Que Pasa? Bar & Grill is One of Puerto Vallarta’s All Time Favorite Watering Holes in The Neighborhood
Que Pasa Serves Up North of The Border Comfort Food Live Entertainment and Dancing in a Safe Environment
An Update From Melissa Canez on Progress of Projects at Corazon de Nina, a Home For At-Risk Children and Young Adults in Puerto Vallarta
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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 are going to a cool spot situated way up in the Emiliano Zapata Neighborhood of Puerto Vallarta to a very local bar and grill called Que Pasa, and we will be talking with the guy in charge Scott Naida. We will also visit again with one of
Contact Information For Que Pasa? Bar & Grill in Puerto Vallarta
- Address: Aquiles Serdán 625, Zona Romántica, Emiliano Zapata
- Phone: +52 322 223 4006
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/QuePasaPV/
our favorite people Melissa Canez at Corazon de Nina, a home for at risk kids and young adults to get an update, but before we get to Melissa and Scott, let’s see what’s happening this week in Puerto Vallarta, the 19th day of October, 2020.
Condos Planned For Beach Across From Los Arcos
Right now as I speak, there is a big demonstration on Caraterra 200 at Mismaloya, where the arches are. They are protesting a proposed, and already begun condo complex being built on the beach directly adjacent to the iconic arches. I’m speechless right now. I have some people in Mismaloya funneling me information but this would be so wrong. Next week, I’ll bring you more but wow!
Speaking of Wow…
Estarían construyendo UNA MARINA en Los Arcos: filtran supuestos planos
Hope Everyone is Staying Safe and Sane During The Pandemic
First of all I hope all of you are doing okay. This is a very stressful time for all of us, at least it is for me. I’ve been very busy selling homes and helping people get on with their lives. It’s what I do but man. People are stressed out. My job’s become a combination of being a psychologist, biologist and a real estate agent.
Right now I have a home seller who’s a hoarder and a cat lady. Talk about being a psychologist and biologist. More like biohazard. And this isn’t our first hoarding cat lady rodeo either. Uggg ….I’m writing a book I tell ya.
Have I ever told you the story about my wife discovering a dead home seller? I haven’t? Well, it’s almost Dia de los Muertos. Maybe I’ll do a little Vallarta news before I tell you about that. It is The Puerto Vallarta Travel Show, not the Barry Kessler show and tell hour but this one is already in the book my wife and I are writing about our home selling journey. Names will be changed to protect the shy and innocent and us from lawsuits.
So Vallarta, news….
Dia de los Muertos cancelled due to Covid
That’s right folks, Dia de los Muertos celebrations in Puerto Vallarta are dead. None. No Katerinas, no trick or treating on the Malecon. No house to house no shop to shop…
nada. It’s a sad reality that’s become all too familiar this year with all the cancellations of all the wonderful centuries old traditions and celebrations all around the world really. No alters built on the Malecon to celebrate as usual. The cemeteries will also be closed. The processions, none of that will be permitted as per the orders of Governor Enrique
Alfaro, who is still threatening to shut down all activity and lock down for 14 days should cases continue to rise. Rising cases, hospitalizations and deaths are down, but the threat is still real. I guess everyone will need to be doing their own private gatherings and making it work.
Okay, now back to my Halloween or Dia de Los Muertos Story
About 6 years ago, we had a listing in our neighborhood. Just around the corner from our home, a lady listed her home with us, and it was a beautiful home, but she wanted too much for it. She wanted us to list it for $100,000 than it was worth. She said she wasn’t in a hurry to sell, and she would wait for the right buyer, who would pay that much more for the house. Of course, in our line of work, we are usually asked to sell a home quickly. It doesn’t look good to have a property remain on the market for months. It makes the agent look bad because it looks like he or she didn’t know what they were doing, they priced it too high you know. But she insisted. We figured why not. The home was in our neighborhood and we got constant advertising with our sign in front of her house. It was also an easy home to direct people to with open house signs, so we used her home as a sales office on the weekends. We actually got lots of business that way and so this went on for almost a year. And in that year, we got to know the seller quite well. She wasn’t a cat lady or a hoarder, but she did have a tiny tea-cup poodle that she would leave with us when she would leave town to visit her son in Seattle, where she intended to move when she sold her home.
We also would drive her occasionally to her doctors office or pick her up from the hospital if she got sick. She had contracted Hepatitis as a teenager when she received tainted blood during a routine surgery, and she was in and out of Cedars Sinai Hospital in LA. These are the things we do for our clients. We become friends with most of them. Even the crazy cat ladies.
