Anchored by great food, excellent service & a terrific design, visionary Alfredo Gomez Rubio reaches into the Marina and creates a community hub

Identity is a funny thing. For a restaurant, it’s crucial, and in a market glutted with cookie-cutter eateries targeted at tourists, a new, chic identity is hard to come by and even harder to stick to.

José Valentino brings the flavors of his native Spain to the Machado

Sunday mornings in the Plaza Machado are a quiet time. Gone is the cacophony of music and bustle of the nighttime crowds, replaced instead by the hushed murmur of quiet conversation, shush-shush of sweeping and birds chirping and chattering. At the Altazor Café, José Valentino arrives to set up his big paella pan outside on the cobblestone sidewalk, and soon a bed of fluffy saffron rice is covered with the succulent treasures that make this traditional Spanish dish such a treat: whole shrimp and clams, crab sections, chicken (cooked bone-in for added flavor), pork, spicy chorizo espanol, green bits of bell pepper and peas. When you order, your plate comes with a simple basket of sliced baguette. If you like, add a glass of robust red wine or a chilly michelada.

Worth the wait - and the drive – this family business has been pleasing the people for more than 20 years

The first time I went to El Cuchupetas – or was taken, actually, to lunch with a group of girlfriends – I didn’t know what to expect. Piled into the car, we trundled gaily up Highway 15, out of town, past the airport exit and over a narrow bridge that straddled a then-dry riverbed. In the small, crowded town of Villa Union, we turned right onto a (thankfully) paved road and headed into what seemed to be a neighborhood.

Sweet & sour and then some, this traditional fermented corn drink cures what ails you

Like moths around a light bulb, the tide of people ebbs and flows around the bright orange bicycle cart parked curbside in front of Mazatlán’s civil courthouse. Police cars pull over, ordering from the window the drinks that El Maestre, Sergio Villareal, is already preparing for them. Someone calls from across the street: “Heeey Sergio, muy barato o tu es muy sueno ?!” (It’s cheap or you’re just very lucky?!”) Everyone laughs, nodding at the tejuinero working quickly in what’s basically a portable kitchen.