Mateos Mexican Grill

Mateo’s in Tulum is an absolute treasure. The whole place feels like Swiss Family Robinson meets jungle paradise—rustic, adventurous, and full of character. The vibe is super laid-back and welcoming, and the energy is contagious. Mateo, the owner, is awesome—genuine, friendly, and clearly loves creating a space where people can connect and have fun. I had an amazing time playing ping pong with my daughter, meeting people from all over the world, and just soaking in the atmosphere. The food is next level—especially the steak burrito, which was out of this world. I also had the best guacamole I've ever tasted, and that's saying something. Pair that with a sunset drink on the rooftop, and you're in paradise. To top it all off, the live music was incredible—the kind that makes you want to stay all night. Mateo’s isn’t just a restaurant; it’s an experience. Can’t wait to go back!

We had a great lunch here after biking the Jaguar Park and Tulum ruins trail and visiting all the stops along the way. Leo was our server he was very attentive and even made me an ice pack for my face (from bike injury the night before). Loved their assortment of sauces. The grilled fish tacos were excellent. My daughter had a steak burrito that she really enjoyed. My husband got Baja style fish tacos (fried fish) that he also enjoyed. I highly recommend.

The restaurant has many different areas for seating on different levels allowing you to have a view or listen to live music! The food was great. Jose was a wonderful and attentive server! They even offered us bug spray :)

Our Favorite Spot in Tulum! We spent our honeymoon in Tulum in December 2024 and ended up eating here almost every single day! The burritos were absolutely incredible – fresh, flavorful, and made with love. The staff was so warm and welcoming, it felt like coming home each time. To top it all off, there was often live music that added a magical touch to the already relaxed and vibrant atmosphere. This place quickly became one of the highlights of our trip. Highly recommended for anyone visiting Tulum!

Jose our server was EXCELLENT! He was very friendly and gave great recommendations! My husband has the octopus, we enjoyed the ceviche. My daughter had the chicken and said it was the best she’s ever had! We enjoyed a drink at sunset at the very top and Jose took care of us! Make this a stop when you come to Tulum!

Great pizza prices on the street. Then just a couple to choose from all the customizations add up and the drinks and everything adds up some more. I should of looked at the menu a bit more before going for it. Ping pong was fun with the kids. Fast service. It's an option by the free beach access among a bunch of others I'll try first before going back.

We’ve been to multiple places throughout the week and and my brother and I can’t seem to get away from this place. The food is amazing and best that we have tried along the coast line. Our server Jose has been our waiter every time and treated us with the best service possible. We highly recommend this place to anybody looking for a place to get a bite. Price is also very realistic for the location!!

Very low quality food. Nachos were plain, no taste and came with a lot of sauce which was not fresh. Tacos were expensive and very poor quality, only the meat with one slice of avocado on it and plain rice on the side. Very overpriced, won’t be visiting again.

You don't need to come here for the food. But absolutely can see it being a great time for some drinks and watching futbol or football. They have NFL, NBA, Soccer across the globe, NHL, MLB. It's the go to spot for sports but I'd plan on eating before or not planning on getting full entrees. Portion sizes were meh, unseasoned and tortillas tasted old. Oh, they also tried to get us to pay for parking when it's advertised as free parking even after showing that we just ate.

Very good restaurant with lots of vegetarian options. We had the nachos and veggie tacos. I'm glad I asked about the black beans before I ate them because they are made with pork belly oil so not vegetarian. The server offered us a free dessert for the confusion. It's a nice location with free parking. Nice patio and lovely rooftop.

10/10 food, drinks, service, and entertainment! Came here soon after arriving to Tulum for the first time and will definitely visit again! Cute indoor/ outdoor ambiance in a great part of the hotel zone.

Came here for dinner and it was delicious. We ordered: Grilled Octopus: Great portion, fresh octopus, and well grilled. It didnt have any evidence of burnt. It was delicious! Fish tacos: fresh and delicious and quite tasty Chicken wing: delicious This place has multiple tvs broadcating games. Enjoyable. Also it has a beat up ping pong table with ping pong paddles, enough to entertain while the food is being prepared. Mateo is quite big, its got lots of tables and chairs to host multiple parties. I kinda like this place :)

A very unusual place. Maybe I went at the wrong time? The staff gave the vibe that they did not want patrons dining in the restaurant. After being seated for 10 minutes with no menu in sight or greeting from staff, I sat up, got to walking & took my business elsewhere.

