Archives April 2022

Like Italian, Chinese, and Japanese food, Mexican cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines in the world. Visit any major city and you’re sure to find at least one Mexican restaurant. In my opinion, it’s one of the best cuisines in the world. UNESCO seems to agree.

In 2010, traditional Mexican cuisine was one of the first two cuisines given Intangible Cultural Heritage status by UNESCO. The other is French gastronomy. What that means is that traditional Mexican food is a cultural treasure that’s worth protecting and preserving.

We travel for food and Mexican cuisine is one of the biggest reasons why we chose to make Mexico our second home. After months of exploring the food in Mexico, this list could easily be much longer than it is now, but I wanted to keep it concise so I’ve pegged it to what we believe to be Mexico’s must-try dishes.

If you’re visiting Mexico and wondering what to eat in this vast (and vastly delicious) country, then these are 25 Mexican dishes that you shouldn’t miss.

FOOD IN MEXICO QUICK LINKS

If you’re planning a trip to Mexico and want to dive headfirst into the local cuisine, then you may be interested in joining a food tour or taking a cooking class.

TOURS

• Food Tours: Food Tours in Mexico
• Cooking Classes: Cooking Classes in Mexico

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WHAT IS TRADITIONAL MEXICAN FOOD?

Mexican cuisine is an ancient cuisine that dates back thousands of years. Its earliest roots are in Mesoamerican cooking traditions that can be traced back to the time of the Aztecs and Mayans.

Corn (maize) and chili peppers are cornerstones in Mexican cooking. They’re used in a vast majority of Mexican food recipes along with other key ingredients like beans, avocados, cacao, tomatoes, tomatillos, agave, and cactus. Maize was domesticated by the Mayans who devised the process of nixtamalization, a method of preparing corn that remains a vital component in Mexican cooking.

After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire, new ingredients were introduced and incorporated into the cuisine like meat from domesticated animals (beef, pork, lamb, etc), dairy products, rice, sugar, and olive oil.

Waves of immigration would later follow which would bring in ingredients and cooking methods from other parts of the world like Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

This mix of influences is what I love most about traditional Mexican food. It’s a cuisine with strong indigenous roots made more colorful by the infusion of foreign influences.

THE BEST OF MEXICAN CUISINE

This article on authentic Mexican food has been organized by category to make it easier to digest. Click on a link to jump to any section of the guide.

Breakfast Dishes Antojitos / Street Food Platos Fuertes Desserts

BREAKFAST DISHES

1. Chilaquiles

If you’re an early riser and enjoy trying different breakfast dishes from around the world, then you need to try chilaquiles. It’s one of the most popular Mexican dishes you’ll find on any breakfast menu in Mexico.

Depending on the region and cook, chilaquiles can be prepared in different ways but it typically consists of lightly fried corn tortillas served with salsa verde (green) or salsa rojo (red). It’s often garnished with onions, avocados, cilantro, crema, and queso fresco (fresh cheese).

No matter the city or state, chilaquiles is something you’re sure to find on any Mexican restaurant’s breakfast menu. Pictured below is a traditional version of chilaquiles verde from a restaurant in San Miguel de Allende. I’ve also had fancier versions made with sauces like mole almendrado (almond mole).

2. Huevos Motuleños

Huevos motuleños is another popular breakfast dish served at many Mexican restaurants. It’s a Yucatecan dish originally from the town of Motul in Yucatan state, but it’s something we often found on breakfast menus throughout Mexico.

Huevos motuleños consists of corn tortillas topped with black beans, cheese, fried eggs, and tomato sauce. Like chilaquiles, it can be made in a variety of ways depending on the cook.

This particular version from a restaurant in Valladolid was topped with peas, ham, and fried plantains. Delicious and filling, it’s one of the tastiest dishes you can have for breakfast in Mexico.

3. Enchiladas

Like tacos and burritos, enchiladas are among the most popular Mexican foods outside of Mexico. They consist of rolled corn tortillas stuffed with a variety of fillings like meat, beans, cheese, potatoes, and vegetables before being drenched in a sauce.

The version below called enchiladas suizas from a restaurant in Playa del Carmen is made with shredded chicken, manchego cheese, and green enchilada sauce. Many Mexican restaurants offer enchiladas topped with a variety of sauces made from beans, chili peppers, mole, and cheese.

Enfrijoladas

Enfrijoladas are among the most common variety of enchilada you’ll find on restaurant menus in Mexico. Enfrijolada stems from the word frijol – meaning “bean” – and refers to a type of enchilada topped with refried beans.

Enfrijoladas by goblinbox, used under CC BY 2.0 / Processed in Photoshop and Lightroom

Enmoladas

Can you guess what type of sauce enmoladas are made with? The term enmolada stems from the word mole and refers to any enchilada drenched in mole sauce. This version from a restaurant in Oaxaca was made with rich mole negro sauce and topped with a pair of sunny-side up eggs and queso fresco.

Enchiladas Mineras

These enchiladas mineras from a restaurant in Guanajuato are among the most delicious enchiladas we’ve had anywhere in Mexico.

Enchiladas mineras are a specialty of Guanajuato City, a former mining town in central Mexico. As you can probably guess from its name, it’s named after the people who used to work in those mines. Meaning “miner’s enchiladas”, the miners’ wives would make them this dish after a long day of working in the mines.

An enchilada minera consists of a rolled corn tortilla filled with cheese, onions, and a stew-like mix of potatoes and carrots. The enchiladas are baked and then served with grilled chicken, jalapeño peppers, cheese, lettuce, and salsa.

Guanajuato City isn’t known for having as many regional specialties but this is one dish that you absolutely cannot miss. It’s delicious.

