Site Visit Restaurant Reviews

Hello all,

Thanks to all of you who offered suggestions for my small (10 person) "reception." I appreciate all your input. My FI and I were in Cabo last week. In addition to the quality of the food and ambiance, we also need a place that will allow us to bring wine and cake from the outside. I jotted down some thoughts on the restaurants we tried. I hope it helps some of you in the future.

Maria

La Panga Antigua

We loved the food and the ambiance here! This is probably the winner for our dinner. The food was great and the service was impeccable. The restaurant has a private room that would easily fit our guests and could probably fit up to 20, but we actually liked some of the other areas in the restaurant. The restaurant is terraced and has three or four levels (depending on how you count the levels), plus a bar on the fourth/fifth level. The style is stylish colonial/Mexican. The tables are surrounded by plants and fountains and lit by candles. We even noticed that the restaurant had a dehumidifier. (My hair sure needed it). The manager told us that we could bring a cake from the outside and that there would be no supplemental fee. Also, the corkage fee is $15.

French Riviera Restaurant and Bakery

We really enjoyed the food and service here. This is actually one of the top contenders for our rehearsal dinner. Although the portions were a bit small, the food was superb and the ambiance was romantic, but not stuffy. We are still trying to work out the details with the restaurant’s sales office, the corkage fee is a bit stiff ($25 compared to everyone else who has told us $15). The only draw back, which is minor, is that the restaurant appears to be in a strip mall. Also there’s some construction that detracts from the view, but this won’t be a problem if you’re dining after sunset. We are probably going to get our cake from the Bakery. The cake is $6.50 per person. I will be posting something about the cake in the cake forum.

Mi Cocina at Casa Natalia

The food was good, but the service and attitude lost us. Sorry guys, I know several of you are big fans of this place, but we were unimpressed. We ate dinner there last Wednesday. While at dinner, we decided to ask about a possible wedding “reception,” corkage fee and bringing in an outside cake. We spoke with the manager who indicated that the corkage fee would be $40 per bottle and that absolutely no cake could be brought from the outside because the restaurant had several delicious cake options. We must have looked disappointed about the corkage fee because the Manager then told us that it wouldn’t be worth it for us to bring $12 bottles of wine. I was taken aback by the comment but it wasn’t worth trying to explain our circumstances. We ordered dinner including a couple of glasses of red wine. (I was sick so we didn’t want to order an entire bottle). Anyway, when we got the wine, it was chilled. I don’t know much about red wine, but I do know that it is not suppose to be chilled. So we sent it back. We got our food promptly and it was good, but I was really looking forward to dessert after hearing the manager exalt the cake. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance to try it. After waiting for about 20 minutes and having our waiter successful dodge us, we finally managed to flag someone down. We got our check and left shortly thereafter. After all that it just didn’t seem to be worth the trouble. My FI also did not like the ambiance. He said that he felt as if it could have been a place back in LA and just didn’t feel as if we were in “Cabo.”

Peacock’s

We liked this place a lot. We found out the restaurant is owned by the same company that owns la Panga Antigua. The décor is similar to la Panga with plants, fountains, a fireplace and candle light. There are lots of areas to have a private dinner. The manager was really nice. Corkage was $15 per bottle and we could bring an outside cake for $15. If things don’t work out with the French Rivera we’ll probably go with this restaurant. Although the food was good here, La Panga is still better.

Puerta Vieja

We had lunch here. Nice ocean views and good atmosphere. We liked the food, but the menu was a little small. The menu was very surf and turf and wouldn’t work for a couple of our guests who are vegetarians. Also during lunch we noticed that it was a little loud because it is so close to the highway (this probably wouldn’t be a problem at night).

Sunset Da Mona Lisa

Great ocean views and ambiance. The service was pretty good too. But, we didn’t think the menu was too extensive. Also my entrée was better than my FI’s. I would definitely go back (preferably before the sunset), but we don’t think it is right for our dinner.

Morgan’s Encore Restaurant

We did not have a chance to eat here, but the restaurant looked charming and had a private terrace that would accommodate a group of 10 to 16 persons. There manager was very nice and appeared will to work with us to on what we needed. Outside cake could be brought in and $15 corkage fee. .

Casa Rafael's Restaurant

We did not eat here. This place wasn’t right for us. It was a bit loud when we were there and it did not have any private areas. The ambiance is similar to Panchos and Mi Casa (very festive, but a bit loud for our small group).

Edith's

We did not eat here. The ambiance was chic mexican. There was a nice wine cellar room that would accommodate our group. The entrees are expensive and we ended up not having time to eat there, so it got cut. Looks interesting. Maybe next time.

Hey thanks Maria! I will have to try out your winner . We are looking for a place to take our family one night so maybe we will check that out. Do you think we need a reservation for 7 or 8?

maria, great review...so thorough and i am sure it will be very helpful for future brides!

Thanks for the thorough review! It's great to hear how the different places responded to your request for outside cake & wine. I hope the rest of your trip went well!

I am so shocked at how Mi Cocina treated you guys! When we were there the service was to die for as was the food (and the cake I must admit). We didn't meet with the manager though - we had spoke with the owner - I think she woould be very unhappy to hear about this behavior of her staff! I wonder if I should email her and tell her about it... I guess not since we're no longer doing our dinner there. I'm just so surprised because they were so easy to work with and so flexible when we met with them. oh well - their loss not yours! It sounds liek you found a great place - I can't wait to hear more as you continue to make decisions!

Great review, I'm glad you were able to find the perfect spot for your dinner. It was weird for me, when I was sitting at De Cortez (at the Sheraton) even before we received our food I knew this was the place I wanted our dinner, and the food was good as well.

What other places did you visit while you were in Cabo?

Great review, Maria!

I'm so glad you loved La Panga too. It was one of the highlights of our wedding to have our Welcome Dinner there -- you will not regret having your wedding dinner there if that's what you choose!

Also, my husband and I ate at Morgan's Encore one night on the honeymoon, and it was also delicious. Great space, great food, great service. I would totally recommend it as well. (My in laws also loved the original Morgan's.)

Maria thats an awesome review. We love reviews. They are always helpfull.

Thanks so much Maria this totally helps me a lot, ive been trying to decide on a nice dinner for me and the boy after our wedding and once eveyone leaves...

so far I was looking at Aqua at the one and only but its so expensive, i will definately look into these places as i am sure they are a little bit more resonable

I just checked out La Panga Antigua's website...the place looks amazing I love the style of it, Maria it totally looks like the perfect place to have ur reception dinner

La panga antigua restaurant & bar, San Jose del Cabo, Los Cabos, Mexico