We are always looking for authentic local restaurants to visit for breakfast – places that locals love and visit regularly. To be popular with locals, the food must be great, and the prices also must be great. I have selected three local restaurants that meet these criteria. It is worth getting away from the main tourist areas and experiencing a large breakfast at a popular local restaurant.
San Jose del Cabo – La Cocina de Marcela Mex
La Cocina de Marcela Mex is a small restaurant on the corner of Paseo de Barlovento and Blvd. Fundadores, the main road north of the highway running through the small villages that are part of San Jose del Cabo. The restaurant is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day except Monday. There is a breakfast menu, but the lunch menu changes every day and is written on a whiteboard just inside the door.
La Cocina de Marcela Mex is a family business run by Manuel, his wife Marcela, and their son Many and has been in business for 22 years. The breakfast menu includes eggs (lots of kinds), omelets, quesadillas, chilaquiles, chorizo, and machaca. The base price including tortillas, beans, cheese, avocado and coffee or flavored water is only $120 pesos (about $7.00 US). Some of the specials were $140 or $160 pesos.
I was there for breakfast and ordered the Huevos a la Mexicana. The plate was large, and the taste was great. While I was there, Many (the son) started to write the lunch menu on the board. The choices included tortilla soup, tortillas and flavored water and was $170 pesos (about $10.00 US). This price was for dishes with beef, chicken, steak, pozole and more.
The restaurant is clean and simple, and the food was very good, the service was friendly and the owners are great people.
Cabo San Lucas – The Stop Light Comida Mexicana
Located on Adolfo Lopez Mateos Street (behind the Office Depot) off the Highway 19 bypass of Cabos San Lucas is Stop Light Comida Mexicana. I was at Loud Sound down the street having work done on the stereo system on my vehicle and needed someplace to wait and have breakfast. I walked down the street and found Stop Light Comida Mexicana, a very pleasant and comfortable restaurant. I chose a table for two and the server provided me with a menu that had a wide range of breakfast items at very reasonable prices (most under $150 mx). The menu offered omelets, 11 different egg dishes, nine Chilaquiles, hot cakes, French toast, five different special breakfasts and a fruit plate.
I ordered a fresh squeezed orange juice to start and asked for Huevos a la Mexican. The served asked me if I would like flour or corn tortillas or a mixture. The orange juice was great. My Huevos a la Mexicana came and there were the scrambled eggs with tomatoes, onions and peppers, refried beans, roasted potatoes and some grilled peppers and onions. The portion was large and the flavors excellent. I took out a very hot flour tortilla and made myself a burrito with eggs and refried beans. I sat and enjoyed the breakfast and two more glasses of orange juice for over an hour. It was terrific.
Pescadero and Todos Santos – Quesadillas Mune
With a condo in Todos Santos, I ask almost everyone that I see about good local restaurants to try. Several people recommended Quesadillas Mune, on the main road into town from Cabo San Lucas. This large palapa with a sand floor and a large kitchen is open 24 hours a day and is closed on Mondays.
There is a white board outside the door that provides the choices: burritos, eggs, omelets, pancakes, chilaquiles, and sandwiches. The prices are amazing and clearly target the local market. The Huevos a la Mexicana that I often choose at other restaurants were $90 pesos (about $5.00 US). Another sign inside features the Quesadillas and their contents. I ordered a quesadilla with mushrooms. It was huge and came with cheese, a range of fresh grilled vegetables, and the mushrooms on a large flour tortilla. It was delicious. The quesadilla and a large bottle of Diet Coke was very inexpensive.
I noticed that they had opened a new location on the southern edge of Pescadero. I decided to stop in for breakfast. This location is in a new building, under cover with the kitchen at the back. As with the Todos Santos location, it doesn’t seem that there is any printed menu. The cook came out from the kitchen and asked me what I would like to have. I ordered Huevos a la Mexicana. He asked what type of tortillas I would like – flour – and what I would like to drink.
It didn’t take long for my breakfast to be served. The plate was huge and full. It included a large mound of scrambled eggs with onions and peppers, some refried beans, and some pasta salad with ham on the side. There were so many eggs that I also had to use some tortillas to make a few breakfast tacos (or burritos). The food was great, the atmosphere comfortable and the price terrific.