Restaurante tio Manolo — Restaurant in Kaua

Tourist trap disguised as culture – avoid if you can

This restaurant was included as part of our tour lunch stop, and it turned out to be the most disappointing part of the day. The food was bland, barely warm, and not even salt or pepper was provided on the tables. No drinks were included, and outside water bottles weren’t allowed, so you’re forced to pay even for a glass of water.

They called it a visit to a “Mayan community,” but the experience felt completely staged. We saw a church — which makes you question how authentic the setting really is if it’s supposed to represent a traditional Mayan village.

After lunch, we were funneled into a so-called “art museum” that was just a craft shop with no working AC, clearly aimed at selling overpriced souvenirs to tourists.

Earlier on the bus, we were asked to write down our names and birthdates for a “Mayan calendar reading.” When we later changed our minds and declined, four different staff members approached us trying to pressure us into paying for it anyway. When we refused, the uncomfortable stares from staff made the whole situation worse.

This place isn’t cultural — it’s a cleverly packaged tourist trap. Spend your time and...

We were dropped here for lunch as part of a tour to Chichen Itza from Cancun.

We were told it was an authentic Mayan village, but really it's just a shop & restaurant with employees rather than Mayan community members.

The shop had everything, but was very very pricey, and employees would not stop following you around. I just wanted to browse but had employees over my shoulder every time I looked at something. Not to mention we had our photos taken on arrival on our phones, only to find said photos on bottles of Mayan spirit later in the day which they attempted to sell to us. This was a bit unnerving as we had no idea they would be taking photos of us.

The food was buffet style, not very authentic (spaghetti with sauce?) and tasted very bland. Sadly when we returned to the hotel, we came down with food poisoning and we were really unwell.

Would not recommend this place. If you come as part of a tour I would recommend avoiding the food &...

I got taken here on an excursion tour for lunch. They won't let you bring even water inside so they can make extra profit from selling you their own drinks which seemed like really poor hospitality given how much the tour cost and that lunch was included (which typically includes a beverage or at least access to your own water). We were told the food was authentic Mayan cuisine; they were serving spaghetti in marinara sauce, rice, and some lackluster veggies as the vegetarian options. The rice pudding had a bafflingly miniscule amount of rice.

This restaurant is part of a complex that appears to be run by Ekinox tours; the shops were all extremely overpriced and the "activities" were all pointless aside from the lady making tortillas.

In summary: this was the worst meal I've had in Mexico, it's particularly bad for vegetarians, and they seemed...