





Mezcales sits along Federal Highway 200 in Nayarit, ten minutes north of Puerto Vallarta airport across the Rio Ameca. It is a working commercial crossroads known for morning birrierias, roadside taquerias, and daily trade rather than resort polish. Mezcales is worth visiting if you want authentic inland street eating and direct local bus connections across Bahia de Banderas. Look elsewhere if you require direct beachfront access, quiet pedestrian promenades, or late-night cocktail bars.
Last updated 9 Oct 2026
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Mezcales revolves around the rhythm of Federal Highway 200 and Avenida Mexico, where trade, transport, and cooking never slow down. Mornings start with steaming pots of birria; afternoons bring tradespeople to supply shops, and evenings fill plastic tables with taco seekers. It suits pragmatic eaters and independent travellers using its central bus links to explore the wider bay without paying coastal resort prices.
Start at eight with a bowl of goat birria on Avenida Mexico. Spend midday browsing market stalls near the plaza, then grab a fifteen-minute bus to Bucerias for a swim. Return by seven for suadero tacos and cold beer along the main strip. Select 1 Day above to see it.
Day two takes you eastward into the agricultural valley. Catch a collective taxi to Valle de Banderas for rural bakeries and parish church squares, followed by afternoon wood-fired zarandeado fish at a rustic roadside palapa back toward the coast. Choose 2 Days to expand the plan.
A third day allows an unhurried morning along the Ameca River delta watching waterbirds before hopping a northbound bus to Punta de Mita or San Pancho. You end your night at a Mezcales cenaduria over hearty pozole and tamarind water.
Perch on plastic stools along Avenida Mexico for morning birria de chivo served in rich broth with hand-pressed corn tortillas and fiery salsa de arbol.
Order fresh ceviche de sierra or aguachile verde with raw shrimp at simple mariscos spots along the highway, dressed with lime, cucumber, and red onion.
Browse Tianguis de Mezcales on Sundays for seasonal mangoes, jackfruit, dried chiles, fresh queso fresco, and household wares from regional vendors.
Catch northbound regional buses outside Plaza Lago Real to reach the calmer sands of Bucerias or the surf breaks of Sayulita in under thirty minutes.
Stop by local panaderias near the central plaza at dusk for fresh bolillos, conchas, and sweet empanadas pulled warm from sheet pans.
Sample cold tuba poured from gourds with chopped walnuts and apple, or glass bottles of tejuino spiked with lime juice and sea salt from cart vendors.
Pick up handmade leather huaraches and woven palm hats at roadside hardware shops along the main thoroughfare, crafted for coastal agricultural work.
Ride a ten-minute collective taxi east into San Vicente or Valle de Banderas to see quiet agricultural plazas and 19th-century church towers.
Settle in at evening cenadurias for crispy sopes, pozole rojo topped with shredded cabbage, and tostadas de pata served with generous avocado.
Head early in the morning toward the Ameca River wetlands on the southern edge of town to spot roseate spoonbills, green kingfishers, and herons.
Take the short bus ride straight west along Avenida Paseo de los Cocoteros to access the wide, swimmable Pacific shoreline at Nuevo Nayarit.
Drink cold Pacifico beers with lime and salt at no-nonsense cantinas along the highway, where jukeboxes play norteño ballads late into the evening.