Restaurant Review: Famar-Campestre in Bucerias

Type of Food: Mexican Dishes and Seafood
Price: Moderate
Service: Good but leisurely
Location: On the main highway in Bucerias – cross street Av. Estaciones
Hours: 9:00am to 9:00pm

People have been telling me to try Famar in Bucerias for years. “The food is really good, and the prices a fair,” they said. Finally, I made the opportunity to try Famar and they were right. The food is really good and the prices won’t break the bank.

Famar is a typical Vallarta patio style restaurant. Very casual and comfortable. It serves Mexican style seafood and traditional Mexican dishes. Since most of my recent restaurant posts have been about seafood places, I chose to order some non-seafood dishes for a change.

I started with the sopa de tortilla (tortilla soup), a tomato and chile broth that has fried tortilla strips added. Onion, cilantro, avocado, and lime garnish the soup. It was full of flavor and not too spicy. The portion served makes a better appetizer than full meal.

My main dish was a chile relleno con queso (Poblano chile stuffed with cheese). It included refried beans, rice, and nopalitos, a cactus salad. In the picture, the chile relleno looks kind of flat and scrawny. Normally a chile relleno looks more plump when served. I almost felt cheated looking at it when they served it. It turned out to be far more filling that I thought. I could barely finish it. Although, I finished it all because it was really, really good. I liked that the chile relleno was served piping hot. Oftentimes, they are served lukewarm which I don’t care for.

I thought the nopalitos (cactus salad) served as one of the side dishes was very good which surprised me. I am not a fan of nopalitos. Typically, the cactus has a gummy, slimy texture that just grosses me out. In Famar’s version of nopalitos the cactus was mixed with tomato, onion, and cilantro and it was very light and fresh tasting.

I have to admit that I misplaced my notes on the restaurant so I am estimating the cost of my lunch. The sopa de tortilla, chile relleno, and a mineral water cost approximately $140 pesos, about $13.50US.

This is the entrance on the main highway. There is also an entrance in the back. From the front Famar looks quite small, but it is actually quite a large restaurant.

As in most restaurants in Vallarta, the meal starts with pico de gallo salsa and chips. At Famar, they also give you a really tasty bean dip which I haven’t been served anywhere else that I can remember. I finished the entire bowl.

Check out the Vallarta brand salsa. I wish I had asked them where they get it because I haven’t seen it before. It’s very similar in taste to Huichol brand salsa which is in the background.

Chile relleno with nopaltios, rice, and beans. The homemade sauce was great. Try the cactus salad.

Tortilla soup. Very good. I consider myself a tortilla soup connoisseur and the tortilla soup at Famar makes the grade.

The pace at Famar is slow. It made me want to spend a leisurely afternoon drinking beer and relaxing. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time. Some other day.

While drinking my morning cup of coffee on the beach in Bucerias, a local dog befriended me. He was making his morning rounds when he spotted me and came over to hang out for a bit.

I finished my coffee and headed into town. He followed me for a few minutes until something more interesting caught his eye and he was off to make more new friends.

More VallartaBlog posts on Bucerias:

Downtown Bucerias

Carnes del Mundo Meat Market Bucerias

Toes in the Sand dining – El Brujo Restaurant Bucerias

Paseo del Beso – Street Art in Bucerias

El Brujo Restaurant Bucerias – A Classic

Kicking off your flip-flops and digging your toes into the sand, ordering a couple of beers, and enjoying a great meal at beachside restaurant is a classic Vallarta experience.

Recently, we had just such an experience. For the first time, we tried the El Brujo restaurant in Bucerias. This is the restaurant’s second location. We have gone a few times to the original, located in the Southside near the tunnel. We always enjoyed it and we had high expectations for the new restaurant.

El Brujo Bucerias is the northermost restaurant on the restaurant row that begins in downtown Bucerias. Any one of the beachside restaurants you pass to get to El Brujo are good places to hang out. But, after trying El Brujo we prefer it for its superior food.

You can enter streetside or you can enter from the beach. If you don’t feel like a table on the sand the restaurant also has an upper terrace with a view of the entire bay.