This place usually is jam pack during the nights, but I can tell you that it's a very decent place to go in the afternoon. There are fish bites are outstanding. They always have a fresh catch of the day which will get you something nice like mahi-mahi or tuna or whitefish we also took Tacos they were super good. They have different type of salsa that you can try on their services. Great there's a good vibe, but they don't have air conditioning. It's an open seating so if it's hot, you're gonna be sweating all the time their fans are not very effective. I'm had some difficulty with translating what we wanted, but we made it. The food was great.

Luis, the bartender, was fantastic. Great service and had a great time chatting with him. Food was great, highly recommend the chicken burrito especially if you make it a chimichanga.

Very good meal. Excellent service from Facundo. Loved the ambience with the open air and fun decor. We ordered fish tacos, quesadillas, drinks and more. Definitely worth checking out when in Tulum.

The best place to watch sports in Tulum. I came here for the NFL playoffs and had a great time! I live for the cucumber drink. I was not impressed with their food- the wings and the coconut shrimp were very underwhelming, I would stick to just drinks next time. The service is fast, prices are a bit high for a "sports bar" but I did go during high season.

I brought some friends with me this time and they loved, loved, loved it. We come for lunch and even though we were the only ones there. It felt like they catered to us personally. Every one was wonderful and had smiles. Thanks Laticia for taking great care of us.

Excellent tacos at a good price, for for about 300 pesos. No mix-and-match though. Prices in dollars and pesos. Great place for lunch.

Great food! Great drinks! Mateo was so welcoming and even offered us a free brownie dessert! This place was so so good! They also offer free cooking + salsa dancing classes!

Fun little stop in between the north and south beaches of Tulum. Patio seating facing the main road that goes through Tulum. Fish tacos were very tasty and flavorful even the grilled version. The guacamole was also yummy and a good snack on our bike ride journey to the south of Tulum. Prices aren't too bad and you can sometimes get lucky with a 2 for 1 happy hour in the afternoon on drinks.

Dreaming of our annual Tulum vacation this year and I know one of the first stops will be Mateo's! A great, casual spot- and it was across the road from our villa- perfect! My boyfriend and I absolutely loved sitting at the front bar, chatting to the staff and often making new friends who were vacationing also! I don't drink- but the coffee was delicious, and the beers served cold (for him lol). My favorite was the live music at night! It's not every night so be sure to check- but it is well worth it to plan around. I just all around like the friendly energy of this little gem! Can't wait to be back soon!

2 drinks for $200 pesos, what else can you ask for? (Before 7pm of course) Also a nice treetop view of the sunset. Pina coladas Tequila Sunrise

Love love LOVED this Authentic Mexican restaurant. The food was so fresh and flavorful! Today is the first day of my five day vacation and I will be back !! I ordered the chicken tacos and had a piece of my friends chicken quesadilla and Im honestly thinking about moving out here , thats how good it was!

Great fish tacos! We were walking by and the decor of the place caught our eye, with the large open space, and colorful decorations. We started with drinks and they have one of the best mango margaritas I've ever tried- so refreshing and the mango chunks were a great touch. They also have cheladas and micheladas. For food, we ordered guacamole and ceviche to start. The guacamole came with the tomatoes/onions on the side so you have the option of mixing it in yourself, if you'd like, so its great for people who dont particularly like tomatos or onions. It also came with a spicy salsa, and homemade chips. For our entrees, we all tried the chicken tacos, fish tacos, and shrimp tacos, and the whole table agreed the fish tacos were the best. They brought our food with 4 different types of sauces: a spicy green one, a white creamy "secret sauce", a sweet tamarind sauce, and a spicy chipotle. It gives your dish some great variety to play with. Highly recommend: mango margarita, grilled fish tacos (a la parilla).

We stopped in to check out the sky view seat have someone happy hour and food. I have to say the sky view on 3rd level roof is super cool with great 360 views. We order a couple 2x1 happy hour drinks as a group and wanted food. But they don't serve food up there. So just drinks it was. Worked out anyway. We stayed for a bit and enjoyed. #teddycastro ig: @iamteddycastro

This place is a sports bar with a restaurant mixed! The food was amazing. I ordered a carne burrito. The meat was seasoning and it was packed with rice and cheese! We were give complimentary chips and salsa and boy was it delicious! The spicy salsa was yummy. The place gets a little smoky with them cooking food in an open kitchen and the smell can be overpowering. The service was okay! I felt extremely rushed as the waitress gave us our bill without knowing if we were done ordering. Almost like she wanted us gone!

