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Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Cost of eating in Zihuantenjo, 2017 and 2018

This is the start of the 2018 cost and quality of food in Zihua.  Under construction

Prices will be what the tab is, we try and tip at 20% if the service is good but that amount is not listed. NOTE:  The waiters down here get a salary of around $85p a day.
20.4 pesos = one US dollar on this trip.

This blog is intended to assist one's dining choices.  The totals do not include the tips.

We have been to this town for 11 different visits over the years and we must like it because we keep coming back.

Previous visit Articles:

Click here for a look at dining costs in Zihuantenjo for 2017.

Click here for the 2016 blog.

click here for 2014 and 2011

click here for  2014, 2012 and 2011

click here for 2011 with maps

This is the documentation of our dining costs for our visit of Dec 12-23, 2018

Wednesday night (arrival day):
We met another couple from our area and went out to dinner at Patty's on Playa La Ropa

We ordered paella for 4 and we each ordered a salad to split too for each couple.  The other couple ordered  two mixed drinks and we ordered two glasses of wine (It turned out it was two for one happy hour so we had double that.) (two glasses of wine each for us!)

The mixed salad would be a meal for two on it's own.  HUGE and VERY good!  HIGH Marks!

The paella was excellent but the light (at night, candles only on the beach) was not good enough to see the shells and other seafood hazards.  Lots of lobster, shrimps, mussels, maybe fish? and little sausages wiht some veggies and rice.  Very tasty but a bit treacherous to eat

Our half of the bill was $410 p

Thursday afternoon:

We had to go downtown to get some pesos out of the cash machine (Do NOT wait until Friday when all the paychecks need depositing).  That done we went to visit our friend Nahume at Casa Elvira, near the fishing boats on the water near the basketball courts.  He is the manager or owner of this place and we have known him for 8 years as he was our waiter at our favorite beach restaurant on Playa La Ropa, (now called the Cantinita and next to Patty's).

We ordered one order (3 pcs) Tacos Pastor con pollo (not on the menu) and it ws /SUPBERB.  We also had a beer a piece and some chips and pico de gaio.

Total bill:  $175p

Beach drinks in the afternoon:
Canitinita 
One grande Juego de mango, frozen (no booze)
One limonada
Total:  $105p

Dinner:
Cafe Marina (just north (towards the pier from the basketball courts)
Mixed salad (split for two)
Shrimp with pasta (split for two)
Ice tea (2)
Total:   $230

Comment:  Very good food and Juan was our waiter and was from Oakland so no issues in talking with him!  Great food here every time and very reasonable with good people watching as they walk by.

Frday day on the beach:
Cantinita on La Ropa, Lenny and Tony were our waiters
chips and pico de gaio
quesdillas (not on menu)
one Dos Eqius amber
bottled water
liminada
$200p

Friday night:
Daniels by the Sea,  Jimi Mamou playing his rock and blues.  The best music for us!
Princess Salad for the Count
Mixed salad for the girl
chips and pico de gaio (best so far)
Ice tea (5of them)
Total: $365p

Saturday on the beach:

Patty's on La Ropa 

A note of amenities:  Rinse off showers, foot wash basin and the same owner forever.  nice banos
Chips and pico de gaio
2 beers
3 liminadas
quesidilla (best so far)
Total $275 p

Saturday Night:
Daniels by the Sea, live music by Alfredo Moya (Tues and Sat)  EXCELLENT guitar
Chips and pico de gaio
2 glasses of white wine
Mixed salad split (Excellent)
Mixed fajitas split (couldn't eat it all between us!  YUMM)
Total $387 p

Sunday

Sunday lunch
Patty's
Quesidillas
Chips and pico de gaio
3 beers
Total $225p

Sunday night:
Casa Elvira
Sopa de Tortilla (tortilla soup) (2 bowls and awesome!)
two iced teas
Total $180p

Monday:
Monday Lunch:
Carmelita's
Sope con frijoles
Sope con Mahi Mahi
3xs limonadas
side of frijoles
side of rice
Way too much food!  We could only eat 2 of the three sopes served to us but was it ever GOOD!

Total $440p

Monday dinner:
Patty's
Mixed salad with chicken salad (could not eat it all and it was split between the two of us!)
pan
ice tea
fresh strawberry dacquiri
bottle of water
Total:  $225

Tuesday Lunch:
Downtown near the basketball court on the beach:  Started with an A
Best thing about this place was the view and the breeze under a roof in the shade!

Chef salad  (split) and french fries
Two limenadas
Total:  $200p

Tuesday dinner:
Tratorria de Gianni ( Near La Ropa)
Two glasses of white wine, Pino Grigio and Sauvagnon Blanc
Comprese salad
Pasta Alfredo with chicken (homemade pasta) YUMMY (split)
bread with garlic butter
water
$510p

Wednesday on the beach:

Patty's on La Ropa
Two beers
two liminadas
enchiladas
BLT with fries (best BLT I have had down here)

Total:  $365p

Dinner

Casa Elvira
We first purchased a half BBQ chicken at Pollo Feliz for $77p
Then because we know Nahume, manager at Casa Elvira and had his permission,
we brought it over there and added beans, rice, salad and drinks.

That chicken is the BEST BBQ ever!

Total:  $139 + 77p = $207p

Thursday lunch:
Patty's
Club Sandwich (HUGE with fries)
Quesidilla con pico de gaio
Fresh orange juice, grande, frozen
Liminada
water
$330p ?  memory issues

Thursday dinner:
Agave (downtownn and on the second floor)
We were the first dinners for the night at 7:30
We split a house salad
Split a chicken breas
rice and beans ordered separately (surprised the waiter we should order this common food)
two glasses of wine
water
Total:  $380p
Comment:  Nice presentation of food but too chi chi for us.  Nice view looking over the street.

Friday lunch:
Patty's
Chips with refried beans and pico de gaio
Orange juice, frozen (grande)
Liminada grande
Total $120p

Friday dinner:

Marina Cafe:
Pizza with pesto sauce and lots of veggies, half with sausage
two ice teas maybe the best ice tea around!
Total $240
Comment:  One of the best waiters in Zihua, Juan, down from the states 3 years now.
Tasty food always.  Good price too.


From here down is the blog from 2017
As of this writng, we are enjoying our 7th trip to this town in consecutve years, this is written December of 2017.  There were a couple other visits here  too, (3) prior to that.

click here to read about our previous visits.

I guess we like it here.  Certainly the sun and fun make it very fine for 2 weeks.

New activities for us could be taken but being laid back has it's appeal.

This post is just going to document our evening and some of our lunch dining with assoicated costs and rating for the food.\

Breakfast:

Our breakfast is at our BnB and is easy and simple.  Cereal, yogurt,banana, coffee and tea.  Toast is available but is usually too much to eat.


This is the documentation of our dining costs for our visit of Dec 11-22, 2017
Total costs for dining out:

The total expense to feed the two of us for the 12 days was a bit over $5000p or a bit over $300 US.  Not including tips or taxi rides or shopping for whatever....

The log below reflects 10 years of experience eating here in town:  Have fun if you try any of it.



Day 1 (Monday arriving at the airport in Zihuantenjo at 2:30 PM):  Dinner at El Vira's (renamed Cantinita) but with our same waiters on the beach with the moon, feet in the sand.  White linen napkins!

We split  each meal! Our plan unless noted otherwise.

Shrimp cocktail in mango salsa YUMM to all here
Chicken Fajitas
chips and pico de gaio

$440p plus tip

Day 2: 

Lunch was quesidillas just off the basket ball courts towards the fish market.  With 2 beers.  Maybe $175 p.  YUMMY

Dinner: Tried to go to the rooftop at the Sophia Restaurant on our street but the cook had injured himself and will not be back for 4-5 days!

Ended up at Paty's, next to El Viras.


Mixed salad (HUGE and GOOD).
Mahi Mahi with baked potato and veggies.

$375p

Day 3:  Wednesday

Lunch at Elvira's,

Chips and pico de gaio (Lori brought her own chips made at the tortilla making shop downtown and ignored the commercial chips brought to her).  The pico de gaio is amazing!
Fish tacos fried extra crisp for the Count
one large limeada
2 frozen coffees con creama  (some kind of Frape, I think) YUMM!
$175p

Dinner and dancing at Daniels downtown by the basket ball courts toward the Archeological Museum.  Jimmy Mamou is playing at 7 PM Wednesdays and Fridays.  YES!

We shared a Princess Salad, grilled chicken on lettuce with orange and grapefruit.
Two dishes of ice cream with chocolate sauce and Ice teas.
$275p

Day 4:

We have a plan to buy a BBQd chicken at Pollo Feliz and take it to our friend, Nahume who manages the Casa El Vira by the fish boats and he will see it served to us with all the other stuff.  I always wanted to get BBQ pollo but the ambiance at those places does not exist.

This was an astonishing good idea!  The chicken was tasty, the best we have had anywhere!  Nahume served it to our choices of a shared mixed salad (really good and lots) and then plates with rice and beans, followed by the best Flan ever!  Cost $244 plus the $72 for the chicken at Pollo Feliz.

