A visit to one of my Favorite Eateries in Puerto Vallarta, Restaurant Bar San Lucas Where We Learn About the History of the place with Daniel Lopez, Long time Employee.
Meet Arturo Pasos Muñoz, Photographer and Historian Who Has Thousands of Photos of Vallarta Past and Present. He wants to Open a Museum of Vallarta History told Through Photographs.
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Hello fellow travelers, welcome this episode of the Puerto Vallarta Travel show. I am your host Barry Kessler and I am just so happy to be introducing you to my favorite vacation destination, and maybe even yours, Puerto Vallarta Mexico.
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That music you were just listening to is performed by Alberto Perez, the owner of the La Palapa Group of Restaurants. Those are La Palapa, Puerto Vallarta’s Oldest Restaurant on the famous Los Muertos Beach, and The El Dorado Restaurant and Beach Club right next door so you can enjoy that fantastic view of the Los Muertos Pier all lit up at night in beautiful colors, or during the day in its grand splendor for breakfast, lunch or dinner, seated with your toes in the sand right at the water’s edge. It’s so romantic, it’s so, Puerto Vallarta my friends.
This week we visit one of my favorite restaurants in Puerto Vallarta, Restaurant San Lucas located on the southside in the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood, and talk with my favorite waiter Daniel Lopez. Then you
will meet photographer and photo-historian Arturo Pasos Muñoz, and Arturo, is looking for a place for a museum to display photos of Vallarta past and present. You will love Arturo, but before we get to Daniel and Arturo, let’s see what’s happening this week in Puerto Vallarta the 21st of August, 2019.
PUERTO VALLARTA LOOKING TO CUT 50% OF BUS TRAFFIC IN DOWNTOWN
From Vallarta News Daily…
State and municipal authorities have begun a period of valuation of public transport in Puerto Vallarta, with which they will determine the possibility of reducing 50 percent of public transport units in the city center, according to Luis Alberto Romero Chávez, president of the company Costa Pacífico (UNIBUS).
Chávez said that he is in talks with both the municipal government and the state government to see if they could create transfer centers, which would be located on Francisco Medina Ascencio Avenue at the height of the Agustín Flores Contreras Sports Center in both directions.
He explained, “If the user goes in a truck that does not reach the center, they could transfer to another bus to access their destination downtown, for now only the study is being conducted and no official plans have been determined.”
He did note that transfers would be free to users entering and exiting the city center.
“The only thing we are looking for is to give a boost to the downtown area of Puerto Vallarta, as the municipal president and the governor mentioned, that the downtown area has more life again and one of the proposals that are being made is to address congestion in the city center, taking out 50 percent of the public transport units so that restaurants, hotels, and shops that are in that area have a better flow of vehicles ”.
Romero Chavez said that this does not seek to cause an upset with bus users, but that anyone who goes to the city center can enjoy the area with a lower flow of buses and congestion on the already crowded narrow streets of Puerto Vallarta.
And finally, he pointed out, there are days when 450 trucks enter the city center, but from the start of the boardwalk, many of the units only have three or four passengers and the only thing they cause is traffic and an inconvenience to pedestrians.
I have a link to the article in the show notes, so just be aware, there might be a little disruption while they get this into action, and if things seem a little weird taking the bus, that’s probably the reason why.
There will be a Feminist March in Puerto Vallarta
From Vallarta Independiente, translated from Spanish…
The appointment is on Friday, August 23 at 6 p.m. on the boardwalk in the city, in response to the attacks suffered by women in Mexico every day.
Puerto Vallarta will also have its feminist march to eradicate gender violence, a problem that exists throughout the country and that has grown exponentially in this city in recent years.
The invitation is made for next Friday, August 23, at about 6 pm and the meeting place is the city boardwalk.
The organizers held an event on Facebook and there are already dozens of women who have confirmed the appointment, in which it is requested to wear sugar-based pink glitter to leave a trace of the movement.
