I am a beer person. The Craft Beer scene all over the world is amazing. In 2016 and 17, I spent each night at Beer Box, an easy 1/2 hour walk from downtown Cancun. I enjoyed the beer, the manager, Edwardo, and the staff. I often use a bar like Beer Box as a home away from home, especially when I am mainly on my own as in Cancun.
The beer choices have been slipping. 2017 was not as good as 2016 and in 2018 Beer Box appeared to offer even a reduced selection. They had taken over the space next door. They had more screens and a bnad set up. But, I am there for the beer.
I started checking out other locals, wherever people praised the beer selection or mentioned Craft Beer on the internet. Beer Monkey is total bust with no craft beer. Casa Tequila on the Hotel Road at K8.5 has a nice selection of Mexican beers and I used them for three lunches. But, I really prefer that my evening beer bar is in town, closer to my airbnb.
El Estradio knocked the ball out of the park. I was probably there 9 nights straight. They have a fabulous selection of Mexican and imported Craft Beer. And, the food is excellent! I was in heaven. One of the bar tenders, Barbara, took excellent care of me and Maria, who washes dishes at the bar, was always watching to be sure my glass was not empty.
I’ll do a full TripAdvisor review. I was the only non-Mexican in the bar most nights so there are a lot of tourists who are missing out on some great beer and food. They even have music, though usually too late for me to really hang around. They were not open Sunday afternoon so I had to watch the Patriots football game elsewhere but the manager had the Eagles game on for me that night (just video).
The only 2018 pictures I have of Beer Box are on the beer bottle page and don’t attempt to show the local. There are Beer Box pictures from previous years in the previous years write-ups.
Turns out in my 2017 notes I had heard about El Estradio but never found it. It is only open for Lunch on Saturday and Sunday so on Saturday January 13, trusty Iphone goolge maps in hand, I started out to walk beyond Walmart to the location. I missed it, walked to far but finally got myself turned right and arrived. It was before noon and they clearly were not open. El Estradioi is in a strip mall. I went around to the other stores. Strange sight of a woman with several dogs in a deserted field right next door. She was beating the grass with a stick? I asked people later if they had any idea what she was doing but I could not describe the scene well enough to get a real answer.
