La Perla Pixan Cuisine

Holy grail! This place was legit. Traditional Mayan food with a modern twist at an affordable price. Do yourself a favor order some mezcal here, they make great drinks!
Stop being a tourist and going to Italian restaurants when you’re in Mexico. Go here!

Such a cute restaurant! Loved the ambiance and the live music. We had mescalitas, the mole tamale to start, a stuffed chili and the grilled octopus. Everything was fantastic! Miguel was a great server and explained the unique menu really well. I have a new favorite restaurant downtown Playa.

The food was delicious. The service was good too. The huitlacoche «lasagna» was terrific. The ambience is very nice too. Gracious service.

You NEED to visit this restaurant if you’re in Playa!
Here’s why:
1. The food is amazing! Fresh, local ingredients featuring both traditional and exotic dishes. Hands down, the best octopus I’ve ever had in my life and will probably ever have. Life-​changing dish!
2. The service is amazing! The servers and bartenders are all so sweet and helpful! Miguel was our server and he went above-​and-​beyond to make our dining experience very special. He taught us all about Mexican ingredients and unique liquor (that only they carry!). He went out of his way for us and everyone else in the restaurant.
3. Their drink menu is amazing! I have never tried so many new types of liquor in one place! Pulque, TONS of mezcal, pox, ancho reyes chile liquor, and on and on…
4. The ambiance is amazing! There was a small band playing music, the place looks like big a backyard patio that you’d find on an island somewhere. Simply magical.
So, now you know. La Perla is just AMAZING for so many reasons! Please support this business so I can go back when I return to Playa! :)

Amazing Mexican food!!! If you come to Playa del Carmen visit this place.
Amazing music and ambiance.

Stopped in this little joint just looking for a drink and walked out full and amazed. Miguel was incredibly knowledgable of the mezcal selection as well as introducing us to pulque and some liquor made from acho chilies. He was quick to share samples of all. The food was fantastic as well. We are adventurous and loved the grasshoppers and mole sauce, duck tacos, guacamole and asada. We will be back.

The other reviews are spot on! The food, ambiance and live music was some of the best I’ve experienced during the 10 days in Playa. I ordered the huitlacoche (lasagna) with a Mescalita coctail, and added the chapulines (grasshoppers) in a quesadilla!
I wasn’t quite intoxicated enough to eat them out of a bowl, but pretending they were crunchy little chips stuffed in a tortilla with cheese was easy enough to enjoy.

Si de comida mexicana gourmet estamos hablando, este lugar les puede interesar.
La Perla Pixan es un lugar perfecto para ir a cenar con los amigos. Podrás disfrutar buenos cocteles como el de mezcal, que esta exquisito, además de cerveza y lo que se te venga a la mente.
Para los vegetarianos tienen varias opciones desde el queso fundido a un exquisito chile relleno. Carnívoros no se asusten, hay muchas opciones para esos colmillos filosos.
Lo mejor de este lugar es el ambiente que se forma, es como estar en casa y todo esto gracias a una maravillosa cantante mexicana, que te deleita con su bellisima voz, donde nos lleva a un viaje por la península de Yucatán a México y al mundo. Si no quieren ir a cenar no importa tomense algo y disfruten a este pajarito cantar porque les aseguro que le hará la noche.
Hay que mencionar que los platillos no son lo más económico pero accesible.

A delicious dinner of «firsts» for us at a traditional Mayan restaurant:
* pulque (a fermented cactus drink)
* chapulines (grasshoppers!)
* pox (a distilled corn liquor)
* huitlacoche (corn fungus)
Our server, Miguel, was excellent: friendly, knowledgeable, and very helpful in steering me towards gluten free dishes (I have celiac disease, so I chose the mezcal shrimp). He brought us samples of the pulque an pox drinks, explaining the origin and process of each one. The atmosphere is cozy & secluded, off the main street, and the décor is very rustic and craftsman. A definite must for anyone looking to sample pre-​Spanish cuisine! Definitely recommend it over the very commercial/​touristy Yaxche.

Sin duda es una experiencia única este lugar, pues su concepto no es muy común en una zona donde el lujo se desborda en la mayoría de los restaurantes de la 5ta.
Algo que hace muy ameno el ambiente es la música bohemia tanto en español e inglés.
En cuanto a la comida le doy un ⁸⁄₁₀ pues creo que la calidad de la carne pudo estar mejor y también la tortilla, por cierto pedí una Tlayuda para dos personas.
Ahora bien, las bebidas estuvieron de diez, aunque la porción se me hizo limitada.
Recomiendo el mezcal xilbaba con un toque de menta, riquísimo.

great traditional mexican food! there is pulque, tlayudas, delicious mole, awesome mezcal… omg! this place is soo good and not expensive.
breakfast there are the bomb! all fresh and organic. I seriously love this place

Muy Bueno! The Mescalita is the best cocktail I have ever had: smokey, limey, chili goodness. The chapulines con queso were exciting to try. For your first time, I suggest at least one Mescalita before indulging. I ordered two of the tamales and they were excellent. The entrée was a mixed grill of three meats that were outstanding. I am going back my next visit to try more and I am craving a Mescalita as I write.

Get the Tamales! Get the Tamales!!!
Seriously though, this place blew us out of the water. We were so impressed with the food here and couldn’t stop telling everybody about it. So now I’m telling you so you can enjoy this place like we did!
I don’t remember the names of the entrée’s we got because we decided to order in Spanish and well… our spanish isn’t that great. The entrée I got was a «torta» that has squash blossoms in it which sounded good. The result wasn’t really a traditional torta but more of like a squash blossom meatball (sans meat). And it was amazing!
The prices are also really great. We were so surprised by the size of the tamale that we got for how much it cost. The thing was huge! So get off 5^th street and come here instead :)

If they burned down, they certainly have been rebuilt. Wonderful place lovely service, good food. I would highly recommend it. prices are quite reasonable and they are just off 5^th Avenue and 34^th.

