El Rey Bar and Grill and the Office PV in the Versalles Neighborhood of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Watch Your Favorite Sporting Event at El Rey Bar and Grill and at The Office PV and Enjoy Great BBQ and Drinks in Puerto Vallarta
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Hello fellow travelers, welcome to 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 too and that’s Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. That music you were just listening to is performed by Alberto Perez, the owner of the La Palapa Group of Restaurants. 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. Or riverside at the newest addition to the groupo, The Le Bistro Modern Mexican Café, overlooking the Rio Cuale on beautiful Isla Cuale. La
Palapa, El Dorado and Le Bistro Jazz Café. They are so romantic, they’re so, Puerto Vallarta, my friends.
This week we are going to the Versalles Neighborhood in Puerto Vallarta to visit two restaurants and sport bars owned by Lawrence Goodwin and his wife Reanna. They are El Rey Bar and Grill PV and The Office PV, just three blocks away from each other. These two places are very popular hangouts in Versalles where one day it’s a football game the next day, depending on the day it could be a drag show. Lawrence also is very deep into the tequila culture, and he will tell you about his tastings. Lawrence is the Agave Abogado. You’ll love him. We have Vallarta news and more so let’s see what’s happening this week, the 18th of December, 2025.
Contact Information For El Rey Bar and Grill in Puerto Vallarta
- Address: Viena 200, Versalles, 48310 Puerto Vallarta, Jal., Mexico
- Phone: 52 322 115 2881
- Website: https://elreybarpv.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElReyBarPV
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elreybarpv/?hl=en
- Tic Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@elreybarpv/photo/7572272400000126238
- Agave Abogado: https://agaveabogado.com/
- Agave Abogado in Tic Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@agaveabogado
Contact Information For The Office PV
- Address: Francia 428 C 48310 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Phone: 52-322 106 8989
- Website: https://theofficepv.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theofficepv
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theofficeversallespv/
Christmas in Puerto Vallarta
They are busy making everything look festive for the holidays. The sail on the Los Muertos Pier has been converted to a Christmas tree with some lighting effects. On the Malecon they moved the giant Christmas Tree from the spot near the lighthouse to be closer to the amphitheater at the Famous Arches. It’s looking beautiful.
Remember that lots of restaurants close for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Check their Facebook pages to see if they are serving a special menu or to see if they’ll be open or closed. Many of the employers don’t like to pay the inflated holiday wages and others just want to give their employees a break and time to be with their families. So, check first or spin the wheel and take your chances.
We can actually see the red star on the top of that giant Christmas Tree from our balcony and I caught my first splash of the returning humpback whales just yesterday. Speaking of whales,
An American Expat Killed in Freak Accident with a Whale in Puerto Vallarta
From the Vallarta Reporter… December 8th 2025
Puerto Vallarta Whale Collision Kills Local Expat
And I have a link to that article from the Vallarta Reporter in the show notes.
So, this was apparently just a freak accident and bad luck for the lady who lost her life and her family and friends she leaves behind. And of course we hope a speedy recovery for the other two who were injured.
When you aren’t strapped down and the boat comes to an abrupt stop, you keep going. And apparently, it isn’t pretty. I wanted to see if this was a common occurrence. Being killed by a whale, and I found this article Tomo News US, 10 years ago March 12, 2015.
A Canadian tourist was fatally injured when a gray whale leapt from the water and crashed into a boat sailing off Mexico’s Pacific coast on Wednesday. A total of 24 passengers and crew were aboard a whale-watching vessel which had set out from the popular tourist destination of Cabo San Lucas. Reports said a gray whale suddenly appeared in front of the boat while the group was returning to port. The whale shot out of the water and struck three tourists who had been standing on the deck. The impact knocked the 45-year-old Canadian woman into the water. A fellow passenger trained as a qualified nurse administered mouth-to-mouth but failed to revive the stricken woman, who was later pronounced dead at the hospital. The two other injured tourists were also hospitalized. Their injuries are not said to be life threatening.
Sad story, right? Now the Canadian woman who was killed was on a whale watching excursion, meaning the boat was trying to get close to the whale, while this latest incident appears to be a freak accident where the whale was breaching at the moment the boat crossed its path. Not exactly the same, right? And at the time of the accident, it wasn’t even officially Whale Watching Season in Vallarta which began back on December 9th. This happened on the 5th of December.
So, a whale VS human death seems to be a very rare occurrence indeed, and tragic. But it got me thinking how many people die each year in accidents between cars and deer and came upon a study done at Perdue University and here’s what they found…
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, there are approximately one and a half million deer-vehicle collisions in the United States each year, resulting in about 150 deaths and over $1 billion in vehicle damage. The average claim of these deer-collisions is $3,995.
So what about car VS Moose? According to an article from A to Z Animals.com, in the state of Maine alone, between the years 2003 and 2017, so over a period of 14 years, there were 7,062 collisions with moose resulting in 26 human deaths.
