Capitán Barbanegra — Restaurant in Quintana Roo

Avoid - I felt scammed and they appear to be taking advantage of travelers. They are not honest with how they charge customers. Moreover, it was not worth $15/person for an "Entrance Fee" and also salespeople approached us literally every 5 minutes to sell us something (bracelets, sunglasses, hats, small souvenirs, etc). This was a bit frustrating as other establishments at other spots keep these salespeople from approaching their guests to make it more peaceful.

My wife and I landed on this spot based on a quick/pushy recommendation from the taxi drivers at the cruise port - a guy named Alvaro told us about this place and we paid $15/person to him personally and he gave us some cards with their business logo/picture. We then had to pay the taxi separately to get there (understandable). Then we get to Barba Negra and got seated rather quickly on beach chairs at their small beachside property - it was nice enough, but small. They never checked the cards that we "purchased" back at the cruise port/taxi stand - felt scammed there, but hard to say, honestly.

Moreover, we did get a small corona and margarita (came in what looked like a hotel gym water cup) as a "welcome gift". At first, we thought everything was decent and for a last-minute decision, we thought we were doing okay.

Unfortunately, it went downhill from there. We ordered two more drinks and two taco plates (Listed at $10/plate... so 6x tacos in total & they were quite tasty to be honest). My wife tried to order a small corona again (like what we received when we arrived) and the server said they have none... So we just ordered two regular size Coronas. After a few hours, we requested to pay to leave and return back to the port, and our server came with a handwritten bill of $34. I gave him a $50 and he gave me back $6... I said that something was wrong and he said he didn't have any more change and maybe a free tequila would suffice. I told him no and that I want the correct change. He walked me over to his colleague (boss?) who told me that $6 was the correct change because of taxes and tips there. At that point, he gave me back an extra $1 and offered tequila shots as a goodbye gift... I declined the shots and we just left feeling scammed. I didn't have the wherewithal to argue their tax/tips laws/norms in Costa Maya, Mexico and figured I would just leave reviews to warn others to...

SCAM ALERT!!! Worst service i've ever gotten. When parking the guy on the street side was very aggressive and was basically forcing the menu on me. i then decided to eat there since he said there was wifi. I initially asked if they accepted credit card because i did not have cash. The waiter said that they indeed accept credit card with no fees . After sitting down and ordering i asked for the WIFI which they now said was not working, but i had already ordered so i had no choice but to stay and eat. The food was decent however, when i asked for the bill, they insisted on cash,which i had already told them that i did not have. They even told me that their card reader was not working suddenly, after already telling me that they accepted credit card.. anyways after a lot of back and forth all of a sudden, their card reader was working and now they said they charge 5% extra if i pay with credit card. I refused to pay with credit card because the guy said he would have to enter my card details in his phone( which was absurd to me). I then went to a nearby ATM to withdraw 1000 pesos . The bill wasn't much, it was like 870. When i paid the 1000 pesos i asked for my change and the guy said that he was taking the balance as his tip. I then told him that i was not leaving any tip because of the bad service. (The change was insignificant but it was the principle behind it) he then said that he had no change and i had to leave the 1000pesos. Again the amount was not a lot and the change was insignificant but he basically scammed me and refused to give me the change. I then left and on the way out i could hear him blurting out ...

I don’t usually leave reviews when traveling abroad, understanding that cultural differences are part of the experience. However, my girlfriend and I left this place feeling scammed and uncomfortable. We originally asked our taxi driver to bring us to Crazy Lobster but were persuaded to try this spot instead — a mistake on our part.

The guacamole was the only decent item we had. Everything else was subpar. Seating was cramped, and we were constantly approached by vendors — understandable, but it made relaxing impossible.

The worst part was the billing. Prices quoted by our server didn’t match the menu. Margaritas listed at $10 were charged at $15 without our consent, supposedly because we were given a “large” size we didn’t ask for. Guacamole was listed at $10, but we were charged $12 because they added a fee for chips — something that should clearly be included.

When I asked to be charged according to the menu, the server became flustered and rushed the payment process, skipping the final screen to hide the actual USD total. Once I had Wi-Fi and checked the conversion, I saw we were overcharged and the promised correction never happened.

Overall, this felt like a blatant attempt to take advantage of tourists. I highly recommend avoiding this place and sticking with better-reviewed, more transparent...