I visited twice recently.
Excellent food and great service on both visits.
I recommend arriving before the rush to ensure service, speed, and availability of menu items.
Our favorites are the raw items: pata de mula, spot prawn and scallop aguachile, giant surf clam, etc.
I love this place.
Yep, me too. We’ve been all over this place (chichen itza too) - early, late, busy, slow. Yes, we’ve had the scallop aguachile, spot prawns (posted on a weekend rundown), dreaming of dishes yet to be had on that tight little menu. It is (was) my favorite spot for this food and everyone should enjoy it. It’s a BIG bummer for me… but rude is rude and we don’t do rude.
How did he bark at you? what did he say?
I went yesterday and it was great as usual, super busy. Also, I went one time a while back and the food took a while to get to us, so Sergio personally gave us a free ceviche tostada and apologized for the abnormal wait even though we didn’t ask for anything. Seems a bit odd considering my experiences, although anyone could be having a bad day at any given time.
What can I say? We got none of that love you received. We got a snarl and a way too late tostada.
Here’s the thing. I’m not trying to sway anyone. It’s why I’m not getting into detail. And if one of you had our experience I doubt it would stop me from going. I’d probably think “what a bummer” and continue to eat there. I love the place too much. But unfortunately we did have a bad experience and aren’t likely to return and I’m noting it in my report as I would anything else.
tacos, coctel, and tostada were fantastic. i can do without the ceviche.
wood grilled fish taco - wood grilled kanpachi, cabbage, handmade corn tortilla, morita sauce, mayo & pico de gallo
baja fish taco - battered and fried wild rock fish, cabbage, crema, mayo & salsa roja on handmade corn tortilla
scallop taco - pan seared maine diver scallop, handmade corn tortilla, chile x’catic sauce, caramelized onions and fennel
baja shrimp taco - battered & fried wild gulf shrimp, cabbage, crema, mayo & salsa roja on handmade corn tortilla
coctel de camaron - wild mexican shrimp, cocktail sauce, avocado, onion & cilantro
uni for scale
kanpachi & uni tostada - premium santa barbara uni, baja kanpachi, tomato, onion, lime, cilantro, avocado & salsa roja
Smoked fish, shrimp and scallop tostada 
- loved this. Smokey, refreshing, balanced and so many textures and flavors. Excellent!
Octopus and squid ink taco - crunchy exterior octopus and tender interior with a lovely sea flavor from the squid ink.
Scallop taco - excellent as usual.
Pulpo asado - another hit, same tender and crunchy octopus but served with different flavors from the taco. Making make-shift tacos was great, and the saffron rice had a punch of seafood flavor, paella like and adding my favorite mixture of kut/morita together on top of the rice is pure bliss.
They also had the seafood stew @PorkyBelly, they put up the specials chalkboard afterwards.
I.Can’t.Take.It! 
Chef Gilberto and holbox are back in business. They’re selling everything from fresh raw seafood, to cook at home meal kits, to ready to eat meals.
early on, seafood paella was a very limited special that i missed out on, so i had to try it when i saw it on the takeout menu. and it was fantastic. The aroma from the saffron and seafood emanating from my passenger seat as I was driving home was intoxicating. it’s amazing how chef nails every piece of seafood in this dish, not one item was overcooked. this man knows his seafood. and yes there was some scorched rice, but the crispiness didn’t hold up during transit. but i didn’t mind because everything was so good. the portion was huge with lots of seafood and can easily feed four people. @Chowseeker1999, @TheCookie, @NYCtoLA, @JeetKuneBao, @attran99, @butteredwaffles, @J_L, @Ns1, @A5KOBE
seafood paella - shrimp, octopus, saltspring mussels, scallops, kanpachi #covid15
Hi @PorkyBelly,
Thanks for the great report back again. 
Wait, why didn’t you utilize your “personal 4 person dining room” (your car) and try the prized scorched rice immediately?! 
Can’t wait to try this, thanks!
Me getting in the car the next day with that new car paella smell
Thanks for this. We were worried the portion would not be enough for the four of us big eaters, but if YOU think it’s plenty, that’s a guarantee I can take to the bank!
On a related note, I ordered the cochinita pibil family meal from Chichen Itza on Friday (one day before paella was available or I would have gotten the paella and frozen the cochinita pibil). What a deal! And, as good as ever. Contactless delivery for those who are worried: I placed an online order, paid online, set a time/date for pick up, called the number provided to let them know I was in the parking lot, and a masked man put it in my car. Easy peazy.
seafood paella - shrimp, octopus, saltspring mussels, kanpachi
Got inspired by @J_L and @NYCtoLA and it was just as good as before. Chef Gilberto again nails each ingredient, snappy shrimp, tender and juicy mussels, tender octopus, flaky moist fish and creamy and toothsome rice. @foodshutterbug, @A5KOBE, @butteredwaffles, @Chowseeker1999
They turned half of the mercado la paloma parking lot into a seating area with very spaced out and shaded tables that felt very safe and pleasant.
Time for a second chance @TheCookie?
That looks wonderful @PorkyBelly. Was there any socarrat today? The previous batch you had, had some right? Thanks.
Thanks for the reminder @PorkyBelly , that paella is awesome. And I had some al pastor tacos at Taqueria Vista Hermosa in Mercado La Paloma and absolutely loved them, they were much better than my experience at 1986. We are in the parking lot set up and it was very pleasant.
Previous visit during the Before Time
(special) live santa barbara uni
taco de pulpo en su tinta, braised & fried mexican octopus, calamari ink sofrito on a hand made corn tortilla
scallop taco, pan seared maine diver scallop, handmade tortilla, chile x’catic sauce, caramelized onions & fennel
wood grilled fish taco, wood grilled kanpachi, cabbage, handmade corn tortilla, morita sauce, mayo & pico de gallo
(special) aguachile - live santa barbara spot prawns, lime-cilantro-serrano marinade with avocado
coctel de camaron, wild mexican shrimp, cocktail sauce, avocado, onion & cilantro
(special) langosta al carbon, wood grilled whole spiny lobster, garlic butter, saffron rice, black beans, avocado, pico de gallo, handmade corn tortillas
This 
wonder if they will do a langosta aguachile 
Unfortunately no socarrat.
it’s beginning to look a lot like sopa de mariscos season @TheCookie, @A5KOBE, @NYCtoLA
some of the best seafood stew in the city
I still haven’t had it! 