Day 5:  Friday

We had this figured out early.  We spent the day on the beach at Cantinta (former El Viras) and that cost $200p.  Lori was going to have cheese and bean enchiladas but they brought out chicken instead.  Not charged for it.  The Count had beers and fish tacos, extra crisp.  Good stuff..  Add in a limenda for Lori and that was about it.  We did buy some string cheese from a vendor on the beach too for $50p

Out to dinner at Daniel's By the Sea, downtown near the basket ball centro.  Jimi Mamou was playing and starts each Wednesday and Friday there at 7:00 PM.  Lori and I shared an order of chicken fajitas which was good and too much even split!  Add in a couple of ice teas and an iced coffee and we had $344p

Day 6 :  Saturday

An exploration of shopping took us to Carmelita's as it was near the very cool antiiquities store, maybe Casa del Tierra?  Anyway Carmelitas was chosen to direct the taxi and he knew the place and took us right in to the tables!  We might not have gone in because it has NO street appeal but inside was remarkably bright and clean with so many staff bustling around it just astonished us.

I had something called Huevos Montulo (?sp?) and was a layered egg, ham, tortilla, beans, peas, onion, avocado, etc.... Amazing for $110p.  Lori had chiliquiles and liked that but couldn't eat it all.
Total bill was $275p including fresh tangerine juice and fresh OJ for me.

Dinner is to be at Rossi's on Playa La Ropa as they are to have a rock and roll band, Steve is the main guy and we had heard his band before.  VERY good.  We shall see about the food.  Not great memory of that but?  It was excellent.  A good mixed salad (they have ALL been exceptional) and a great chicken/prawn kebab.  With a rum, a water the bill came to $340p.  We split both salad and kebab and couldn't finish either of them.  The band was great too.

Day 7: Sunday

We had a light snack at Cantinitas (sp) and the days bill was $200p, chips and pico de gaio along with a beer or two and a limonada.

We went downtown to get a pizza at Cafe Marina but it was closed so we went to the Mediterreano by the church. Late night service had this very crowded but the restaurant was mostly empty so we had street front seats.  Ribs (beef) were a special so I had those while Lori had Fetticini Alfredo (the best she has ever had).  Both were good and so were the iced teas but they charged us for each one! (30p)  I had 4 and Lori had 2!  Anyway the bill came to $710, our biggest yet!  We had split a greek salad too.  All was tasty!  Great food but a bit more $$$.

Day 8:  Monday

Spent the morning at massages (my 5th and Lori's first) then some chips and pico de gaio.  A VERY  FINE fresh strawberry dacquiri wiht vodka and no sugar was great, and a couple of beers got our bill to $275p.

At 6 pm we went to the ATM at Commercial and then to music at Sirenas ($100p cover, unusual)
Where they do not have food but a couple good guitar players until 8:00 .  (we had water on ice, $40p) Then we went over to Cafe Marina for pesto sauce pizza and 3 beers!  MMMMMM.  $320p  worthy stuff!  A great place to eat!

Day 9:  Tuesday

Flush with our third withdrawal of $5000 pesos at Scotia Bank ATMs( cost $100p each time but no line to wait in) it seems likely we should partake of some paddle boarding.  That went well and we spent the day at Cantintata (sp) again.  The bill was $275, with $160 of it being a HUGE fresh strawberry dacquri made with vodka and no sugar!  YUMMM.

Out to dinner had us change our plans from Memos (across from Coconuts in a back street to the Cafe Marina which is becoming a favorite.  I had quesidillas with shrimp and bacon (couldn't eat it all), we split a salad, and Lori had rice and beans.  Total bill $220p.  No drinks except water.

Day 10:  Wednesday

The beach cost was low as it was just drinks and peanuts ($20p a bag of shelled peanuts) with at total
of $130p for the day on the beach.  Also found out the waiters make $82p per day plus tips....  OUCH

Dinner is to be with Jimi Mamou again at Daniels by the Sea downtown.

We split a salad and each had a bowl of tortilla soup.  MMMMM.  $220p

Day 11:  Thursday

We were invited to lunch today with our neighbors, Mike and Barbara from San Francisco,  in the BnB.  Posole on the menu!

We took a cab across town to a new section we had not been in.  The restaruant, St. Prisca, was down
some stairs and a two man band was playing well and loudly!  It was a fun atmosphere and the tables filled up.  The mescal was sold in pop bottles and Mike decided to live vividly!  He got a 16 coke bottle full.  It was half consumed by all of us.  Very smooth but look out.  Mike was getting vivid input at the end of the meal!

The snack plate was enough for a meal with 3-4 different snacks on it.  The posole was good and 3 of us only ate about half a bowl, Mike ate all of his large serving!  Filled up again!  Cost was $521 for the 4 of us.  Taxi to this remote part of town was $60p.

We had dinner at El Viras (Cantinita's now) and had a mixed salad, coconut shrimp and two glasses of wine for a $580p bill.  The ambiance of being by the sea in the sand for our feet with the moon overhead is amazing!  A must do dining experience.  The shrimp was the best we have had!

Day 12:  Friday

Heading to the beach for a few hours for a massage (number 6 for this trip) and a beverage or two before going to the airport and saying farewell to the warm sun and sea for a while.  Seattle will NOT be this nice.