Isla Holbox

"Verdict: If you’ve shown up to Holbox on weekends for ceviche tostadas and aguachiles, you’ve likely seen the gargantuan lines. The good news? Beyond its á la carte menu, the famed mariscos stall also offers a twice-weekly tasting menu at its chef’s counter that features eight courses for $130. The less good news? Reservations disappear in an instant. The experience itself is a great value and worth the effort—half of the courses are incredible raw dishes similar to what you’ll find on their regular menu, followed by hot dishes unique to the tasting menu (these tend to be our favorites), including abalone tamales filled with plantain mole and dungeness crab tacos drizzled with salsa macha. How To Get into Holbox: Holbox’s tasting menu is available Wednesday and Thursday nights only, with seats released on the first of the month at 11am for the following calendar month." - brant cox, sylvio martins

"If you don’t feel like driving all the way to the Westside for a beach day, you can pretend that traffic noise is the sound of waves while eating fish tacos at Holbox. From the people behind Chichen Itza next door, Holbox is bringing great fresh Mexican seafood lunches to the USC area. Think ceviche tostadas, chile rellenos stuffed with yellowtail, raw oysters, and lobster tacos. One less reason to face the 10-West." - amy clark, katherine lewin

"After debuting a revamped counter space inside Mercado La Paloma in 2023, chef Gilberto Cetina has extra room to prepare his ever-popular ceviches, smoked kanpachi tostada, and shrimp aguachile. The restaurant, which earned one Michelin star in 2024 (the first market-located restaurant of its kind to do so in Los Angeles), has casual counter-ordering during the day and tasting menu reservations on Thursdays and Fridays at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., which can be made online." - Mona Holmes

"Even with its counter dormant during a 2023 remodel, Gilberto Cetina’s jewel box of a mariscos restaurant, Holbox (pronounced ol-bosh), kept crowds gathered just outside the doors of Mercado La Paloma with a truck parked in front. There, diners could order from a tightened menu that included some of the 6-year-old restaurant’s greatest hits: the taco de pulpo en su tinta, “su tinta” referencing the ink-stained sofrito the curled octopus tentacle rests upon; limey, lip-puckering aguachiles and cocteles served with tostadas and Saladitas crackers, respectively; a smoked kanpachi tostada topped with bay scallop and zigzags of a nutty chile de arbol sauce. Its $115 8-course tasting menu, which features a rotating selection of Cetina’s most-loved dishes, returned last spring with a few more seats at the counter. Still, after its Michelin star recognition in 2024, better to make a reservation for the two dinnertime seatings, which are held on Thursdays and Fridays at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. only. — Nicole Adlman, cities manager" - Eater Staff

"Holbox is one of our favorite go-tos for high-end Mexican seafood, so when they started doubling as a seafood market in May, we knew they’d have great fish, too. They’ve kept it up since re-opening for dine-in service - their takeout selection changes by the week, but you can expect a couple different kinds of scallops, sushi-grade kanpachi, and sushi-grade whole striped bass. Order on their site." - brett keating