Restaurants & Bars
Artfully curated flavors. Distinctly Waldorf Astoria.
Savor regional ingredients and international influences across our five restaurants and bars on the Caribbean coast. At Malpeque, fresh seafood is shaped by smoke and open flame. JA’O draws on the convivial spirit of Mexico’s outdoor cantinas, while Chaya celebrates the season’s best from local purveyors. From morning coffee to evening cocktails at Peacock Alley, and long afternoons beneath the Pool Bar’s palapa, every setting reveals a different side of the Riviera Maya. Culinary craftsmanship and sincerely elegant service bring the spirit of modern Mexico to your All-Inclusive dining experience.
DINING EXPERIENCES
Signature Culinary Experiences
Step into Malpeque’s professional kitchen for an immersive Mexican cooking class, where our chef guides you through traditional dishes from different regions of the country before you sit down to enjoy everything you’ve prepared. For an evening made for two, Intimate Elegance sets a private al fresco dinner at the fire pit, with a four-course menu from Malpeque, décor, and a welcome drink.
Mexico’s spirits and wines have their own stage. Expert guides lead tequila and mezcal tastings at the Pool Bar, our mixologists share the history and technique of the margarita in a hands-on Margarita Crafting masterclass, and a sommelier introduces the terroir of Mexican wine alongside artisan cheeses and charcuterie.
MANTA AZUL
IN ROOM DINING
Meet the Chefs Behind Our Kitchens
Signature Chef Mauricio Lazcano leads the culinary vision of Malpeque, our signature seafood restaurant. His career spans luxury hotel openings, high-level kitchens, international cruise lines, and exclusive resorts across Mexico, shaping a refined approach to seafood and contemporary haute cuisine held to AAA Five Diamond standards.
Chef Lazcano’s kitchen is built on discipline and a close connection to the source of every ingredient, with responsibly sourced seafood and zero-waste techniques at the heart of Malpeque’s open-fire menu. Watch that craft unfold from the dining room, where the open kitchen and its live fire set the rhythm of the evening.
Once a month, the kitchen opens to guest talent. Malpeque hosts Mesa Abierta, a one-night-only dinner that gathers guest chefs, mixologists, artists, and designers around a single table, with a multi-course menu of regional Mexican ingredients served in an intimate chef’s-table setting with limited seats.
Rooted in Mexico’s Regional Ingredients
Every menu begins with Mexico’s producers. Our kitchens source seasonal foods from exceptional local purveyors and small-scale producers, and the menus read like a map of the country: vanilla from Papantla, avocados from Michoacán, strawberries from Irapuato, chocolate from Oaxaca, and chorizo from Valladolid and Temozón on the Yucatán Peninsula. Eggs and select greens are organic.
At Malpeque, sourcing is part of the craft. Our signature restaurant takes part in Pesca con Futuro, a movement for responsible fishing in Mexico, and finishes its open-fire seafood with artisan Sal de Celestún from the Yucatán’s Gulf coast.
Traditional techniques carry the same sense of place. At JA’O, short rib barbacoa is cooked on maguey stalk and guacamole arrives with grasshoppers, while boutique tequilas and mezcals anchor the bar. In Peacock Alley, Xtabentún, the Yucatán’s anise and honey liqueur, flavors the Eucalypto Maya, and wines such as Henri Lurton Chenin Blanc bring Mexico’s Valle de Guadalupe to the table.
Vegan, Vegetarian, and Zero-Proof Dining
Plant-based dining here goes well beyond a single dish. Malpeque offers a dedicated vegan tasting menu that moves from avocado tartare with seaweed kaviar and heart of palm ceviche to corn soup, sautéed wild mushrooms, charred broccolini, and roasted local squash, finished with a dessert called Red Coral.
At JA’O, a vegan taco al pastor and mole raíz with fresh mushrooms bring regional flavor to meat-free plates. Chaya’s lunch menu adds kidney bean hummus and a tomato salad with chaya pesto, alongside freshly pressed juices and smoothies made with goji, maca, kale, and açaí.
Zero-proof drinks receive the same care as our cocktail list. At Peacock Alley, try the Purple Chetumal with blackberries and vanilla, the Holbox Passion with passionfruit and coconut cream, or the Red Ginger, made with homemade ginger soda, berries, mint, and basil. Additional dietary requests can be discussed with our team when you reserve.
Is Dining Included in the All-Inclusive Experience?
Yes. When you stay on an eligible All-Inclusive rate plan at Waldorf Astoria Riviera Maya, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included across participating restaurants and bars during published hours, along with premium cocktails, wines, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages. A minibar refreshed daily and 24-hour in-room dining are part of the experience, with gratuities, taxes, and service charges included.
Dinner restaurants are subject to availability and require a prior reservation, so we recommend booking Malpeque and JA’O early in your stay. Select dishes, beverages, private dining experiences, and special events may incur additional charges.
Frequently Asked Questions
The resort has five restaurants and bars: Malpeque (signature seafood and open-fire cooking), JA’O (Mexican cantina), Chaya (breakfast and lunch), Peacock Alley (lobby bar), and the Pool Bar. The resort also offers 24-hour in-room dining and Mesa Abierta, a monthly guest-chef dinner held at Malpeque.
Malpeque serves dinner from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. JA’O serves lunch from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and dinner from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., Wednesday through Monday. Chaya serves breakfast from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and lunch from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Peacock Alley is open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., the Pool Bar from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and in-room dining is available 24 hours a day. Hours are subject to change.
Yes, for dinner. Dinner restaurants at the resort, including Malpeque and JA’O, are subject to availability and require a prior reservation. Malpeque can be booked online through OpenTable, and all dining reservations can be made by calling +52 998 432 0350.
The dress code at Malpeque, the resort’s signature restaurant, is resort casual.
JA’O is the resort’s Mexican cantina, serving tacos, ceviches, short rib barbacoa, and mole raíz with boutique tequilas and mezcals. Chaya also features Mexican and Yucatecan dishes at breakfast and lunch, including chilaquiles, Motuleño eggs, and Yucatecan suckling pig.
The resort is nine minutes from Cancun International Airport, on the Cancun–Tulum federal highway.
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