El Faro Marina Vallarta — Restaurant in Jalisco

I give this place one star, only because of its location and exterior ☹️

My husband and I booked a table for dinner the night before Valentine's Day (and thank goodness, because I would have been even more annoyed)

Everything started out well, we were greeted, seated at our table, offered water (which we were later billed for $65 pesos each), and shown a selection of meats. Then I ordered a non-alcoholic Pina Colada cocktail. While I was waiting for my cocktail, my husband ordered a bottle of beer, fries with truffle oil and Parmesan cheese as a main course, and ice cream with roasted nuts and whiskey for dessert.

As I already mentioned, the dessert was supposed to be with roasted nuts, but they were not there😕. Meanwhile, I was brought my cocktail, followed by a compliment from the establishment, a plate of toasted bread slices and two bowls of hummus (it was delicious and nice)

Then the waiter brought us the main course and the dessert at the same time!

And while I was eating warm potatoes, my ice cream was melting😒 (I was offered to add chocolate topping) until now I was sure that the waiters knew the correct sequence of serving dishes🧐 but I was wrong…

So finally, the most interesting thing, I would say the cherry on top:

when we finished eating the potatoes and my husband finished the ice cream, three, I repeat, THREE waiters cleared all the dishes from the table at the speed of light, and to top it all off, one of them brazenly took a bottle of beer and checked if it was empty😳😨 without asking my husband if he had finished drinking it At this point, my husband and I decided that we were being rushed to leave.

I didn't even finish my cocktail and I asked for the bill The waiter politely brought us the bill and stood a meter away from our table, waiting until we were ready to pay, again, the feeling was unpleasant, as if we were being kicked out

The culmination of this adventure was as follows: I was paying with a card (the amount of our order was $815 pesos), the waiter showed me the option to choose a tip, I chose 5%, it was something like $40.75 pesos. But there was some kind of mistake, and the waiter took away the terminal from me , went somewhere for a couple of seconds, and when he returned, he just substituted a terminal with the amount of $896 pesos....🤡 that is, I was cheated for $40pesos.... 😳

This is officially my worst experience in a...

El Fara Lighthouse Restaurant in Marina Vallarta was a complete disaster from start to finish. As an executive who has traveled to 50 countries and is married to a chef, I know great service and good food. I didn’t expect perfection, but I did expect basic professionalism and a meal that matched the price tag.

From the moment we sat down, the service was terrible. Our server never once made eye contact and acted as if we were beneath him. The lack of engagement was bad enough, but what really set the tone was noticing them talking about us in the back—completely unprofessional.

Then came the food. Our steak first arrived overcooked, and when they brought a replacement, it was undercooked. Went from brown to red! On top of that, everything was drowning in salt, making the meal almost inedible. My expectations weren’t sky-high, but this was far below an acceptable standard for any restaurant, let alone one charging premium prices.

On the THIRD ATTEMPT with the steak, we were told the streaks would not be charged to the table. Which would make sense given our friends were finished with their meal before we even got ours. But they never adjusted the bill. So we paid full price for awful service and food. And the manager did not come over once. It's never the mistake. It's the recovery. They did not recover.

The final insult was on our way out. Three different staff members asked if we enjoyed our experience, and when we told them we did not, they simply smiled at us—no apology, no concern, just empty, dismissive smiles.

The only thing this place has going for it is the view, and it’s clear that’s all they rely on. If they recover, I’ll forgive. If not, I’ll make sure everyone knows this is a...

This rated on the follow: food, service, drinks, atmosphere, cost.

Food: The food was amazing!! Great taste, great texture, and was overall cooked to perfection. I took my young daughter (who is a VERY picky eater) and she ate ALL the food we ordered for her. Points on the food! Service: The wait staff and staff in general were very nice, pleasant, and attentive. They made great suggestions and helped out with any questions we had about the food. Points again. Drinks: The kids had lemonades, my wife had a mojito, and I had 2 beers PLUS a mojito because once I had a taste of hers, I had to get one of my own. The drinks, again, get points. Atmosphere: You get a great panoramic view of Vallarta from the beach. Since the restaurant is a lighthouse, the views are great. The only issue we really had was that the tables were small, making it a bit difficult to eat without bumping plates; and, the tables are pretty close to each other were we could probably reach over and pick at our neighbor's food. I know, it sounds picky, but I want you all to know this before you go. I didn't really mind it, but my wife kept mentioning it, so, it's in this review. If I could give half a star, I would. Cost: It was 4 (2 kids and 2 adults) of us all together and the cost including drinks came out to close to $3,500 pesos (about $175). So, its a bit costly, but we expected that coming in. So no complaints there. Overall, I highly recommend this place. Especially if you're out on a date with a loved one. I would definitely come back, but this time without the kids;...