The Puerto Vallarta Restaurant Guide with Author Gary Beck
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In today’s episode we have Gary Beck with us. The author of the Puerto Vallarta Restaurant Guide. His book supplies information of around 380
out of 700+ restaurants in Puerto Vallarta. You can find information such as name,address,phone number, expected price range, what type of food,schedule, etc. Gary first step food in Puerto Vallarta in the year 1979, since then he can’t get enough of Puerto Vallarta. Bought a condo here in 2005 and became a full time resident since 2010.
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Oldest Restaurant
It’s hard to say but La Palapa and El Dorado are two of the older ones.
New and Upcoming Restaurant
One is Lamara, they serve a made to order ceviche and aguachile. You would go only if you eat food that has not been cooked. To those who don’t know what aguachile is similar to a ceviche. It is a mixture of seafood with vegetables and sauce of some sort. The sauce and marinate vary. It can be a green sauce. It can be a spicy hot sauce. It can be very mild. Sometimes it comes with coconut, sometimes with mango. You eat it on tostadas.
Next is Basilio on Basilio Badillo, they opened up and immediately were a success. It’s a combination of very good food and fair prices.
Another one is Tre Piatti, an Italian couple runs it. It’s an international heavy on the Italian side and a limited menu which changes every couple of weeks so you have a different idea every time you come there. You can’t always count the dish being on the menu.
**Mexico City is the number one gourmet capital in Mexico while Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta fight for the second place.**
Restaurants that Didn’t Make It
Thai Restaurant called Bai Sri.
Restaurants in a Hotel
- Garza Blanca has a restaurant called Blanca Blue that gets high ratings and is part of the gourmet festival.
- Emilianos at Casa Velas Resort and Spa is good. There are quite a few restaurants in hotels that have made names for themselves and you’ll see them listed when the festivals come around. They tend to be expensive.
Two Gourmet Festivals
Is annual festival where the restaurant brings a chef from anywhere in the world to his or her restaurant and they make or create a menu just for the festival. So when you come to it, you get than menu and you choose from that and it’s a good way to meet people from Peru or from Mexico city or Canada. The dishes here will not be see in the menu again.
That’s not guest chefs. That is the restaurants chef make some menu up and there’s three courses; appetizer, entree and dessert and within those courses you have three choices. There’s nine so there’s 3,3 and 3. Gary organizes group for this event that could help add to his Restaurant Guide. Food from this festival is available whole year round.
Favorite Breakfast Place
- Fredys Tucan – Pastries are Fun and Served at the Table Before You Eat!
Favorite Lunch Place
- Salud – Superfood Restaurant. They stay away from any beef or pork just a little bit once in awhile. They serve chicken and lots of vegetables and soups.
- Mi Cafe – French Toast and Sandwiches
Favorite Dinner Place
Restaurants with a View
- Barcelona’s Tapas – Rooftop and Bay Views
- Las Carmelitas – Place in Puerto Vallarta that has the View of the Views
Bucerias Must-Try Restaurants
San Sebastian de Oeste
Restaurants at the Beach In Yelapa
Restaurants in the Jungle
Eating On The Bay at Sea
How to Approach the Puerto Vallarta Dining Experience?
“You just have to put aside what foods you’re used to eating in your hometown. Come here and just relax and try dishes that you’ve never had before and just open your eyes to it because the flavors and combinations are terrific.” Gary Beck
RESOURCES:
Puerto Vallarta Restaurant Guide (link to Amazon)
Links to contact Gary
Links to subscribe to the Puerto Vallarta Show
Links to contact Barry and JR
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Show Transcription Follows….
Barry: Today I am joined by Gary Beck, and Gary is the author of the Puerto Vallarta Restaurant Guide Beck’s Best. How you doing Gary?
Gary: Wonderful!
Barry: Thank you so much. Gary, how long have you lived in Puerto Vallarta and what was the path that lead you here?