One day, we got a very good offer on the house, and even though it wasn’t that $100,000, she was done waiting for that perfect buyer, and was ready to move up to Washington to join her son.
Escrow was opened, inspections were done, everything was on track for an easy close. During the escrow period, the lady had mentioned she was planning to go up to look for property with her son, and I noticed she had taken her trash cans out early by a couple of days, so I assumed she had left town. That surprised me because she didn’t ask us to watch her dog, and I could hear her dog barking from the house when I passed the house.
A couple of days passed and we hadn’t heard from her so my wife Debbie called the son to see if she was with him, and he told her that she wasn’t. Ohh Ohh.
This was Halloween day. My wife was in the office. She was all dressed up like a witch. So, she looked around for someone to take with her to check on the client and she asked our assistant is she would go and Mary Jo agreed.
When they got to the house, they knocked and could hear the poodle barking, but nobody answered. So they went around to the back of the house and looked in through the sliding glass windows and saw a horrible mess. They could see the legs of our client, but not the rest of her, lying on the floor in a pool of blood. They immediately called the police, and then went inside. These they found our client lying dead, in the hallway of her home. Of course the stench was awful, she had been dead for about 3 days. The place looked like a crime scene. Chairs and bar stools were toppled over, blood all over the carpet. It was a mess.
When the police arrived, what a scene it must have been to behold. What looked like a bloody murder scene, and the local realtor, dressed like a witch, with assistant in tow.
Debbie went to open a window to relieve the odor, but the policeman stopped her. Demanded she touch nothing, and escorted Debbie and the assistant outside, and to a bench outside to wait. Detectives showed up, crime tape was put up and the poodle was placed in her hands, s she called me to explain the situation and to ask if I would take the stinky dog from her.
She asked the po po if she could go home, and they said no. You are going to wait here till the corner gets here. At that moment Mary Jo, the assistant leans over to Debbie and whispers, if this goes south, I don’t know anything about this.
So, there she sat. The Realtor witch, suspected in the brutal murder of the client who finally, after months and months, decided to sell her overpriced home. It was so….Murder-She-Wrote-ish.
Hours passed, and it was starting to get dark when at last the coroner arrived in his special vehicle. They determined she had died from loss of blood due to massive internal bleeding. She had been throwing up blood, due to her illness, and apparently was trying to pull herself up off the floor using the bar stools and chairs which she dragged down to the floor which caused the place to look tossed like a crime scene. She ended up expiring in the hallway, evidently trying to crawl to her bathroom. It was a mess, and of course very, very sad.
The police, having determined through detective work, and the opinion of the corner that this was not foul play, that this was a natural death, they allowed my wife and our assistant to finally leave the scene.
It was now twilight and the trick or treaters began to appear. And the coroner, as if just on cue wheeled out her body in the body bag on the gurney, Police tape, the coroner’s wagon, the cop car…as the trick or treaters shuffled past, many of them thinking boy, what an intricate Halloween stunt.
You may ask, did you end up selling the house?
Well, yes, we were in escrow with as it so happens, an emergency room nurse and she didn’t care that the owner had died in the house. She said, I see dead people every day. Nice. Now she’s my neighbor.
It took days to remove the odor, and we did replace the carpeting in the house to sweeten the deal, but the woman’s son came down from Washington and we closed the sale a couple weeks later.
So that, is my Dia de Los Muertos Real Estate story. I hope you enjoyed it. Real estate is not for the faint of heart I gotta tell ya.
So back to Puerto Vallarta….
Beaches are Finally Open in Nayarit
Last week I was telling you how cruel and mean the Governor of the State of Nayarit Antonio Echevarría García was because beaches in Nuevo Vallarta have been closed to beach sitters. Well, they must have been listening to the show and to avoid criticism, and derision, they decided to finally open the beaches. So, follow the proper protocols folks, and nobody will get hurt…got it? Felicidades a Nayarit. The sand is safe again. sheesh
Bonito Kitchen to Open in Zona Romantica
Our friend Francine Ngyun from Bonito Kitchen is opening up a new location in the
Romantic Zone, the site of the former La Surtidora del Puente department store at Insurgentes 108, in the Colonia Emiliano Zapata. It’s just south west of the old bridge. Just recently that property was a bed and breakfast and restaurant I believe, but a great location alongside the Rio Cuale. The opening is scheduled for early November. Francine will be using her old location in Versalles as the new location for Ramen Ya, so she will now be in old town, and Versalles. Sweet!
Brunch is Back at Canopy River
Just talked with the folks at Canopy River, up in Paso Ancho, and they are doing the Saturday and Sunday brunch. So add that on to your list of brunches, and I’ll get up there if I can when I get into town next month.