This was one of our favorite spots in Playa del Carmen. It was suggested to us by a neighboring business where we were staying in terms of a local bar with traditional Mexican fare and feel to it. We were not disappointed.
Right off of the main, overpriced tourist trap that is 5^th Avenue (stay away from most of those places). Much better pricing, much better quality. Plenty of mexcal drinks which were mighty strong and super tasty. Lot of typical Mexican flavors and ingredients throughout the menu. Including grasshoppers.
House-​made popcorn, duck tacos and guacamole were awesome. Especially the guac — made to order. We had another dish that I cannot remember the name of but it looked like a pizza — flat, corn crust with Mexican sausage and other ingredients on top.
The staff was super friendly and welcoming. And the music was actually really good. If I lived here, this would be my local bar. Loved everything about this place. Atmosphere and décor was one of the best parts.
Go!
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12/​01/​2015
About a couple of weeks after I wrote the above review, I learned that this place burned to the ground. Due to a drunk asshat. I was and still am so saddened and heartbroken for these wonderful people. From what I know, they are currently selling tacos to day workers in the city for pennies. If you are there, please support them. The money being raised from this will rebuild their establishment. Such a shame that it affected so many people’s livelihoods. Thank goodness the perp was caught.

La Perla is located on a side street off of 5 Av so it doesn’t receive as much attention but it definitely deserves it. This is the cutest little restaurant I’ve seen in Playa. The front of the restaurant is open as well as the roof towards the back. The interior is very well decorated and the atmosphere is warm and cozy. Staff was friendly and attentive, and service was pretty quick.
I ordered the Mezcal Margarita which was delicious, as were all the food dishes I tried. I can’t remember what they were called but they were all recommended by the waiter as their most popular dishes. There was a shrimp dish and an octopus dish. The only miss we had was the dessert. The waiter recommended a banana Mezcal dish which turned out to be soggy pieces of banana soaked in hot alcohol. It tasted too strongly of bitter liquor that we could hardly get it down. Otherwise, I would return in a heartbeat for the authentic Mexican food.

Esta joyita de la cocina oaxaqueña está camuflajeada por el típico aspecto del restaurant-​bar playense con palapa, muebles hechos de ramas y troncos y reggae ambiental. Por fuera parece un bar con buen ambiente y no mucha atención en la comida, pero se trata de uno de los imperdibles para los foodies. Probé unos tacos de requesón con acelgas y un pulpo a la naranja que se tardaron en llegar a la mesa pero valió la pena la espera.

No one speaks English but go anyway. The food and drinks were fresh and made from scratch. The place is well kept and clean. Service is top notch. Amazing sauces and shrimp.

Great find! Tried the chapulines (grasshoppers) and some mezcal and it was all very tasty and affordable. Great little place with a very quaint atmosphere and good variety in the menu.
If you want authentic Mexican food this is a great choice!

What a find! We randomly walked down 34^th and was handed a menu from someone outside La Perla Pixan. We couldn’t believe the unique, authentic Mexican options they offered. Not only was the food blow your mind delicious, but the small, intimate restaurant was charming in every way. We fell in love with their cuisine and with the energy of the two owners. We returned to spend New Years Eve at the bar and were made to feel like family. It was the perfect evening! The restaurant is great for families but is also romantic. We can’t wait to return someday. If only we had a La Perla in Chicago…

Si te crees muy mexicano/​a y crees que te las sabes de todas, todas en cuanto la gastronomía nacional, estás equivocadazo/​a, a menos que ya hayas venido a la Perla del Pixal. Es comida mexicana, pero muy mexicana, como chapulines, gusanos de mezcal, pulques y así diferentes platillos muy de nuestros orígenes y hay ingredientes de ese estilo de cada estado de la República y sazonada, por supuesto, con condimentos muy mexicanos. Comida y bebida combinados deliciosamente con todo el sabor de nuestro México lindo y querido.
El lugar está decorado muy padre entre rústico, prehispánico, medio palapa y con un súper buen gusto. En cuanto a precios, no son lo más económico, pero tampoco son exagerados. Lo vale totalmente.
Para mí fue un gran descubrimiento de la calle 34, justo a media cuadra de la quinta avenida. La verdad hay platillos que cuesta probar por la cantidad de bichos que se preparan y nuestros prejuicios hacia ellos, pero si te aventuras, te sorprenderás de los sabores que puedes encontrar.
Toda la comida es hecha al momento, para que lo tengas presente y no te desesperes mientras la espera.

Un local pequeño pero con mucha onda, promociones 2×1 cotidianas y botana tan atípica en la zona (tamalitos, esquites, pozole) que hacen de este lugar ideal para nominarlo a un clásico de Playa del Carmen.
Cocina de autor, fusión de sabores entre lo tradicional y contemporáneo, o como dirían los que saben, los sabores de nuestra cocina adaptadas al presente; La Perla tiene la comida más agradable y sorprendente de Playa, a un precio bajo (tanto que crees que la cuenta está mal) y una atención fraterna, de verdaderos amigos.
Lo ideal es beber mezcal, que se combina muy bien con la cerveza de las marcas de siempre; pero si eres más aventurero pide pulque, bebida espiritual del centro de México que estoy seguro no encontraras en muchos (muchos) kilómetros a la redonda.