Last week the CDMX experienced one of the most radical feminist manifestations of which there is memory. Thousands of women took to the streets to protest the high rates of violence against women in Mexico. …(and by the way, that protest turned violent with lots of damage to public and private property, including spray-painting National Monuments and permanently damaging the marble, vandalizing rail cars and metro cars. They don’t mention that here however)
Here in Puerto Vallarta, since 2017 the gender alert has been active, along with 7 other municipalities in the state of Jalisco. According to the figures, there are 1.4 femicides per month in Puerto Vallarta and only in the first 19 days of August, 2 have been registered.
So, I have a link to that article from Vallarta Independiente, and I hope that the organizers of the event keep things calm and Vallartaish.
And let me just say this to all my friends in Vallarta who are thinking about joining in on this protest. If you notice people who are urging on violence or destruction of property to make a quote, “point”, I hope you will high tail it out of there, and make someone in charge, aware. Please.
https://vallartaindependiente.com/2019/08/18/habra-marcha-feminista-en-puerto-vallarta/?sfns=mo
Mexico is considering a ban on the use of cash for purchasing gasoline and to pay for tolls
I found this interesting article on Bloomberg online and it’s titled
Your Money Is No Good Here
Mexico is considering a ban on the use of cash for purchasing gasoline and to pay for tolls as a way to fight tax evasion and money laundering, according to people with direct knowledge of the discussions.
The plan, which has been discussed between the banking industry and the government, hasn’t been fully approved. A final decision may not be taken until after the central bank rolls out its digital payments platform known as CoDi next month which is part of a broader government program to push more Mexicans into the banking system and cut down on cash, said the people who asked not to be named, since the plan isn’t public.
Mexico is awash in cash from the informal economy of street merchants and the illicit drug trade. Cash is used for between 80% to 90% of transactions in Mexico, Finance Minister Arturo Herrera said in March, when he was still deputy minister. At a time of a slowing economy, the plan could also help widen Mexico’s tax base.
Mexico’s Finance Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The country’s banking association declined to comment.
In addition, the move will help identify gas stations that are buying stolen fuel by tracking their sales electronically, both people said. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has made a crackdown on fuel theft from state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos a cornerstone of his drive to root out widespread corruption.
For banks, the plan to push for more cashless transactions — albeit without fees — could be a boon for expanding their client base and open opportunities to provide more Mexicans with cards, loans and mortgages. The CoDi system — which relies on QR codes with mobile phones — and a ban on gasoline and tolls, could increase digital payments tenfold, one of the people said.
Only around two-fifths of Mexicans have bank accounts, World Bank data shows, and Mexico has the lowest tax take as a share of its economy among members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
AMLO, as the leftist president is known, surprised Mexico’s bankers by embracing a cashless strategy which his predecessors had previously shunned. The ambitious project gels with his anti-graft campaign as well as a wish to to achieve greater financial inclusion in remote parts of the country of 125 million. To be sure, challenges abound to weaning Mexicans off cash, including poor connectivity for both mobile networks and internet service outside of major urban areas.
With the need to give consumers time to prepare for a cash ban on goods like gasoline and highway tolls, the enforcement of such a policy may take some time. Other areas that could be pushed into digital payments include public transportation, school tuition, electricity bills and passport fees, the people said.
India instated an even broader cash ban in 2016 – one that prohibited high-denomination currency notes. While it didn’t weed out illicit cash use altogether, it did widen the country’s tax base and increase digital payments.
Very interesting. Of course, we will keep our eyes open and let you know if this actually comes to fruition.
Restaurant Bar San Lucas in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Okay, let’s get to the interviews, shall we? Every time I come to Puerto Vallarta, I have my favorite restaurants I make sure to visit. Some have been there a long time. This place I’m taking you to today has
been around for over 25 years. The restaurant is called Restaurant Bar San Lucas and according to the owner Alberto Cortez, the restaurant opened on October 18th, 1992. The day of the Festival or the feast of St Luke. Therefore, Restaurant San Lucas.
A quick read from the Wiki pages reveals that… St Luke is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of the canonical Gospels. The Early Church Fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the
Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, which would mean Luke contributed over a quarter of the text of the New Testament, more than any other author.
