Puerto Vallarta Scene

Puerto Vallarta Information & Events

Litros (Goodfellows)

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

With recent acquisition by Heineken of the Tecate Beer brand of Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma from FEMSA, the owner of Coca Cola and OXXO stores in Mexico, a concerted effort (a war, if you will) is being waged to knock the Modelo Breweries out of 1st place in the Mexican market. Part of this strategy is the proliferation of OXXO stores (which sell only Tecate products) and the opening of new “corner bars” called Litros which sell only Tecate products, also). This is called market saturation.

Here in Vallarta 3 Litros Bars have opened in the last couple of months. They are very inexpensive to run (Tecate pays 80% of the rent) and they are flashy and serve cheap beer. The details in each store may vary but the basic design is the same, that of the local litros drinking spots found everywhere in tourist Mexico. You can buy LARGE quantities of beer to go or to drink on site. You can buy as much as a 100 peso 3 liter beer or as little as a 7 peso chica (on special days).

This Litros Bar, according to the current owner, will be called “Goodfellows” in honor of the gangster motif that is so popular in today’s Mexican youth culture. The owner is from Sinaloa and says that he has no clue what this area is like but that he is interested in experiencing it.

GENERAL INFORMATION

  • ADDRESS: R. Gomez 150, Colonia Emiliano Zapata
  • WEBSITE: None yet
  • EMAIL: None yet
  • PHONE: ???
  • HOURS/DAYS: Daily 2 pm to 2 am
  • HAPPY HOUR: Daily Specials
  • FOOD:
    • Wings, Fries, etc. Cheap
  • EXTRAS:
    • Hammocks
    • Lots of Blue Light

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GOOGLE STREET VIEW & MAP
(This Google View Map was made before Litros was)

Updated April 15, 2010

Marsol Hotel

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The Hotel Marsol Restaurant and Bar is perhaps the strangest listing in this Bar Guide. Officially, it is not a bar nor a restaurant but, rather, a 120 room hotel, one of the oldest (some say the 2nd oldest hotel) in Vallarta. It is a five story building covering almost all of a city block, built around a central courtyard that includes a large swimming pool. It’s a landmark.

The “bar,” itself, is a very long, spacious room just at the foot of the Los Muertos beach pier. In it you will encounter off-duty beach vendors, time share salespeople, boat captains and anyone who appreciates a good, cheap, cold cerveza out of the view of the tourist hoards. It is much more of a hotel lounge than a bar or restaurant but it’s not really a hotel lounge, although it is, technically.

The chairs are comfortable and the people friendly, if somewhat distant or private since they are probably tired from the grind. To purchase a beer, you go to one of the large beer refrigerators by the hotel desk, take out what you want, pay for it at the desk and open it yourself. There are plastic cups available if you don’t want to drink out of the bottle. If you are lucky, you will run into Jorge, the manager. He will go down in the books as an original Vallarta character.

This place is a treasure for those tourists wanting total immersion and those locals wanting nothing more than a reasonably priced cold beer and a comfortable place to sit. I don’t recommend the Marsol for the unseasoned tourist.

PROMO VIDEO FOR THE HOTEL:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQCwpoqINXc[/youtube]

GENERAL INFORMATION

  • ADDRESS: Francisca Rodriguez 103, Colonia Emiliano Zapata, Los Muertos Beach
  • WEBSITE: www.hotelmarsol.net/
  • EMAIL: hotelmarsol @ yahoo.com
  • PHONE: 322 222 1365, 322 222 0453
  • HOURS/DAYS: All day and night, 365 days a year
  • HAPPY HOUR: Only beer at the same low price all of the time. Corona or Pacifico is 12 pesos a bottle or 23 pesos for a ballena. Sodas or aqua are 8 pesos.
  • FOOD:
    • Food is available delivered from CyCs
  • EXTRAS:
    • No extras; the Marsol has no frills….

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OTHER VIEWS & REVIEWS

GOOGLE STREET VIEW & MAP
(At the end of the street on the right….)

Updated April 14, 2010

Coco Tropical

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Coco’s (Coco Tropical Restaurant, Grill & Beach Club) is primarily a Mediterranean-style restaurant except at happy hour, from 5 to 6:30 pm each day, when it becomes a very popular bar with 2 for 1 cervezas and national drinks. The setting is perfect for viewing the sunset or beach action. Dress is casual but no beachwear is permitted inside the restaurant. The food is OK, nothing great, but certainly moderately priced and not bad at all. The menu is varied and interesting. The bar scene at happy hour is lively and populated by tourists, expats and locals. Open since 1997.

