m not even going to post them because they’re just imposters.

Where to Find Churros: Just go to Julio’s Churros. Don’t even try any others. I’m serious. They’re open from 6PM to 10PM so this is a nighttime adventure.

My suggested routes?

One night, get beers and aguachile at 1000 Caguamas, tacos at El Carboncito, and then circle back around for churros. If you want to do a bang-bang (optional third bang) for lunch, hit up birria tacos at Chanfay, fried fish tacos at Marisma, and then if you’re still hungry, try some other fun seafood combinations at Mariscos Cisneros. Then another day, or if you’re really super hungry, head over to Tacos de Birria Alex and Isla de Marin back to back!

Anyway, there is SO much good food in Puerto Vallarta at any price range, but honestly, don’t forget to try the cheap, locally owned stuff that you’ll find streetside. If it looks good or there’s a big line, just get it! (And I feel like I need to say this for the skeptical among you: No, we never got sick in PV.)

PS – I’m looking to try some good carnitas and barbacoa in Puerto Vallarta next time, so let me know if you’ve got a favorite spot!

Ever try to come up with your own DIY food tour when the street food scene is this good?