Hao - Costa del Pacifico

We didn't even stay at the Thompson but paid for day passes to enjoy their amazing space, impeccable service (shout out Francisco) and great food. We had a beach-side table and the four of us had drinks and food all day. I especially recommend the fish tacos and tuna sandwich, but honestly all of the food was great. We loved it so much we came back another time during our stay.

HAO good can food get??? during our weeklong stay in zihua, hao made the list of best restaurants we visited. we first discovered the place bc it was clearly the cutest restaurant on playa la ropa, but also because of its live music. we stopped by on a late night beach walk and stayed for the last song of the set list, and the guitarist and vocalist played cant help falling in love and we thought that we just had to go for actual dinner. though there was no live music during the night we went for dinner, so many other things made up for it. first of all, HAO has hands down the BEST service i've encountered in any of the restaurants we went to, and even maybe back in california. the staff were always joking around with us and having fun, ready to give recommendations and always there for us whatever we needed. string lights and open sand dance floors made for a perfect romantic/fun dinner location. gorg designed menu but with not much variety, mostly asian fusion dishes, also quite pricey (especially the cocktails) the bread starter was the best restaurant served bread ive ever had. it was crackly and perfectly portioned, and came with the most delicious garlic infused butter ever. i think i ascended when i heard the crackle of the bread and smelled the butter. the hao salad and nicoise 2.0 were both good salads, though the tuna on the nicoise was cooked poorly. otherwise good balance of flavors and fresh ingredients. solid esquites and truffle fries. mixed opinions on the cheeseburgers. shrimp all mojo and mahi al pastor were both SO SO GOOD. the shrimp was perfectly cooked and balanced with a good selection of fresh grilled veggies, and was nutty and fresh. the mahi was paired perfectly with the tropical acidity of the pineapple, and the avocado sauce added a creamy element that was unparalleled. cocktails were all pretty expensive, and though the presentation was gorg, they were too strong and not my taste. we ended the night with selfies from the servers and a fun group picture. if i ever find myself at zihuatanejo again, you will find me glued to the seats a hao every night for dinner.

We spent four luxurious nights at the Thompson, and HAO was, for most of our stay, the one available option for on-site dining. Given this, it was much, much better than it had to be, a great casual restaurant for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or drinks on the beach. I think HAO also handles the room service, which we didn't use but was reportedly excellent. The restaurant is one of two on the property (La Ceniza is the fancier, less everyday spot), and it's conveniently located by both the pool and the beach. It has a good-looking interior I only ever saw when using the bathroom, and a sprawling outdoor space that runs into the rest of the beach. At some point, the HAO tables turn into the Thompson beach set-up, but you can get HAO food and drink anywhere on this stretch. The wait staff will just cover your food in plastic wrap if they have to walk far enough for sand to be an issue. Service was good throughout our stay. We were here for a wedding that took over the hotel, and by the end of the second night, when the bride and groom hosted welcome drinks at HAO, at least one bartender was hailed a hero by our party. There was a small miscommunication about decorations for this drink night, but the staff fixed it as soon as it was brought to their attention. There was also a mix-up in which a couple of pregnant guests (I was one of them) were served non-virgin piña coladas on accident, so maybe be careful if you're sober. Otherwise, the day-to-day service was great. We came here for every meal, and the food was consistently tasty. For breakfast, I liked the Zihua Benedict with poached eggs, local crab salad, sautéed chard, and guajillo hollandaise, as well as the chicken and waffle, which came with chicken tenders, bacon marmalade, bourbon maple syrup, and buttermilk Belgian waffle. For something lighter, I'd recommend the tropical fruit bowl, which is an assortment of fresh fruit with passion fruit honey and amaranth. My husband, the picky eater, did well with the traditional pancakes with maple syrup and butter, plus some bacon. We enjoyed a lovely lunch by our beach loungers, sharing the Acapulco-style shrimp cocktail and a whole catch of the day. The shrimp cocktail came with poached shrimp, tomato, avocado, red onion, cucumber, and cocktail sauce, the whole catch--a nice snapper, which we ordered in the garlic mojo marinade--with our choice of sides, rice and French fries, as well as tortillas for making endless fish tacos. The night we went for dinner, there was a prix fixe menu that offered a wide range of Mexican dishes, with several small appetizers, choice of entrée, and dessert. This was really good. I don't remember all the appetizers, but they were bite-sized and very good. I think there were chicharrones, some kind of sope, definitely a few things to eat with chips. For my entrée, I opted for the delicious pork pozole verde, and the dessert was a sweet corn cake with a great but suspiciously rummy sauce (we were on alert after the alcoholic piña coladas). The staff also accommodated my husband, who got a surprisingly good cheeseburger. We're planning to come back to Zihuatanejo, and while the piña coladas and mango smoothies were nice, I do look forward to drinking some real cocktails on my next visit. Even sober, I had a marvelous time eating and drinking at HAO.

