Located on the corner of Ave Ignacio Zaragoza and 16th of September just off the main road into downtown Cabo San Lucas, Alcaravea Gourmet is one of the best Italian restaurants in Los Cabos. With its own parking lot, it was easy to access.

The restaurant has the choice of outdoor dining with a view of the bar and the kitchen or two indoor rooms. We had been to the restaurant for dinner several times but had never tried their daily menu offered from 12:00 to 4:00 pm each day. We were greeted at the door by Chef Enrique and led to the main dining room in the back. The room has interesting artwork on the walls, including some original paper mosaics by Maximiliano Smiriglio and oils by Fifi Benavente. The owner of the restaurant, Chef Enrique Gerard was trained at culinary school in Mexico City and in Toronto, when his wife had a job there. When she decided to take a position in Cabo San Lucas, Enrique wasn’t convinced that it was the right place and didn’t really like the area. Deciding not to take a job as a chef at one of the hotels, Alcaravea started with just a few tables in the outside area. As other space became available, he grabbed it and expanded and continues to do so.

The daily menu offers and appetizer, choice of entrée, and dessert. Chef Enrique came to our table to describe each of the courses and dishes available. Unlike many other Los Cabos restaurants that offer less expensive daily menus and reduce the size of the portions, Alcaravea Gourmet provides an amazing choice of meal. The meal starts with grilled garlic bread, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. There was a choice of soup or salad as an appetizer – Beth chose the salad and I ordered the minestrone soup. The soup was full of chopped potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, and more – very good. The salad had lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and carrots in an Italian dressing. The entrée choices included veal parmegiana, chicken breast with mushrooms in a marsala sauce, fish in a lemon white wine sauce, and a pasta with butter, garlic and fresh vegetables. Beth selected the pasta, which was an al dente thick spaghetti with broccoli, zucchini, and cauliflower. She said it was very good. I chose the breaded veal with a choice of salad or pasta. The pasta with a white sauce sounded great. The veal was huge and thickly breaded covered with tomato sauce and cheese. There was so much that I took more than half home for another meal. It was delicious. The final course was a small lemon dessert, covered with chocolate and a scoop of whipped cream.

The service was impeccable with each course being served to us both at the same time. The portions were large, the flavors amazing with good presentation. During our meal, music by Andrea Bocelli was playing through the speakers setting the atmosphere. It was a great lunch experience for only $360 pesos (compare that with Limonetto in San Jose del Cabo for $680 pesos with less choice – pizza or pasta).