Tradition matters at María Corona, a downtown Cabo San Lucas restaurant that celebrates México’s rich culinary history with every bite. Enjoy meals within the impressive dining hall or outside in a a romantic courtyard dining area, with colorfully lit paper lanterns and live music from contemporary balladeers Los Principes. All the regional specialties are made from recipes passed down by the owner’s grandmother—for whom the restaurant was named—using only the most traditional and time-tested methods. The tortillas are hand rolled, the salsas are prepared in stone molcajetes, and the guacamole is prepared fresh at your table. Even the moles are made from scratch, from the toasting of the chiles to the grinding of almonds on traditional stone metates. For the ultimate “old-school“ dinner experience, start with a bowl of poblano cream or Tlalpeño soup (the former spiced with poblano chiles, the latter a savory blend of carrots, zucchini, onions, garbanzo beans, and spices in chicken stock), sample the melted glory of the three-cheese queso fundido (think melted cheese), cleanse your palate with a nopales salad of grilled cactus leaves, then finish in traditional style with Mayan-style pork pibil or the María Corona platter with chorizo, Panela-packed chile rellenos, and chicken covered in a rich, chocolaty mole sauce. María Corona is open for lunch and dinner, and there’s a Sunday brunch with a buffet of close to 20 traditional dishes 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Cooking classes are open to any and all prospective culinary masters with a prior reservation. Calle 16 de Septiembre, between Morelos and Leona Vicario, Cabo San Lucas, (624) 143-1111, www.mariacoronarestaurant.com. Mon.–Sat. noon–11 p.m., Sun. 10 a.m.–11 p.m. AmEx, MasterCard, Visa, and vouchers accepted. $-$$$ C.S.