ANTOJITOS / STREET FOOD

Antojitos literally means “little cravings” and refers to a family of Mexican dishes typically enjoyed as street food or snacks. Traditionally sold by roadside vendors and at market stalls, typical antojitos include tacos, tortas, quesadillas, gorditas, chalupas, and memelas.

4. Tacos

No list of the most popular Mexican foods can ever be complete without mentioning the humble taco. It’s the most iconic and internationally recognizable Mexican dish.

When people in the US hear the word “taco”, they probably think of those crunchy deep-fried tortilla shells filled with ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and hot sauce. I have yet to see that type of taco in Mexico.

In Mexico, authentic tacos are made with soft palm-sized corn tortillas topped with a variety of fillings like roasted meat, seafood, and Mexican stews. Unless you want them plain, they’re usually garnished with chopped onions, cilantro, lime juice, and chili sauce (red or green).

Tacos in Mexico are traditionally made with corn tortillas but some taquerias, perhaps to cater to American tourists, offer them with wheat (flour) tortillas as well. Tacos made with wheat tortillas are always more expensive.

You’ll find dozens of taco varieties in Mexico but listed below are some of the most common.

Tacos al Pastor

Tacos al pastor are perhaps the most famous of all Mexican tacos. It consists of a freshly made corn tortilla topped with thin slices of heavily-marinated spit-roasted pork, onions, cilantro, and grilled pineapple. It can be found throughout Mexico but its’ especially popular in Mexico City where it’s originally from.

If you’re familiar with Lebanese food, then you may be pleased to learn that tacos al pastor are descendants of the Lebanese shawarma. More on that in the tacos arabes section of this Mexican food guide.

Tacos de Cabeza

Tacos de cabeza may not be for everyone but it’s personally my favorite type of taco in Mexico. Cabeza means “head” so tacos de cabeza refer to tacos filled with meat from the animal’s head like cachete (cheeks), lengua (tongue), ojo (eyes), seso (brain), and labio (lips).

The texture of head meat is quite different from regular cuts of beef or pork so I strongly advise anyone to try them at least once in Mexico. Tacos de cabeza, I labio. Sorry.

Tacos de Pescado / Camaron

If you’re from California, then tacos de pescado or camaron are no strangers to you. They’re tacos made with battered and fried fish or shrimp served with lettuce, pico de gallo, and a citrus/mayonnaise sour cream sauce.

If you aren’t an adventurous eater, then these will probably be your favorite tacos in Mexico. They’re especially popular in coastal cities like Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, and Cancun.

Tacos de Guisado

Like tacos al pastor, tacos de guisado are especially popular in Mexico City. Meaning “stew” in Spanish, a taco de guisado consists of a soft corn tortilla topped with a variety of stewed meats and vegetables.

The tasty pair of tacos de guisado below are topped with shrimp cake and stuffed chili pepper. They’re garnished with rice, black beans, and queso fresco.

Tacos de Canasta

These are some of the most interesting tacos in Mexico. Tacos de canasta literally means “basket tacos” and refers to tacos that are filled with various stews and then bathed in melted butter or oil. They’re kept in baskets to keep them warm, hence the name tacos de canasta.

Tacos de canasta are among the cheapest if not the cheapest type of taco you can find in Mexico. I’ve enjoyed them for as low as MXN 4 apiece (about USD 0.20).

Tacos Arabes

Tacos arabes is the bridge between Lebanese shawarma and tacos al pastor. A specialty of Puebla, tacos arabes became a part of Mexican cuisine thanks to Lebanese and Syrian immigrants who migrated to Mexico sometime after the First World War.

Compared to tacos al pastor, the meat in tacos arabes is seasoned more simply. Instead of corn tortillas, it’s traditionally rolled in pita bread (pan arabe) and served without any garnishes. To eat, just give it a spritz of lime juice and sauce, usually green or red salsa.

Pictured below are two tacos arabes and one taco oriental from a restaurant in Puebla. Tacos orientales are basically the same thing as tacos arabes except the meat is wrapped in corn tortillas so they’re much smaller.

5. Quesadilla

Quesadillas are among the most popular Mexican foods outside of Mexico. It’s basically the same thing as a taco except it’s bigger and filled with a soft melty cheese. Like tacos, quesadillas are traditionally made with corn tortillas but they can be made with flour tortillas as well.

If you look at a taqueria’s menu, it’ll usually list the types of meat they have like al pastor, chorizo, chuleta (pork chop), or arrachera (beef steak). Many taquerias can serve these meats in tacos, quesadillas, or tortas (sandwiches).

6. Salbutes / Panuchos

The Yucatan is home to some of the most interesting food in Mexico. It’s a combination of traditional Mayan food infused with foreign influences. Cochinita pibil, lechon al horno, and relleno negro are some of its most popular dishes and one of the best ways to have them is on salbutes and panuchos.

Salbutes and panuchos are puffy, fried corn tortillas that can be topped with any number of ingredients. It’s basically a Yucatecan variation of the taco. The only difference between salbutes and panuchos is that the latter is stuffed with refried beans and tends to be a little crunchier in texture.

Pictured below is a trio of salbutes and panuchos from a restaurant in Merida. They’re topped with cochinita pibil, lechon al horno, and lomitos de Valladolid.

7. Tlacoyo

When people think of pre-Hispanic food, the first dish that usually comes to mind is tamales. Tamales are tasty but you should also look for tlacoyo, a traditional Mexican dish that’s existed for thousands of years.

A popular street snack in Mexico City, tlacoyos are oval-shaped corn masa snacks stuffed with a variety of ingredients like beans, cheese, chicharron, and vegetables. It’s an interesting Mexican dish that’s probably not as easy to come by outside of Mexico.

8. Tamales

As described, the tamal is perhaps the most well-known pre-Hispanic dish not just in Mexico, but in all of Latin America. It consists of masa corn dough steamed in corn husk or banana leaves. It exists in many varieties throughout Mexico and can be enjoyed plain or stuffed with a variety of ingredients like meat, cheese, mole, herbs, and vegetables.

