Todos Santos: A Tasty Mexican Trek (And A Hurricane!)

The town of Todos Santos sits on the Pacific side of the Southern Baja Peninsula. We’d visited once before, for a day, and always wanted to return. Part of the area’s charm is that it’s smaller, more quaint than Cabo San Lucas It is also a foodie paradise so we’re sharing some of our great eats while in Todos Santos.

Todos Santos is about an hour and half drive from the Cabo San Lucas airport. We rented a jeep and started off on our adventure. We thought the jeep idea was fun, given where we were going to explore, but it turned out to be very helpful when an unexpected adventure popped up.

Speaking Our Love Language

There are a many short term rental properties in the Todos Santos area. We chose a property that was close to town (about a 7 minute drive), with a pool (a real luxury) and brand new.

When we arrived we were greeted with all the makings for fresh guacamole and a recipe from the owner. Great idea!

The home itself was two bedrooms, two baths with a full kitchen. It is beautifully appointed! But the outdoor space was the most spectacular feature with the pool and rooftop terrace. We would recommend this stay for the future. The listing can be found here: Casa Suerte

Landi’s

After a long day of travel it was time for dinner. The homeowner shared a great directory of several local restaurants all within a 10 minute walking distance.

We chose Landi’s as it had the variety of dishes we were looking for. And what a excellent choice it was.

One of the most popular dishes is the Las Poblanas, a chicken dish with the most delicious poblano cream sauce. It is reminiscent of chicken enchiladas but that sauce is so unique, not spicy but full of incredible flavor.

As with most places on the Baja Peninsula, if there is fresh fish on the menu, it was most likely caught locally on the same day. Landi prepared it in a simple butter sauce with fresh julienned vegetables on the top. It was mouthwatering!

After a great dinner (and excellent margaritas) we said goodbye to our host, the owner and chef, Landi. This restaurant used to be in town but is now sits just outside and worth the 5 minute drive. Such a fun experience!

A beautiful morning in Todos Santos. The day started off with coffee and Wordle on the rooftop terrace of our beautiful rental. It was so peaceful!

It was definitely a beach day, as we’d heard that hurricane Hillary was going to be passing the area over the next couple of days.

What’s interesting about much of the southern point of Baja is that miles and miles of beaches are not swimmable. The undertow and the surf are just too strong. They are beautiful to see and look so lonely without any visitors.

There are some beaches to enjoy the water. Cerritos Beach is the most popular swimmable beach in the Todos Santos area. There are lots of activities, such as boogie boarding or surfing lessons, to take part in. Or you can be just happy to have your toes in the sand.

Entrepaneurs on the Beach

About 11:30AM this little drink stand just popped up. They were making any kind of drinks desired with lots of fresh ice. We, of course, chose two margaritas, which were delicious.

Agricole: A Garden Oasis

It was time for a light lunch so we chose this beautiful garden restaurant with a gourmet food shop attached.

The gardens were lovely.

We had the Beet Salad and Risotto with Grilled asparagus. Both were absolutely delicious. Much of the herbs and produce are from the local garden.

Look who I see in the garden! Agricole was great for lunch and I am sure would be excellent for dinner too.

We went back for a siesta ahead of our evening plans.

The Green Room

This is one of the most popular restaurants in the Todos Santos area. Make reservations! It’s down a dirt road that makes you wonder where you are.

Once you park, there’s a walk down a dirt path seemingly through a jungle. The path opens up to the most beautiful beachfront restaurant, where soft music is playing and guests are enjoying the sunset. It is absolutely gorgeous!

Once we were settled, our waiter was kind enough to take the obligatory sunset picture.

The time to reserve a table is about an hour before sunset. There are really cool lounge tables right along the water where others were enjoying their meal.

The food lived up to all the good things we’d heard about the restaurant. We started with the Calafia Sashimi, with fish caught fresh that day. It was topped with a sesame citrus sauce and rice balls. It was really good.

Since we wanted to try more things, we opted to go with another small plate, one of their specialty fried tostadas. This one, called the Monument, was topped with ahi tuna and a cilantro aioli. Again, it was delicious and a very unique take on a tostada.

Lastly, shared an order of the Classic Tacos, made with Cochinita Pibil , a traditional slow roasted pork. Every bite of everything was amazing. This is a “not to miss” restaurant while in the area.

We were told that the restaurant would be closed the next two nights due to the hurricane. We were so grateful we’d lucked out and were able to experience The Green Room.

The next morning it was not so peaceful, as the winds were whipping up and we could hear the surf pounding on the ocean. It was still beautiful from the rooftop terrace and interesting to see the outer bands of the hurricane.

Ahead of a hurricane there were more people at the gas stations and markets than touring the town. The iconic Hotel California sits on the left side of the street. For a peek inside the hotel check out our visit: HERE

Usually there is a lot more going on around Misión Santa Rosa de las Palmas.

Oystera: The Oyster Bar

A lot of restaurants were closing in preparation for the hurricane. It had started lightly raining so we were especially excited to find this gem to have “comida” (a large mid-day meal)

Inside was a gorgeous atrium with an oyster bar right in the center. Outdoor, in the garden, there was beautiful seating, but not on this day.

Once again, we opted to share several dishes. We started with their version of Agrachile, then their version of a Croquet and finally Char Grilled Oysters. Everything was so good! This restaurant, right inside town is definitely worth a visit.

The worst of the hurricane was now coming so we went back to get supplies for the next two days. Agricole, the market, was a great choice as they were just pulling rotisserie chickens off the grill. A few other items and we were set.

Dinner In

Our chicken was delicious, with some fresh veggies and a bit of Mac n’ Cheese along with it. We called it hurricane comfort food.

The power started going off intermittently as the storm worsened so it was an early evening .

The next morning. Fortunately, the sea didn’t get much worse than this for us, as the storm stayed far off the coast.

Our official hurricane picture. Later that day, since we were in between bands of the storm, we went out exploring. We found a small beach inn that had power and was open! We stayed for a while, chatted with the other guests, had a margarita and the ate most delicious chili relleno. We were so hungry we forgot to take a picture!

We knew there was another wave of the storm coming, so after lunch, we headed back to the rental home. Unfortunately, the power was out for the remainder of our trip as was cell service to the entire area. Good thing we had our leftover chicken!

By the time we left the next morning, as planned, the skies were clearing and the roads were fine to drive.

Good-bye to Casa Suerte. It was definitely an adventure, but that won’t stop us from returning to the charming area of Todos Santos again!

Todos Santos Day Trip

Check out of our first trek to Todos Santos where we drove on the beach and found another tasty restaurant: HERE