Food in Tulum combines the best of Mexican flavors and international cuisine. I found amazing fusions between traditional spices and wood-fired pizzas, black beans and everyday breakfast items, spicy salsa and a Mediterranean octopus. I created this list to help you figure out which are the best restaurants in Tulum, where to eat at a fair price, and whether you should make any preparations beforehand. You will find that Latin American culture tends to forego the formalities involved in table reservations, but highly popular restaurants must still do so given their traffic.
On to the list:
Posada Margherita
Incredibly photogenic and full of personality, Posada Margherita is an oddity in the middle of so many tacos and tortillas. It is primarily an Italian restaurant, but there’s something about its flair that feels extremely local to Tulum. If you’re anything like me, you’ll love its casual vintage feel, the tiny candle workshops upon entering, the wild vegetation carefully grown along the sides.
Posada Margherita in Tulum
The entrance
La Eufemia
I’ll admit that I found La Eufemia 100% by accident. I’ll also admit that this is exactly how I’ve found some of the best restaurants I’ve been to in my life. La Eufemia is where you’ll have cheap flavorful tacos to the sound of upbeat beach music, surrounded by a lively crowd. There’s a hut where you can sit at a table or you can go the beach route and sit directly in front of the ocean. Either way, this casual spot deserves a visit — at least once. One quick fun fact before you go: La Eufemia is actually the name of the place’s beloved dog, and she’s just telling me everything about it in the photo below. We’re BFFs now.
Eufemia the dog
Juanita Diavola
You’ll find this incredible brick oven place right next to Posada Margherita, as a part of hotel Coco Tulum. Since I stayed at the hotel, I thought it couldn’t hurt to try what had already been ranked as one of the best pizzas in Tulum. It didn’t disappoint! Crunchy crust, fresh ingredients (including local seafood!), and live music on the weekends? You had me at crunchy, but everything else is also stellar.
Pizza and live music at Juanita Diavola
Mur Mur
Go straight to the bar. What a mysterious and totally charming ambiance! They’ve elevated that genuine patio feel with fancy drinks and carefully curated music. Mur Mur is where I found a bartender that finally explained to me what it was about Tulum that made it magical. Flavors are there, and you can’t leave without trying the octopus or a drink of premium Mezcal — grasshoppers (chapulines) included! Fun fact: Chapulín, the word Mexicans use for certain insects in the cricket family, is where the world-famous “Chapulín Colorado” got its superhero name. Chapulín Colorado is a fictional character created by Roberto Gómez Bolaños (Chespirito), undoubtedly the most famous Mexican comedian of all time.
Octopus at Mur Mur in Tulum
Ziggy’s
Breakfast is served. This is where you start the day with more than just a sunny side up. Even a “simple” meal of fried eggs is turned into a fascinating fusion by adding a mix of tomatoes, tortilla, and spices. Ziggy Beach, which is mainly a hotel, also offers lunch, dinner, and drinks open to non-guests. Check out their menu and get a taste for the type of surprises you’re in for.
Breakfast at Ziggy’s
Gitano
Ambiance is everything in this bespoke tropical gem. Succulents, candles, and palm trees surrounding you, there’s very little a place can do to disappoint you. Gitano offers an amazing selection of Mezcals, cocktails, and small bites. You can´t go wrong with the fire-roasted tomato flatbread and the Shrimp al Pil-Pil tacos. For a detailed explanation of Mexican taco types, check out this guide.
A night at Gitano in Tulum
Others
Coco Beach Bar: A hip resto-bar inside the Coco Tulum hotel. Great seafood and cocktails for a quick afternoon meal watching the sunset. Swings are a plus.
What is it about beachside food that makes it taste SO much better?
Hartwood: Call before you go. I cannot overstate this. There is virtually no chance of getting in unless you make a reservation with enough time. Considered by many as one of the best restaurants in Tulum, Hartwood features Mayan flavors cooked in a wood-burning oven and grill.
If you’re sitting in front of an empty bag wondering what on Earth to wear on your trip to Tulum, this article has got you covered. Beach destinations are always challenging because they involve sand, water, and heat. Those three elements call for an entirely different wardrobe — especially if you live in a cold city to begin with. Even if you do live in a city with hot weather year-round, there’s a high chance you’re not normally concerned with how fast your clothes dry up or whether they’ll take dirt gracefully. See? I told you. 🙂
What to Wear in Tulum
What you’ll find below are my recommendations as far as what to wear on your next trip to Tulum and how to style each piece to have the most comfortable, exciting, and (why not!) fashion-forward stay possible.
