Secrets The Vine Cancun Food Review: The Best and Worst All-Inclusive Dining

We hold resort food to a high standard. Here's our honest ranking of every restaurant at Secrets The Vine Cancun — including the steakhouse that was a major disappointment and the Italian spot that saved the trip.

We recently stayed at Secrets The Vine Cancun, an adults-only all-inclusive resort by Hyatt. We already shared our full resort review, but if you are a foodie, you know that dining options can make or break an all-inclusive vacation. Here is our completely honest review of every restaurant we tried at Secrets The Vine, including what to order, what to skip, and what genuinely surprised us.

We hold resort food to a specific standard. An all-inclusive at a five-star property is not a budget cruise ship buffet. It is a significant spend, and the food should reflect that. With that frame in mind, here is where Secrets The Vine delivered and where it fell significantly short.

Dining Logistics: Know Before You Go

The Dress Code: Several of the nicer restaurants require "Casual Elegance," which means long pants for men are a must. This is strictly enforced at the steakhouse and at a few of the other sit-down options. Check the website before you pack. We watched people get turned away at the door on multiple evenings.

No Reservations: All restaurants operate strictly first come, first served. We arrived 10 minutes before the steakhouse opened and were seated immediately. By 7:00 PM it was packed with a massive waitlist. Arrive early if you have a specific spot in mind. "Early" at these restaurants means within the first 20 minutes of their opening time.

The all-inclusive setup means all food and drinks across the property are included in your room rate. Gratuity for servers and bartenders is appreciated and common, though technically optional. We tipped at every restaurant and at the bars throughout the stay.

The Misses

Blue Water Grill (The Steakhouse)

We had high expectations for the steakhouse at a five-star all-inclusive. They were not met.

The Drinks: My Cosmopolitan was watery with that sharp burn of cheap alcohol. Not a good start. A Cosmopolitan is a simple drink with a small number of ingredients and the quality of the vodka shows immediately. This one did not inspire confidence for what was to follow.

The Bright Spot: The soups were genuinely excellent. We tried both the habanero and the mushroom and both were fantastic, easily the best thing we had here. The habanero had real heat that built gradually and the flavor underneath the spice was complex and well-developed. The mushroom was earthy and rich. If you find yourself at Blue Water Grill, start with a soup.

The Main Event: I ordered the Catch of the Day. They did not tell me what kind of fish it was, and while it tasted decent, it was very salty. Vincent ordered his steak medium-rare. It was cooked to temperature, but it was incredibly tough, full of unchewable tendon, and severely under-seasoned. He could not finish half of it. A tough, gristly steak at a resort steakhouse is a specific kind of failure because the whole premise of the restaurant is that it does steak well.

The Service: We sat at our table for over two hours. It took over an hour just to receive our mains. For a flagship steakhouse at a five-star resort, this was a terrible experience all around. We were there early, before the rush, and still waited. The service pace did not improve as the evening went on.

Dragons (East Asian Cuisine)

We cook and eat a lot of Asian food at home, so we did not expect much from an all-inclusive resort in Mexico, and our low expectations were met. The sushi was not very good, and the Mongolian Beef was just okay. Nothing here felt like five-star resort quality. The ingredients seemed fine but the execution lacked the technical understanding that makes Asian food work. The soy sauce base on the beef was flat and one-dimensional. The sushi rice was slightly off in both temperature and seasoning.

We tried Dragons once and did not return. If you have a serious interest in Asian food, this is not the restaurant for that. Treat it as a casual option rather than a dining destination.

The Hits

Nebbiolo (Italian Cuisine)

If you are choosing between waiting in line for the steakhouse or going to Nebbiolo, choose the Italian restaurant every single time.

The Food: The risotto was absolutely amazing. Properly cooked, meaning each grain of rice retained some texture rather than dissolving into a porridge, with a savory depth that suggested actual stock and real attention to the base. We also had a thick, long pasta dish that was perfectly cooked with incredibly fresh, flavorful toppings. Every single dish we tried was fantastic. The quality here was noticeably higher than what we experienced elsewhere on the property, and the portions were generous without being excessive.

The Service: Significantly faster and more attentive than anything we experienced at Blue Water Grill. Night and day difference. The servers checked in at the right intervals, kept the table clear, and delivered food in a reasonable sequence. It sounds like a low bar but it was genuinely refreshing after the steakhouse experience.

If you have one nice dinner at Secrets The Vine, spend it at Nebbiolo. It is the restaurant that earns its place at a five-star property.

Market Cafe (Breakfast Buffet)

A massive setup with indoor seating, outdoor seating, and spillover space in the lobby area. The scale is impressive and, crucially, the quality matches the scale.

The Highlights: A dedicated omelette station with custom orders, fresh smoothies and juices blended to order right in front of you, a huge pastry selection (the cinnamon rolls were great and still warm in the early morning service), fresh Mexican coffee, and hot dishes ranging from bacon and eggs to hearty stews. The cinnamon rolls deserve specific mention because they were made in-house rather than pre-packaged, which you could taste in the texture and the freshness of the glaze.

The outdoor seating at the Market Cafe looks over part of the resort grounds, and on a clear morning the combination of good coffee, a hot omelette, and the tropical setting is one of the more pleasant ways to start an all-inclusive day.

The Hidden Gem: In-Room Dining

You cannot stay at an all-inclusive without ordering room service at least once. The convenience alone is worth it, but the quality at Secrets The Vine was better than expected.

Late Night: We ordered nachos and a jumbo hot dog. It did not look the most appetizing when it arrived, but it tasted amazing. Highly recommend the jumbo hot dog for a late-night craving. The hot dog itself was full-sized and the accompanying toppings were surprisingly generous. This is exactly the kind of uncomplicated, satisfying late-night option that makes room service at an all-inclusive genuinely useful rather than a fallback.

Breakfast in Bed: We placed an order the night before for morning delivery. It arrived perfectly on time, hot food kept warm in an insulated box, and eating an American-style breakfast on the balcony with a stunning Cancun ocean view was genuinely one of the best moments of the trip. There is something about eating on a balcony over the Caribbean that improves the food regardless of what it is.

The in-room dining menu is more limited than what you can get at the restaurants, but what they do offer they execute reliably. Worth doing at least one morning breakfast delivery just for the experience.

Final Verdict

The food at Secrets The Vine is a mixed bag. Nebbiolo and the breakfast options are fantastic. The Blue Water Grill was a real disappointment: both the food quality and the service were well below what you would expect from a five-star resort. Stick to the Italian restaurant, the buffet, and room service, and you will eat very well.

Skip the steakhouse unless you have a specific reason to go. Skip Dragons unless your expectations are calibrated to resort versions of Asian food rather than the real thing. Prioritize Nebbiolo for at least one dinner, do a balcony breakfast at least once, and let the late-night room service do what it does.

Considering a stay here? Read our full Secrets The Vine hotel review, including whether the Preferred Club upgrade is worth the extra $129 per night.