So how about shark VS humans? The average is one per year in the US.
So my deepest condolences to the victims and the families of this very tragic, and rare event.
And don’t let this sour you on the wonder of whale watching season. Get out if you can and take a tour to get up close to these
huge humpback whales. There are many certified whale watching companies on the bay. You can see them breaching, slapping the water with their tails and fins. Carrying on and whatnot. If you have an Oceanview room, chances are you can see them
playing out there. Remember to pack your binoculars before you come to Vallarta. You’ll be glad you did. They’re here from December till the end of March with January and February the most active months.
The replacement for our sunken pirate ship, our beloved Marigalante is well on it’s way to the Bahia de Banderas, Also from the Vallarta Reporter,
Marigalante II Approaches Puerto Vallarta, Bringing Back Iconic Pirate Tours
December 12, 2025
And I have a link to that article from the Vallarta Reporter in the show notes, and we’ll see how long till we get our nightly firework show from the deck of the Marigalante II. Stay tuned.
Marigalante II Approaches Puerto Vallarta, Bringing Back Iconic Pirate Tours
Over the last few weeks we have been talking about the work being done on the Malecon including the two-block extension beginning at the Hotel Rosita, at the very north end of the famous walkway.
Apparently, they plan to open it up to traffic…here’s another article from the Vallarta Reporter …
Munguia Saya Avenue Near Hildago Park will reopen Monday, tomorrow, and Pothole Repairs to Begin in Emiliano Zapata
December 12th, 2025…
And I have a link to that article again from the Vallarta Reporter in the show notes.
Munguía Says Avenue by Hidalgo Park Will Reopen Monday; Pothole Repairs to Begin in Emiliano Zapata
Now as of today, the 18th of December, the street is still being worked on and is still not open to traffic. We will see how it looks in a few days.
It seems kinda strange that the city would reopen the extension to traffic. I asked a taxi driver yesterday if he knew what the plan was. To open or keep it closed, he said the city will do what the city wants to do.
Maybe the main reason for the work being done is for all the new drainage and sewage pipes? I dunno. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile at the south end of the Malecon, the Malecon extension as it’s called. The area from the Navel Museum to the
pedestrian bridge over the Rio Cuale, work continues on that restoration project and planters and benches are taking form. It’s
going to be beautiful when it’s done. More places for people to stop and sit and relax along that stretch of the Malecon. It’s about a month or so away from completion but it will be very nice and a great improvement to that area.
About My Dad
I was telling you a couple of weeks ago that my father passed away in the middle of October, and I had to fly back to the US for the funeral, and I told you at the time that I had a story I wanted to share with you about a story my dad and mom used to tell us about meeting Elizabeth Taylor. For those of you who are wondering what Elizabeth Taylor has to do with Puerto Vallarta, let me suggest to you the movie that made Vallarta famous. The Night of The Iguana the location of the filming of this classic movie, Puerto Vallarta back in 1964. Taylor didn’t appear in The Night of The Iguana, the film that starred her not so secret lover, Richard Burton. Not so secret because their love affair was splashed all over the tabloids in those days. Burton was married at the time to Sybil Williams and Taylor also happened to be married at the time to Eddie Fisher.
Back to my parents. My mom and dad were high school sweethearts. They were both from Ohio. My dad was from Toledo, and my mom was from Cleveland. Both of their families moved west to Los Angeles during the Second World War when they were in junior high school and my parents met a few years later at LA High School. They tell the story about the Senior Dance where one of the senior boys brought as his date, the very beautiful and very young, 13-year-old Elizabeth Taylor. She had just appeared in her first motion picture, an MGM film called National Velvet starring a 12-year-old Elizabeth Taylor and 24-year-old Mickey Rooney who plays a former jockey who coaches a horse-crazy 14-year-old girl, Elizabeth Taylor to masquerade and compete in England’s gentlemen-only Grand National Steeplechase race.
My parents said all the girls at the senior dance were just beside themselves with jealousy. Down the street at MGM studios, the young Ms. Taylor had her hair, her make-up and her wardrobe all done by the professionals and of course no other girl at the senior dance could compete with that. She was just so beautiful according to my dad. Mom, not so much. And unfortunately, no cell phone pics, this was 1946.
Some interesting facts about National Velvet if you are interested. If not, too bad. I found it interesting…
- Elizabeth Taylor was, as I said, only 12 when she shot the film.
- She fell in love with the horse she rode in the movie, the horse’s name was King Charles, and he was gifted to her by MGM after the shoot.
- During the filming of National Velvet, Taylor fell off that horse, King Charles, and fractured her spine. She insisted on doing her own stunt work. That injury led to chronic back pain which was a precursor to her drug addiction in later life.
- And that, my friends, was my mom and dad’s tale they told their children, and anyone else who happened to be in the room, about their brief brush with the famous Elizabeth Taylor.