In Oaxaca, we had a terrific version enriched with mole negro, but the tastiest tamal I’ve had so far in Mexico is this incredibly delicious tamal colado from Merida. It’s a Yucatecan version of tamales made with strained corn dough. Straining the masa results in a softer, much more delicate type of tamal.

Personally, I’m not that fond of tamales but this one made me a fan. You seriously need to try it if you visit the Yucatan Peninsula.

Guajolota

If you like tamales and are spending time in the Mexican capital, then guajolota is another dish you should look for. A popular street food dish in CDMX, it’s basically a tamal sandwich that’s commonly eaten for breakfast with atole.

Atole is a hot corn and masa beverage sweetened with piloncillo (unrefined whole cane sugar), vanilla, and cinnamon.

9. Torta

Torta refers to any type of sandwich in Mexico. The guajolota above is one type of torta. Depending on where you go in Mexico, you can find tortas that are specific to that city or region. Listed below are some of the best Mexican tortas we’ve tried so far.

Tortas Ahogadas

If you visit Guadalajara, there are two local dishes that you absolutely must try – birria and tortas ahogadas. Meaning “drowned sandwich”, tortas ahogadas are meat-filled submarine sandwiches drenched – and I mean DRENCHED – in a spicy tomato- or chili-based sauce.

Tortas ahogadas are so soppingly wet that you basically need to eat them with a spoon. They’re messy but delicious and oh so worth it.

Cemita

I absolutely love sandwiches and Pueblan cemitas are among my favorite sandwiches in the world. If tacos are king in the Mexican capital, in Puebla, it’s cemitas. The term cemita can refer to both the sandwich and the sesame-covered bread roll it’s made with.

Cemitas in Puebla can be made with different fillings but traditionally, a classic cemita poblana is made with chicken or pork milanesa, quesillo (Oaxacan cheese), avocado, pápalo, onions, and chili peppers – either chipotle adobado or rajas (roasted poblano peppers).

Let me just say that there are no superfluous ingredients in this sandwich. Every component does its part in the construction of what could very well be the perfect Mexican sandwich. It’s so damn good and something I ate almost everyday in Puebla.

Pelona

Pelonas are another sandwich that you need to try in Puebla. Unlike cemitas which can be made with different fillings, pelonas are made with a specific set of ingredients – shredded beef, refried beans, lettuce, and salsa.

What makes this Pueblan sandwich truly special is that it’s served on a crunchy fried bread roll.

Guacamaya

If you ever visit León or Guanajuato City, then you need to try this beast of a sandwich called the guacamaya. Originally from León, it’s basically an open-faced sandwich made with a bolillo bread roll stuffed with roast pork, shards of chicharron, avocado, lime juice, and salsa.

This picture doesn’t even do the guacamaya justice. You need to see it to appreciate just how big and loaded this beautiful Mexican sandwich really is.

10. Elotes / Esquites

Corn is the most important ingredient in many Mexican recipes so it’s no surprise that elotes and esquites are among the most popular street foods in Mexico. They’re very similar dishes prepared in slightly different ways.

Pictured below is an elote. It’s basically boiled corn on the cob slathered with butter, mayonnaise, garlic, chili powder, Cotija cheese, and lime juice. It’s simple and very messy to eat but oh so delicious.

Esquites are very similar to elotes except the corn kernels are shaved off the cob and served in a cup. Check out this gorgeous spoonful of corn, Cotija cheese, chili powder, and lemon juice.

Personally, I enjoy elotes more but if you don’t like messy food, then it’s probably best to go with esquites. Pretty much every roadside vendor I’ve seen that sells elotes will also have esquites.

11. Tlayuda

Oaxaca is known for having some of the best food in Mexico and tlayudas are among the tastiest dishes you can try there. It refers to a large, partially fried or toasted tortilla topped with refried beans, asiento (unrefined pork lard), quesillo, and other ingredients like shredded lettuce, avocado slices, and roasted meats.

Tlayuda is a popular street food in Oaxaca and sometimes described as a form of Mexican pizza. It can be served open-faced, like a regular pizza, or folded in half like below. Some stalls or restaurants will serve it with pipicha, a cilantro-like herb often used in Mexican cuisine.

12. Memela

Memelas are another popular street snack that you need to try in Oaxaca. It refers to round or oval-shaped discs of toasted masa topped with refried beans and a variety of other ingredients like tinga (shredded chicken stew), chicharron, fried eggs, queso fresco, and guacamole. It can be eaten for breakfast, as an appetizer, or as a midday snack.

13. Chalupa

If Oaxaca has memelas, then Puebla has chalupas. Chalupas are about the same size as memelas but instead of being toasted on a comal (flat Mexican griddle), the corn tortillas are fried in oil.

Chalupas are usually topped with red or green salsa but you can find versions made with mole poblano as well. They’re almost always topped with shredded chicken or pork and chopped onions.

14. Empanada

The empanada is a hugely popular snack that’s consumed in many former Spanish colonies like Mexico, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, and the Philippines. Originally from Spain, its name stems from the word empanar which means “to bread” or “to wrap something in bread”.

Empanadas are half-moon-shaped turnover pastries that can vary greatly in size. They can be fried or baked and filled with a multitude of different ingredients like meat, peas, mashed potato, tomato, hard-boiled egg, raisins, and cheese.

This large baked empanada from Guanajuato was filled with mole rojo and pollo deshebrado (shredded chicken). Delicious!

Empanada de Amarillo

Empanada de amarillo is another specialty dish from Oaxaca. Unlike most empanadas which are typically pinched shut, this version looks more like a quesadilla.