The Roman Catholic Church and other major denominations venerate him as Saint Luke the Evangelist and as a patron saint of artists, physicians, bachelors, surgeons, students and butchers; his feast day, as I said, takes place on 18 October.
The restaurant, although it’s on one of the busiest corners in Vallarta, is often either empty, in other words, void of customers, or there are just a couple of tables occupied, most of the time. It’s hard to
believe because the food’s so good. Restaurant San Lucas is right on The corner of Insurgentes and Lazaro Cardenas, right across the street from the big Guadalajara Farmacia, and all those taco stands on
Lazaro Cardenas, and two doors down from Reinas Bar, Marco’s Place the Queen’s Bar.
The lower floor has some tables set up for those who can’t manage stairs, and they are happy to serve you there, but the beauty of the restaurant San Lucas, is the second floor, and the location. It’s open on all sides, and you have a view of the world going by. It’s even better now that most of the buses in town have been changed out to the new natural gas-powered buses. It’s quieter, and the air is cleaner.
If you take some time, and walk around the top floor of the restaurant, you will encounter wonderful decor with lots of potted plants, Mexican ceramic pottery and cookery beautifully displayed. The kitchen and the bar are open to the whole restaurant, and you can watch the chef cook right in front of you if you
like. For me, I like coming in around 3 in the afternoon, and ordering a lovely beverage, partaking of one of their wonderful soups, some guacamole, and if I’m hungry, a delicate fish fillet done to perfection. I love this place. I bring a book or a pen and pad and spend some down time. And I love to take friends for dinner here because more than likely they’ll say you know, I’ve walked past this place hundreds of times, but never went inside. And the prices are so reasonable. Not all touristy marked up.
When you come inside on the ground level, you will most likely be greeted by Alberto, the owner, or his wife, who will show you to the stairs. And up you go.
Once you reach the second floor you will notice the tables are covered with colorful tablecloths, the music is playing in the background, ceiling fans keep the air circulating, Saltillo tile floors. It’s a wonderful space. Personally, I can sit there for hours just taking in Vallarta.
I’ve wanted to get someone to talk with me here for about two years, and finally, I sat down with the owner Alberto Cortez, and asked him if he had someone who worked for him who spoke English, and that could talk with me about the history of the restaurant, and he said yes, his waiter Daniel. He asked me to return, and gave me a time and date, and I stopped by at the prescribed time, and he hooked me up with Daniel, who was so busy with customers, he was running up and down the stairs, excusing himself to help customers and wait tables. So if he sounds out of breath,, it’s because he was working so hard.
So let’s go right now to the corner of Insurgentes and Lazaro Cardenas in the heart of the Emiliano Zapata Neighborhood on the Southside of Puerto Vallarta, Lázaro Cárdenas 355, and let’s talk with Daniel Lopez, from Restaurant San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta.
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Thank you Daniel. His English is so good isn’t it?
Contact Information for Restaurant Bar San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Address: Lázaro Cárdenas 355, Emiliano Zapata, 48380 Puerto Vallarta, Jal., Mexico
- Phone: +52 322 222 3126
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/sanlucasvallarta/
Google Map
Now after the interview with Daniel, Alberto showed me a stack of guest books, the books tourists would sign when they came in, would write their name, where they were from and maybe even a little
thank-you or review. Early YELP. There were scrap books with old ads and newspaper clippings, and I have a couple of pictures of the guest logs as well as pictures of the restaurant in the show notes.
Make sure next time you go to Vallarta, stop in and say hi to Daniel and Alberto.
The Puerto Vallarta Museum of Photography, Baul de los Recuerdos with Arturo Pasos Muñoz
Now next, I want to introduce you to a very special person. A Puerto Vallarta Personality. His name is Arturo Pasos Muñoz, and Arturo is a photographer who’s been around a long time. In fact, JR, John
Russell told me that When he was photographer for Vallarta Opina and Vallarta Today, he used Arturo’s darkroom. He told me they have been friends for 36 years! How about that?