Now they also had a great deal to do with our first visit to Puerto Vallarta back in 1984. That year my wife and I met. We had only been dating for 3 or 4 months, and we were looking for a romantic getaway. Hawaii was on the list, but the prices were expensive. In those days you would find travel deals in the Sunday Newspaper in the travel section, imagine that, and I still have
the newspaper clipping. I took a picture of it and put it in the show notes. It was round trip airfare, out of Tijuana, a week at the Hotel Playa Los Arcos and a bunch of other little tours thrown in for about $250 per person. Very reasonable. My parents had spent a week in Puerto Vallarta about 10 years earlier and made us, their kids watch their slide show on multiple occasions, so I knew it was a beautiful place already. They must have liked it, they bought us all T-shirts which I remember wearing when I was in Jr High School by the way.
I thought I’d impress the new girlfriend with my Spanish lingo, so we made our first journey to Vallarta, as I said 41 years ago in 1984.
And I asked Debbie to marry me a couple of years later in a restaurant that my dad suggested I take her to. My parents had eaten there 10 years before and said it was the most romantic restaurant in town. It was called La Casita, and it was in Cinco de
Diciembre up Calle Panama. Panama 387 to be precise. It’s no longer there as a restaurant that is. The building is still there, but La Casita lost its beautiful view to a condo or two. And about two months ago Debbie and I walked up there to have a look, and
as I said, the building is still there, and surprisingly enough, so is the tile bench downstairs where La Casita’s clients would wait to be seated back in the day. Oh, the memories.
So that’s the story of my parents’ role in urging us to come to Puerto Vallarta way back when. Who knew it would turn into a lifelong love affair.
Let’s get to our interview, shall we? Yes, let’s do that.
El Rey Bar and Grill and The Office PV in The Versalles Neighborhood of Puerto Vallarta
We rarely get to the Versalles Neighborhood of Puerto Vallarta, and I really need to do better. And today I have the rare opportunity to introduce you to two Restaurants and Bars owned and run by a lovely couple, Lawrence and Reanna Goodwin from Oklahoma. Their restaurants are El Rey Bar and Grill and The Office PV.
Both are cozy spaces that just feel good, they serve great food pour a great drink and are staffed by folks that care and make you feel at home.
Lawrence is passionate of course about Puerto Vallarta, passionate about his friends and new neighbors in Colonia Versalles, about his clients, about sports, tequila, barbecue and so much more. Let’s go right now to Calle Viena 200 in colonia Versalles,
and meet Lawrence Goodwin, at El Rey Bar and Grill and The Office PV, he’s your very own Agave Abogado, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
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Thank you so much Lawrence. Such passion for making his clients happy. And his embrace of his new life in Mexico. Lawrence mentioned his friend, the late great Paco Ojeda when we were talking. I recorded the interview before Paco surprised us all and left all his listeners and followers in shock. I found a nice YouTube video of Paco interviewing Lawrence at El Rey Bar and Grill, and I embedded it into the show notes for you all to watch at www.puertovallartatravelshow.com. Check it out.
Contact Information For El Rey Bar and Grill in Puerto Vallarta
- Address: Viena 200, Versalles, 48310 Puerto Vallarta, Jal., Mexico
- Phone: 52 322 115 2881
- Website: https://elreybarpv.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElReyBarPV
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elreybarpv/?hl=en
- Tic Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@elreybarpv/photo/7572272400000126238
- Agave Abogado: https://agaveabogado.com/
- Agave Abogado in Tic Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@agaveabogado
Contact Information For The Office PV
- Address: Francia 428 C 48310 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Phone: 52-322 106 8989
- Website: https://theofficepv.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theofficepv
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theofficeversallespv/
I have all the links you need to get you to both El Rey Bar and Grill and The Office PV in Colonia Versalles, just blocks away from each other. Great drinks, excellent food and service, your favorite sports. Your very own Cheers. You know, “Where everybody knows your name”. Of course, they won’t know your name if you don’t get over there so do it. Get yourselves over to Colonia
Versalles and walk around, like Lawrence said. Do some of that easy footwork. It’s mostly flat terrain in Versalles. And take in the magic of this very popular foodie Colonia in Puerto Vallarta, and then stop in at the Office or El Rey Bar and Grill for a cold drink,
bar food, BBQ, a tequila tasting and a bite to eat. Watch your favorite team or enjoy a drag show. Right? Depending on the day, of course. Never a dull moment. I have links to all their social media and websites and Google Maps that will take you to the front doors of El Rey Bar and Grill and The Office PV., in Colonia Versalles, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Ok, 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 this is a 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 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 follow share with a lover of Puerto Vallarta or give me a good review wherever or however you happen to be listening. 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 so much to our guest Lawrence Goodwin from El Rey Bar and Grill and The Office PV.
Great BBQ, Tequila tasting, sports, great food and mixed drinks. Make them part of your plans when you visit paradise.
I have all the links and maps in the show notes at www.puertovallartatravelshow.com.
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.
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