El Fogón

Read that this was one of the best and cheapest places to eat in the area (and apparently there's multiple locations, so if full there are other ones to try out). Was pretty full when I arrived, but got one of the last tables. There seemed a steady flow of people arriving (many by taxi, so if they're travelling far just for this it should be decent). Went for the pastor and beef tacos. And ended up getting a few more as they were pretty good. Not too expensive (just over £1 a taco). Overall good - will probably come back again while I'm still here, and avoid the overly expensive/touristy places that are nearby.

I went to this place twice. First time was dinner and there was a line to get in. I ordered alambres dish with steak and cheese. The food was delicious and the price was great. The second time I ordered fajitas pastor and since it was lunchtime and less crowded the service was excellent. They offered a complimentary soup before the food and all the food was delicious.

What a gem!!! So far the best Mexican food I’ve had here. Extremely cheap and loaded with flavour! Only cost $75 USD to feed a family of 5 including drinks. Not too far off 5th ave but totally worth going off the road for. I highly recommend coming here!

Good tacos, both the Al Pastor and the steak. They come with raw onions and cilantro but you can ask them to put on the side. Flour tortillas and cheese are both options. This place is popular for sure at both locations. Baked potatoes with toppings are also available. Worth a trip!

This is the place the locals eat and you can tell. Very great prices and amazing food. Real Tacos 🌮 and not a tourist trap. Highly recommended. Best tacos we ever had. Particularly the chorizo con ceso. Tip > try the sauces before you put them on your tacos some are very spicy but very tasty.

Probably the best Al Pastor tacos in town. Only marking it down one star because even tho they’re the best in town, they’re not to die for. Service was good and fast. Tacos were very tasty, on the smaller side of street tacos. Not much meat or pineapple but again still very good. Very cheap. Hours on google are wrong, I went at 3pm for a pre-dinner snack and they were pretty busy. Still got sat right away. I’ll probably go back for round 2.

We arrived around 6:15 pm on a Sunday night and got in right away, but about 20 minutes later they were busy with a line around the corner. However, they have fast and great service. We ordered the full order of guacamole, steak quesadillas, tacos loco (mixto), smoked pork (ahumada) platter, and another plate of mixed meats with cheese (forgot the name, but it was steak and chorizo). Everything was delicious, and their salsas are a bit more spicy than elsewhere we've been. We've noticed a lot of Mexican restaurants here serve the jalapeno salsa (salsa verde) and a salsa roja that is spicier; however, the salsas here at El Fogon are more spicy than at the other places we've been. We still asked for the hottest salsa (as always) which was literally them slicing a couple green habeneros and serving them in a liquid (lime juice maybe?), the exact same thing the previous restaurant did. While it wasn't the "liquid-oozing from every pore and orifice" spicy that we were expecting based on reviews (granted the reviews were 8 years ago from fellow gringos that love spicy), it was still good. My friend loves bacon, and he said the smoked pork was amazing and that the chorizo was good (he doesn't like chorizo!). The steak quesadillas are nothing like what you would get in the U.S. because they are loaded with steak similar to fajita meat and barely had any cheese. The steak was remarkable because it melted in your mouth, and it wasn't even the arrachera! The tacos locos (plato) was also just as amazing because it's several chopped meats mixed with slices of bacon on top and covered in queso fundido. I had the plate with steak and chorizo, jalapeño slices covered in queso fundido, and a potato with crema. A lot of the dishes come with guacamole and grilled onions (cebollas asadas). The entire meal (tacos locos, steak quesadillas, smoked pork, my plate, plus 4 waters, a soda, and 3 beers) all came out to around $65 US (~$1300 MXN). Again, service was quick and amazing. Everywhere else we've been we have spent about 1.5 hours in the restaurant because service was slow, but not this place. It's the locals' go-to for gpod food. We were attracted because of the supposed spiciness, but were amazed by the food itself! And our server couldn't have been better. I was an overcast/rainy day, but that allowed us to stay cool inside. I would highly recommend this place, and if you want to try a variety of meats, get the tacos locos.

Mmmmmm…. This place!! I normally hate to queue for restaurants but I am so glad I did. I was in Mexico for 3 weeks and this was the best food I had the whole time on was there. Well worth a visit if you’re near Playa del Carmen. Tip: don’t speak Spanish? Put Google translate on your phone and use it’s camera function to translate the menu for you - very handy!