Me (left) and Michael (right) at the beach before sunset in Puerto Vallarta
Michael and I traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for New Year’s week. This was our first trip back since 2006 and our first time there as vegans. In general, we have found Mexico to be quite a vegan-friendly travel destination, as long as you can communicate in Spanish, ask questions and make requests for food prep modifications. Puerto Vallarta (PV) is no exception to this rule.
As always, we checked the listings on HappyCow and PlantEaters before travelling so we had an idea of the lay of the vegan landscape. We arrived on a Sunday night and most of the vegan-friendly places we knew about were closed by the time we were settled at our hotel and ready to go get dinner. Thankfully, Planeta Vegetariano was open. Unfortunately, HappyCow had it listed in the wrong place on their map(that happens a LOT on Happy Cow) and our taxi driver had quite a tough time looking for it. That’s because the restaurant is located on Calle Iturbide but on a block happens to be a pedestrian-only block. Taxi drivers in PV are really great about knowing the names and locations of the hotels and restaurants but they don’t’ know the ones on pedestrian malls. If you take a taxi, tell your driver to take you to the corner of Calle Hidalgo and Calle Iturbide, right by the Guadalupe Church. They’ll drop you half a block from the restaurant, which is just up the hill/steps in the pedestrian walkway. It’s very well signed- you can’t miss it.
The view from the street of the corner, just a half block from the restaurant
The view up the pedestrian walkway (stairs). This was taken standing in front of the corner, pictured in the prior photo. As you can see, this is well signed and you really can’t miss it.
We were the only ones in the restaurant that late on a Sunday night but we received a warm greeting. There were two buffets open; one had cold veggies and salad items and the other had warm prepared foods. The pickings were a bit slim that night and the food was rather bland, but we filled up on a nice mixed salad and a plate of rice, refried beans and a decent eggplant stew. For two tired and hungry travelers, this did the trick and we were quite sated from the meal. It’s a great deal for an all-you-can-eat dinner buffet for just $8.00USD per person. After a good night’s rest, we woke up the next morning and took a nice 20 minute walk from our hotel back to Planeta Vegetariano. Along the way, I stopped in at one of the two Starbucks in PV for a decaf with soy milk. When we arrived at Planeta Vegetriano, their breakfast buffet was all set up. Again, there were two open buffets; one had some fresh fruit but was 50% dairy yogurts and the other had pancakes (not vegan as they’re made with cow’s milk), and vegan offerings such as breakfast potatoes, steamed local squash, black beans, a tofu scramble and chilaquiles. A word about chilaquiles; This is a very traditional, uniquely Mexican food. They are tortilla chips that are shaped like small strips, they’re fried, then covered with a red or green mole or chile sauce. Normally they’re tossed with either chicken meat or eggs and topped with dairy cheese, however when made vegan, we’ve seen them tossed with tofu and topped with black beans. We liked the red sauce and the black beans, but the tofu was pretty awful at Planeta Vegetariano. It had clearly been frozen and then crumbled, which changes the texture and the taste. Honestly, it was hard to finish so I strongly recommend you skip the tofu and stick to the beans. Still, we had full plates and full bellies after our second meal at Planeta Vegetariano. At only $6.00USD for an all-you-can-eat breakfast, this is a great deal.
Buffet with fresh papaya, canteloupe, pineapple, raisins and shredded unswetened coconut, and a whole mess of dairy 🙁
The dairy pancakes (covered on the left) and the oatmeal (also dairy and pink) were no-goes at the hot-buffet.
My breakfast plate: The chilaquiles with tofu, black beans and side of potatoes and steamed squash.
I also had some fresh fruit. Can’t resist fresh pineapple and papaya!
For lunch that day, we decided to go to Mary’s Vegetarian Restaurant. Mary’s was conveniently located just a short few blocks from our hotel. It’s located on Calle Honduras between Calle Bolivia and Calle Brasil, in the lobby of the Hotel Paloma del Mar. Mary’s is a large, open space with two buffets; one with veggies and cold salad items and one larger hot foods buffet. We had such a deliciously amazing lunch here that we went back nearly every day of our vacation. Mary’s is by far the best place in PV for the voyaging vegan to eat. The hot buffet always had some tofu-item, such as a tofu scramble for breakfast or a soy-chunks stew for lunch or dinner. The selections also always included rice, refried beans, regular cooked beans, and a daily soup. One day I had a mixed vegetable soup that was to-die-for. Another day, Mary served a tomato based lentil soup which was rich and flavorful. There are also always freshly toasted tortillas and a “salsa” bar with a nice guacamole/salsa mix to put on the tortillas. Mary also serves soy meats that she seasons and makes into stews. There was always an abundance of delicious foods here and a varying menu, daily.
A mixed salad with fresh Romaine lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, Jicama, steamed chayote (squash), steamed broccoli, and steamed cauliflower, a side of mushroom veggie soup and a power-green juice with celery, parsley and cactus juice.
Refried beans and a spicy tofu scramble with peas over a bed of yellow rice, a toasted tortilla covered in guac and a salsa-topped soy-crumble stew. So delicious!
