Manta Los Cabos Review: Good Food, Great Waiter
Our November 7 dinner at Manta at The Cape, Cabo San Lucas: food 7/10, our waiter 10/10, management 0/10. What we ate and our honest verdict.
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Manta Los Cabos: at a glance
Good food, an outstanding waiter, and a disappointing management experience that kept the evening from earning our recommendation.
Best For
- Readers drawn to the menu who want to weigh our food and service observations separately.
Consider Elsewhere
- If management’s handling of the evening matters as much as the meal, our experience kept us from recommending it.
By Nicholas & Miriam Peters · Published 2026-11-08 · Seen in person 2026-11-07
The food was a 7/10. Our waiter was a 10/10. Our experience with management was a 0/10.
Those three ratings capture our dinner at Manta. There is culinary promise here, and our waiter deserves enthusiastic recognition. But the lack of management attention and the disorganized atmosphere prevented the evening from becoming an experience we could recommend.
Miriam and I wanted to love this restaurant. We left believing that stronger leadership could make a substantial difference. Based on this visit, however, we would not make a special trip to dine here.
At a glance
- Restaurant: Manta by Enrique Olvera
- Location: The Cape, a Thompson Hotel, Cabo San Lucas
- Visited: November 7, 2026 · 6:30 PM
- Food: 7/10
- Our waiter: 10/10
- Management: 0/10 for our experience
The Promise of Manta
Manta is at The Cape, a Thompson Hotel, in Cabo San Lucas. Conceived by Enrique Olvera, its culinary identity brings together Mexican cuisine, Peruvian influences and Japanese sensibilities, with an emphasis on Baja ingredients. Its oceanfront setting overlooks Cabo’s iconic Arch, according to the restaurant’s official website.
That combination gave us plenty of reasons to look forward to dinner. The restaurant has a compelling concept. Our disappointment was in how the evening was managed.
What We Ordered
We shared tuna sashimi, beet cebiche, Korean fried chicken, fish tempura tacos, a cross wagyu bone-in rib eye with potato purée, and tres leches for dessert, along with drinks.
The Food: 7/10
The food was good, with enough promise to make the shortcomings elsewhere particularly frustrating.
A 7/10 reflects a meal we appreciated, but one that did not reach the level where the cooking alone would justify recommending a special visit. For us, Manta came close to offering food worth planning an evening around. It did not quite get there.
There is potential in the kitchen, and we would welcome seeing the complete experience rise to meet it. But our recommendation has to reflect the dinner we experienced.
Our Waiter: 10/10
Our waiter was the clear highlight. He earned a 10/10 from us and deserves to be recognized separately from the management problems.
His service was the strongest part of our evening. We appreciated his efforts, and we would not want our criticism of the restaurant’s leadership to obscure the excellent job he did.
A restaurant depends on people who make guests feel looked after. Our waiter delivered that personal attention, and we left grateful for him.
Management: 0/10 for Our Experience
Our experience with management was the opposite. We felt completely ignored. The management attention we expected never materialized, and the activity around the dining room appeared hurried and poorly coordinated.
From our table, staff seemed to be rushing without clear direction. There was plenty of movement, but the impression was of a team that needed stronger organization and more visible leadership.
This is where we believe Manta most needs to improve. An excellent waiter can contribute enormously to dinner, but management remains responsible for how the wider operation functions and how guests are acknowledged.
Our 0/10 management rating describes our experience that evening. It reflects how overlooked we felt and how little confidence the apparent coordination of the dining room inspired.
Would We Recommend Manta?
Based on this visit, no — we would not encourage readers to make a special trip.
The food was close to providing a compelling reason to go, and our waiter certainly did his part. But the overall experience fell short.
We believe better management could make Manta a much stronger restaurant. More attentive leadership and a better coordinated dining room would give the kitchen and dedicated service staff a greater opportunity to succeed.