Arturo had thousands of photos he has taken, and saved over the years, and he wants to find a place to display them. And I want to help him.
I asked Arturo if he would meet me and talk about the museum over at Cuates y Cuetes last May when I was in town, and he agreed. When he came he had two large coffee table books with him. One was En El
Corazon de Puerto Vallarta or in The Heart of Puerto Vallarta, and the other called El Baul de Los Requerdos whish translates to a trunk of memories. Both will be described by Arturo so let’s go right
now, to another one of my favorites in Vallarta, Cuates y Cuetes at Francisca Rodríguez 101, Zona Romántica, Emiliano Zapata, with a spectacular view of the Pacific and la Bahia de Banderas, and let’s talk with the very talented and interesting, Arturo Pasos Muñoz, Maestro de photographia, the Baul de Los Recuerdos.
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What a great guy.
Well, as you can tell, Arturo is still looking for a place for his museum. And he really needs your help in two ways. First, if you have any ideas about where he might be able to have his museo, let me know and
I’ll pass the information on. Then he needs some of your wonderful Puerto Vallarta Past pictures you have stored in your closets.
I have lots.
Arturo Pasos Muñoz
By the way, you can see some of mine along with some of Arturo’s including pictures of Richard Burton, Ringo Starr, Mexican Presidents, places like Carlos O’Brian’s and The City Dump. You can find them in the
show notes. And if you have some Vallarta pics you would like to have added to the museum, send Arturo a Facebook friend request, mention the show, and send him some of your recuerdos. Keep it clean, but
some of Arturo’s swimsuit pics he took are pretty revealing. Oh well, just use your own discretion. I have his contact in the show notes so go there. And stay tuned. Tell me about a place Arturo can have his museo, and when he does land a spot, you will all be the second to know about it.
Contact Information for Arturo Pasos Munoz
- Facebook: Arturo Pasos Muñoz
- Phone: 322-138-5690
- email: weddingstropical@yahoo.com
Okay that should do it for this week.
Next week, stay tuned for more on the ground reports from Puerto Vallarta Mexico, with travel tips,
great restaurant and excursion ideas and more. Until then, remember, this is an interactive show where I depend on your questions and suggestions about all things Puerto Vallarta. If you think of something I should be talking about, please reach out to me by clicking on the Contact us tab and sending us your message.
And remember, if you are considering booking any type of tour while you are in Puerto Vallarta, you must go to Vallartainfo.com, JR’s website and reserve your tour through him, right from his website. Remember the value for value proposition. His experience and on the ground knowledge of everything Puerto Vallarta in exchange for your making a purchase of a tour that you would do anyway, you’re just doing it through him as a way of saying thank you. It costs no more than if you were to use someone else so do it. Really. And when you do take one of these tours, email me about your experiences. Maybe you can come on-board and share with others what you liked or didn’t like about the tour. Again, contact me by clicking on the Contact us tab and sending off a message. Don’t forget his maps, his DIY tours and his revitalized Happy Hour Board. I have links to all of those in the show notes.
And once again, if you like this podcast, please take the time and subscribe and give me a good review on iTunes if you would. That way we can get the word out to more and more people about the magic of this place. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Remember I made it easy for you to do just that with each episode I create. But if you haven’t been to my website, you really need to have a look there. I have the links to the places we talk about, interesting pictures and the more all right there in my blogposts and show-notes for each episode of the show so check them out for sure if you haven’t already all-right? All right.
Thanks to Daniel Lopez at Restaurant San Lucas. Go there and have some great Vallarta seafood in a really cool location. Make sure to say hello to the owner Alberto Cortez from me. He’s the nicest guy and such a nice family. Thanks Arturo Pasos Munoz, and thank you to Arturo Pasos Muñoz, photographer extraordinary. He still works hard, and I have his contact information in the show notes.
And thanks to all of you for listening all the way through this episode of the Puerto Vallarta Travel Show. This is Barry Kessler signing off with a wish for you all to slow down, be kind and live the Vallarta lifestyle. Nos Vemos amigos!