Restaurant El Cejas

We had lunch at the Restaurant El Cejas at Mercado 28. Mercado 28 is a market with budget friendly souvenir stalls and local eats. Despite the humid air and a surprise power outage (no backup generator), the food here made the experience worth it. We started off with the Mixto Ceviche, a mix of shrimp, octopus, squid, and clam callus. It was light, bright, and refreshing—exactly what you want when the heat is high and the lights are low. But the real star? The Cazuela de Mariscos. This seafood casserole came bubbling in a rich, roasted broth, packed with mussels, shrimp (both pulp and shell), squid rings, oysters, octopus, and crab. It was warm and comforting. The menu is bilingual; English and Spanish. And while the ambiance took a hit from the blackout, the freshness of the food and the soul in that cazuela made it a place I’d definitely return to.

Food was excellent. Enjoyed the scrimp tacos (a lot of cheese though) and chicken fajitas. The waiter forgot one dish but didn't mention it and it wasn't included on the bill. Ordered plenty of food and the portion size was good. Green sauce was excellent, had a good kick. Recommend if in the market. The other restaurants in the middle were too crowded and the staff were annoyingly trying to lure you in. At this place the staff were relaxed and not pushy.

The restaurant is smacked right in the centre of a market that sells all sorts of souvenirs. The seafood was not fresh. A typical Mexican restaurant. No air conditioning. A passing band serenaded us as we ate. The guacamole with chips was good. Ceviche was alright.

This place is pretty good. The ceviche was great and a large portion. My wife had the local lobster and it was huge. The rest of the food was great as well. We had a great server in Jesus. I recommend this place if you are in the area as Market 28 attracts a lot of tourist.

Such great service - genuinely sweet staff who want you to enjoy your meal. I got the grilled chicken (breast) with fries and rice (I skipped the beans). Husband got the beef nachos which were good! Bora bora (no ice) was excellent! Bloody Mary a but spicy but good. Great low key atmosphere. Lots of ceiling fans to keep it cool. They occasionally play music. Comes with chips & salsa. We would recommend.

Very good food in a very Mexican Mercado. It's touristy but still has that "old school " vibe from when things were less pretentious and just plain good taste. Here you may find dishes from the simple, straight ocean taste to some you didn't even think you can order. Definitely a mandatory stop during your visit to Cancun . (All that being said, I wish my Cevice would be a tad more juicy next time)

The atmosphere really cool. It’s an open air restaurant right in the center of the market. The service was decent. Our waiter was very nice and they cleared away used plates quickly, but we waited at least 15 minutes for our check. We were told the system had to reboot, but we saw another table get their check and go in that time. The food was average and honestly disappointing. I expected very fresh tasting seafood considering the location. I’ve had better seafood at inland restaurants. I got stuffed crab, Hawaiian style. It was too sweet for me. My husband got ceviche de camarón but he said it was basically a shrimp cocktail without the cup. It was okay, but not as good as I hoped.

The food is pretty decent, nothing too outstanding tho. The oysters could have been cleaned a little better. There are a lot of restaurants at mercado 28, this one is the biggest one. They also have live music if you come at the right time.

This was our first meal in Cancun. The pictures make it look like this is a stand alone restaurant but it is really in the middle of the market. Also, they do not have a bathroom. You have to go to another business to use the restroom and wash your hands. I ordered a margarita and did not taste any alcohol at all. We got 3 grilled shrimp tacos, 3 deep fried shrimp tacos, and a chicken fajita plate. The food is skimpy compared to all the other places in Cancun. The tacos tasted good. Service was decent. I do not recommend this place but I wouldn't be mad if others wanted to stop here if we were at the market.

El Cejas is a solid local Seafood restaurant. Located in Mercado 28 El Cejas was the one place that was highly recommended by numerous locals to us. So we got out of out of our comfort zone and made the trip down here... Hardly any tourists here. Skip the cab, take the bus or an Uber, as it will save you a decent amount of money. #SeafoodFeast: ~ Cocteles / Cocktails (Chico / Small) - 5/5 Amazing Seafood Cocktail with decent amount of seafood, even for a small! ~ Ceviches - 3/5 I really wanted to love the Ceviche here, but it had a bit too much lime making it too Citrusy and tangy. I think they might have screwed this one up. Good size portions though... ~ Parrillada de Mariscos - 5/5 Two words: SEAFOOD FEAST! Come hungry for this one...it can feed up to 4 people. Loaded with Shrimp and fish, it was amazing! Everything on this platter was cooked to perfection There were so many more dishes we tried. I can't even remember all of them... The seafood was fresh and service was good as well.

