The Happy Lobster — Restaurant in Jalisco

YOU MUST GO HERE! I never say this, but, you have to go here!

We took a 7-day cruise and one of the stops was PV. We got off the ship and asked the cabs where to go for fish tacos and were told the La Langosta Feliz (The Happy Lobster). The cabs off the ship wanted $20 each way, so we walked off the docs and asked a cab waiting on the corner where to go and he said the same thing. We figured, what the hell and asked him to take us. It cost $7 for the cab ride.

Now this is not a tourist place, it is not on the beach and there is no way you will find it by yourself. This is where the locals go for GREAT food. We did not know this at the time though.

The restaurant is upstairs and has a great open eating area with lots of tables and a great view of part of the city and of the hills. The people were so nice and not in a "make the tourists happy" way, but they were genuinely nice. The service was also just perfect, not over bearing and not absent. They let us have time when we wanted it and were right there when we had a question.

We ordered 2 margaritas to start and they were awesome. Then we asked for fish tacos and one steak taco. These were so good, my wife wanted more, even though we were not hungry. So I ordered her another taco and asked for some shrimp repeated word for myself. they brought out this plate of shrimp in garlic and butter sauce that were some of the best I have ever eaten. They we large, cooked to perfection (it is so easy to over cook shrimp) and tasted super good; in fact, I gave my wife 3 of them, I think there were 8 in total and she said that there was not way she could eat them, but once she tasted them, she eat them all and looked mad at me for eating the others :)

We finished off the meal with 2 tequilas.

The bill was $50 for 4 tacos, 3 margaritas, the shrimp plate and 3 tequilas (my wife really liked the high end tequila they served). This would have cost $100 in the states!

You really...

We got the special for two people. It looked good but it came to us luke warm to cold. I think they left it out and our server forgot to serve it to us. We had lobsters, prawns, shrimp and sea bass mignon. They were all ok. The sea bass with bacon really was not good at all: over cooked and mixed flavor with bacon makes for a not so good tasting fish. The lobsters, prawns, and shrimp were all grilled and were ok, nothing special, and as I stated before warm to cold. It was served with melted butter and garlic bread (also just ok). We went on a whim and ordered the Puerto Vallarta ceviche. We didn’t know it was a dry ceviche versus your traditional ceviche wet in its sauce. We also got the half dozen oysters, which was pretty good, they were large and decently priced. The kids got spaghetti and it was good. The best part was the flaming plantain: the taste was great and it came with a scoop of ice cream. It was very good. The only thing was when you order flaming anything you expect them to put on a little show or come out on fire. Nope it came out boring and not on fire and just served to our table like a regular dessert item. I was thinking ok; I guess they flame it up in the back here. But literally a few tables over they have a two man crew putting on a show with the gravy boats and flaming plantains. I asked why we didn’t get that and he said we couldn’t do it here. That was a poor answer. Too many bad things to give a positive review. I will say the servers were nice, but even then he added a tip to a 4 person table. Not cool in my mind.

Overall: 2.5 stars because the food was expensive while food was ok, and a flaming dessert that was not on fire, while another table ordered the same item and had a flaming showing. I would not waste my time or money going here; if you think you are paying for an exceptional dinner, expect...

We met up with our friends here who chose the spot located on the busy Malecon.

ATMOSPHERE: The thatched 2-level, open-air restaurant sticks out like a sore thumb on the beautiful beach. An always-on charcoal grill along the sidewalk is what draws the crowds in, as it did for our friends. They saw and smelled a fish being grilled and cha-ching, sold!

The lower level has an open-view kitchen and seating on the beach but everyone retreated upstairs due to the pounding surf. Upstairs had a very dreary vibe, mainly due to the unappealing fluorescent/white LED lighting.

MENU: Bring your magnifying glass and flashlight to see the teeny tiny print. The font was so small, there was no use in taking a picture of it. After squinting aimlessly, I can say they offer a plethora of seafood done in every way imaginable.

FOOD: Grilled Snapper This was a steal for the amount of fish we got. 2 good-sized snappers were split open, seasoned, and grilled to tender and smoky perfection.

We wanted more, but...

SERVICE: We got in to the restaurant about a half hour to closing and got the above dish and some drinks. When we were ready to order, the male server said we'd have to order ASAP, in which we did. He came back a few minutes later to apologize that the kitchen closed up. They turned away 5 entrees and more drinks! Their loss, not ours, as we had a great meal at Margarita Grill which was open later.

The server should've come to us to inform of the kitchen's last call. Very unpolished.

OVERALL: Go for lunch, not dinner due to the...