GENERAL INFORMATION

  • ADDRESS: Basilio Badillo 101, Colonia Emiliano Zapata, Los Muertos Beach
  • WEBSITE: www.cocotropical.com/index.htm
  • EMAIL: Info@CocoTropical.com
  • PHONE: (322) 222-5485
  • HOURS/DAYS: Daily noon to 11:30 pm, Closed in September
  • HAPPY HOUR: 5 to 6:30 pm, 2 for 1 national drinks (55 pesos) and cerveza
  • FOOD:
  • EXTRAS:
    • Visa, Mastercard and American Express accepted
    • On the Beach
    • Nice Restaurant

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OTHER VIEWS & REVIEWS

GOOGLE STREET VIEW & MAP
On the Beach so no Google Street View Map.
(This is Coco’s map from their website:)

coco tropical map

Updated April 9, 2010

Fidencio’s

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Fidencio’s is a small beach front restaurant/bar on Los Muertos Beach, barely tucked between the exclusive beach clubs and high end restaurants and the gay beach scene. It’s a favorite lounge spot of snowbirds with simple beach furniture. There is nothing fancy about Ficencio’s except the location and the people working there who are all very friendly and helpful.

The food is very simple, with breakfast starting at 35 pesos for basic eggs and ham or bacon to 100 pesos for the most expensive seafood dinner. All of the basics are covered… basically. This is not gourmet dining but it is clean, good, inexpensive food and drinks. You can sit in chairs under umbrellas in the sand and sun and enjoy the beach and a drink or two and maybe a snack or two. In high season you have to get there early for a chair since there are limited available and the demand is high.

GENERAL INFORMATION

  • ADDRESS: Pilitas 90, Colonia Emiliano Zapata, Los Muertos Beach
  • WEBSITE: None
  • EMAIL: None
  • PHONE: 322 222 5457
  • HOURS/DAYS: 9:30 am to 11 pm
  • HAPPY HOUR: None (always low drink prices, Corona 15 pesos)
  • FOOD:
    • Low to moderately priced light fare.
  • EXTRAS:
    • Beach Lounge Chairs

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OTHER VIEWS & REVIEWS

GOOGLE STREET VIEW & MAP
(This view is of the street leading down to the beach. Fidencio’s is not in Google Street View because it is not on a street)

Updated April 4, 2010

Victor’s Bar & Grill

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

victors bar and grillVictor’s Bar & Grill is a very small, clean, family-run, 5 table, store-front bar and restaurant about one block from Los Muertos Beach and half a block north of Cardenas Park. The prices are extremely low and the quality is good. Victor, the owner, is a former chef at several popular Vallarta restaurants. The bar is full-service with some of the lowest prices in town and the happy hour prices take them down even another notch. The food is simple and good, ranging from pizza to hamburgers, appetizers, salads and soups.

Victor’s is on a back street and quiet and a great place to easily and quickly escape the excitement of the beach.

GENERAL INFORMATION

  • ADDRESS: Pino Suarez 232, Colonia Emiliano Zapata, Old Town
  • WEBSITE: victors-restaurant-vallarta.com/
  • EMAIL: victorsbarandgrill @ live.com
  • PHONE: 223-9424
  • HOURS/DAYS: Noon to 10 pm, Monday to Saturday
  • HAPPY HOUR: 6 to 8 pm, 15 pesos cerveza, 20 pesos house drinks
  • FOOD:
    • MENU
    • Inexpensive pizza, hamburgers, salads, etc.
  • EXTRAS:
    • Take Out or Eat In
    • 1 Block from the Beach

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OTHER VIEWS & REVIEWS

GOOGLE STREET VIEW & MAP

Updated May 15, 2010

R-Bar

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

R-Bar is new as of this review, open for only a couple of weeks so nothing written here will apply by the time you read it. The bar is sparse with only a small bar and a colorful jukebox and a dozen or so wooden tables. The beer here is Sol/Indio, typical of cheaper bars in this area. The drinks are fair-priced and strong (25 pesos for mixed drinks or margaritas). 15 pesos for cerveza.

There is no air conditioning and, at the time of this writing, no ceiling fans. The bathrooms, tho small, don’t have lights so you have to rely on ambient luz. The owner, Roberto, is friendly, energetic and speaks English well. I have a hard time figuring out what this bar will morph into but it certainly does need to morph.

The logo on the sign out front is a balero (in rainbow colors). This is a popular Mexican toy where a ball on a string is swung into a cup. There must be some type of symbolism here.

GENERAL INFORMATION

  • ADDRESS: Lazaro Cardenas 361, Colonia Emiliano Zapata, Eastern Old Town (in the old Frida Bar location)
  • WEBSITE: None
  • EMAIL: None
  • PHONE: None
  • HOURS/DAYS: Daily 4 pm to 2 am
  • HAPPY HOUR: 4 to 8 pm, 10 peso beer
  • FOOD:
    • You can bring in food from the outside
  • EXTRAS:
    • JukeBox

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GOOGLE STREET VIEW & MAP

Updated March 30, 2010