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Shorts & Other Bottoms
Shorts are a no-brainer for hot climates, but I do have a few suggestions around the types of shorts that you’ll want to bring with you. To begin with, avoid thick denim because it just adds to the heat you’ll experience anywhere in the Caribbean. Go for thinner fabrics and looser fits. Something about 100°F just makes clothes feel stickier, and pants that are too tight just make the entire thing worse. These “mom shorts” by Urban Outfitters are retro, comfortable, and flexible at the same time.
Color-wise, I suggest sticking to blacks, browns, greens, and denim. White shorts are some of the most unpractical items to pack for a trip to… anywhere really. I am not just saying this because an entire bottle of Mezcal broke inside our bag and my husband’s white bermudas got horribly stained. I am not even saying this happened. But if you think there’s a chance it did, and there’s a chance it could happen to you too, avoid all-whites.
Now, if you’re more of a skirt type of person, the loose fit advice remains. Go for wrap-around skirts that can be easily turned into cover-ups. Versatility is incredibly important when you pack for beach trips. Because you’ll (hopefully!) be jumping from restaurants to streets to shorelines all day, you’ll find that flexible garments are priceless.
Swimming Suits and Cover-Ups
Swimwear is where you’ll know exactly what suits you best. As long as it is made with light Lycra, highlights the best parts of your body, and doesn’t cause awkward tan lines, go for the style you like best. I do have one suggestion that will make your suit a bit more versatile for all those events we just talked about: bring at least one piece that can double as a shirt. This is probably the weirdest recommendation you’ve read, but I found that the one swimming suit I could wear with high shorts or a high-waist skirt was, by far, the one I wore the most. It dried up quickly, looked tropical, and still allowed me to catch some sun — this garment just got the work done.
The one swimming suit I wore a million times
Blouses, Dresses, and Tunics
This leads me to tunics. Those laid-back, light mini dresses that you could spend days wearing. Take this advice from someone who lives and works in 100°F weather over 200 days/year: beach-to-city is what you want to aim for. Forget day-to-night, the type of garment you need is something that will dry up fast enough to let you catch that reservation within an hour. Don’t assume that you’ll have time to change clothes before you hit the next stop on your trip, and please don’t add that kind of pressure to your itinerary. Instead, try to find pieces that can transform with a few changes here and there.
Lastly, and this advice goes for every single thing you pack: avoid clothing that needs to be ironed aka wouldn’t look great while entirely wrinkled. Just do it.
Accessories for Tulum
But how can you create that whole beach-to-city look without carrying an entire new outfit in your bag? Accessories are the answer. Headpieces like bandanas and jewelry can get you there in 5 minutes. Let’s look at a few ways to do this.
Statement earrings that can get wet
I brought all four earrings in the Nostalgiosity Tulum Collection and enjoyed alternating them during the entire trip. Since they are made of gold-plated bronze, they’ll take a significant amount of humidity and sand without losing shine. You can always take them off while diving into the water and put them back on for some effortless beach glam.
Bandanas
Get a bandana. It will deal with horrible hair days so that you don’t have to. Even if you have the best hair in the world, humidity and dirt have immediate consequences. The so-called beach hair is nice for a day or two, but there’s only so much of that crazy volume that you can stand without feeling uncomfortable for the entire trip. So get a headband, bandana, or scrunchy to put it away whenever you want to.
Again, how quick will it dry? I wore two natural fiber hats: one straw Panama hat with a black band, and an all-black floppy sun hat that someone sold me at Chichén Itzá. Sales pitch? You could fold it in any way you wanted and it wouldn’t lose its shape at all. It worked for me and my bag.
Don’t make this more complicated than it needs to be: bring one pair of sunglasses that works well with everything. If not, bring one pair that works with blacks, one that works with browns, and something that doesn’t really go well with anything but is an outfit in and of itself. A classic pair of Ray Bans will do the trick.
