El Patio-2023 Isla Mujeres Restaurant Features

March24

While travelling I have realized how many people in the world have their own neighbourhood pub, bistro or coffee shop. Try as we might, we have never established one in the neighbourhood where we have lived for 35 years. When we are on Isla, El Patio is the closet thing we have to a consistent hang out. If we want one last night cap while in Centro, we never have to think where we will go-El Patio it is.

There is typically live music during Happy Hour which is a big attraction along with their food and drink specials.

Their frozen mojito was one of the best cocktails I had on this trip. And it was a HH special.

Whether it was their fish tacos, coconut shrimp or beef nachos, we were always impressed by their HH specials.

One day this visit, D’s brother and family joined us from Cancun for a day on the island. They wanted to know what we loved about Isla Mujeres. At lunch, we took them to the loncherias which they loved. In fact, I too was blown away by the presentation of the meals. That afternoon we spent at Centro Beach and before they had to catch the supper time ferry, we visited El Patio. They had enormous grins on their faces the whole time we were there, saying “Now we get it. This is so much more fun than the high end places in Cancun”. By the time they left, they were making plans to return for a longer stretch. In the end, it occurred to me that El Patio epitomizes what we love about the laid back, unpretentious island.

On this evening though, we started with a refreshing beer and a very generously poured glass of vino tinto!

Since we had sampled so many of their appetizers at HH, we opted for a Mediterranean charcuterie board. Charcuterie is a favourite way to dine for us and El Patio’s offerings are one of the few on the island. We had tasted their traditional board in the past so this was a refreshing treat. I especially enjoyed the flatbread and their rich and creamy hummus.

D had quesadillas and really enjoyed them. Especially because he was looking for a lighter supper that evening.

I loved my parmesan encrusted fish, Greek salad and fries. When the Fisherman’s Co-op was in Centro, I would often have their version of this recipe. I had missed it over the years. I also really enjoyed the salad. It had some Mexican touches like avocado and a less salty version of feta. The evening was lovely but I wasn’t surprised. We have enjoyed El Patio’s food and libations tremendously over the years.

What would Hidalgo be without El Patio? They are open daily from 12:30-midnight. And there infamous Happy Hour is 4:30-6:30 daily.

Kath’s quote: “Where everybody knows your name.”-Cheers theme song.

Love never fails.

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