Pretty okay tacos, not the best in the world. Prices were higher than what I thought it was worth. But the service was awful. Our waiter ignored us forever, then ignored us again when we asked for the check 3 times. He went around lighting candles and incense instead of helping us, which made us 20 minutes late to meet our friends afterwards.

We came here to enjoy the sunset view from their sunset rooftop bar. The views were pretty and the 2 for 1 happy hour pricing was great! However, the food at the restaurant itself was alright. Seemed like pretty basic americanized Mexican food- my tacos were decent but not spectacular.

Shrimp tacos were delicious!! My wife had the vegetarian tacos and she loved them. Great service and the prices were definitely reasonable. We would have taken pictures but we were so hungry we forgot

Came here to the rooftop bar during sunset and it was such a nice view! They had live music at around 6pm as well. I recommend the mixed ceviche and the sautéed/grilled fish tacos. It comes with a side of rice, beans, and mango salsa. The tacos are street style sized and come in an order of 4 when you order with corn tortillas and 3 when you order with flour. You have to dine here knowing that this area caters to tourists, thus the prices are more expensive and the food isn't as authentic as you would get in the city. Mateo's doesn't have the BEST food but it's a great option if you're in the area and want a nice view.

This place is very chill and in calm spot for Tulum(just before the craziness couple miles up). The service is great and the drinks were made well. Only downside is the menu is a tad bit deceiving! I ordered a chimichanga because the menu said it was 50 peso. But it was actually triple that (if more). And it was awful!! Just very confusing when we got the bill but we took the loss and paid and tipped generously. It's not the severs fault for the menu but they could of mentioned it. We told the waiter and he said "oh yeah this happens a lot, I already told my manager". Nice to know someone else out there got ripped off.... Not!

If you are visiting Tulum, you need to try Mateo's. It is a great outdoor restaurant with awesome tacos and drinks!

Cute little spot. We got lured in by the sign saying "best fish tacos" and they weren't lying. It was delicious. The Baja bites were awesome too. Basically the same fried fish as the tacos but the sweet tamarind sauce was so good. The server was super nice and definitely took precautions of us feeling safe during these times of the pandemic. Wish we had stopped by there again before leaving back to Boston.

We love this place. The food is great and the staff is very helpful for the non-native speakers. The upstairs is fun and they have pool tables and dart boards. Plenty on on-site parking. Enjoy!

Very friendly workers. Fun environment if you're into sports. Food is good bar food as well as drinks. They also offer bike rentals for a good rate!

Came here for the food and lucked out with the 2-for-1 happy hour deal. The happy our is only at the upstairs bar but the view itself is worth it. Walk all the way up and you're sitting above the trees and the sunset view is BEAUTIFUL. Be sure to ask for a check before paying to see the price. I asked to pay and they told me my check came out to 1000+pesos. When i asked to see the check they came back and told me it was 840 pesos and gave me the bill. The food itself was yummy to. Had the chicken tacos and chicken burrito. The burrito was scrumptious, filled with so much flavor. The drinks were strong. The place has a great ambiance. Lights turn on at night and they have a live band performing music. The bathrooms are clean and since the place is open you can feel a nice breeze.

Mateo's was our go-to spot while on vacation. Great tacos, amazing table salsa and the staff is top notch! We decided to sit at the bar and Luis, Samwell, Leo took great care of us. So much so that we came back every night while we were in town. They make amazing drinks(order the cucumber margarita) and even better shots. If you're feeling adventurous ask for la cucaracha Definitely a spot worth checking out. The sunset lounge is also beautiful!! Will definitely be back to visit our boys!!

If you're at mateos for fish tacos, maybe you're safe. For everything else, proceed with caution. Steak burrito, trust the reviews. I didn't, and I regretted it terribly. The most bland burrito I've ever tasted in my life. Horrible meat. They charge 60 more pesos to literally DRENCH it with bagger cheese, that isn't even melted fully. Haha, me and my girlfriend laughed at how bad it was. Also a first, the WORST salsas I've ever had in my life. I promise. The red salsa that comes with chips? Pretty sure they opened a can of tomato paste and sloshed it into a bowl. ZERO FLAVOR. No, I don't have covid. Yes, I know good salsa. I'm very easy to please and this was so absolutely horrible we just laughed the whole time at how bad it was. The pico wasn't quite as bad. The salsas they give you for tacos and such? That you slather on as you eat? Those are usually my favorite. The four they give you? Once again, I laughed out loud at how horrible they were. One was pure salt, it tasted like. I was at a loss for words. Chicken wings? Save yourself the money. Zero meat. Taco salad? My girlfriend got it and said it was meh. I feel bad writing negative reviews, but I'm sorry, this place shouldn't even be in business. I could tell our waiter even knew that what we ordered sucked. He was trying hard for us to get fish tacos. He probably knows it's the only good thing. Go somewhere else until they figure out a good menu. You'll be happy you did.