Weekend bags
If you’ve never felt the need to find an incredible weekender bag, this is your sign. These are the types of totes or duffles that simply carry it all: clothes, shoes, passports, food. Getting a neutral one makes it much easier to pair with everything else you own. Beige, black, and military green are all great options.
Ideal Shoes for Tulum (and any other beach trip, really)
Generally speaking, there are only two types of shoes during a beach trip: dirty and clean. That’s all there is. Clean shoes include the sneakers you travel with (to and from) and one pair of heels in case there is somewhere that fancy you need to go to. I found that the best type of heels to bring (if you really, really need to — like I do) are high wedges made with natural fibers. They dry up quickly, look well even with a little sand all over, and generally have great support to walk around the beach. And while we’re at it, here’s another piece of advice from someone who had to walk dozens of streets in DC and then look polished in the office: go for the flip-flops and pack those heels in your handbag.
Let’s talk about dirty shoes for a minute. Those are the ones you take to battle with you. They’re the type of shoes you need to be mentally prepared to ruin, because that’ll probably be the case. Flat, open sandals and flip-flops are great choices.
Beauty & Makeup While in Mexico
Here’s something I could probably talk about for days. Your best makeup choice during a beach trip is called H2O. Drink lots and lots and lots of water. More than you would in a couple of days. I have found that drinking cold water is the only way to keep your skin truly hydrated in the middle of all that heat. Aside from that, and only if you want to wear some light makeup, here are my picks.
A compact eyeshadow palette that works for day and night looks. Tarte’s Tease Tartelette is a great one to bring.
Two lipsticks: one hydrating, everyday tone and one intense, dark shade
Your skincare products, including something to exfoliate with, a toner, soap, and a moisturizer. Bring face wipes and carry them with you. You’ll thank me later.
Any other tips of your own?
Feel free to share any other tips or questions in the comments section below.
This is the first article in a series of posts where I’ll share my adventures in Tulum, Mexico. I will share the meals, places, and packing recommendations that made this an incredible trip — hopefully they’ll inspire you too!
Our bartender sported a twisted mustache straight out of a Disney film. Magic, he kept repeating. Tulum was magic like he’d never seen before. He said he was here by accident (weren’t we all?) because his original destination was Playa del Carmen. He couldn’t handle it, he said. Not after meeting Tulum. But “don’t get me wrong”, he continued, “Playa is beautiful, but it’s built around tourism”. I pondered on that for a moment. Wasn’t this appeal precisely what so many other beautiful destinations around the world yearned for? Begged for? Sometimes even paid for? All it took was this one sentence: “Tulum makes you want to stay, cuate“. I had heard that before. That certain magnetism some cities carry about them. They don’t want you to visit, they’d like to charm you to the point where you have no choice but to stay. They call you “cuate”, “amigo”, “brother”, “llave”, “carnal” — whatever it takes. There’s no limit to the speed with which they become your best friend. These cities. It’s hard to describe, but there are more than a few one-way-ticket cities in this world. I was immediately and irremediably convinced that this was one of them.
A quick shot near the Mayan ruins by the beach
He asked if we wanted to try grasshoppers. (Affirmative, as in “would you like to chew some bugs?”). Considering we were well past our fourth Mezcal at this point, hoppers seemed like a somewhat horrible, yet epic idea. Nothing our newly awakened sense of adventure wasn’t willing to bite. Protein, right? Right… that scene still makes me cringe. In an amusing way, nonetheless. Cringe nostalgically?
We were cut short by the sound of chairs being pulled to the side and the sheer brightness of bar lights turning on. You could tell the brick oven was cooling off. The swaying palm leaves I had confused with rain for the last three days were falling asleep. That odd mix of bold Latin club anthems and mellow Californian jams suddenly dimmed. The last tiny bit of my hand-rolled tortilla was swiftly taken away. The bar was about to close, and while I never asked that bartender’s name, I will hold his story as the 15 glorious minutes that helped me understand this quirky town.
Tulum is a gypsy little spot of the Earth where things still happen slowly, and a little magically. The type of oasis of the spirit where you get to fall in love with your thoughts as they fly by. The type of travel destination that takes you on a journey to yourself. We had to agree with him: magical realism competes with nothing.
Tulum, you keep making love out of nothing at all. We’ll keep falling for you.