We ordered shrimp trastamal (shrimp wrapped in foil). The shrimp is cooked with garlic, butter, cilantro, lime and bacon. Really, really good and really greasy and goes very well with a cold beer.

Seafood makes up most of the menu but a few beef and chicken dishes are available for those who don’t care for seafood. I have heard good things about their other dishes although we have never tried them because we got hooked on the shrimp trastamal.

The view from our table. Life doesn’t get much better than this. Hard to believe that we took these pictures in mid January. It’s shorts and a t-shirt weather.Blue skies and waves that ran up the beach to the edge of the table.

I forgot to write the prices down but I believe the order of shrimp cost $125 pesos and beers cost $20 pesos. Portions are generous. We split an order of shrimp between two of us. For under $200 pesos we had a great time with some great food.

As you head south from downtown bucerias towards the pedestrian bridge that takes you to the south side of town you pass through the “Paseo del Beso,” which roughly translates as the “Alley of the Kiss.”

It’s a narrow, funky walkway that is a mix of vendors and private homes. Great street art covers the walls. A “kiss” is the theme of each painting.

After you walk through the Paeso del Beso you come onto the pedestrian bridge which is also covered with art.

Check out more Street Art in Bucerias

Spend the Day in Bucerias

Downtown Bucerias, located 20 minutes north of the Puerto Vallarta airport, is a great place to spend a lazy afternoon. When you are there, visit the church, Nuestra Senora de la Paz. Sit in the plaza and watch people go by.

After you have had your fill of people watching in the plaza, stop at any one the beach restaurants and order a big plate of shrimp and a bucket of beers. Our favorite beach restaurant is El Brujo Bucerias.

Bucerias has a warm and friendly vibe and it is much less hectic than Puerto Vallarta. It reminds me of what Puerto Vallarta was like 20 years ago. We go to Bucerias to unwind. Time moves slower there.

To get to Bucerias by bus take the gray buses marked ATM and the best place to catch it is in front of Wal-Mart (Map) . I believe it costs $20 pesos. The last bus returns to PV about 9:00pm.

Take a look at the Virtual Tour of Bucerias for some great views of the city.
BuceriasMexico.com has a loads information about Bucerias.

Nuestra Senora de la Paz (Our Lady of Peace), the main church in Bucerias. We usually by a churro from the cart that is front of the church.

The bandstand on the main plaza. One of the better spots to do your people watching.

Bucerias street market located on the south side of the plaza. A good place to pick up souvenirs.

One of the things I like about living in Mexico is the street art. It pops up in unexpected places. I took these pictures on the pedestrian bridge that connects downtown Bucerias with the South side.

The artwork appears to have been done as part of a mural project in 2002. Over time, the paintings have faded and some have been covered in graffiti but the paintings that remain still look cool.

For those of you looking for books in English there is a great shop in Bucerias that sells new and used books. It’s called Gringo’s Books and it is located on #7-A Morelos street one store up from Lazaro Cardenas street. Morelos is one block south of the pedestrian Bridge.

About a year ago I bought, Traditional Mexican Cooking and its Best Recipes from them.  I recommend  it to any one who has  an interest in Mexican cooking.

Another great place for books in English is The Book Store in Puerto Vallarta.

Best Meat Market in the Puerto Vallarta Area

Today I decided that I really wanted a great steak for dinner. I had some time so I decided to drive to Bucerias and visit our friends, Kyle and Irma Quast at Carnes del Mundo.

You might remember Kyle and Irma from the Desperado Deli located in the boatyard in Marina Vallarta. A few years ago they closed the deli to dedicate themselves to their meat market. It has gone very well for them.

They supplied all of our cold cuts at The Coffee Cup and they still do for the new owners. Now, they have a long list of the top restaurants and hotels as clients, including The Four Seasons and Daiquiri Dick’s.

I always like to send people to businesses that we patronize and Carnes del Mundo is one of our favorites. They have almost any cut of meat or type of sausage that you could want. Their meat market is located on the main highway, Hereo de Nacozari #31 in Bucerias, Nayarit. The telephone number is 329-298-2115. Carnes del Mundo Meat Market By the way, Irma asked to let everyone know that they offer free delivery.