Casa Jaguar — Restaurant in Tulum

We arrived 45 minutes early for our Casa Jaguar reservation, hoping to have a drink at the bar. At the hostess stand, a family ahead of us struggled — for almost 15 minutes — to connect to the internet and access the menu. We soon discovered the problem: Casa Jaguar only offers a QR code menu, no paper menus at all.

This was our first real frustration of the night. I didn't have my phone with me, so I handed the QR code to my wife, who instantly grew irritated. Scanning the code brings up a page filled with ads that must be dismissed before even seeing the menu. The usability is terrible: once you find the menu, it’s just a distant photo — when you zoom in to make it readable, the text extends offscreen, forcing you to drag it back and forth to read each item. Meanwhile, advertisements keep popping up, obscuring the screen and making it nearly impossible to navigate. There's no obvious way to move between sections or see if there are other pages. For a restaurant charging $100+ per person, this felt absurd — cheapening the experience and clashing with the otherwise rustic, high-end vibe.

The atmosphere was, as we remembered, magical — low lighting, candles, rustic tables, wonderful and fitting music, and thick plumes of copal smoke to keep mosquitoes away. However, the smoke was so dense that at one point we could barely see across the bar. My wife began coughing uncontrollably and had to step outside into the street to recover. Later when the mosquitos returned I decided I would remove a star from my review of the atmosphere.

We asked the bartender for something fresh and full-flavored. My wife requested a passionfruit mocktail with sparkling water and bitters. I asked for a passionfruit mezcal cocktail. My mezcal cocktail was typical of Tulum: watery, overwhelmed by cheap mezcal, and barely fruity. A cinnamon stick floated inside but added no noticeable flavor. My wife's mocktail was little more than sparkling water with a faint hint of passionfruit — not the luscious, juicy drink she had hoped for.

When she politely asked for more passionfruit, the bartender turned over an almost empty container, giving her the last few drops. Apparently, they had run out — yet still made and charged $$$ for a mocktail they knew was missing its key ingredient, without suggesting an alternative or offering any concession.

Dinner, unfortunately, did not redeem the experience. We had come specifically for the whole grilled snapper we had loved before — but it was no longer on the menu. Instead, for seafood, they offered a whole grilled white fish for two, or a small baked portion for one. My wife wisely chose the ribs, which were incredible — tender, flavorful, and beautifully cooked. She gave them a 10/10.

I chose the whole grilled white fish. It was perfectly grilled but utterly bland — no seasoning, no spice, no salsa, not much or any salt. The waiter kindly brought tortillas to help me build a meal, but the tortillas overpowered the delicate fish, and the lack of accompaniments made the experience feel like work, not dinner. I honestly can’t even remember what vegetable or side came with the fish.

During dinner, I ordered a chardonnay, but it was so aggressively oaked it tasted almost artificial, as if oak flavoring had been added. I then ordered a Cuba Libre — a simple, can’t-mess-this-up drink. But even that was not good. It contained a harsh, moonshine-like rum, watered-down Coke, and overwhelming lime.

By the end of dinner, my wife was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, which was a direct result of us earlier asking the staff not to overfill the space with copal smoke. Fortunately, our kind waiter noticed and brought her insect repellant.

We've had magical evenings at Casa Jaguar before, but after this visit, it felt like the magic was gone, and at these prices, it simply isn't...

A few things before getting started on the food, they open at 6:30 and we had a reservation for 6:30; they lost our confirmed reservation, then said they were not ready for service at that time. 15 minutes later we were seated and told because of the party we would have to be through within 2 hours (we had already agreed to this when making the reservation so not a huge deal). Cocktails were about average to the area, with nothing too overly unique as other establishments in the area are a bit more creative. I would say that overall taste, portion size and ambiance are the best attributes of this establishment! Service leaves a lot to be desired, though our waiter was nice we rarely saw him unless he thought something was wrong. There seemed to be a lot of disconnection with all staff.

The portion sizes are more than expected on all of the menu and should be treated as shareable plates. The taste of the prawns and catch of the day were both fresh, well thought out and regionally specific in flavor. The ensalada was refreshing but not really anything besides just that, an ensalada.

Overall the ambiance and flavors are what really were a win for this restaurant. They definitely are farther ahead than Hartwood in the area but the service and mediocre cocktails really didn’t give the full experience we...

Such a strange and disappointing experience. From the moment we walked into Casa Jaguar on a Saturday night at 8:30 PM, we knew something was off—there were only four other couples in the entire restaurant. For a place that’s supposedly popular, it was oddly empty and totally devoid of energy.

The menu was all digital, which is fine, but the offerings were extremely limited and uninspired. Our waiter eventually came over to take our drink order, and when we asked for straws, he came back to say they didn’t have any. No straws? Really?

Things went downhill from there. The salt shrimp appetizer was awful—soft, mushy, and clearly not fresh. The shrimp aguachile was overwhelmingly citrusy to the point of being inedible. The rest of the food followed suit: just bad. For a restaurant that charges these prices, the quality should be infinitely better.

I really don’t enjoy leaving negative reviews, but I feel inclined to in this case so others know what they’re getting into. If you’re going to charge the prices Casa Jaguar does and position yourself among the top-tier restaurants in Tulum, you need to be prepared to actually deliver a great product and experience. Sadly, this place completely missed the mark. I wish I had spent my last night in Tulum...