Manta by Enrique Olvera at The Cape, a Thompson Hotel: Background and Know Before You Go
Manta is the culinary centerpiece of The Cape, a Thompson Hotel, conceived by Mexican chef Enrique Olvera as an oceanfront restaurant with a Pacific-facing culinary identity. Its official description presents contemporary Mexican cooking shaped by Peruvian influences and Japanese sensibility, rather than a strictly traditional Mexican menu. The restaurant was designed by JSa Arquitectura in collaboration with Olvera, with deliberately restrained interiors intended to direct attention toward the landscape and the food. Views toward Cabo’s Arch are part of that documented setting. 1
Olvera supplies the guiding culinary vision, while chef de cuisine Abisai Sánchez leads the kitchen’s daily interpretation. The restaurant’s own account links Olvera’s broader career to Pujol and describes the two chefs’ collaboration as an evolving program grounded in the ingredients and ecosystems of the Pacific. This distinction matters when reading the restaurant’s name: it identifies Olvera’s authorship, not a promise that he personally cooks every service. Sánchez is explicitly credited with bringing that philosophy to life at Manta. 3 4
The restaurant’s published address is The Cape, Carretera Federal Libre Transpeninsular, kilometer 5, Misiones del Cabo, Cabo San Lucas. Give the hotel name and kilometer marker when arranging transport; this is a hotel dining destination rather than a downtown street-corner restaurant. Coordinate arrival with the hotel or restaurant if your plans depend on a particular seating time or parking arrangement. 1 5
The dinner menu makes the Mexican, Peruvian and Japanese connections tangible. Raw dishes include tuna sashimi with ají amarillo, sesame and wasabi; Peruvian cebiche; and seafood aguachile with avocado and salicornia. Hot preparations include mushroom dumplings with quesillo and dashi, fish-tempura tacos with miso and cabbage, and octopus anticucho with pasilla mixe and chorizo mayonnaise. These are verified published examples of the restaurant’s cross-Pacific vocabulary, rather than an assumption that every plate follows the same national tradition. 2
Beyond seafood, the posted menu includes roasted sweet potato with almond mole, chile-crusted ribeye and a chef’s menu, alongside desserts such as miso dark-chocolate flan and sweet-corn ice-cream mochi. The cocktail list likewise uses ingredients including passionfruit, avocado, chamomile and chiltepín. This range supports a meal built around more than raw fish, but ingredient preferences and dietary restrictions still warrant discussion with the restaurant. Consult the current menu before visiting instead of relying on a fixed signature dish to remain unchanged. 2
Manta’s official information lists daily restaurant hours from 5:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.; its booking profile gives an earlier closing time, so confirm the final seating directly. The profile specifies smart-casual dress and provides reservations. For guests interested in the setting, an early-evening booking is worth discussing because the official concept repeatedly emphasizes sunset views toward the Arch. That is a reason to request a suitable time and table, not a guarantee of a particular view, weather condition or sunset experience. 4 5
Manta Los Cabos: Questions
Is Manta at The Cape worth visiting?
Based on our November 7 dinner, we would not make a special trip. The food was good (7/10) and our waiter was outstanding (10/10), but our experience with management was poor.
Where is Manta in Los Cabos?
Manta is at The Cape, a Thompson Hotel, in Cabo San Lucas, with an oceanfront setting facing the Arch.
What did you order at Manta?
Tuna sashimi, beet cebiche, Korean fried chicken, fish tempura tacos, a cross wagyu bone-in rib eye with potato purée, tres leches and drinks.
Who is the chef behind Manta?
Manta was conceived by Enrique Olvera, according to the restaurant’s official website.
Who leads the kitchen?
The official website identifies Abisai Sánchez as chef de cuisine, working with Enrique Olvera’s culinary vision.
What cuisines influence the menu?
The restaurant describes contemporary Mexican cuisine with Peruvian influences and Japanese sensibility.
What dress code is listed?
The restaurant’s booking profile lists smart casual.
Peters Signature Travel’s Verdict
Good food, an outstanding waiter, and a disappointing management experience that kept the evening from earning our recommendation.
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Published by Peters Signature Travel.