El Arrayan

My wife and I visited in mid-July 2009. We had a wonderful meal and great service. My wife had the Duck Carnitas, I had the Shrimp Chipotle, and both were excellent. We also ordered the signature margarita, and it was superb. The price including tip was around 500 pesos (which was $38 at that time). Would recommend this to anyone.

I used to live in Puerto Vallarta and never missed an opportunity to take visiting friends to El Arrayan. With the exception of one person over three years and many, many meals, everyone loved the place. Whenever we return to Vallarta, El Arrayan is our first stop for dinner. I told Carmen that I never liked Mexican food until I ate at El Arrayan. It is gourmet Mexican food at its best and most authentic.

BTW, spending 3+ hours enjoying live music, cocktails, three courses and a bottle of wine is not unusual in Mexico. The local trade keeps them quite busy in the off season when all the tourists who spend an hour "enjoying" dinner have gone back home.

I tried El Arrayan three times to give it a fair shake over a period of two years, and found the food to be just average, the service poor, and the prices way too high. Better and more authentic food can be found anywhere in the Pitillal at 1/4 the price. Their carne asada tacos in particular were tasteless and amazingly overpriced. Any stand in PV serves better tacos.