Gary: I first came here 1979 and I did the usual path that many people that you talked to one week and then next year I did two weeks. The next year I started doing three weeks. Then I’ve started coming twice a year and I started saying for a month and worked up to five months at a time and I had seven months in San Francisco. And then I bought a condo in 2005 and was spending much more time here. But I lived here full time since 2010.
Barry: 2010, you’re almost a native here.
Gary: Almost.
Barry: It is rumored Gary that there are some 700 restaurants in Puerto Vallarta, how would a reviewer such as yourself, a food critic, how would they choose from all those eateries?
Gary: I choose from walking down the street and seeing something new that opened and I look at the menu and I decide I want to come back in and try some food and talk to the owner. Others is by word of mouth. If someone says, “have you been in such and such restaurant?” And I say, “no”, and so I find new places that way, word of mouth is excellent. A lot of walking around, just looking at places.
Barry: So you don’t call yourself a food critic?
Gary: Right.
Barry: Explain that to me.
Gary: Well, my guide is what I consider more informational guide it gives you the information about the restaurant. The name, the address, the phone number, the amount of money that you will be paying for a meal there, by code not in pesos. But if it is a moderate place, is it and expensive place or a reasonable place. Those are all enumerated in my guide. I list their website if they have one which is helpful. What days they are open, their hours, if they’re closed on certain days of the week. And then I sample the restaurant menu. I put different dishes that sound more interesting than others to kind of give you an idea of what food they are serving.
Barry: Got it.
Gary: But I don’t say this is good and that is bad. I’m not a critic in that sense. More of an information supplier.
Barry: That makes you different but that’s good.
Gary: I don’t want to hurt people’s feelings.
Barry: I don’t blame you, that makes a lot of sense. How many restaurants are in that guide?
Gary: Around 380 but that is a guide goes from Yelapa all the way up to Renqui Habitos and then as far east as San Sebastian and Mascota and Talpa so it’s a large area.
Barry: You’re covering all of it.
Gary: Not all over but just the town of Vallarta, it has lots of other towns little villages. Those are fine. They have some wonderful restaurants.
Barry: That sounds great, and you list those in your guide too?
Gary: Yes.
Barry: Cool.
Gary: According to area.
Barry: Restaurants come and go as we know, what is the oldest restaurant in Puerto Vallarta? You have any idea?
Gary: It’s hard to say. I’m sure there’s some local Mexican restaurants in the central part of town that has been there for years. I don’t know off hand their claims but La Palapa and El Dorado are two of the older ones in this part of town.
Barry: You know how long they’ve been around?
Gary: I’d say the late 50’s. Early 60’s.
Barry: All right. That’s a long time for a restaurant. That’s pretty long. Tell me about, we talked about the older ones, tell me about the newer ones. What are the newest up and coming restaurants that you may be able to talk about?
Gary: Lamara is a really nice restaurant. You would go only if you eat food that has not been cooked. It is ceviche and aguachile and it’s made to order. Some of it may be marinated like the tuna that it serves so it’s all extremely fresh and absolutely beautiful. But there’s no cooking so you can’t go there and get a flame in the owner.
Barry: Maybe you can explain to my listeners what’s aguachile.
Gary: Aguachile is similar to a ceviche. It is a mixture of seafood with vegetables and sauce of some sort. The sauce and marinate vary. It can be a green sauce. It can be a spicy hot sauce. It can be very mild. Sometimes it comes with coconut, sometimes with mango. It’s wonderful. You eat it on tostadas.
Barry: You basically load it up onto a crisp chip.
Gary: Yes.
Barry: A big tostada.
Gary: Yes.
Barry: Large tortilla chip basically.
Gary: And then there’s a restaurant on Basilio Badillo called Basilio and they opened up and immediately were a success. I think it’s a combination of very good food and fair prices and you go there 9 o’clock, it’s packed. Which is unusual for a new place.
Barry: It’s called what?
Gary: Basilio.
Barry: Basilio on Basilio Badillo. Of course.
Gary: Very good name for it.
Barry: You have no problem of finding it I guess.
