Ay Caramba — Restaurant in Tamarindo

Where to start? Lets do the good stuff first: This is our second trip to Tamarindo beach and came to this restaurant once a few years ago, so decided to give another try since our last experience was good. This place is an outdoor restaurant so if you eat here bring a fan and mosquito spray.

Place is good size, with nice traditional mexican decor and a full bar. Menu has multiple options primarely meats( chicken, pork, beef) and seafood. Not much for vegetarians to enjoy. For the record, I am mexican so I know what stuff should taste like.;)

We ordered a tamarindo margarita and a jamaica fresh juice. The tamarindo was awesome! Refreshing and tasty unlike the jamaica which was really plain with no enough sugar or jamaica flower juice.

Dinner was alambre( beef with grilled vegetables) served with corn tortillas . Also ordered a cochinita pibil quesadilla.

Alambre was good, came in a hot grill sizzling and smelled great. 3 salsas with it and enough to have some to go.

Quesadillas was a dissapointment. The cochinita supposdly is from yucatan mexico, which I had had many many times in Mexico. This cochinita was dry and flavorless. The only good thing was the cheese. Portion was good size. I did not eat more than a third because I did not enjoy the food.

Service was poor, basically non existant. Just brought the food to the table, that was it. Waiter was so unfriendly. He walked us up to the table, did not greet us or even asked if we wanted water or checked how was the food or drinks after another waitress brought it to us. So like I said, service was zero. Not sure if the guy was on a bad day or what but it was not a good experience.

Take note that bill comes in with a charge of 10% service already included. Such a shame since this was not earned.

Needless to say we sre not...

Overall a good experience we had here the other night. We were the only table at the time, around 6pm which we found a little odd but we decided to try it anyways.

The food was good as well as having decent drinks. I had a Cadillac margarita and my wife had a classic margarita (under half the price of the Cadillac) but unfortunately they tasted the same. We then ordered another round of classic margaritas near the end of our dinner and they were certainly not as good as the first round, they had a funky dirty dishwater taste and were not very good.

The food was very good and kid friendly as well. I had the verde chicken enchiladas and my wife had the fish tacos, both of which were very good. Our daughter had the chicken tenders which were more like chicken fries but were also very good regardless.

My only real complaint is really not the restaurants fault, but it is the fact that it is a (covered) outdoor dining experience so bring bug spray if you are planning on eating around dusk or dark. We were all bitten numerous times during dinner and it really ruined the experience for us. Again not the restaurants fault, but I’d like to just give a heads up to others looking...

Incredible Tacos, Margaritas, and Service!

I honestly don’t understand the negative reviews—my experience at Ay Caramba was fantastic from start to finish! I came in for the taco and margarita 2-for-1 special and was blown away by both the flavor and the value. The tacos were fresh, perfectly seasoned, and generously filled, and the margaritas were strong and delicious—definitely not watered down like some places.

What made it even better was the service. Maria B and Jose took such great care of us—friendly, attentive, and genuinely welcoming. They made sure everything was perfect and added a warm, personal touch to the whole experience.

If you’re hesitant because of the reviews, don’t be. Give Ay Caramba a try—you won’t regret it! I’m already planning...