I loved this place in Tulum! It has great free WiFi, we had fresh coconut water, rented bikes for half a day, ate dinner, went to the rooftop sunset lounge with live music, and had drinks while listening to live music over a span of a few days. This place has everything! Would recommend for a good priced restaurant in Tulum.

Don't believe the hype! Over priced! Fish tacos where blah, ceviche blah, drinks blah. Ambience: trashy American pub with the same drunktards screaming at the tv. Go somewhere else.

Great ambiance and fun vibe. Beautiful views from the roof top. Definitely worth the drive

Came here for dinner with my fiancé 2 weeks ago. Festive and laid back ambiance. The restaurant is pretty large, two stories, with lots of seating space..we were seated immediately. Appetizers- we ordered the sampler. The steak skewers were delicious! I'm not a fan of beef, but they were full of flavor and very tender. For dinner I had the fish tacos, they were decent. My fiancé had a fish dish, it was very tender & buttery... But slightly undercooked. In fact we both had tummy aches that night, pretty sure it was from the fish :( I can't be 100% sure so I'll stick with 4 stars instead of anything lower. Overall a nice place to eat at in Tulum.

Do yourselves a favor and go into town. Drinks are average price during happy hour for the area, but we were charged $15 USD for chips and guac, they were smoking us out with mosquito lamps, and worst part? Our waiter tried to charge us $1000 mxn pesos when the bill was $570, and tried to play it off like it was dollars. He pushed for a tip too. Not again for us.

We really like this place for breakfast...fresh fruit, great coffee, healthy juices. I think it's been around a while. Unfortunately they randomly play insanely loud club music early in the morning which we do not love. You can't even talk! Much more chill quiet music in the morning would be lovely!

Driving, walking, cycling or even mope-ding around the main drag in Tulum, you'll definitely get drawn into Mateo's. Its dark, sultry, cavernous, tree-house look mixed with bright red lights, music and sky-high canopy bar just pulls you in. Plus the smell of tacos. Happy hour specials are only available at the top of the bar, which we immediately found ourselves at. Mojitos, margs, a DJ and light bites on the menu were lovely. But the view of the sunset and fell of the sea breeze could not be beat! Downstairs is where the Wi-Fi is at - and the assortment of tacos we tested. Don't forget their four or so different salsas. The best were the grilled fish tacos. Don't miss out on those. And watch out for the habanero sauce! ¡Muy picoso!

This review is for the front bar, what we called the Tiki Hut. First, I highly suggest trying a passion fruit margarita! The best margarita I've had in Tulum. Then, be sure to ask for chips & salsa! The salsa (more like pico de gallo) is fantastic! The bar is on the 'Tulum strip' so tourists are everywhere. They have a 2nd & 3rd level where watching the sunset is gorgeous. (See my pics.) For dinner we ordered a veggie kabob, a sampler platter & ceviche. And we were very satisfied with the food. Prices are above average but you're on 'the strip' & paying for the ambience. Great place to hit up after diving at MexiDivers.

We just got to Tulum, and those red lights and live band were unavoidable. My mojito is a strawberry mash with a touch of terrible rum, but the music is so good and the ambiance is so awesome that it doesn't even matter. We just get a couple of apps. The portions are generous, and the prices are high, but they're expected for a beach bar. The Ceviche hits the spot. The lime comes on strong, the fish is fresh, and the shrimp are a decent, cocktail-quality. The Appetizer Platter is perfect for those too travel-weary to think. They include a little bit of everything; the fried fish chunks are perfectly battered, the cheese quesadilla is a nice, neutral option, and the carne asada is great. I love flan. And they have Coconut Flan. It's a textbook flan, loaded with eggy sugar, with coconut shavings to add a little fruit. Love the band, the food is fine, but stick to drinking beer. You really can't help but have a good time here.