Empanadas de amarillo are made with a large corn tortilla toasted on a comal. It’s then filled with a specific set of ingredients – mole amarillo (yellow mole) and shredded chicken – before being folded in half and served.

Molote

The molote is another large Mexican empanada, this time from Puebla. What makes it unique is that it’s made with a mixture of corn masa mixed with all-purpose flour, resulting in a pastry shell that’s much crunchier in texture than typical empanadas.

Molotes are deep-fried and can be filled with a variety of different ingredients like shredded chicken, huitlacoche (corn smut), quesillo, mushroom, and potato. They’re usually topped with crema (Mexican sour cream) and either green or red salsa.

Molotes topped with all three sauces are called “bandera”, because the green, white, and red sauces resemble the colors of the Mexican flag.

15. Insects

Entomophagy, the practice of eating insects, may be strange to some people but in Mexico, edible insects have been an important source of protein for thousands of years. Insects continue to form an important part of the local cuisine, especially in central and southern Mexican states like Oaxaca, Puebla, Guerrero, Chiapas, and Campeche.

If you’re spending time in CDMX, then a great place to try edible insects is Mercado de San Juan. Aside from carrying some of the best produce in the city, you’ll find a few stalls at the market selling insects like chapulines (grasshoppers), scorpions, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, maguey worms, and hormigas chicatanas (leaf-cutter ants).

I had a chocolate- and sesame-covered scorpion on a stick. It was good! Like a crunchy, chocolatey, sesame-covered potato chip.

Chapulines

Chapulines or grasshoppers are among the most common edible insects you’ll find in Mexico. They’re especially popular in Oaxaca where you’ll find them sold at markets as a ready-to-eat snack, or served as an ingredient in tlayudas, tostadas, and omelettes.

Chapulines are well-seasoned with lime juice, garlic, chili, and salt so they make for tasty bar snacks. We once bought a small bag of chapulines from a market and took it to a mezcaleria in Oaxaca to enjoy with our mezcal tasting. Trust me, they go very well together.

By far the strangest dish we’ve had made with grasshoppers was nieves con chapulines. Nieves refer to water-based Mexican ice creams. They’re typically made with fruit but this one was flavored with chapulines. You couldn’t see the grasshoppers but you could definitely taste them!

Chicatana

Hormiga chicatana or simply “chicatana” refers to a species of leaf-cutter ant (Atta mexicana). As you can see in the picture below, they’re a fairly large species of ant that’s typically harvested in central and southern Mexico during the rainy season, from around late May to early July.

Depending on the region, they can be prepared in different ways. They can be toasted on a comal and eaten as snacks, fried and eaten in tacos, made into sauces, or mixed into stews. According to a chef we met in San Miguel de Allende, they’re quite laborious to prepare because each ant has to be cleaned by hand.

Chicatanas may be difficult to prepare but one taste of delicious dishes like this mole de hormiga chicatana makes all the effort worthwhile.

Isn’t this gorgeous? You eat the mole as a dip using the vegetables as scoops. We enjoyed this beautiful and very interesting dish at a restaurant in San Miguel de Allende.

Escamoles

If you want the Rolls Royce of insect dishes in Mexico, then you need to look for escamoles. Known as “Mexican caviar”, it refers to a pre-Hispanic dish made with edible ant larvae and pupae.

We’ve been trying to find escamoles since February with no luck. It’s a highly seasonal dish that’s usually available in central Mexico around April and May. Apparently, it takes some skill to prepare them correctly so they’re typically served only at fancier restaurants. They’re quite expensive too, hence the nickname “Mexican caviar”.

Escamole – ant eggs by Kent Wang, used under CC BY-SA 2.0 / Processed in Photoshop and Lightroom

PLATOS FUERTES (MAIN DISHES)

Platos fuertes means “main dishes” and refers to Mexican dishes that are typically served as entrees. Not all of the dishes in this section are classic platos fuertes (like pozole or ceviche), but they’re typically more common at restaurants than at roadside stalls so I decided to include them here.

16. Pozole

Pozole refers to a pre-Hispanic Mexican soup or stew that’s enjoyed throughout the country. Its key ingredient is hominy corn mixed with meat (usually pork or chicken) and other ingredients like shredded lettuce or cabbage, chili peppers, radishes, onions, garlic, avocados, and lime.

There are three main types of pozole in Mexico – rojo (red), verde (green), and blanco (white). Blanco is made without any additional red or green sauces while rojo and verde get their color from additional ingredients like red chili peppers, tomatillos, epazote (Mexican herb), and cilantro.

Pictured below is a supremely tasty bowl of pozole rojo from a restaurant in Oaxaca.

17. Ceviche / Aguachile

Ceviche is a popular South American seafood dish originally from Peru. It’s made with fresh raw fish cured in fresh citrus juices, most commonly lime or lemon.

Ceviche can be found throughout Mexico but as you’d expect, it’s especially popular in coastal cities. This version from a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta was made with tilapia, onion, wild carrot, cucumber, cilantro, and serrano pepper.

Equally popular in Mexico is aguachile, a similar seafood dish that’s made with raw shrimp instead of fish. Unlike ceviche that’s originally a Peruvian dish, aguachile is a homegrown Mexican dish hailing from the western coastal state of Sinaloa.

What you’re looking at below is a version of aguachile from the same restaurant in Puerto Vallarta. It’s made with shrimp, cucumber, onion, cilantro, and salsa served with a side of crunchy tostadas.

18. Burrito

Like tacos and quesadillas, burritos are among the most popular Mexican dishes outside of Mexico. In fact, they’re so popular in the US that they’re often mistaken for Tex-Mex or Cal-Mex dishes rather than being authentic Mexican food.

