Romantic Dinner Spots in Cabo: Nine Tables We Book for the Big Nights

Romantic in Cabo comes in two flavors. There is the cliff-and-sunset version, where the table faces the Pacific and the bill matches the view. And there is the courtyard version, a quiet room in town with candles, a good bottle and nobody rushing you. We have done anniversaries, proposals and plain Tuesday dates at all of these. Here is where we send couples, sorted by the kind of night you want, with the hours and price levels we checked.

Sunset and the sea

Sunset Monalisa

At km 6 on the Corridor, Sunset Monalisa is the sunset table in Los Cabos. Mediterranean fine dining with a fireplace for the cooler nights, live music, and a wine list that deserves the time. It is $$$$, open 4 to 10:30pm daily, and holds a 4.5 from more than 2,100 reviews. Book the early seating so you get the sun going down, and book it well ahead from November through April.

El Farallon

Cliffside on Camino del Mar, El Farallon is the other big-night room in Cabo San Lucas. $$$$, open 3 to 11pm, with a 4.5 from close to a thousand reviews. It is a dinner place first, not a bar, and one of the few high-end rooms that will still feed you late. This is the proposal spot.

Edith's Restaurante

On Av. del Pescador, Edith's is old-school Cabo romance: Mexican with meat and seafood done properly, live music, an upmarket room with a bit of history to it. $$$$, dinner only from 5 to 10pm, a 4.5 from around 1,200 reviews.

Candlelight in town

Salvatore G's

Italian on Vicente Guerrero in downtown Cabo San Lucas, and the highest rated room on this list: a 4.8 from about 2,000 reviews, $$$. Cosy, romantic, a serious wine list and desserts worth staying for. Open 11am to 10:30pm, from 4pm on Sunday. Easy to get to, hard to leave.

Romeo & Julieta

The name gives it away. Italian and pizza on Blvd. Paseo de la Marina, $$, a 4.6 from close to 1,400 reviews, open 4 to 11pm (2 to 10pm on Sunday). Upmarket without the $$$$ bill, with rooftop seating and late-night food if the night runs long.

Los Tres Gallos

Traditional Mexican at Leona Vicario and 20 de Noviembre. A cosy room, live music, and a $$ price level that makes a second bottle easy. A 4.4 from roughly 1,500 reviews, open 11am to 10pm every day. Our pick when you want romance that still feels like Mexico.

The San José del Cabo side

Flora Farms

Out at Las Ánimas Bajas, Flora Farms is dinner in the middle of a working farm, with a fireplace, live music and everything on the plate grown around you. $$$, a 4.7 from about 3,400 reviews. Dinner runs 5:30 to 9pm Tuesday through Saturday, closed Monday, and Sunday is a 10am to 2pm affair only. Reserve a week or more out in winter.

Acre Restaurant

Acre on Rincón de las Animas is the moodier farm: a fireplace, a bar that takes cocktails seriously, rooftop seating and a room that gets prettier after dark. $$$, a 4.6 from around 1,600 reviews, open until 10pm, with dinner service from 5pm on weekends. Acre for the cocktails, Flora for the garden.

If you are driving to Todos Santos

Oystera

An oyster and seafood bar in Todos Santos, quiet and upmarket with a fireplace and a rooftop. $$$, a 4.6 from about 1,500 reviews, open 10am to 9pm most days (noon to 8pm on Monday). It closes early, so plan it as a long lunch or a sunset dinner, not a late one.

How to plan the night

• Book the sunset rooms first. Sunset Monalisa, El Farallon and Flora Farms are the three that fill. In December through March, reserve a week or two ahead and ask for the early seating.
• Dress code is beach-fancy. Collared shirt and a dress or nice trousers are right for the $$$$ rooms. Nobody will turn you away from Los Tres Gallos in sandals.
• Budget. The $$$$ rooms add up fast once wine is involved. Romeo & Julieta and Los Tres Gallos give you the romance at a $$ level.
• Tip 15 to 20 percent. Pesos or dollars are both fine.

Cliffs for the proposal, courtyards for the Tuesday date, a farm when you have the time to drive. More of where we eat is on our Cabo restaurants page.