Gary: Another one is Tre Piatti, a husband and wife that run it. It’s an international heavy on the Italian side and a limited menu which changes every couple of weeks so you have a different idea every time you come there. You can’t always count the dish being on the menu.
Barry: They change it up then.
Gary: Yes. But there are a lot of other new restaurants too.
Barry: And there are some terrific restaurants that’s one of the reasons why I come to Puerto Vallarta is to eat.
Gary: It is really a gourmet capital. That’s for sure.
Barry: It’s amazing that you will find a gourmet capital in Mexico.
Gary: Mexico city is number one in the country. Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta kind of fight for number two.
Barry: Alright. I spend some time in Mexico city but that was in my younger days and I wasn’t eating well back then.
A lot of restaurants don’t make it so are there any restaurants that you miss that didn’t make it?
Gary: I always say the Thai restaurant because I am from San Francisco. I lived there 37 years and we had so many Thai restaurants and I know in Vancouver they do too and Montreal. We had a wonderful Thai restaurant called Bai Sri. It closed unfortunately and we haven’t had a replacement since. So if your Thai and want to open a restaurant, please come.
Barry: Okay, the word is out everybody. All of you Thai’s –
Gary: We will support you.
Barry: Good. Listen up everybody, there’s too many in LA come on and go on down to PV and have a lot of fun. Are there any good restaurants that might be in a hotel, maybe in the romantic zone or the south side.
Gary: Yes, there’s a Garza Blanca has a restaurant called Blanca Blue that gets high ratings and are part of the gourmet festival. Emilianos there’s quite a few restaurants in hotels that have made names for themselves and you’ll see them listen when the festivals come around. They tend to be expensive.
Barry: You mentioned the gourmet festival is that the restaurant or ?
Gary: We have two, the gourmet festival is really on November and that is the annual festival where the restaurant brings a chef from anywhere in the world to his or her restaurant and they make or create a menu just for the festival. So when you come to it, you get than menu and you choose from that and it’s a good way to meet people from Peru or from Mexico city or Canada. They come down.
Barry: Those are like guest chefs.
Gary: Yes. And sometimes they fall in love with the place and end up coming back later opening their own restaurant. That’s all part of it.
Barry: That’s the mistake, those restaurant tours inviting guys to paradise here and all of the sudden they’ve got competition. That’s not good.
Gary: There’s plenty of competition in this town that for sure. I don’t want to be in the business. Be careful there’s five six or seven in the street. You got to do something right to bring the people in. You have to appeal to the local people. You really can not make your money just on tourists because that will be part of November to beginning part of April and all the rest of the time you got to have people coming there or you’re gonna go bankrupt. If you see a bunch of locals in there they’d be Gringos or they’d be Latin and if they’re supporting it, you’re gonna make money because they know good food and they know fair value.
But then there’s the May festival which is interesting too. That’s not guest chefs. That is the restaurants chef make some menu up and there’s three courses; appetizer, entree and dessert and within those courses you have three choices. There’s nine so there’s 3,3 and 3. And I organize groups to go all through the May Restaurant Festival. Sign them up and tell them where we’re going, are you interested. And the menus are available online or you can get them in magazines here. I try to get other guests to order not what I’m ordering so I can taste nine different dishes and then I can get more information to put in my Restaurant Guide.
Barry: Of course. That’s a great idea. Of course you got to have people who are cooperative and don’t mind you munching a little bit of their food.
Gary: I have plenty of those people. I have a whole mailing list. But the one thing I do want to point out too is when you’re bringing that chef in November, those dishes you will not see in the menu again. So that is just a one shot deal. So that doesn’t help my guide can’t say oh you should try this dish when they only offer it for two weeks.
Barry: Good point.
Gary: But the May Restaurant Festival those are dishes are taken right off the menu. So I can say these are what they offer 12 months of the year. It’s important.
Barry: Next question may be difficult for you, might be difficult for some for of your favorite restaurant tours. I’m gonna ask you to list your three favorite restaurants. What is your favorite breakfast place?
Gary: Fredys Tucan.