The truth is, burritos are a traditional food in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. It’s especially popular in Ciudad Juárez, a city that borders El Paso, Texas. I went on a food tour in Mexico City and according to my guide, burritos crossed the border and became so popular that many people believed that they actually originated in the US.

The original Mexican version of the burrito is relatively small and thin. It’s made with a flour tortilla filled with just one or two ingredients. In comparison, the US version is much heftier and can be filled with over half-a-dozen ingredients like shredded beef, lettuce, beans, rice, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, and cheese.

Outside of northern Mexico, the classic Mexican burrito isn’t that common but you can find it in popular tourist destinations like Puerto Vallarta and Tulum.

19. Mole

Mole is one of the most important dishes in Mexican food culture. Meaning “sauce” in Nahuatl, it doesn’t refer to a single dish but to a family of sauces often used in Mexican cuisine. Mole is considered by many to be the pinnacle of Mexican gastronomy and is perhaps one reason why traditional Mexican food was given Intangible Cultural Heritage status by UNESCO.

There are hundreds of known mole recipes throughout Mexico, many of which are incredibly tedious and laborious to make. Among the most famous are mole poblano and Oaxaca’s seven moles (pictured below).

Mole Poblano

Mole poblano is the most famous mole in Mexico. When someone says “mole”, the first mole that usually comes to mind is mole poblano. It’s a Mexican classic from Puebla that’s viewed by many as the national dish of Mexico.

Mole poblano is a thick dark sauce made with over twenty ingredients like cocoa, different types of chili peppers, almonds, bananas, walnuts, raisins, tortillas, and spices. It’s intensely rich in flavor and typically served over chicken or pork with a side of corn tortillas and rice.

Needless to say, mole poblano is a must-try dish in Puebla. It’s believed to have been invented in the 16th century by nuns who improvised and used whatever ingredients they had to prepare a dish for the visiting archbishop.

Pipian

I’m not entirely sure if pipian qualifies as a true mole, but it’s another traditional sauce that you can find in Puebla. Pipia refers to any Mexican sauce made with pepitas (pumpkin seeds) as its main ingredient.

In Puebla, you can find two types of pipian – pipian rojo (red) and pipian verde (green). They’re made with ground toasted pumpkin seeds mixed with a plethora of other ingredients. They’re typically served in the same way as mole poblano – over chicken with a side of rice and tortillas.

Pictured below is a mole degustation platter from a restaurant in Puebla. It contains mole negro, pipian verde, pipian rojo, and another type of Mexican mole called mole blanco (white).

Mole Negro

Mole negro is the most famous of the seven moles in Oaxaca. It’s also the most difficult to prepare and typically contains over thirty ingredients including six types of chili peppers.

We had dinner with a local Oaxaqueño one night and according to him, a proper mole negro takes about three days to prepare from scratch. Like mole poblano, mole negro is a no-brainer. It’s a definite must-try in Oaxaca.

Mole Coloradito

After mole negro, mole coloradito is perhaps the second most well-known mole in Oaxaca. Meaning “reddish” or a “little red” in Spanish, coloradito refers to a reddish-brown sauce that isn’t as rich as mole negro. I like them both but personally, I prefer mole coloradito. It’s more of an everyday type dish.

20. Chiles en Nogada

Chiles en nogada has to be one of the prettiest dishes in Mexican cuisine. It’s another signature dish of Puebla that’s considered by many to be a Mexican national dish.

Chiles en nogada is a seasonal dish made with a large poblano pepper stuffed with a picadillo mixture. The stuffed pepper is then drenched in a walnut-based cream sauce and garnished with pomegranate seeds and parsley.

As described, chiles en nogada is a seasonal dish that’s typically available only in August and September when pomegranates are in season. It also coincides with Mexican Independence Day. It’s a celebratory dish whose main ingredients are said to resemble the colors of the Mexican flag – poblano pepper for green, walnut cream sauce for white, and pomegranate seeds for red.

Touristy restaurants in Puebla will serve chiles en nogada at other times of the year (using tasteless pomegranate seeds), but it’s best to try it when it’s in season. It’s a beautiful dish and one of the best things we’ve eaten so far in Mexico.

21. Barbacoa

Mexicans love a good barbecue. It’s a cooking tradition that originated in the Caribbean with the Taino people, who called it barbaca. Barbaca became “barbacoa”, and ultimately “barbecue”.

In Mexico, barbacoa is a general term used to describe the method of slow-roasting meats over an open fire, traditionally in a pit dug in the ground and covered with maguey leaves. It exists in different variations throughout Mexico but the tradition seems strongest in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo.

On the plate below are three tacos filled with Hidalgo-style barbacoa. Barbacoa can be made with different types of meat but in Hidalgo, the meat of choice is lamb. For many Mexican families, it’s a weekend tradition that’s typically enjoyed for breakfast.

Birria

Birria is a type of Mexican goat stew from Guadalajara and Jalisco state. It’s often confused with barbacoa but they’re not the same thing. Barbacoa pertains to a cooking process while birria is a specific dish that can be made from barbacoa meat.

Birria refers to a delicious dish made with slow-cooked spicy goat meat adobo served in a soup or stew with garlic, cumin, thyme, and bay leaves. It can be cooked entirely in a pot but it can also be prepared using pit-cooked barbacoa meat.

No matter how it’s prepared, it’s something that you absolutely need to try in Guadalajara.

Cochinita Pibil

Cochinita pibil is the most famous dish from the Yucatan Peninsula. It refers to a type of barbacoa made with slow-roasted pork marinated in sour orange juice and achiote. The marinated pork is then wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in an earthen oven for up to 16 hours.

Like any type of barbacoa, this slow-cooking process results in a Mexican meat dish that’s incredibly tender and juicy. Popular in Merida, Valladolid, and any other city in the Yucatan, cochinita pibil is typically eaten in salbutes, panuchos, tacos, or tortas.