We totally came back to the Thompson nine months after our first visit, this time with our kids, my parents, my brothers, and their partners. We ate and drank at HAO every day, and I think the staff was always happy to see us, as we were always good for a heavy food order and several rounds of cocktails. Special shout-out to Pedro, who took great care of us whenever we saw him. My mom is a Hyatt Globalist, and she managed to get breakfast included for all our rooms. We rolled into HAO every morning and ordered from the a la carte menu (no buffet here, which was fine by me). I'm now a huge fan of HAO's chilaquiles with chicken, both red and green but especially the green. They're super delicious, and I had them several times during our stay. Service suffered a little when we ordered lunch from the beach. You should account for long waits, even for like a bottle of wine. No matter, lunch on the beach was still great. The green aguachile is pretty ideal for an afternoon at the beach, a bright, zesty dish of lime-cured shrimp and raw scallop in a roasted chile and cucumber broth. I also liked the marine bowl, a sort of Asian rice bowl with raw tuna, grilled shrimp, raw scallop, and octopus over basmati rice, with eel sauce and citrus. The basmati rice felt like a slight mismatch, but the seafood was all quite tasty. The octopus tacos weren't my favorite, unfortunately. The octopus was just kind of dried out, though the avocado purée and citrus aioli helped. I did love the shrimp and ribeye tacos, which we had at dinner. The shrimp tacos were delicious, with shrimp marinated in dried chiles served with tzatziki, cabbage salad, and cucumber on fresh tortillas. The ribeye came with avocado, onion, and a crust of crispy cheese. We had two sit-down dinners here, all eight adults and two children around a long table, and everything we ate was quite tasty (and there was butter pasta for the toddler). In addition to the tacos, I'd recommend the octopus zarandeado style, marinated in dried chiles and served with asparagus, tomato, tzatziki, grilled lime, and pita. The cochinita risotto was a nice dish too, pork cooked in banana leaves in a risotto with saffron, xnipec sauce, and grana padano cheese. The hibachi sets were great for our big party, just a lot of grilled meat and seafood that we could all share. The seafood hibachi came with lobster, octopus, shrimp, tuna, mahi-mahi, and scallops, the farm hibachi with ribeye, flank steak, beef tenderloin, and chicken breast. There was also a surf and turf option with lobster, ribeye, shrimp, beef tenderloin, and octopus. You can also get the lobster a la carte, the langosta zarandeada. This was fantastic. There was dessert too, though I don't remember it all. I know we got a spread one night and everything was tasty. I also have a particular fondness for the HAO bar. My husband and I really enjoyed leaving the babies asleep with my parents and coming down to drink with the other adults. The Thompson is a spacious resort, with a lot of amenities for a small number of guests. I think the hotel was fairly full during our stay, but we were often the only, and always the last, people at the bar, and Pedro kept the drinks coming until last call. I was pregnant on my first visit to Zihuatanejo, so I spent this whole trip inhaling margaritas and mezcalitas in every flavor--guava, passionfruit, pineapple, as well as just, you know, margarita and mezcalita. I had a piña colada, properly loaded with alcohol, as well as a very good carajillo. We had so much fun at the Thompson, I'd really love to come back as often as possible. I look forward to my next visit to the hotel, which will include my next ten visits to HAO.

There's not enough space to say enough good about this place. We absolutely love it and are going to keep coming back everyday. First of all, the food is excellent. Even more importantly, the service is top shelf. Special call out to Hiliberto and Alfredo, who have made our everyday spectacular. If you can get here for taco night, do it! The tacos include so many varieties, including octopus, pork, belly, lobster, cauliflower... You can't go wrong. Even for breakfast, it's amazing. We had avocado toast, which was delicious and had the freshest arugula we've had in a long time. We also had huevos rancheros which was traditional and had a sublime taste that I've craved for years. From our experience this place can do no wrong. It's five stars and upwards, possibly 10 if there were enough stars to give.