Barry: Yeah I like Fredys too. I like their pastries that they give you when you sit down.
Gary: And Fredy is a nice guy. The food is so good there. But it’s packed. You gotta be careful. I usually go there in the off season. High season, 10 in the morning they have a microphone calling numbers out. I try not to go to busy restaurants when the tourists are on town.
Barry: Yeah I don’t blame you. You know all the great restaurants. You don’t have to necessarily go to that one. Plus you live here, you can come back to Fredys anytime. Lunch?
Gary: I like Salude which is a Superfood restaurant. It’s not a health food restaurant but the food they serve is healthy, good for you but it’s very flavorful and very creative. So it’s called Superfood. They use quinoa. They stay away from any beef or pork just a little bit once in awhile. They serve chicken and lots of vegetables and soups. Then the other one I like is Mi Cafe. It’s run by the nephew of Alberto Perez, who owns La Palapa and several other places too. He comes from a restaurant background of many generations.
Barry: I like that guy. You know what I like about his place I love French Toast there.
Gary: In Mi Cafe?
Barry: Yes.
Gary: Oh you’ve had it. He’s known. People come just for the French toast. It’s unbelievable.
Barry: I believe it. I send people there for that and I love that guy. I use his music for my podcast.
Gary: Wow I’m impressed.
Barry: He’s the introduction.
Gary: Did you know he also recently bought El Dorado?
Barry: Yes I do.
Gary: And he closed Vista Grill and he’s serving the Vista Grill menu at El Dorado for dinner. If you’re interested in that it’s beautiful wonderful food. Vista Grill dinner menu, he says for a time being we’ll see how long it goes. I have friends that go and I say it’s just excellent.
Barry: I love the Vista Grill and I was there just before he closed it. What’s your favorite place for dinner?
Gary: I would say Cafe De Artistes
Barry: That’s a great place.
Gary: It’s been my favorite restaurant for many years and people disagree with me. To me, it’s been consistently wonderful. I would put Trio in there too. Trio is really a wonderful restaurant also wonderful. River Cafe right on the river there, that’s very nice place.
Barry: All right, let’s talk a little bit about a restaurant with a view.
Gary: There are many restaurants in town and well all of them claim they have a view. Some claim have wonderful views, some have average views. Barcelona’s Tapas has excellent view I recommend that place for going up under the fourth of the rooftop and sitting there and looking out at the bay. You can watch the fireworks from Margalente and the food is exceptionally good. That’s Bill’s place.
Barry: I love that place. And where is that located?
Gary: It’s on the 31st of October.
Barry: So it’s up in 5th of December neighborhood?
Gary: Yes, about two block from the Woolworths But if you want to go to a place that has the view of the views. Then you get a cab or trustee car with four wheel drive and you drive up the mountains, East. You go to a place called Las Carmelitas You should go to my guide get their number and make a reservation otherwise they charge you an entrance fee which is refundable on your check, hopefully.
Barry: They don’t want you to just go over there and watch the view. They want you to eat.
Gary: They stopped that because when they first opened too many people went up there and had maybe a drink and took a table for two hours so now you have to order food.
Barry: That makes a lot of sense.
Gary: And the view is spectacular. You can just see all the way Punta de Mita. You can see the Marieta Islands. You can see a little bit toward the south but you’re looking way, way down on the town of Vallarta’s. The lights all start coming on and you see a little dot down there. And that restaurant there is the one that says they have a great view and you’re sitting up here looking at those places. It’s really outstanding. Try to go for sunset too.
Barry: Okay.
Gary: Take tours. Take visitors.
Barry: All right. Once again, it’s called?
Gary: Las Carmelitas.
Barry: Las Carmelitas. Okay. So that is the tip on the best view.
Gary: Oh, there’s nothing better. Nothing.
Barry: Wow.
Gary: And I’ve been around. But it’s so high up there. You’ll see. He owns the property. That’s a ranch of sorts. He raised his crops. Cool. Yeah.