22. Carne en su Jugo

Carne en su jugo is another specialty meat dish from Guadalajara. It literally means “meat in its own juices” and refers to a dish made with thin slices of beef steak (ala Philly cheesesteak) cooked in its own juices and then served with bits of bacon and beans.

Like many Mexican meat dishes, it’s typically served with corn tortillas and a few side dishes like refried beans, chopped onions, cilantro, and salsa.

DESSERTS

23. Flan

One of the most common desserts you’ll find on a Mexican restaurant’s menu is flan napolitano. It’s basically the Mexican version of a creamy custard dessert popular in many countries around the world like Spain, Portugal, Brazil and the Philippines.

Jericalla

Originally from Guadalajara, Jericalla is a type of Mexican flan that’s baked in uncovered individual molds. Similar to creme brulee, it has a sightly burnt top that’s browned under a broiler.

24. Raspados

You can find raspados everywhere in Mexico. Sold from mobile street carts and raspado stalls, it’s a Mexican dessert made with shaved ice sweetened with a wide array of flavored syrups like mango, tamarind, nut, pineapple, and soursop.

In my hand below is a cookies and cream with rompope (Mexican eggnog) raspado. It’s drizzled with chocolate sprinkles and served with an Oreo cookie.

Machacados

Machacados aren’t raspados but they’re very similar. Originally from Chetumal in Quintana Roo, it’s a shaved ice dessert topped with crushed fruit and condensed milk instead of the usual flavored syrups. They’re really good.

25. Nieves

You’ll typically find these three words on a Mexican ice cream shop’s menu – helados, paletas, and nieves. Paletas are frozen popsicles while helados are your usual milk-based ice creams. All three are delicious but nieves may be the most interesting.

Meaning “snow” in English, nieve refers to a type of Mexican water-based ice cream flavored with natural fruits and other ingredients. You can think of it as a Mexican version of sorbet.

Though I prefer the creaminess of helados, nieves are often made with more interesting flavors like chamoy (pickled fruit), tequila limon, mezcal, and maracuya (passionfruit).

FINAL THOUGHTS ON TRADITIONAL MEXICAN FOOD

We’ve been living in Mexico for four months now but we’re only just beginning to scratch the surface of Mexican cuisine. We learn a little more after each new city and state we visit so we’ll continue to refine and add to this guide the longer we stay in Mexico.

We’ve eaten our way through seven Mexican states thus far and will be exploring at least eight more in the coming months. I can’t wait to add to this guide and share what we find with all of you.

Until then, thanks for reading and have an amazing time sampling all the delicious food in Mexico.

Disclosure

Some of the links in this article on Mexican food are affiliate links. If you make a booking, then we’ll earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, we only recommend products and services that we use ourselves and firmly believe in. We really appreciate your support as it helps us make more of these free travel and food guides. Thank you!

For people who travel for food, Oaxaca needs little introduction. It’s home to some of the best food in Mexico.

Tasty regional dishes like tlayuda, mole negro, and memelas await you on every visit, but do you know what else you can find in Oaxaca? Amazing coffee and some of the finest mezcal in the country.

Oaxaca accounts for over 70% of total mezcal production in Mexico. To say that it’s the epicenter of the mezcal universe would be an understatement.

I’ve always eschewed hard liquor in favor of beer but the unique smokiness of mezcal made me a convert. That first tasting experience turned us on to the magic of mezcal and inspired us to compile this list of the best mezcalerias in Oaxaca.

If you’re visiting Oaxaca City and want to know where to go for mezcal tasting, then this article will point you in the right direction.

MEZCALERIA OAXACA QUICK LINKS

To help you plan your visit to Oaxaca, we’ve put together links to recommended hotels, tours, and other travel-related services here.

HOTELS

Top-rated hotels in Centro, one of the best areas to stay for first-time visitors to Oaxaca.

• Luxury: Quinta Real Oaxaca
• Midrange: Casa Olié
• Budget: Casa EL Mundo

TOURS

• Sightseeing Tour: Downtown & Santo Domingo Temple Walking Tour
• Food Tour: Night Street Food Tour with Transfers and Tastings
• Mezcal Workshop: Mixology Workshop with Organic Mezcal
• Cooking Classes: Oaxaca Cooking Classes
• Day Trip: Monte Albán and Art Craft Towns Day Trip

OTHER SERVICES

• Travel Insurance (with COVID cover)
• Airport Transfer
• Mexico SIM Card

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WHAT IS MEZCAL?

Mezcal is a distilled beverage (up to 55% alcohol content) produced from the maguey (agave) plant. Maguey refers to a family of plants native to the arid and semiarid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean. There are about 270 recognized species of Agave plants, of which 30+ are used to make mezcal.

Mezcal is made by roasting the heart of the maguey plant – called the “piña” – and then crushing and fermenting it in large vats. This is where the spirit gets its name. The term mezcal comes from the Nahutal word mexcalli meaning “cooked agave”. Mezcal is known for its strong smokey flavor derived from this underground roasting process.

Mezcal enjoys Appellation of Origin (AO, DO) and Geographical Indication (GI) status. What this means is that for bottles of agave-distilled spirits to carry the “mezcal” label, it needs to be produced in the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, and Durango.

According to Wikipedia, similar distilled beverages are made in Jalisco, Guanajuato, Michoacan, and Tamaulipas. However, since they haven’t been included in the mezcal DO, bottles produced in these states cannot legally be sold as mezcal.

AGAVE VS. MAGUEY

You’ll often read that mezcal is produced from maguey or agave plants. So what exactly is the difference between agave and maguey? This was one of the first things that confused me about mezcal.

There is no difference. Agave is the same as maguey. Agave is the scientific term while maguey is the common name. For example, maguey espadín (common name) refers to the exact same plant as Agave angustifolia (scientific name).

