El Suspiro Restaurant: Beautiful Views, but Know What You Are Booking

El Suspiro Restaurante

El Suspiro regularly appears among the top-rated restaurants in Zihuatanejo and is often presented as a five-star dining experience with one of the best views in the area. The setting is beautiful, the presentation is attractive, and the waitstaff is attentive. However, there is one important detail that is not clearly disclosed on Tripadvisor or other restaurant listings: El Suspiro is the breakfast and dinner restaurant for guests staying at the Pacifica Grand on an all-inclusive package. That distinction completely changes what outside diners should expect.

The Restaurant Primarily Serves Hotel Guests

The first thing we noticed when we walked in was that nearly everyone in the restaurant looked at us. It was not necessarily unfriendly; it simply felt as though all the other diners recognized one another from seeing each other around the hotel during their stay and immediately knew we were not hotel guests.

El Suspiro is structured primarily around Pacifica Grand’s all-inclusive dining program rather than operating like a traditional independent restaurant. The food is prepared in advance on a large scale, similar to a hotel buffet or cruise-ship dining room, and then plated individually for presentation. It is not freshly prepared when each guest places an order, which explains why the kitchen is unable to accommodate even very simple requests or modifications.

Limited Menu Flexibility

For example, the pasta option included spaghetti tossed with garlic, olive oil, vegetables, and crab meat. If you simply wanted spaghetti with tomato or marinara sauce, that was not available. The kitchen could offer a pink sauce, but not a basic red sauce.

There was also a braised veal entrée served with fettuccine Alfredo on the side, but the fettuccine Alfredo could not be ordered as a standalone pasta dish. We were told we would need to order and pay approximately 500 pesos for the full veal entrée, even if we only wanted the small side of pasta. This is not what most diners expect from a restaurant presented as a high-end Italian or fine-dining destination.

Two Menus for the Same Dining Room

There are two menus at El Suspiro: an all-inclusive menu for Pacifica Grand guests and an à la carte menu for outside diners. The menus are largely identical, although the à la carte menu includes some additional premium items. Note the menus shown online are out of date in both offerings and prices.

Steaks started at approximately 800 pesos and went up to around 1,300 pesos, and that price was for a single piece of meat on the plate. Side dishes were ordered separately and ranged from approximately 165 to 250 pesos. The pricing is reminiscent of an upscale American steakhouse such as Del Frisco’s, but the quality of the beef and the overall dining experience were not comparable.

One example of the menu differences was the Caprese-style salad. The à la carte version included mozzarella, arugula, small tomatoes, and smoked salmon, while the all-inclusive version omitted the salmon. However, if an outside diner requested the salad without smoked salmon, the full à la carte price would still apply. It was also not a traditional Caprese salad. Instead of large ripe tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil, it consisted of sliced mozzarella with arugula and small tomatoes arranged on the side.

Outside Diners Receive Different Service

Another difference was immediately visible at the surrounding tables. Hotel guests already had glasses of water and baskets of bread in front of them. As outside diners, those items were not included. Bottled water was approximately 60 pesos, and the bread service was around 200 pesos.

The wine service was equally surprising. All-inclusive guests appeared to have access to wine by the glass, while à la carte customers were given a bottle-only wine list. Red wine started at approximately 1,100 pesos and went up to around 3,500 pesos per bottle. We were not offered a wine-by-the-glass option.

Our Food Experience

Unfortunately, the food itself did not come close to matching the pricing or presentation. My risotto was overwhelmingly salty, and Aharon’s chicken was so dry and hard that he could not cut it with the steak knife provided. We each took only a few bites.

When the busser cleared our nearly untouched plates, he immediately told our waiter that we had not eaten our food. Our waiter then returned to the table and sincerely asked us to be honest about what was wrong. We explained that the risotto was far too salty and the chicken was extremely dry and tough.

He indicated that other diners had also complained and that there had been an ongoing issue with the kitchen recently. The waitstaff handled the situation professionally and clearly cared about our experience. They repeatedly contacted the kitchen to ask whether simple requests could be accommodated, but they continued returning with the same answer: the kitchen could not make the requested changes. The service staff was not the problem. The food and the limitations of the kitchen were.

Why the Online Listings Feel Misleading

There is nothing inherently wrong with a restaurant serving an all-inclusive hotel. Many resort restaurants offer excellent food. The issue is transparency.

El Suspiro is presented online as a standalone fine-dining restaurant, yet its Tripadvisor and other listings do not clearly explain that it primarily functions as the all-inclusive dining room for Pacifica Grand guests.

That information matters because it explains why the menu is so rigid, why simple substitutions are unavailable, why the food is prepared in advance, and why outside diners receive different service and pricing. Outside diners may reasonably expect dishes to be freshly prepared to order, basic pasta requests to be possible, and premium prices to reflect premium ingredients. Instead, the experience felt closer to a resort or cruise-ship dining room where food is produced in quantity and plated individually to create the appearance of fine dining.

A Better Italian Option Nearby: Il Mare

For guests looking for a true Italian restaurant experience, Il Mare, located about a mile down the road, is a much better option. Il Mare offers a similarly beautiful ocean view, but the food is freshly prepared to order.

Its Caprese salad features large ripe tomatoes, a generous piece of fresh mozzarella, basil, and pesto. Pasta dishes are prepared specifically for each table, and the restaurant offers quality wines by the glass.

Our Recommendation

El Suspiro may be convenient for Pacifica Grand guests whose meals are already included in their hotel package. For outside diners paying full à la carte prices, however, the food quality, limited menu flexibility, and separate pricing structure did not reflect a true five-star dining experience.

The setting is beautiful and the staff was excellent, but for freshly prepared Italian food and a more authentic restaurant experience, we recommend down the road at Il Mare.

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