Breakfast at Mary’s: A hearty tofu scramble, refried beans, chilaquiles with a red mole and seasons soy chunks. We also had fruit, though I forgot to photograph it.. Sorry!
I have to say that the atmosphere of the restaurant as well as the quality and taste of the food itself were far superior at Mary’s than at Planeta Vegetariano. Though Mary’s does serve some dairy-based items, it was never more than 2 or 3 items out of the entire spread. It seemed like Planeta Vegetariano had more dairy, egg and honey-containing items than Mary’s. Also, Mary’s offers far more cooked/hot vegan food options than Planeta Vegetriano. Overall, the food tasted better at Mary’s. Throw in the fact that Mary’s is a brighter, more open space, you just can’t go wrong with eating here. Like Planeta Vegetariano, Mary’s is also an incredible deal; an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet for $5 per person and for lunch and dinner for $6.50 per person. You really can’t beat this kind of deal.
We read about Archie’s Wok in the Zona Romantica and decided to try it out for dinner on our second night in PV. Archie’s is not a vegetarian restaurant, but they have a very decent selection of vegetarian and vegan-friendly food items. More importantly, they understand what vegan food restrictions are and they’re super flexible and accommodating, always willing to make changes in the meun items. Archie’s is a PV institution, run by a brother and sister whose family originally opened the restaurant in 1986. It’s a spacious restaurant with a large main dining room, and interior courtyard with seating under a beautiful tree and a back terrace that’s covered. Archie’s is very popular with locals and tourists alike. We went with friends the first night at ordered everything off the “Vegetables” section. We enjoyed everything we ate but the winners, by far, were the Asian Confetti Slaw and the Yellow Curried Fried Rice with Tofu.
It was very dimly lit in the area where we were sitting so not all of my photos came out great. Here are just a few of the items we enjoyed:
By far the favorite item (among the vegans and omnivores in our group) was Archie’s Asian Slaw, made with jicama, mango, walnuts, sesame, citrus & green herbs.
Another great starter was the Chinese cucumber salad made with a light marinade of rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and black sesame seeds.
This passionfruit margarita with a chile lime salted rim was so refreshing. We also enjoyed their mojitos and a few other cocktails 😉
The other “winner” was the coconut fried rice with yellow curry,stir fried with snow peas, shitake mushrooms, tofu and sweet red peppers. Divine!
“Lumpia”, a Filipino Eggroll, was filled with Mushroom and veggies served with hot mustard and a sweet and sour sauce. We didn’t love this… it was soggy and not crispy as we expected.
The gingery stir-friend vegetables were good. They were made with tofu (but not enough in our opinion) and there was a bit too much celery. It was served with a side of white rice.
Archie’s is not expensive compared to normal US restaurant prices, but it’s not dirt cheap like Planeta Vegetariano or Mary’s. Drinks, appetizers and main courses for the two of us ran us about $50 USD, including tax and tip. We went back three times over our five day vacation, that’s how delicious and delightful a place it was.
A few other tips about food in PV. Other than Starbucks, you can find soy milk offered at a few of the coffee shops in the Zona Romantica near the Zona Gay (the gay section of PV). Many of the mainstream touristy restaurants offered Veggie burritos or veggies sandwiches. These were always covered in cheese or included sour cream. We also couldn’t verify whether or not the rice was cooked with chicken broth (or, as they call it, “Consomme”) or whether the beans were vegan or cooked with ham or some other meat, so we skipped those places.
We stayed at the Villa Premiere Hotel and Spa. While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend staying here for a number of reasons, I mention it because we ended up eating here on New Year’s Day when everything else in town was closed. It’s a perfect example of how effective communication about what we will not eat as vegans can result in a very tasty meal made by accommodating kitchen staff, looking to satisfy their guests. We explained to the head of the kitchen what food we needed to avoid and they made us a delicious breakfast of chilaquiles in a tomato sauce with avocado, fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and coffee with soy milk.
Breakfast at the hotel: Chilaquiles with a red mole and a side of sliced avocado
One evening, for dinner at the hotel, they made us a gorgeous and tasty mixed salad in a balsamic vinaigrette:
This photo doesn’t do justice to this salad. Seriously one of the best things I’ve had in a LONG time!
Followed by a bowl of fried rice and vegetables:
Veggie fried rice
The real trick to getting vegan food at non-vegan establishments is to ask questions and speak up. Most of the time, people at your hotel or a local restaurant want to help you. They just need to be educated as to what you can and cannot eat. More often than not they are seeking to satisfy you, the customer, so help them to do this by being patient, explaining what you can and cannot eat, and work with them to come up with ideas for meals they can make for you or simple modifications to their existing menu items for foods you can enjoy. When you do this, you not only get great food, but you also help spread the word about veganism and help demystify the diet for people who otherwise might assume that it’s something they couldn’t accommodate.
Like most places in the world, Puerto Vallarta is a vegan as you want it to be. As you can see, there are ample, delicious vegan options for you to enjoy while you soak in the sun in this wonderful gem of a town on the Mexican Pacific coast.
Our last night of vacation, we spotted a sailboat at sunset in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