I’ll be using the terms agave and maguey interchangeably in this guide.

HOW IS MEZCAL MADE?

Of the 30+ agave species used to make mezcal, by far the most common is maguey espadín (Agave angustifolia). This species of Agave accounts for about 90% of total mezcal production in Mexico.

Other common varieties used to make mezcal include maguey arroqueño (Agave americana), maguey cirial (Agave karwinskii), maguey barril (Agave rodacantha), maguey mexicano (Agave macroacantha), and maguey cincoañero (Agave canatala Roxb). Most mezcal is made from cultivated plants but the most famous wild agave used to make mezcal is maguey tobalá (Agave potatorum).

Mezcal is produced from the heart of the maguey plant, called the “piña”. The process begins by harvesting mature plants which can weigh up to 88 lbs (40 kg) each. The plant’s leaves and roots are chopped off before roasting the piña over hot rocks in pit ovens for about three days. The roasted agave is then crushed, mashed, and mixed with water before being left to ferment in large vats or barrels.

After fermenting, the ensuing liquid is distilled in clay pots to further enhance its flavor. Like tequila, mezcal is double-distilled to increase its alcohol content. The first distillation, known as ordinario, produces an alcohol content of about 37.5%. The liquid is then distilled a second time to raise its alcohol content to as high as 55%.

The double-distilled liquid is then bottled and sold immediately – as unaged mezcal – or kept in barrels where it’s left to age for up to 12 years.

TYPES OF MEZCAL

There are two basic types of mezcal – mezcal made with 100% agave and mezcal made with 80% agave and 20% other sugars. Each type has four categories – joven, dorado, reposado, and añejo.

Joven

Also known as blanco (white), joven refers to mezcal that’s clear and unaged (or hardly aged, 0-2 months).

Dorado

Meaning “golden”, dorado refers to unaged mezcal that’s been mixed with a coloring agent. This is done more often with mixed mezcals (80% agave).

Reposado

Reposado refers to mezcal that’s been aged in wood barrels for anywhere between 2-12 months.

Añejo

Añejo refers to mezcal that’s been aged in barrels for at least 12 months. The best añejo mezcal is typically aged between 18 months and 3 years. If it’s made with 100% agave, then it’s usually aged for about 4 years.

HOW TO DRINK MEZCAL

Mezcal has become increasingly popular in recent years, especially in the US, so there’s no shortage of trendy mezcal cocktails. But in my opinion, enjoying it straight is the proper way to drink mezcal. You can really appreciate its smokiness that way.

Because pure mezcal is typically served in small amounts, your initial reaction is to drink it in the tiniest sips. According to the bartender at one mezcal bar, this is not the right way to do it.

First, you’re supposed to hold the glass of mezcal under your nose and sniff it in three stages. Start by sniffing the far rim of your glass, then the center, then the near rim. According to our bartender, smelling it in this way helps you appreciate the aroma and character of the mezcal. I’m not nearly experienced enough to sense the differences but I’m sure mezcal aficionados can.

You then take an ample sip – enough to swish the liquid in your mouth a few times – before swallowing. If you drink it in this way, then each small glass of mezcal should be good for about 2-3 sips.

POPULAR MEZCAL COCKTAILS

Personally, I think drinking it straight is the best way to enjoy mezcal but you’ll find an endless variety of mezcal cocktails at the many restaurants and bars in Oaxaca. Each place will have its own unique concoctions but these popular mezcal cocktails (or some version of it) should be available at most mezcal bars.

Mezcal Mule: A spin on the classic Moscow mule made with mezcal, lime juice, and ginger beer.

Mezcal Margarita: Instead of tequila, mezcal is mixed with orange liqueur and lime juice to make this classic cocktail that’s typically served in a rim-salted glass.

Mezcal Negroni: A mezcal cocktail based on the Italian classic. Instead of gin, it’s made with mezcal mixed with semi-sweet red vermouth and Campari garnished with orange peel.

Mezcal Paloma: Mezcal takes the place of tequila in this popular Mexican cocktail flavored with lime juice and grapefruit juice.

Mezcal Old-Fashioned: If you’d rather not choose between mezcal and tequila, then the mezcal old-fashioned is for you. Instead of whiskey, it’s made with mezcal and tequila mixed with bitters, simple syrup, and an orange peel.

MEZCAL VS. TEQUILA VS. RAICILLA VS. PULQUE

Tequila and mezcal are the most well-known outside of Mexico but there are other alcoholic beverages made from the maguey plant. Here are some of the most common.

Tequila

Arguably the most famous alcoholic beverage from Mexico, tequila refers to a distilled spirit made from agave. But unlike mezcal which can be made from any type of maguey plant, tequila is produced specifically from the blue agave plant (Agave tequilana). It’s basically a type of mezcal.

Tequila is produced mainly in Jalisco state and in limited municipalities within Nayarit, Guanajuato, Michoacan, and Tamaulipas. The actual town of Tequila, where the drink was born, is located in Jalisco.

Pulque

If you’d like to try a pre-Hispanic alcoholic drink in Mexico, something that’s been around for thousands of years, then look no further than pulque. It’s a milky, viscous beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey plant.

Sour and yeast-like in flavor, you can find pulque throughout Mexico. I had my first taste of it on this cocktail and food tour in Puerto Vallarta.

Raicilla

I tried this interesting distilled spirit on the same tour in Puerto Vallarta. Made from the maguey plant, it’s a potent distilled spirit hailing from the southwestern part of Jalisco. It’s existed for over 300 years and like mezcal, it enjoys protected Denomination of Origin status.

Though not as enjoyable as mezcal, I found raicilla to be the most complex-tasting of all the maguey-based alcoholic beverages I’ve tried so far in Mexico.