This restaurant was recommended by the hotel and a retailer. My son loves wings so he was happy we had something different than Mexican or Mayan food. We got the tacos de carne asada. I can't speak for the complaints on the fish tacos, but our tacos and wings have been our best meal including the hotel and local restaurants. The corn tortillas are very thin and small. Delicious! The wings were super tender (fall off the bone), AND crispy. In regards to people saying it's overpriced, yes it is comparatively but I will pay more for good food. We had tacos last night that were less expensive, but 1/2 as good. We came here in the afternoon so it wasn't packed. When doing anything in Tulum with a family go early. It's not nearly as busy. All the partiers are sleeping off their hangover.

this review is on the service and atmosphere, my husband had to watch the Raiders game while in Tulum- so we wanted a nice spot to chill at. this was it. an open setting with three floors of space. the staff were very helpful in locating the channel. strawberry margaritas were great. after the game took a 10 min walk to catch the sunset, came back and went up to the 3rd floor for some live music by Los Brockolis, if you're in Tulum you have to catch a set by them!

Mateo's advertises as having the "best fish tacos on earth," which is a crazy thing to advertise in a country and city of delicious tacos. So, yeah, they weren't the best on earth or the best I've had or the best I had in Tulum. Mateo's is a fun restaurant - big, open air space with endless seating - but the food wasn't anything to write home about. The ceviche was okay - more of the quality I expected at home in the States rather than the quality we experienced in Mexico. The fish tacos were all right. Also more on a quality I would expect in the States, rather than Mexico. Mateo's is a fun place - and a convenient place. And it wasn't terrible food, it just doesn't compare to the exceptional quality of food you can find elsewhere in Tulum!

We arrived at 6 pm . The restaurant mentioned they would have a live band at 8 pm . We ate and drank . After spending over $300 in food and drinks. We decided to wait 30 minutes for he band . Once we paid our bill, the staff told us we had to leave since e were no longer consuming food or drinks .. I have been to many restaurant bars before and have never experienced this before.. we also had breakfast set the same plane in the morning and felt awful with the way this was handled .

We decided to walk around Tulum and found this place. We had Baja shrimp tacos, mixed ceviche, and guacamole. Everything we had was delicious. Shortly after we sat down it started pouring so more groups of people showed up. Aside from there being a lot of people the service was still great. We were there around lunch time but I could tell that it would be a cool place to hang out for dinner.

Worst fish tacos on earth Guacamole was a salt mine yet without flavor Brought wrong order to start Coconuts taste like vomit Flies landing on you every 30 seconds Coconut shrimp sauce bland Slow service with little attention We were there as a group of 4 and phenomonally everyone's food was so terrible. The best part of the experience was leaving... however for the next 30 minutes we all experienced terrible tastes in our mouth from the food until we were rescued by a gelato place that washed away the scent of dead carcasses from our mouths Baffled at how yelp had this place at 4 stars

A few friends and I went to Tulum recently - Mateo's was recommended to us and is usually on the top 'restaurants' list for the area. We went with fair expectations. We ordered a round of drinks - I got a Pina Colada and it was decent. Nothing to write home about though. We also ordered the Shrimp Burrito and Grilled Octopus to share (as recommended by the waitress). The food was subpar. The burrito barely had any shrimp in it - stingy amount! It was also a little bland for my liking. The octopus was a little tough and not very well-done. Overall, the food was very mediocre at a high cost (it was around $50 per person with drinks, food, and tip). Lastly, this may not seem like a big deal, but when we got there it was during the Game of Thrones series finale. While this is awesome for people who are travelling and want to spend the hour and a half watching in Tulum, it wasn't ideal for those of us who were waiting to watch it when we went back home. We had to put on headphones to tune out the LOUD volume of the show so that we wouldn't hear any spoilers! Thankfully we showed up 30 mins before it ended, so only had to endure that for half an hour... but I wish they would've mentioned it or had another area to sit in far away from the screens and sounds!

If you're a sports fan and want to watch a game - I would seriously consider going somewhere else. Arrived 30 min before the 2019 Orange Bowl - and politely asked if they would put it on ESPN. Even though they have this huge NCAA sign out front - manager had no idea what i was talking about. Sadly he couldn't figure it out - instead he tuned it to a Big 10 bowl game from 2012 and women's soccer (not that I'm against women's soccer) but when you display the NFL, NBA and NCAA logos outside your establishment and market yourself as the best sports bar around - you should be able to navigate to a New Years 6 bowl game. Instead walked down to Piedra Escondida - the bartender instantly found the channel...and the food was so much better!!

Super cute place to come for dinner!! The ambiance is amazing! I had the fish (grouper) freshly caught that day, which came with two sides but not really filling. A friend of mine had the squid and I must say it is sooooooo worth it. Pricey but seasoned to perfection and a nice portion size. It's one of their *featured* photos. Live music.