Chambao Cancun Restaurant | Best Steakhouse in Cancun — Restaurant in Cancún

I recently had the misfortune of dining at Chambao Cancun, and I must say it was a truly disappointing experience. It’s taken me a couple days to come down from my anger to even write this review. From the moment we arrived, the sweltering heat made the entire dining area unbearable, leaving us drenched in sweat throughout the entire meal. It was incredibly uncomfortable and not at all what one expects when dining out. They did move our table but it was still hot. We knew it was a semi outdoor experience but we had been to a restaurant the day before where it was comfortable.

Our group went to Chambao for my friend’s birthday as she had attended in 2022 and raved about the food, experience, and service. When our waiter greeted us, he asked if we wanted birthday shots. Of course we said YES and assumed they were free as he suggested Lemon Drops. Needless to say, we were wrong… I specifically asked for a shot with dark liquor. They asked me 3 separate times and took over an hour to deliver 1 shot. Our other drinks took an eternity to arrive, and even simple orders seemed to be lost in a black hole. We watched as other tables were served before us, despite arriving later. The wait staff appeared indifferent and failed to provide any explanation or apology for the delay.

To add insult to injury, we were overcharged for items we never even received. They charged us $22 USD EACH for 8 bottles of water! When we brought this to the attention of the staff, they acted as if it was our fault, showing no remorse. We eventually got them to lower the total to 4 bottles because it was no way we had 8 bottles. Even still $88 USD for bottled water is utterly ridiculous. Then, the checks were a mess! There was food on my check that I was told was sold out, drinks we didn’t order, and people’s orders mixed up. Every time they went to “fix” our check, the staff was gone for 20 minutes or more leaving us to waste more of our vacation time.

If that wasn’t enough, towards the end of our meal, we were shocked to find ourselves being chased out of the restaurant, as if we were attempting to dine and dash. The issue was with them not accepting a Discover card but that was not told to us at the table. It was a humiliating and entirely false accusation, leaving us feeling disrespected and deeply offended.

Overall, my experience at Chambao Cancun was nothing short of a disaster. The scorching heat, excruciatingly long wait times, subpar food, and accusatory treatment make it impossible for me to recommend this establishment to anyone. The decor, ambiance, entertainment are top tier but so are the prices to accommodate all of that. Our experience at Chambao did not live up to the hype nor did it equate to the amount of money spent and wasted 4 hours of our long awaited otherwise stress free vacation. At their price point, we needed and more importantly we DESERVED better. Especially being there to celebrate our...

My husband was so excited to try this restaurant last night. Unfortunately to say it fell short of our expectations would be an understatement.

On the positive side, the decor, atmosphere, and entertainment (to a certain degree) was great. The acrobats were super talented and put on a short show near the water's edge of the restaurant. The "fashion show" that others referred to was a bit incohesive. The ladies were beautiful and wearing average looking outfits which were all different with hats or umbrellas. They looked unhappy and a bit underfed. They walked around the restaurant in a line. I was not really sure what the point of that was, but it was okay. The guitarist was talented and played great songs.

The service was not good, except for Marisol whom I believe was bussing our table. Our server (?) didn't understand basic English which wasn't a huge deal since my husband is Latino. I put a question mark there because we never really knew if we had a server or not. We had to ask for another drink rather than being offered one. He never asked how our food was and if we needed anything else.

That brings me to the food. They were out of oysters amongst other items. Food was just okay...nothing to be excited about and way overpriced, even by my southern California standards. This is the fourth time we have been to Cancun and in my opinion Buena Barra, Rosa Negra, Lorenzillos, and even Fred's had better food.

I was extremely surprised to see a bill for $400 when my husband and I only ordered an empanada appetizer, a small steak, a side of creamed spinach, and a light dessert. We shared all of this food! My husband ordered three spicy margaritas and I ordered one signature vodka mixed drink. The kicker is that after my first drink (it was super sweet) I asked for prosecco. The server said they were out of prosecco. He asked if I'd like champagne and it was by the glass. I said sure, not thinking it was going to be over $55 per glass! And I ordered two without knowing! There was not a wine list to see the prices. My husband asked when we got the bill, and the server said it was "a real champagne from France". I do feel like the server should have asked if that was okay first knowing it was super expensive and they didn't have a wine list for reference. I have learned my lesson to always ask the price of everything. BTW whatever fancy champagne it supposedly was didn't wow me or give me even the slightest buzz. I felt like this was tricky and dishonest on the part of the server/restaurant.

I hope my review helps someone else avoid the same...

If you love the feeling of going to a used car lot and being surrounded by car salesman this is the place for you. We came for our anniversary and initially it seemed great. The restaurant is very nice and has a great view of the water. The staff initially seemed genuine and nice and that very quickly turns in to upselling and just wanting you to spend more and more in a very pushy way. Our waiters like assistant asked us if we wanted tequila shots to celebrate our anniversary and this was after we ordered drinks. He asked in a way we thought we were being like gifted them but no ended up being charged for doubles of top shelf. They rush you to order and try to sell you on huge expensive steaks. My girlfriend wasn’t that hungry and ordered the petit filet and the waiter kept pushing her to go for a big one and was saying that was the kids steak (when it came it was plenty big I’d say 6-8oz). The waiter kept coming by and whispering in my ear telling me to order some dessert thing with sparklers and shots for like $90 and I told him no but he kept bringing it up. They randomly blast music here and there and start dancing with strobe lights like a club which was fun but a little much. Finally after our dinner I asked for the check and the waiter wouldn’t give it to me and kept trying to get us to stay longer. It took 3 times of asking to get the check. Then he comes over and asks for my phone and was basically demanding I give him a review, it was very uncomfortable. Then they bring the check and you don’t get to fill it out they stand there and say what percent of tip do you want to give me and it feels very pressured. I said 20% and they did more than that.

In conclusion the food is good but the constant hounding killed it for us. We had one NY steak, one petit filet, fries, Chambao potato’s, asparagus, tuna sashimi, 2 beers, and one cocktail (+ the two shots we thought we were comped) and it was $400 US. In my opinion it was overpriced and we felt uncomfortable the entire time. It was very tourist trappy and they are just focused on a big tip and upselling you the...