West Melaque is becoming a hub for tasty new restaurants. Cathryn and I haven’t been here in two years but were happy to see restaurants like the Wok and De Maria en la Playa in the end of town we’re staying. We’ve been to Maria’s three times now and had excellent food each time.

The Italian restaurant is right next door to Tito’s, in the same building that was Tito’s the last time we were in town. The dining room is cozy, extends out onto a wood deck, and has seating on the beach. Menu items include salads, pasta and steaks. The guacamole we had for starters was one of the best we’ve had in Melaque.

Cathryn and I have only sampled a small potion of the menu since we quickly adopted favorites – the spinach salad for her and the seafood alfredo for me. We’ve also tried the seafood-stuffed fish roll and a Caesar salad. Portions are large and at a fair price. There was no hunting around my bowl for shrimp…they were big and plentiful.

The salads weren’t run-of-the-mill and had dressings made in house, with no shortage of crispy bacon. If we had to complain about anything, Cathryn thought they went a bit heavy on the dressings. The beer was cold, and wine properly chilled. We didn’t have a problem with mosquitos at dusk and the ocean view is superb.  To rate Maria’s, we both give it an 8 out of 10.