Mal servicio y también la comida no era bueno. Un mesero falto el respeto a mi novia cuando ella preguntó Onde estarán los baños. Nomás lo miro y no dijo nada.

SPEND YOUR MONEY ELSEWHERE. Service was kinda rude our server was nice the other servers not so much. We ordered baked oysters, they came out to be the size of a quarter. I also got a cazuela de mariscos 2/5. I would say spend your money elsewhere don't fall for the many ppl and entrance right in front after the shops.

Was shopping in the market and stopped for lunch. It was quiet, not many diners at the time. It was hard to get wait staff, even though they saw us seated and waiting. Our meals were just ok....arroz tumbada, very small shrimp and small amount of octopus and other seafood. Not bad, not good, just ok.

The food is pretty decent, nothing too outstanding tho. The oysters could have been cleaned a little better. There are a lot of restaurants at mercado 28, this one is the biggest one. They also have live music if you come at the right time.

I had ordered their specials, shrimp with rice and coconut breaded sea bass, for dine-in. I didn't find either of them tasty. I did like the fruit salad that came along with sea bass. Also, I ordered fish empanadas for to-go. The empanadas were delicious. The ambience was good, as in there was some live music, but the service was horrible. It took them around 15 mins to simply give me the menu and once I had my food I had to wait another 20 mins to receive the check. Not even once did anyone check on me to ask how I was doing. No recommendations were given on the food. Being so famous restaurant I had high expectations!!

Don't be fooled like I was by the big fans and the live music. The food was a big insult. We ordered 5 Tampiqueño dishes and they come with rice a side of fried beans and they gave each one 5 French fries. I was so upset about this and I even asked the server and he laughed and said it's because of Turist. Don't be fooled this is a Mercado, not a 5 star restaurant by the hotel zone in Cancun!!

This restaurant is worth the trip from Hotel Zone for delicious local seafood cuisine. Ceviche Mixto, Garlic Shrimp in Shell & Fish Fillet Garlic were amazing. For 4 dishes & 3 cocktails, the bill was less than a Ruth's Chris entrée. The restaurant is located in the middle of a market square so walk around & pick up local (inexpensive) souvenirs. Always support local biz.

This place is usually good but today it was not. A recommendation DO NOT order the lobster it's is over priced and over cooked. To say it was dry was an understatement. We were charged fully price for a mistake the cook made. Buyer beware. I did not even take pictures because I am that disappointed.

This place was sooo good. Recommended by hotel staff. The garlic butter fish, YUMMY!! ceviche yummm! If taxis weren't costly to go back I would eat there the rest of my tip

Well... after reading the reviews here, we tried It. Our two cents?.. we liked it!... the food is fresh...so if you k ow.. you know that it's not gonna have a taste like city seafood... between the coctails and the fillets, it turned out to be a good dinner...

Ok we are back so my wife and I took our moms and two of our friends to one of our favorite spots in Mercado 28 in Cancun!! Cejas has one the best food and drinks in town!! It is worth the drive or bus ride!! Just make sure u goto Mercado 28 not plaza 28!!! Big difference!!!! I'll put some pix up and u can see for your self!! G.

We are here in cancun for our honeymoon and for over a year my hairdressers friend has been telling me to go to El Cejas in Mercado 28....we did and we absolutely enjoyed every single dish and their FRESH LIMEADE!!! I hope we return here for our anniversary because my husband enjoyed allllllllll of it. I believe the owner came over to see how we heard of them....we told him we were from California and had wanted to try his food. Everything was excellent! Super clean and this restaurants employees/waiters were not pushy like the other restaurants the same area. We will come back some day and we will definitely recommend many of our friends and family

We came here because it had 4 stars and it looked busy. The food was ok, nothing spectacular. The service was fast once we ordered. The server was kind but I would not come here again for the food. We ordered shrimp ceviche, grilled octopus, half cup of seafood soup and oysters Rockefeller. The shrimp ceviche was okay but the shrimp had a weird taste and reminded me of canned shrimp. The seafood soup was okay. The grilled octopus was good, I wish it had come with tortillas but it only came with a small scoop of rice. The oysters were okay. Overall it was an okay experience but the food didn't leave me wanting to come again especially not for the price. 880 pesos for all

