New & Changed things in Playa Del Carmen September 2024

Every once in a while, we like to show you what has changed in Playa Del Carmen and what is new. Here are a few things we have recently noticed changed in Playa Del Carmen.

From Tequila Barrel to Sala de Despecho

It was a surprise when the Tequila Barrel closed. It was an iconic Playa place that had been around for years. The building that housed Tequila Barrel had been empty for a while on 5th Avenue between 10th and 12th streets. Now, Sala de Despecho has opened. This is a chain that is found in Mexico, and they have two international locations in Madrid and Las Vegas. This is owned by the Mandala Group that runs many nightclub type places like Mandala, La Vaquita, Abolengo, Santito, and Rakata all in Playa Del Carmen.

Goodbye Restaurant

This corner of 5th Avenue and 26th Street had been home to this restaurant. It was not notable but was in a good location to get clients. The name used to be Ojitos Mios and had a large mural on the wall of a girl.

Generic cube rises on 5th Avenue

If you remember back a few years, there was a large circular palapa restaurant on this corner of 5th Avenue and 14th Street. Now a bland looking building has been built where several small shops are located.

From Fisheria to Deli to Tacos

This is where the long standing Fisheria Restaurant was on 5th Avenue. It recently got a makeover into a deli and mini market (We told you about this in June of 2024). While it looked nice, we have not seen too many people here and even were skeptical of the location for it to work. Well, fast forward just a few months, and now it has changed again to Tacos La Conchinita. While there are a lot of taco places on 5th, we don’t think this will really take off. Let’s see if this location appears on a future update on things in Playa Del Carmen that have changed.

Playa Del Carmen loves painting things

You might remember the past few times the city of Playa has decided to paint the ground. 5th Avenue has been painted red several times, only to wear off in a short time. Now, the city is painting the bike lane on 10th Avenue. The white paint might make it more visible and keep cyclist and pedestrians separated, we will see.

The bike lane on 10th Avenue is getting painted white.

Starbucks Down

The Starbucks on 5th Avenue and 10th Street has been closed. Don’t worry though there are four other Starbucks on 5th Avenue to go to.

The old Starbucks on 5th Avenue and 10th Street.

Change of stores on 5th Avenue

Earlier this year this storefront was Ale Hop (the store with the plastic cow outside). It closed and now a Mango Store has opened. This is on 5th Avenue between 6th and 8th Streets.

Changes in Paseo del Carmen Mall

This space went from a Marti sports store to a La Europea liquor store and now to a Victoria Secret store. In recent years we have seen more businesses that locals use, close in this mall. One of the more notable shops was the only Zara Home in Playa Del Carmen. So why is this more of a tourist mall than for locals? Well, for one, most of the people walking through here are tourists being dropped off for the Cozumel ferry. Another big factor is parking and accessibility. For locals, there are a few parking lots and an underground parking nearby, but often these garages are full. Cars circle the one-way streets in this area looking for available spots. It is a hard area to access by car and actually have a spot to park. So, for now, you mostly find tourist here on foot.

Healthy option open on 10th Avenue

Looking for protein powers, healthy snacks and other options? Here is a new store on 10th Avenue near 34th Street. This is a decent spot for this business since the nearby corner has the Chedraui Selecto Grocery Store and a lot of traffic going past each day.

Can this restaurant break the curse?

Talk about a cursed location, this business spot on 5th Avenue between 34th and 38th Streets has a new tenant. Beach Bowls Restaurant has opened right next to the Club de Cerveza. We say this spot is cursed because there have been so many restaurants that have opened here. If you remember a 50’s style dinner was here along with a long line of restaurants. Why is this location cursed? Well, our opinion is that even though 5th Avenue has thousands of people walking on it daily, it is not a guarantee that all businesses will succeed. For those looking for restaurants, Mexican and seafood are the most popular. Also, the top-rated restaurants are set because many people look for them. All the other restaurants fight over the small percentage of people that will randomly eat somewhere.

While beach bowls might sound like a really popular idea for healthy people in Playa, the location is not the best. A better location would be near 24th Street where there is Evolve Gym and the popular Green & Fit salad and healthy food restaurant. Another location would be further up on 5th where rent would be cheaper but there are more local clients that would appreciate this type of restaurant.