Taboo | Best Beach Club Tulum — Restaurant in Tulum

I came to Tulum with the idea of doing a beach club for my birthday and decided on this one (although there are SO many). This place is definitely beautiful, the music was great, and it was fun overall, BUT, the service was mediocre for how expensive it is. I imagine they are used to it being packed so that should not be an excuse. We went as two couples and paid for a beach cabana which half of the price of admission can be used as credit for drinks, food, etc. For starters, the lady at the front that took care of our payment must have not been paying attention and charged one card the full amount rather than splitting it in two and had to cancel and charge again. Being out of the country meant that it then became a mission with the bank simply because she charged back to back. Second issues was that our server took extremely long at times when we wanted to order. Third issue was upon payment at the end. On top of the credit that we used up, we consumed two bottles of vodka, a hookah, and a couple of appetizers. Now- I imagine everyone here spends a pretty penny, but we wish we would have gotten what we paid for. When the check arrived the server didn’t credit us the $5140 pesos that we get for renting the actual daybed so he added the bottle of champagne we used up with that credit as extra $$. He also decided to give himself a 50% tip. WHAT??? We would have taken care of him, but not 50% considering half of the time he was nowhere to be found. The audacity that we were charged wrongly, yet again. We looked closely at the bill and the manager had to come only to apologize and say we shouldn’t tip the server???? They said this about their own worker rather than compensating or discounting anything. Of course, they had to cancel payment again and charge a second time. This happened twice already since we were there. Needless to say, the ladies next to us told us how it also seemed they were getting played and taken advantage of in their check. When we went elsewhere during our trip someone ended up telling us they were warned about Taboo Beach Club because they have a tendency to try and rob money through what they add on to people’s checks. Aside from that, the place itself is beautiful. The pool is small though and the beach had way too much seaweed. Definitely not going here if I’m back in Tulum. Bagatelle might be worth...

This is supposed to be an "Ultra High End" Restaurant operated by the until-now respected Grupo RosaNegra, and it certainly comes with the ambiance, prices, cocktails and amazing food one would expect.

BUT, this is a COVID Super-Spreader Event waiting to happen, at a time were more modest restaurants in the area take much more serious precautions. Where they fell short of the not-so-high-end local competition (and local regulation) was:

No face masks whatsoever on the hostesses, and much of the management staff. Many waiters wore small plastic face shields which do practically nothing to prevent virus transmission. No temperature checks at the main entrance. Guests not expected to, or required to, wear masks when entering or not seated at their tables. Optional hand sanitizer at the table, but no consistent application upon entry. No QR code for digital menus, and no evidence the menus had been sanitized between uses. Napkins and utensils not presented in a sanitized bag, just rolled in a linen napkin. Tables and guests are seated less than the recommended 1.5m apart, with no apparent attempt to enforce any social distancing.

The food was fantastic, and the cocktails were creative. Everything was served with beautiful presentation. The ambiance, with a breeze blowing off the beach and a DJ playing at a volume that allows casual conversation was just magic.

But when one of the managers, Angel, came to our table to check on our meal --without a face shield, mask, or even attempt to maintain any distance, that killed it for me. Clearly the problem is from the top of the house, and Grupo RosaNegra is less concerned about Tulum shutting down for another three months than they are about immediate profits.

Other fine dining establishments in the area have figured out how to strike the proper balance between a elegant experience and safety. Taboo is an abject failure in...

We have heard that Taboo was a must do from several locals and we decided to visit on the last day of our trip since we didn't have anything else planned. A lot of times the locals hype up places for you to go because they get paid for it, but I would definitely recommend stopping by after the experience we had. We came for dinner. I know they have a beach party as well but I can only speak on the dinner experience.

Honestly, we didn't have high expectations but it ended up surprising us and we closed the place down. You will definitely need a reservation and make sure to make it ahead of time. Lucky for us our driver knew someone that was able to get us in the same day. The vibe is amazing, the people are beautiful and the venue is fantastic. There is a little bit of walking through gravel to get to the entrance but once you're there the experience is top notch.

The food is on the expensive side but your paying for the experience as well and all of the food is good. The drinks were strong and the hookah's were amazing. We had Hookah the whole night. Our server took great care of us the whole time. They have several shows throughout the night and a DJ playing in between. The shows had a saxophone player and a violinist who were fantastic. They got the crowd hyped and everyone was having a great time. Napkins flying everywhere. Towards closing time they had a section blocked off and a bunch of fireworks rained down from the roof. The DJ was one of the best I've heard. He kept everyone dancing and vibing the whole night.

As I mentioned earlier, we ended up spending the whole night here and had a blast. It was one of our favorite experiences in Tulum so I'd definitely recommend making a stop here while...