Barry: You mentioned a bunch of really great places. So yeah, you know you’re [inaudible 18:41] Gary.
Gary: We’re very fortunate. We’re very fortunate here. We are so fortunate. There aren’t enough nights to eat out. You got to eat at home sometimes.
Barry: I know. Yeah, we could get all round and stuff if we don’t watch it.
Gary: Yes.
Barry: So if someone is staying in the south side, both in county area and central area, the romantic zone, you name it. And I hate to ask this question because I like people to visit in the south side, but what restaurants not in town would you suggest that a vacationer maybe get out of town and go and visit. Let’s say maybe up in Bucerias for example.
Gary: Well, in Bucerias, I was just there yesterday and my favorite restaurant there is Mezzogiorno, Italian, just fabulous place. You can eat inside or outside and they’re part of the May Restaurant Festival too. And then Adauto’s which is right along the bay. That’s a wonderful restaurant. Miguel Angel is a really good restaurant. There’s a new one called Le Bistrot with a T at the end of it. Le Bistrot.
Barry: Le Bistrot.
Gary: Yeah. But I think in French the T is silent. I’m not sure.
Barry: I’m sure it is.
Gary: You can really do well in Bucerias. To me, it has the most great restaurants after Puerto Vallarta. If I didn’t live here, I would live in Bucerias. It’s an art colony. There are lots of Gringos there. If there are a lot of Gringos, Marx is there too. Marx is excellent. If the Gringos are there and they’ve got a little money, you going to see good restaurants pop up. You know, they follow the money.
Barry: Yeah, they do. You know how those Gringos are.
Gary: And then the other one I want to mention too is Montebello which is over in San Sebastian. If you want to drive East on your way to Guadalajara, it’s a beautiful little town. This is an old mining town. And it’s an Italian restaurant run by an Italian from Italy. It’s very Italian speaking and his wife is born and raised in Puerto Vallarta. They live in a family home and turned it into restaurant and full of orchids hanging around. He grows a lot of his own fruits and vegetables in the backyard. He makes those digestive drinks. And he makes all his own pastas, his own pizzas. The food is just exceptional. People actually drive there for the day and have lunch there.
Barry: I’ve heard that. I’ve heard it. Yeah, and amazingly, I’ve heard of that restaurant.
Gary: Oh good. Yeah.
Barry: I mean yeah. One day when I go to San Sebastian, we’ll check it out.
Gary: Yeah. They might have changed the name to [inaudible 21:45] from Montebello. It’s the same place.
Barry: I think it is. I think that’s exactly right.
Gary: Yes.
Barry: Bucerias to the North. How about to the south? Maybe down in past Conchas Chinas.
Gary: I like a lot. I think a lot but they have some very nice restaurants. I go down there and spent a couple of days.
Barry: So like on the beach or do you?
Gary: Yeah. There’s a couple on the beach like Angelina’s and there’s Café Bahia. And then for dinner, you can more walk toward the post office area up into the woods and jungle part and there are some very nice restaurants.
Barry: Okay. So Yelapa. That’s a surprise. All right. We’ve done the beach. How about the jungle? How about somewhere along the Rio Cuale or the Ameca? Are there any like, great, fun, kind of jungle food type places?
Gary: Well, El Rio is really popular. It’s on the way to Paso Ancho.
Barry: Yes.
Gary: And it’s open air and he’s known for his ribs and he has music there a lot too. It’s a fun place to go for the day.
Barry: So El Rio, they have music out there and dancing, right?
Gary: Yeah, they do. Yeah. They have a stage. They have riverfest that’s held there, a lot of entertainment, local people which is wonderful to support the local entertainers. They have a lot of talent in this town.
Barry: Yeah. I’m going to do a show with you and we’re going to talk a little bit of about entertainment if you don’t mind.
Gary: I could talk about that for a long time.
Barry: I know you can. I love your writing there.
Gary: Thank you. And then you could mention Moro Paradiso. That is along Rio Cuale and that’s a good place to go too.
