Akumal had been a very busy place over the holidays. However, the Foodies found a wonderful peaceful venue for lunch. Oscar & Lalo’s is such a place. Going south on Rt. 307, past Xel-Ha, you’ll come up to the restaurant on the right with a good size parking lot.
Virginia Romano Franklin, along with her husband Oscar, have remodeled the restaurant to make it a place for privacy, delightful dining and for sports enthusiasts. Once you walk through the arch, as you continue across the bridge with the Koi pond below you, you gain a sense of peace. Upon entering the main area, you have a feeling of romance. To the right, there’s a door that leads to a sports bar. Walking straight out back, there are many tables in a jungle setting, complete with a fire pit for nighttime enjoyment. These tables are tucked away to also offer privacy to patrons.
Oscar, Virginia’s uncle, and her father Lalo, were brothers who arrived in the area in the 1960’s. Lalo was a fisherman and also farmed, finding the soil was rich and they could gather their own food instead of having to purchase it.
The original Oscar y Lalo opened in 1981 on beautiful Soliman Bay. The setting was perfect and I for one spent many an afternoon enjoying the bay. In 2007 the restaurant was destroyed by a hurricane. Lalo lost everything, but rebuilt only to have it destroyed again a month later. Lalo asked Virginia and her husband, who were living in LA, to come back to the area and help him with the new restaurant. Owning the property across from the entrance Soliman Bay and with a little help from Virginia and her husband, the new restaurant opened. Lalo died in 2009. Virginia lived in the area as a child when there were only 500 Mayas and five families from Spain. She knows the area well.
We enjoyed two items. My companion had the cheese enchiladas with mole sauce and I had the chicken brochette with pineapple. We both agreed that the rice was outstanding and the best we’ve had in the area. We sat outside in the garden and enjoyed a terrific afternoon. Just by chance, I returned with my neighbors the next night and had a fantastic chile stuffed with seafood and a rich tomato sauce.
The restaurant is open everyday from 12:30 to 9:30, although they remain open until the last guest leaves. The menu has lots of fresh seafood and items for non-seafood lovers as well.
Virginia loves the area, her restaurant, her guests, her family and gave me so much information – I could almost write a short story! If you have a chance to visit the restaurant, you’ll probably see Virginia and her husband, right along with the wait staff, making your dining experience delightful.
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