Pancho's Takos: Where to Eat in Puerto Vallarta (4.5★)

A taquería that starts at four

Pancho’s Takos doesn’t serve lunch. It opens at 4pm Monday through Saturday, closes at 11:30pm, and stays shut all day Sunday. Those hours tell you what kind of place this is: an evening taquería, running through the hours when Zona Romántica heads out to eat.

The address is Basilio Badillo 162, on one of the old town’s best-known restaurant streets. Basilio Badillo runs inland from the sand near Los Muertos Beach. It’s a cobbled street of cafés, bars and dining rooms in the grid south of the Río Cuale. There’s outdoor seating, so you’ll probably eat with the street in view.

What lands on the table

People come for traditional Mexican cooking at a moderate price, served without any ceremony. It’s one of the most-reviewed taco spots in Puerto Vallarta and has a consistently strong rating. That explains the people waiting out front on an ordinary evening.

At a Mexican taquería, tacos are ordered by the piece, not by the plate. You order a few, eat them, then order more. Check the menu for what’s available and build your first round from that.

• Start with two or three tacos each, then add more if you’re still hungry.
• Spread your order across several fillings instead of doubling up on one.
• Taste a salsa before you spoon it on. Ask which one is the hottest.
• Drink an agua fresca, a cold Mexican beer or a soda alongside.

Beating the dinner line

Pancho’s Takos is very popular, and everyone knows it. Plan around the wait instead of hoping to walk straight in. In Mexico, dinner usually runs late, and a well-known taquería on a restaurant street fills up as evening sets in.

Since the kitchen opens at 4pm, getting there near opening usually beats the main dinner push. The other option is a late meal after the first wave has left, because the doors stay open until 11:30pm. Saturday is the last service before the Sunday closure, so expect it to be one of the fuller nights.

Ordering and paying at Pancho’s

A few words of Spanish make ordering easier, even where staff speak English.

• Con todo: with everything, which usually means onion and cilantro.
• Sin cebolla: without onion.
• Otra orden: another order of the same thing.
• La cuenta, por favor: the bill, please. In Mexico it usually doesn’t arrive until you ask for it.

If there’s a host or a waiting list at the door, give your name and the size of your group. Otherwise, join the line on the sidewalk. Groups usually get seated faster once everyone has arrived, so wait for stragglers to show up before you join.

Ask whether cards are accepted when you sit down, and carry pesos as a backup. A tip of 10 to 15 percent is normal at sit-down restaurants in Mexico. Leave it in cash, or tell your server how much “propina” to add when you pay by card.

Reaching Zona Romántica

The restaurant is south of the river, in the old town. From the Malecón, walk south over one of the Río Cuale bridges, then keep going through the cobbled blocks toward Los Muertos Beach. The walk is short and flat, with views of shops and restaurants most of the way.

Coming from the Hotel Zone or Marina Vallarta, take a city bus marked “Centro” or “Olas Altas”. Taxis and Uber also go there. The streets here are cobblestone, and the sidewalks are narrow and uneven. Sandals with some grip are a better choice than flimsy flip-flops after dark.

An evening around the tacos

The area makes it easy to plan a whole evening. Banderas Bay faces west, so you can watch the sunset from Los Muertos Beach and then walk up Basilio Badillo for dinner.

• Los Muertos Pier: its tall, sail-shaped spire is lit at night and sits a short walk from the restaurant.
• Lázaro Cárdenas Park: a square a few blocks away that often fills with families in the evening.
• Olas Altas street: a beachside strip of bars, ice cream shops and late cafés.
• The Malecón: the seafront promenade with its bronze sculptures, across the river to the north.

Allow about an hour for dinner if you’re seated quickly. Add time for the line on busy nights.