Fredy’s Tucan, connected to the hotel Posada de Roger, is on Basilio Badillo, also known as Restaurant Row, and serves some of the best breakfasts in town. It is a popular restaurant and usually crowded. To avoid having to wait for a table, come at 8am, when they first open, or after noon, but they close at 2:30pm. The bar stays open all day and into the wee hours.

The entrance to the restaurant is through the bar. The bar is pleasant but boring. It has many windows looking out onto the street, a few tables, a long bar with stools, and air-conditioning. The tables in this area are nonsmoking, but I don’t think the bar is. The main seating area is past the bar in a beautiful plant-filled courtyard decorated with toucans. There are papier-mâché toucans, framed paintings of toucans, and even murals with toucans; it works. It feels like a tropical, yet somehow not tacky, paradise.

Fredy’s Tucan is only open for breakfast, but sometimes offers lunch-like meals, such as fish filet or shrimp, as the daily special. The menu is extensive and affordable. You can choose from 12 flavors of pancakes or waffles costing 30 or 32 pesos ($3). There are also many different omelets to choose from for 34 pesos ($3). For a bit more, you can have the Florentine omelet, one of my favorites, stuffed with shrimp and spinach and covered in hollandaise sauce. There are also traditional Mexican breakfasts on the menu; I heartily recommend the Desayuno Campesino, which comes with skirt steak, beans, and chilaquiles. This morning I tried the Machaca, which is eggs scrambled with shredded beef, poblano peppers, onions, and tomatoes, served with beans and tortillas; it was tasty.

There is an abundance of waiters; some are extremely friendly, some are very proper, but all seem to be efficient. Though I have never seen the kitchen staff, I believe them to be miracle workers, as the food comes out hot, freshly made, and within minutes.

I have found two tiny inconveniences to point out. Credit cards are not accepted, and the women’s bathroom, though clean, is made for petite people - I almost got stuck!

Fredy’s Tucan is in the "Romantic Zone" on the south side of town. It is on the corner of Vallarta and Basilio Badillo. To get there by bus, take a "centro" bus almost all the way to the southern end of the route and get off on the corner of Carranza and Vallarta (in front of El Torito or Señor Frog’s). Walk one block south along Vallarta. Turn right on Basilio Badillo and the entrance is on the right.

Fredy’s Tucan Restaurant & Bar
Basilio Badillo #245, "Calle de los Cafes"
Telefono: 223-0778
fredystucan@hotmail.com
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico