Republic — Restaurant in Jalisco

Fajita Republic is now known simply as Republic. We've been coming here for years now.

ATMOSPHERE: This is a very cool looking restaurant that would fit right in, in any major US city. Dim lighting, funky & cool beehive-shaped sconce lighting abound with a mix of industrial decor, medium height table tops, a small bar, and huge, sea glass buoy-looking lights smack dab in the center of the restaurant above a multi-seater round. Gorgeous!

MENU: Traditional Mexican with American influence. I'd usually take pics of the menu, but the paper was so big and the lighting dim, so it wouldn't have worked. If I pass by again, I'll try to snap a pic of the sidewalk menu.

FOOD: The house "bread" were 2 cucumber spears and 2 radish sticks sprinkled with a reddish salt.

Nachos No, it's not the expected mound of chips with the usual toppings. These were 12 individually topped chips, with thick layers of refried beans and gooey cheese, no meat, surrounding a pool of sour cream, a damn delicious homemade guacamole, and scoop of fresh pico. Great for 4 to share. Highly recommended!

Guacamole & Chips The most delicious guacamole I've ever tasted, lives here. Fresh, smooth, creamy. It's served in a huge paddle-like wood spoon over a romaine leaf. Oddly, the app comes with only 6 tortilla chips. Just ask for more, and they'll bring out a huge paper cone of the goods. Another highly recommended dish!

Beer Shrimp 12 big pieces of succulent shrimp were perfectly deep fried in a super tasty and savory beer batter that really didn't need any dipping sauces. But, it did come with ramakens of chili mayo, plain mayo, and cocktail sauce. The center of the plate featured half of a baked potato skin with a thick layer of cheese, possibly a mix of cheddar and havarti. Highly recommended.

Fajita Presidente The fajita dishes are literally set on fire in the middle of the restaurant on a tray rest. The plate comes to your table mildly sizzling. This version featured tasty slices of chorizo sausages and tender steak, with lots of white onion slices. The tortilla shells were soft and nicely toasted with a few visually appealing and palate pleasing burn marks. Yup, highly recommended.

Queso Fundido I was expecting a pot of liquidized cheese but the Gouda was simply melted in a skillet and came with flour tortillas & pico. Very good.

Steak Bandera The angus steak was insanely tender and flavorful and topped with melted cheese, with sides of Mexican rice, guac, and refried beans. Really a tortilla-less fajita dish. I loved it.

Fish Oaxaca The melt-in-your-mouth fish was very, very moist and almost too flakey, but I loved it. It was sautéed with shrimp and onions in a deliciously buttery Sherry-like sauce then possibly steamed. My only gripe is that it was served atop a piece of tin foil which as you know doesn't work well with a metal fork coming into contact with it. Instead of trying to preserve my dish right side up, I just dumped it upside down on my plate in order to not have metallic forkfuls of food. The portion was a bit small but so was the price. Highly recommended.

Fish Bandera Good overall flavor with tasty shrimp but an overload of cheese on top of the fish.

SERVICE: Everyone was friendly and professional. They checked on us often and kept neighboring tables spic and span.

OVERALL: Beautiful ambiance, great food & service, nice menu, fair...

I have been coming to Puerto Vallarta for over 10 years, own a vacation home here and I know the restaurants here and many are very good. I usually eat local types of foods but often crave Canadian style as well. I randomly stopped in this restaurant three years ago maybe four and I was so impressed with not only the food but the service. It was absolutely stand out and I’ve stopped numerous times since, including bringing along family and everyone asked to go back.

I find myself this year on a very short for myself two week trip here and it’s my sixth time here. The staff are absolutely friendly, playful, accommodating. I couldn’t really ask for more and the food is always spot on! Never once have I been served something that wasn’t. Besides the food being great, the pricing is great too, but right from my very first time here I noticed and was accommodated in ways. Many restaurants don’t do. For example, was here with my mom and she loves dogs and seen a dog sitting somewhere else and they have to be in that spot and so the waiter just casually said come on. I’ll move you over there. They recommend great things and I think Jorge is the head waiter or a boss but man does that guy keep things rolling for everyone! To say highly recommend seems average. There’s something here for everyone and the staff are unreal....

Soooo... I got food poisoning here on my second visit.

Since I can't say for sure it was this establishment I won't give it one star but rather review it based off of the service and food. I will take a moment to talk about the food poisoning since I was hungry when I arrived and felt fine.

On my second visit, First thing I ate was guacamole. It was tasty, not as good as my guac that I make at home, but good, nonetheless. My stomach started to feel very uneasy almost halfway through the guac. My meal came after an average wait as did my dinner guest. I was not able to finish it. I actually got up and went to the restroom expecting to vomit.

I tried to eat more anyway but couldn't. I hadn't ordered the guacamole the first time we came and i'm almost convinced that it was that which made me sick. We left soon after. I did end up with 2 days worth of food poisoning and when I left for aguascalientes still felt my stomach was not right and had some antibiotics prescribed for me which I felt 100% normal within 1 day after the first dose.

Nice decor, I can tell they are trying. I read up on them and there are a lot of these in the states that have failed. Sad. I hope they listen to their customers though so they can improve. they could be the best place to eat in la...