Really amazing food and service! Mixed drinks cost about $110 pesos. Really good prices I definitely recommend and I hope to come back someday

El Cejas came highly recommended by locals during our current Cancun family vacation. El Cejas is outstanding in every way. It is in the middle of Mercado 28. The staff was friendly, prompt, and attentive. The food is excellent authentic Mexican food. Fresh seafood, full of flavor, cooked to perfection, in a short amount of time. We orderedL fish ceviche, empenadas, grilled octopus, and this seafood mix broth served with rice (Mexican version of Spanish paella). The place is spacious, full of color, and ample fan to make patrons comfortable. Highly recommend to anyone who is in Mercado 28. As a matter of fact, we did come back later that same day to get desserts (real fruit ice creams: strawberry, vanilla, and pineapple).

For a restaurant in a tourist area, this place is excellent. The tourist area, not so much. El Cejas has been around for about 40 years, I don't know if it's changed hands, but the name has been on that restaurant for 40 years so it's successful right then and there. El Cejas has a very interesting seafood menu. You can get real Mexican fare and satisfy your need for fresh seafood. I ordered the seafood soup and it was chocked full of octopus, fish, clams, shrimp, and squid. It had great flavor and it was huge. I also ordered the fillet of conch in there also was huge and it was wonderful. My friend and I also split an order of shark empanadas which were very good and very fresh as shark does not hold up very well if it's not fresh. I think the only bad is its location it's in a little touristy shopping center that seems to cater just towards the tourists I'd love to see this play standalone somewhere as it would be crowded all the time as it is now.

We passed by this restaurant while shopping and it was busy. We thought, it must be good. Well, it was really good! I ordered the deep fried fish and the server suggested to add garlic to the fish. I did and it was sooo good. We also had the shrimp cocktail. That was also amazing. The service was great and the place was clean. I definitely recommend.

You can't say you've been to Cancun without trying some fresh seafood. First time eating raw oysters and I definitely prefer the roasted kind. The rockafeller oysters were too cheesy with pesto sauce. This place is well decorated and somewhat catered to tourists.

This restaurant had great seafood! It was in the middle of the market and the server was great. Got the diablo shrimp and they lived up to the name!

The service was good, but the food was just ok. I don't have a lot to say about this place except that I was just ok...

I really like this place.This is like the house of seafood. You should come here if you're close to Cancun. Today I ate the most delicious fish with lime on it. Also whenever you finish eating you can get your shop on!!! Make sure to check it out!!

Don't be scared away by not-so-good reviews. After having crappy food in hotel zone for a few days, we finally had some tasty authentic Mexican cuisine. We ordered grilled shrimps and seafood cocktail, just the right amount for two. The food was delicious, very fresh. Waiters were friendly and quick to remove trash on table. With a cup of Margarita, the total cost less than 500 pesos. From what I saw most customers were Mexicans. Will go back.

If I could give this place less than 1 star believe me I would! The food was terrible. The free chips weren't even that good. I honestly don't know what else to say about this place. Don't waste your time, or your money. Or maybe just stay away from the shrimp. Which seems odd with this place being known for good seafood. El Cejas?? More like El Culo! ¡No pierdas tu tiempo! Este restaurante es asqueroso...

Very authentic and fun. Mostly locals, which is always a good sign! It is located in the middle of Mercado 28 which has the best prices for local goods in Cancun. You could make this into a nice shopping and food afternoon. Take the R2 bus from the hotel zone and it would drop you a few blocks away. Do not confuse mercado 28 with plaza 28, a much smaller, more expensive market.

Take an Uber it's much cheaper than a taxi, food is very good Service is quick and seafood is fresh in a local true Mexican area at Market 28 Empanadas was not good but everything else we ordered was just right Grouper Shrimp Octopus Also price was good.

Great meal with fresh seafood and good service. Oysters on the half shell and shrimp ceviche were excellent. Service was quick and responsive. Great recommendation by a cab driver.

