Restaurants in Cancun run the gamut; from luxurious meals set in opulent resorts or decadent restaurants, to simple meals served in haciendas on the beach or at walk up stands along the waterfront. All types of cuisine are available, from freshly caught local seafood to American chains like Rut Chris Steakhouse. No matter where your tastes lie, you are sure to find a Cancun restaurant that will serve you a meal you will not forget.

Villas Caribe Cancun Restaurant Selections

Club Grill – International – open Tuesday to Sunday from 7 to 11pm – Location, in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Bulevar Kukulkan Km 13.5, Cancun Island. Reservations required; phone 998-881-0808. Main courses from $11 to $40. This is the place for that special night out. Cancún's most elegant and stylish restaurant is also among its most delicious. Even rival restaurateurs give it envious thumbs up. The gracious service starts as you enter the anteroom, with its comfortable seating and selection of fine tequilas and Cuban cigars. It continues in a candlelit dining room with shimmering silver and crystal. Elegant plates of peppered scallops, truffles, and potatoes in tequila sauce; grilled lamb; or mixed grill arrive at a leisurely pace. The restaurant has smoking and nonsmoking sections. A band plays romantic music for dancing from 8pm on.

La Dolce Vita – Italian, seafood- daily from noon to midnight – Address: Bulevar Kukulkan Km 14.6, on the lagoon, opposite the Marriott Casa Magna, Cancun Island. Reservations required for dinner, phone: 998-885-0150, 998-885-0161.  Main courses from $9 to $29. Casually elegant La Dolce Vita is Cancún's favorite Italian restaurant. Appetizers include pâté of quail liver and carpaccio in vinaigrette, and mushrooms Provençal. The chef specializes in homemade pastas combined with fresh seafood. You can order green tagliolini with lobster medallions, linguine with clams or seafood, or rigatoni Mexican-style (with chorizo, mushrooms, and jalapeños) as a main course, or as an appetizer for half price. Other main courses include veal with morels, fresh salmon with cream sauce, and fresh fish in a variety of sauces. Recently added choices include vegetarian lasagna and grilled whole lobster. You have a choice of dining in air-conditioned comfort or on an open-air terrace with a view of the lagoon. Live jazz plays from 7 to 11:30pm Monday through Saturday.

Lorenzillo’s - Seafood, daily from noon to midnight – Bulevar Kukulkan Km 10.5, Cancun Island. Reservations recommended, phone: 998-883-1254. Main courses from $12 to $50. This festive, friendly restaurant; live lobster is the overwhelming favorite, and part of the appeal is selecting your dinner out of the giant lobster tank. Lorenzillo's sits on the lagoon under a giant palapa roof. A dock leads down to the main dining area, and when that's packed (which is often), a wharf-side bar handles the overflow. In addition to lobster -- which comes grilled, steamed, or stuffed -- good bets are shrimp stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon, the Admiral's filet coated in toasted almonds and light mustard sauce, and seafood-stuffed squid. Desserts include the tempting "Martinique": Belgian chocolate with hazelnuts, almonds, and pecans, served with vanilla ice cream. The sunset pier offers a lighter menu of cold seafood, sandwiches, and salads. Children are very welcome.