Barry: Yeah. I love that place. They have Tequila tasting there you guys. It’s a butterfly preserve over there. They have just amazing array of little flutterbies going by. That’s really one of the really nice parts about getting out up into the jungle and doing that. Wear your bug spray everybody when you do that by the way.
Gary: That’s true.
Barry: Okay. So we’ve been to the jungle. We’ve been up and down the coast. Let’s talk about on the ocean. How about maybe some boating excursions that might have some good food. Have you ever been on anyone of this?
Gary: Yeah. I haven’t been on very many. I haven’t done Rhythm of the Nights but I’ve heard good things about it. I think they go down to Los Caletas and then you walk along and there are warriors all dressed up with torches and they do chantings and things. And then you end up getting to the actual dining area and sit down. And I understand it’s quite romantic too for couples to go. I think they have music there too. But the one that I have done is the Marigalante which is the pirate ship.
Barry: We see that ship shooting up fireworks in a day every night.
Gary: Yeah, that’s every night. Yeah. And it’s a fun show that it’s kind of gimmicky at times. But it’s kind of touristy but going as a local, the food was just wonderful. We were very impressed with the food. And if you drink, they are very generous with the alcohol. They’re just constantly bringing drinks to your table so it’s a good deal. I think so.
Barry: Oh, okay. And where do they sail to or they just kind of do bay cruise?
Gary: They leave the marina and they go along the coast and then they head out. And then they start to come back in. And when they come back in, they go to Malecon usually. It varies where they stop but sometimes the Malecon, that’s where they shoot the fireworks off and then go back to the marina. So you have to go through the marina to get the boat to come back.
Barry: Sure. Okay. I’ve always wondered where they go.
Gary: I think they have a day cruise which is more of a kid cruise, kiddies. I would do the adult one.
Barry: Sure.
Gary: It’s a little maybe a bit risky but not bad.
Barry: Okay. So all right. So now that we’ve talked about the water and the rivers and up north and south of Puerto Vallarta and right in between, what kind of suggestions or advice can you give our listeners as to you know, how to approach the Puerto Vallarta dining experience?
Gary: Well, I think when you come here for the first couple of times, you just have to put aside what foods you’re used to eating in your hometown. Whether it’d be in Iowa or not the [inaudible 26:39] because you’ve have a lot of different cuisines. But come here and just relax and try dishes that you’ve never had before and just open your eyes to it because the flavors and combinations are terrific. And I learned so much about food, just preparation of foods whether it’d be Mexican or not. It’s wonderful. It’s just an array of food to choose from.
Barry: Love it.
Gary: We’re very fortunate. It’s not all Mexican food too. Don’t forget, there’s a lot of Italian. There’s some Greek and there’s Indian and a lot of Asian.
Barry: Except for that Thai food.
Gary: Yeah, except for the Thai food. Yes.
Barry: Oh yeah.
Gary: Though Archie’s Wok, part of it is leaning toward Thai.
Barry: Oh okay.
Gary: They combined it in their cuisine. That’s an excellent restaurant too.
Barry: They’ve been around a very long time, haven’t they?
Gary: Yes.
Barry: They probably one of the older ones, haven’t they?
Gary: Well, you know Archie, the background of Archie, he was the chef for John Houston.
Barry: Oh okay. Tell me more.
Gary: Well, he was cooking, I believe, at a party that John Houston went to. And this was before they were starting the filming. And then he realized Archie knew his cooking. He was Filipino, Thai and Chinese. That was his background mix together. But he cooked all kinds of foods. And then John ended up hiring him and he worked at Las Caletas where John lived and his child, Angelina—is that her name, Angelina? Angelica, Angelica Houston.
Barry: Yes.
Gary: And then when John Houston, he was a heavy smoker, and the emphysema just really got to him. He had a tank carried around, oxygen tanks, but he ended up having to go back to LA to finish his days. And Archie was out the job and he formed Archie’s Wok. That’s was when he founded it. He decided, “Well, I love cooking so I’m going to open a restaurant.”
