It’s almost Thanksgiving again, and if you are planning on spending the holiday in Puerto Vallarta you may have given up on the idea of having a traditional turkey dinner. After all, you might think, Thanksgiving is an American and Canadian holiday.
Actually, with a large population of American and Canadian ex-patriots and retirees, a good turkey dinner is not that hard to come by. Many resorts put up great spreads for Thanksgiving and allow anyone to join them (for the cost of the dinner, of course). Many of the fine restaurants in Puerto Vallarta also serve thanksgiving dinner… My favorite is Ernesto’s Good Grub, located just behind the former Cine Versailles in Colonia Versailles. Ernesto has been a staple in Puerto Vallarta for many years and serves up an excellent turkey dinner with all the trimmings. If you are living in Vallarta, or renting a condo or villa with a complete kitchen, you can also do it yourself. Larger grocery stores like WalMart, Sorianna, or Comercial Mexicana all sell uncooked turkeys and you can even find things like stuffing, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce.
While I encourage those visiting or living in Mexico to adopt Mexican culture as much as possible, that does not mean we should forget where we came from. Thanksgiving is a wonderful opportunity to share some of the best of our north of the border culture with our hosts here in Mexico. If you do intend to celebrate Thanksgiving here in Puerto Vallarta, be sure to invite a friend from the community for some cultural exchange.