By the way, I’ll be in town November 8th till the 14th for a short stay, recording loads of interviews with some great guests. I plan to have a meet and greet Tuesday November 10th at Kelly’s Pour Favor, so if you will be in town I’d love to see you and hear about
what you are doing in paradise. And remember JR is at Kelly’s every Tuesday from 5:30 so always stop in to see him. And if you have someone you want me to interview this time down send me an email and let’s see if they are a good fit for the show.
I got this notification from the Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro’s Facebook page…I didn’t know this was happening, a road connecting Talpa de Allende and Tomatlan…Here’s the story translated from the Spanish…I’ll try to clean it up.
By vallartaopinaenlinea.com / 2020-10-16
Unlike the construction of other projects, which take years to materialize after being announced. The highway to connect Talpa de Allende with Tomatlán is being built at full speed.
Or at least that’s what the Government of Jalisco is saying. While other important projects such as the rehabilitation of Highway 544, and the still non-existent Federation Bridge or the bypass from Puerto Vallarta to Tomatlán, are still waiting but…
The land route Talpa – Llano Grande to Tomatlán at least seems to be moving quickly.
According to the data released by the state’s Secretary of Public Works, the work is at 30% completion, with challenges due to the need for bridges built over rugged landscapes.
As can be seen in the photos, the jungle is literally opening up to make the road passable, with engineering and construction at full speed.
When finished, the highway will connect the mountain town of Talpa de Allende with the coastal towns of Tomatlán in just 1 hour and 30 minutes.
The section will measure a total of 120 kilometers. This route will benefit the internal mobility of the state, those who wish to travel between the two mentioned municipalities will no longer have to go through Puerto Vallarta, doing so currently takes up to 4 and a half hours.
And I have a link to that article with pictures and maps in the show notes.
La Cruz Market coming on the 2nd of November
I spoke with Gabino Sandoval, the pull tab purse maker and he said the La Cruz Market is coming back on Dia de Los Muertos. That’s exciting news, but I asked him when the other markets will be opening up again, he said markets like the Olas Altas and Craft Markets aren’t open yet, and they told him to call back on the 20th of November for further updates. I did ask him if he was back on the Malecon selling at his table at night over in front of Vitea, and he said that he had permission to set up on the Malecon every third day. So slowly, things are returning to normal. Alzso remember the Magic Market at Puerto Magico is still happening every Friday from 4 till 8ish.
I saw a sweet story in Reporta Diario online.
The Marcela Lepe, the daughter of famous Puerto Vallarta artist Manuel Lepe has painted murals along the New bridge, the southbound bridge over the rio cuale. When I was in town this August they were doing a big rehab on the bridge with new lighting and cement work, and it made a nice canvas for Marcella. Here’s the article translated from the Spanish…
Puente del Río Cuale is painted in colors in the style of Manuel Lepe
The pillars of the Río Cuale bridge are painted in traditional colors and it is because Marcela Lepe, a fervent promoter of art in her native Puerto Vallarta, did not miss the opportunity to capture the art of her father Manuel Lepe.
At first, it was proposed to paint 8 panels of Manuel Lepe’s work, however, there are 34 pillars that are being painted by Marcela Lepe and her nephew Luis Lepe, with this a tribute is made to the people of Vallarta, its inhabitants in general and her Emiliano Zapata colony that saw her grow.
Observing that this area was undergoing maintenance, Marcela Lepe took the opportunity to approach the Vallarta City Council with Mayor Arturo Dávalos Peña and the director of the Vallarta Institute of Culture, Marina De Los Santos who did not hesitate to support it, give it this impulse and fill these public spaces with a traditional artistic proposal.
They are relevant events that are captured through his paintings, “we have typical scenes, there are pilgrimages, the laundresses, the river meets the sea, our palapa houses, the mermaid”, they also paint the inclusion, “it is a scene with two little people of the same sex “, and the tourist” we will have a cruise, plane and boats “, the objective is to form a story with the paintings and form of Manuel Lepe and paint events that highlight Puerto Vallarta,” trying to represent all the that we live in Vallarta ”, indicated Marcela Lepe.
Marcela Lepe has spent 36 years dedicating herself to represent the works of her father, although she always supports herself by asking for advice and that is how she sent her project, which was accepted. For its part, it is grateful since the municipal government through the Vallarta Institute of Culture provides the materials, security and they the labor.
Likewise, he appreciates the positive attitude of the locals who come and congratulate them, in the same way, tourists are “fascinated to observe that art is being made in the streets of Vallarta.”
