Restaurante Chile Picante - Coba

After a morning of exploring Coba and cooling off in one of the nearby cenotes, we were ready for a good hearty meal. While I can't say this was among the best meals we had in the Riviera Maya area, it was tasty and filling, and very reasonably priced, especially considering its proximity to a major tourist attraction.

A good range of tasty Mexican dishes. Prompt service and central location in the village. Try some of the local specialities.

We three middle aged British guys had arrived early evening in Coba and went on a wild goose chase hunting down Sacbe Hotel on TA and Maps.me which put it by the Restaurant Sca be by the archeological site car park. After a 30 taxi to take us 400m to the actual Sacbe hotel on the main drag next to Lol Ha hotel! We checked in and looked at the just missed sunset and then for somewhere to eat (although not too hungry as had a late lunch in Tulum between buses on the way from Majahual).The hotel boy recommended RCP so we went up on the terrace and a party of Americans and a French couple were dining. Local music played in the background but music from elsewhere mixed with it plus the neighbouring church had singing and a trombone!The friendly waiter gave us the menus which proved to be quite different dishes than the coast.Priority was a beer each (35) which came quickly.It took a while but we chose: Cochinita pibilCarne a la tampiqueña(res)Poc-ChucIt all came quite quickly and was very tasty! The beef dishes were a bit chewy but they were tasty. We shared each others' dishes. My own Cochonita was a good sized portion of slow cooked (in an earth pit apparently) pork which was very tasty in the sauce! Another round of beers was required.Eventually the competing music stopped and only the restaurant music was audible.I have posted pics of the menu, food and bill. It turns out that the restaurant owners also own the hotel Sacbe! The menu had the same contact information. No wonder the boy recommended it ;-)It was certainly worth the money and if I were hungrier I would have enjoyed it more as I had to finish off my friends' left overs (war veteran for my mother, never leave food on plates!).Great service too. We were the last in the restaurant at 21:00 on a Tuesday. No American coach parties in this place in the late evening! We had heard some tribal dancing at the lakeside fancy restaurant earlier and a coach to take the guests away.Good value overall. Be hungry when you arrive here!

We did not stay at the hotel but I read that this was a good place to eat from a map on mapchick.com. They do not speak English but have English on the menu. Carne asada tacos were perfect. The lunch we had was fantastic.

I do research near Coba, so I spend about 6 weeks there each summer. Over the last four years I've probably eaten at Chile Picante 100 times. The food is consistently good and I've never gotten sick from it, which is sometimes a concern for travelers going to restaurants in rural Mexico.