Barry: Going to make lemonade out of lemons and open a restaurant.
Gary: Yes. And it has been successful ever since.
Barry: Wow. All right. So next week, let’s see here. Let’s take look at our calendar and we’re at the end of January 2017 next week. They’re going to have an event here in Puerto Vallarta called Dinner in the Sky. They’re going to have it over at Casa Villas. Are you going to give that a try?
Gary: No. I’m scared of heights so I’m going to bypass that one.
Barry: I often wonder what you do if you have to go to the bathroom up there.
Gary: I don’t know but I wouldn’t want to stand underneath it.
Barry: No. I wouldn’t either.
Gary: I have friends that are going. I’ll hear what they have to say. But you won’t see me. I don’t even parasail.
Barry: Okay. Well, I don’t either. I would be afraid to do that.
Gary: And I don’t bungee jump. I don’t do any of that stuff.
Barry: I’m with you, man. Maybe, we’re just both chicken nerve. Maybe, we’re just into preserving ourselves.
Gary: Yeah. Life is more important.
Barry: Well, you are more important, Gary. I want to thank you so much. You’ve been so kind and you’ve been so generous with your time. Can you tell our listeners where they might able to find, well, your review book?
Gary: Well, the Restaurant Guide is available on Amazon as an eBook and you just purchase it like you purchase any other eBook there. And I’m not 21st century. So I don’t know. I think you download it into your computer, your phone, or something.
Barry: Yes. It goes to your Apple—no, not Apple product.
Gary: Kindle.
Barry: Your Kindle. That’s what it is. Yeah. It’s Kindle.
Gary: Oh okay. There you go. And then if you want to buy a copy that you can put in your computer or to print, I sell it through PayPal. You can email me and pay for it and then I will send you the Word Document. You can print it all out if you want to or you can just keep it on your computer and I guess, you can put it onto your phone maybe.
Barry: I think you can.
Gary: So you can walk around town and you can have it right there.
Barry: Yeah. You say there’s a PDF on your phone and pull up the file and you can walk through town and use your guide.
Gary: And you walk by a restaurant and say, “I wonder what Gary has to say about this.” Not that I’m going to say it’s good or bad but I’ll at least describe it to you.
Barry: That’s what I really like about your guide. I think you’re not passing judgment.
Gary: No.
Barry: You’re basically saying, “Here it is. This is what you’re going to expect. This is kind of the price range you’re going to have. This is the kind of meal.”
Gary: Right.
Barry: And you’re just kind of sampling of what they have on their menu.
Gary: Exactly.
Barry: It’s perfect. It’s a great guide.
Gary: Then let the consumer decide whether they like it.
Barry: Absolutely. I love that. That is a great way to think of it.
Gary: About a year ago, I saw a guide that she bought of mine probably 10 years before and every page have handwritten notes. Went here with so and so on this date and we have this and we love it or she put some that I don’t like and I’ll never go back. And that’s all individual taste you know.
Barry: Right. Well, I’m going to put on my website a link where you can ask for the guide and I will be able to forward that to Gary. And then, he can go ahead and get you your guide. And how much you charge for that?
Gary: $8.50.
Barry: Oh my god! What a bargain.
Gary: Yes.
Barry: It’s free you guys, almost free. $8.50.
Gary: But then PayPal takes money out of my pocket.
Barry: Of course.
Gary: It’s not a moneymaker. It’s more for the love of Puerto Vallarta and food. And I come from a restaurant background. I worked for 20 years in San Francisco in restaurants and wine buying and managing. So it’s all about giving and sharing. It’s not about money.
Barry: Beautiful. All right. Did you hear that? So Gary, you’re the best. I want to thank you so much. And maybe next time, we can talk a little bit about the entertainment scenes and if you would—
Gary: I would love to.
Barry: All right. Well, thank you so much, Gary.
Gary: You’re welcome. Thanks for coming.
Barry: Got it.
Gary: Bye-bye.
Barry: Bye now.
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Super hearing the podcast again with a new one on its way. Gracias!