They started last Monday and forecast to finish on Saturday, they do everything in the afternoons and nights.
And I have a link to that article in the show notes.
I can’t wait to see the murals myself in a couple of weeks and if I het a chance I’ll talk with Marcella and see if she will give us a tour of the Manuel Lepe Museum while I’m at it.
By the way, another of our favorite muralists Adrian Takano is knocking out masterpieces in Town as in Bucerias too. I’m going to catch up with Adrian when I get in town too. I owe him lunch.
Updates and Progress at Corazon de Nina, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Okay, speaking about catching up, a listener suggested I get back over to one of our favorite orphanages, wait, JR hates it when I call them orphanages, they are homes for at risk children and young adults, Corazon de Nina. It had been a long time since I first visited, and boy have they grown. I remember the interview, at the end I asked her where she saw the future of Corazon de Nina, and you will see, she has, they have with
all your help and the help of so many big hearted people, accomplished so much of what she described to us back in January of 2018. Now if you remember a couple of months back I had Melissa on the return to Puerto Vallarta episode where I talk about my personal journey back to paradise during the pandemic. I interviewed her, and Jimmy at Vallarta Food Bank and Reid and Miranda at Monzon…remember? We talked back then about how we could help during the Covid crisis.
This time, I just wanted to catch up on the progress of Corazon de Nina. I wanted to have her tell us about their plans to carry on and fund raise during the upcoming high season in Vallarta.
So let’s go right now, to Let go to San Luis Potosí 355, in the colonia Niños Heroes of Puerto Vallarta and chat with Melissa Canez, Corazon de Nina…..
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Contact Information For Corazon de Nina, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Address: San Luis Potosí 355, Niños Heroes, 48325 Puerto Vallarta
- Phone: +52 322 224 9209
- Website: http://www.newearthvillage.com/fcdn/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CorazonDeNinaPv/
Thank you Melissa. I have links to all things Corazon de Nina, in the show notes. Make plans to attend a couple of their events this year, and if you can’t make it down this year, see how you might be able to help them out. They really need you more than ever.
Que Pasa? Bar & Grill in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Next, let’s head into town and meet our next guest and visit his restaurant Que Pasa?
What does it mean? It means what’s happening? What’s up?
Not to be confused with que paso, which means what happened…but Que Pasa, what’s happening.
Que Pasa is tucked up high in the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood. If you start at that old Rio Cuale bridge and take Aquiles Serdan up..and keep walking, eventually you will come upon Que Pasa. It’s a very friendly neighborhood bar. You walk in and there’s a
pool table. Lots of comfortable seating, a beautiful bar which is the centerpiece of the place. Opposite the bar is the kitchen where some great bar grub is created. There’s a patio area that converts into a dance floor, and right there of course, a stage area for
bands to perform from. It’s actually a pretty good sized place. And because JR live so close, I almost always stop in once or twice every trip down. So after hounding Scott for an interview for over a year, he finally agreed to come on the show. Let’s go right now
deep into the Emiliano Zapata Neighborhood of Puerto Vallarta, Aquiles Serdán 625, and let’s talk with one of the most sincere guys, a hard working dude, a restaurateur and a Realtor too…Scott Naida, of Que Pasa Bar & Grill Puerto Vallarta, Mexico…
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Contact Information For Que Pasa? Bar & Grill in Puerto Vallarta
- Address: Aquiles Serdán 625, Zona Romántica, Emiliano Zapata
- Phone: +52 322 223 4006
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/QuePasaPV/
Puerto Vallarta Suggestions From Scott Naida of Que Pasa Bar & Grill
Favorite Day Trip
- El Tuito
- Mayto
- Tehuamixtle
Favorite 3 Day Trip
Hacienda El Carmen is a 400 Year Old Monastery Converted to a Hotel Website https://www.haciendadelcarmen.com.mx/
Advice for first time visitor
- Get off the resort
- Don’t go all inclusive
Words of Warning
- Be careful, you may want to move to Puerto Vallarta
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 blog-posts and show-notes for each episode of the show so check them out for sure if you haven’t already all-right? All right.
Thank you to Melissa Canez From Corazon de Nina, Give give give, and make sure you attend some of their events this year, and thank you to Scott Naida from Que Pasa Check out his cool Vallarta style neighborhood bar. Catch a band there. Sylvie and the Zippers or Steven Tenney from Tequila Rush…..eat, drink, dance and have a great time at Que Pasa. It’s a place to have a good time with friends, or to make new ones. I have pictures and links in the shownotes.
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!