Do you want to spend some time in Sayulita? A week, maybe two? Why not a month or more, if you’re a digital nomad like us. Once you get there, you’ll quickly understand something: grocery shopping is hard. Why? Because there’s no real grocery store around here, only convenience stores. They don’t have very many products and what they have changes from one to another.
That’s why I decided to make this small guide of where to buy food in Sayulita. I also decided to include some good restaurants, since it’s Mexico! You can’t only eat food that you’re going to cook. You have to try some local things too!
GROCERY STORES
After crossing the bridge to get into town, you will find the fruteria (fruits and vegetables place). They have the biggest selection in town, even though not all their food looks very delicious. If you go at the end of the day, they might be hot and there’s usually a lot of flies around. But if you go in the morning, it should be better. We bought a lot of stuff there until we realized that vegetables actually looked better in the grocery stores.
There are a few grocery stores that we go to, the first one is usually Don Rodolfo, which is right next to the fruteria. The only reason why we go there so much is because it’s close to our house and it has excellent vegetables (in general). They also have a lot of products like butter, cheese, milk, pasta, etc. It’s usually our first stop on the list. But they don’t have everything, so most of the time we have to keep going to be able to make dinner.
The next store on the way is the butcher. They have a nice selection of meat and it’s the only place where you’ll find any. What we tried was good and the ladies running the stores are adorable, but the chicken breasts were awful. We don’t exactly know what’s going on with those, but they weren’t that great. So we stopped buying chicken there and started buying BBQed ones from streets vendors. But for everything else, they have good meat! (And good bacon!)
If you’re looking for some fish, there is a fresh fish/seafood store in the area too. They are usually only open in the morning/afternoon and don’t have a big selection since they only have their catches of the day. I can’t tell if their fish are good or not since I haven’t tried them, but I suggest to go take a look anyway.
When you get to the crossroad to get to the Plaza, take the left/higher street if you want to go to the French Bakery. They mostly have pastries and sandwiches, but they also happen to have some bread that is good with pasta.
The next grocery store we stop at, if we haven’t found what we needed is Super Mi Tiendita, which is located on the lower side of the plaza, under the Calypso restaurant. It’s the only store we found flour in and there are other products that only them have.
Our last stop is Alas Blancas. Once in the plaza, you have to go down one more street towards the beach, and it will be there, on the corner. It’s where we usually buy alcohol since their tequila happens to be cheaper, and they have a big selection of wine. They also have very good pasta and pizza sauce there that we haven’t found anywhere else.
There are definitely many more places in town, but for general needs, these are the places you will want to go to. For things you ABSOLUTELY can’t find in Sayulita (or if you’re too lazy to look around and you happen to have a car), there is a Mega in Bucerias, which is a giant grocery store. You’ll find everything there, but it’s outside of town. You can either drive there or take the bus for 18 pesos. It’ll probably end up being a half a day trip if you take the bus. It runs every 20 minutes, but it takes a good half hour to get there.
Restaurants
For some good Mexican food, we usually go to Mary’s. Located on the lower main street, you’ll easily spot them because of their pink walls. From tacos to burritos to quesadillas, you’ll find something new (and sometimes spicy) to eat. A Mary’s taco is definitely worth trying!
For more Mexican food, there is also El Itacate Steak. On the higher main street, they offer the best rib eye tacos in town. They also have many other kinds of tacos, which are all as good!
If you want a taste of home, there are many places to go. One of them is La Rustica, which is a pizza restaurant. They also have pasta, but their specialty is their pizzas. Cooked in the oven, they are delicious! Their prices are not too bad either, so it’s a great stop if you want a change or if your stomach can’t take any Mexican food anymore!
Another place where you can stop is ChocoBanana. They have a mix of Mexican and American food. If you have a family, this is definitely a place they’ll love. They are only open for breakfast and lunch only, so don’t wait for dinner to try them!
Finally, the last place I recommend is Mamma Mia, which is where you want to go for pasta (or Italian food in general). The owners are very nice, and their food happens to be delicious too!
Again, there are many restaurants in town. These are just suggestions to get you started, so you don’t starve, but don’t be scared to explore! If you’re there during a slow week, waiters might even offer you free guacamole or a free glass of wine to sit at one of their tables! Make them feel like they want YOU! 🙂