I am surprised to see the bad reviews in here. We went to Mercado 28 mainly because we were recommended this place and wanted to try it out. As soon as we got there we noticed that in addition to tourists this place is also frequented by locals, which to me is definitely a good sign. We ordered a little bit of everything and the seafood tasted fresh and very flavorful. I especially liked the A La Diabla shrimp and Aguachile, both of them had a really nice kick. Most of the plates come with rice (which by the way was buttery goodness), however you can change the rice for a salad or fries. Our server was amazing, really attentive and great service overall. Pretty good price for the amount of food, especially if you compare it to the restaurants around the Hotel Zone. I will be back next time I'm in Cancun! (hopefully soon)

Wow, I finally got my fish. I absolutely loved it. It was seasoned really well. My rice was good too, wish I had more. But I guess it was just enough because I left feeling so full I couldn't think straight. My every other thought was wow that was really good and damn I'm full. Hubby had a seafood soup, he said it too was amazing. He also ordered shrimp with yellow rice, again really good. The waiter's do a really good job. My husband had to send his shrimp back because it was too spicy, and it was really no problem. No attitude and no wait. He had another plate in front of him, in no time at all. And the waiter waited to see if it was perfect, and it was. So I was tired of fajitas and wanted a piece of fish, and I got it. So glad I did, so guess where I'm going for lunch tomorrow??? The only reason I didn't give it five stars, is because I was outside. I did miss air conditioning, but when in Mexico lol

Most Foreigners will fall for this place overall due to the restaurant sizes. Quality - 2 /5 Price- cost more than other small food court surrounding They don't have the whole octopus but chunks Too much oil with their cooking

Great marketplace eatery... If you are OK with the heat and the noise. We had the fried cod roe and fried fish (with an overload of cheese!). Fast service, fresh local food.

This is my second time coming in 1 week!! I love it! Great hospitality, prompt, friendly service and AMAZINGLY fresh food. I was even serenaded by two great guys. My man and I ventured away from the resort to experience some local, good food. This is indeed the spot. Check it out the next time you're in Cancun.

O M G. This local spot has the best seafood! The grilled shrimp or crawfish with garlic is to die for! I mean I could give this place only 4 stars due to lack of service when it's busy but during our vacation we came here at least 4 times out of 6 days and that's saying a lot when we have to take the bus or taxi here. My advice though and the reason why I probably didn't take away 1 star. Every restaurant I've been too in Cancun has over cooked the lobster. Sad but true. So anyways, stick to the grilled garlic shrimp. Oh Octopus was bomb too. It's not a fancy place but staying with the simple foods, it's really good.

savory pulpo with garlic. empandas right off the fryer with a side of guacamole! great

We were told that they had the best seafood. We were terribly disappointed. The fish batter was awkward tasting and had no taste. The people sitting next to us complained about the fried shrimp tasting bad. They told the waiter that it had a lemony taste as if they were trying to cover it from being rotten. The fresh lemon aide was good and guacamole but we went for seafood and wished we picked another place. The prices aren't cheap either. Don't mind paying for good food but I would recommend another place to eat seafood.

First time here, service is OK, best part of my meal has been the michelada. We ordered a small shrimp & octopus cocktail, crab tostada, crab empanadas, & aguachile. The cocktail was not to my liking, but I should've ordered it natural, they brought it prepared which means a ton of ketchup, there's no fixing that, but that's just not my liking, if you like ketchup you'll probably like it. The crab tostada was OK, it's cooked crab with beans, lettuce, tomato , & avocado. Crab empanadas were also OK, needed more taste as they were a bit bland. Now the aguachile, I personally love aguachile, this was supposed to be aguachile Sinaloa style, I was highly disappointed. The aguachile was sweet, tasted like they used sweet limes, not spicy at all, as is customary. Overall I was far from impressed.

Seafood fiesta for sure. Cejas was the perfect way to fuel up after a morning of haggling at Mercata 28. Thank god the grub was good as I was totally stressed out w/all the negotiating. The seafood platter is a amazing - supposedly for 4 but seriously, you could feed 8. We also ordered a few lbs of langostino mojo de ajo (which was the bomb). Ask for a side of mojo do ajo sauce to dip with your huge pile of grilled seafood. Margaritas were yummy and coconut ice cream was delish. Highly recommend this joint- especially if you decide to venture all the way here to buy goodies to bring back from your Cancun vacay. Muchas Gracias El Cejas!

Love love loved it!! The food and atmosphere was great! But most of all, the service was fantastic! The staffs were super nice and friendly and they even gave us a free calendar lol. There were English menus and most of the people could speak English too, which was super helpful. Definitely will be back if I visit Cancun again.

Excellent ceviche and reasonably large portions. Nice spot in the center of Mercado 28 that feels like an oasis among the bustle of the hawkers.