BEST MEZCALERIAS FOR MEZCAL TASTING IN OAXACA

To be clear, I’m by no means a mezcal expert but we did meet a local Oaxaqueño who is. These are some of the mezcalerias he recommended to us.

1. Mezcaleria In Situ

There’s no better way to start this guide to mezcal in Oaxaca than with In Situ, one of the city’s most respected mezcal bars. Together with La Mezcaloteca, it’s arguably one of the two most highly-regarded mezcalerias in Oaxaca.

According to the founders of In Situ, they have the largest collection of artisanal mezcal anywhere in Mexico.

Mezcal tastings in Oaxaca typically consist of 3-4 glasses of any mezcal of your choice. If you’re a beginner like us, then you can ask the bartender to choose for you. Since there were two of us, we always got 6-8 different glasses of mezcal.

At each new mezcaleria, we’d tell the bartender exactly how many tastings we had done so he’d pick out less common mezcal brands. If you plan on doing multiple mezcal tastings in Oaxaca, then I suggest doing the same.

They serve mezcal in these shallow blue cups that match their blue bottles. Aren’t they cute? We liked them so much we bought a pair as souvenirs.

At In Situ, tastings cost MXN 450 for three glasses. That’s around double the cost at other mezcalerias. In Situ does have a reputation for being one of the very best mezcalerias in the city so their mezcal comes at a premium.

Of all the mezcalerias we went to, only In Situ offered these cards that provided information on each type of mezcal. The bartender does a good job of explaining the mezcals to you but it was still nice to have these cards for reference.

Mezcaleria In Situ is open from 2-11PM, Monday to Saturday. It’s a lot more expensive than most other places on this list but according to the mezcal experts, it’s definitely worth it. Try it if you want to know what the best mezcal tastes like.

Mezcaleria In Situ

Address: Vicente Guerrero #413, Zona Feb 10 2015, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca
Operating Hours: 2-11PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What We Paid: MXN 450 (March 2022)

2. Mezcalillera

Mezcalillera was probably my favorite mezcal bar in Oaxaca. I’m too green to have anything meaningful to say about any of the mezcal but I liked this bar because of its vibe. It’s a small, well-designed bar with two floors and we had the tasting room on the second floor all to ourselves.

Plus, I really liked their bottles. Unlike the other mezcalerias on this list that keep their spirits in uniform bottles, Mezcalillera serves theirs in the original mezcal bottle. Not that it has any bearing on taste, but it’s nice seeing each Oaxaca mezcal brand lined up together like this. You know, for Instagram.

At just MXN 250 for three glasses, Mezcalillera is considerably cheaper than In Situ.

Again, I’m too much of a noob to comment on the mezcal itself but I’m assuming the price correlates with the quality. Personally, I enjoyed these very much.

Don’t you just love this mezcal cabinet display? It was built beneath the staircase leading up to the second floor. Very cool!

This is what the tasting room on the first floor looks like. It’s basically just this one small bar with four stools. If I remember correctly, there are no tables here.

Mezcalillera is a fun local mezcal bar in downtown Oaxaca. I highly recommend checking this place out if you care as much for the vibe as the spirits themselves.

Mezcalillera

Address: Murguía 403a, RUTA INDEPENDENCIA, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca
Operating Hours: 12NN-9PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What We Paid: MXN 250 (March 2022)

3. Expendio Cuish

This was the very first mezcaleria we went to in Oaxaca. We loved Expendio Cuish for its intimate space, its relaxed vibe, and its very helpful bartender. He did a fantastic job explaining the different mezcal brands to us and patiently answering all our questions.

Don’t you just love these vintage glass bottles? At just MXN 220 for three glasses, Expendio Cuish offered the cheapest mezcal tasting of any bar we visited in Oaxaca. We’d definitely go back to this place.

This is what their tasting room looks like. It’s basically just this bench and another on the opposite side. Expendio Cuish is a tiny mezcaleria that can accommodate up to four small groups at a time.

Cuish has two locations. This one is called Expendio Cuish while the other branch is called Mezcaleria Cuish. The latter is located towards the south of downtown Oaxaca so I suggest going to this one instead. It’s much more centrally located.

Expendio Cuish

Address: C. Macedonio Alcalá 802, RUTA INDEPENDENCIA, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca
Operating Hours: 1-9PM, Tue-Sun (closed Mondays)
What We Paid: MXN 220 (What We Paid)

4. Mezcalogia

We loved Mezcalogia for its mezcal and its bartender. Most of our bartenders were friendly and helpful but the bartender at Mezcalogia explained things in a way that was easiest to understand.

Do you remember what I said earlier about the proper way to enjoy mezcal? We learned all that from the bartender at Mezcalogia. He has an excellent command of English and can give you a crash course on all things mezcal without being drawn out or boring.

Plus, he was honest too. We initially tried to order two mezcal tastings like we always do but he told us that one tasting was an ample amount for both of us. A big tip for you sir!

Our bartender pouring us four glasses while explaining to us the ins and outs of this magical drink called mezcal. If you want to truly understand mezcal, then Mezcalogia is a great place to go.

As our awesome bartender advised, one tasting of four glasses at MXN 300 was more than enough for both of us. ¡Muchas gracias señor!

Like most of the mezcalerias on this list, Mezcalogia is an intimate space with just a few tables.

Mezcalogia is located in the heart of Oaxaca’s central tourist area, about a 3-minute walk from Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzman.

Mezcalogia

Address: C. de Manuel García Vigil # 509, RUTA INDEPENDENCIA, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca
Operating Hours: 2PM-12MN, Sun-Tue / 2PM-2AM, Wed-Sat
What We Paid: MXN 300 (March 2022)

5. La Casa Grande

La Casa Grande is one of the newer mezcalerias in Oaxaca. Based on its 5-star Google rating and gushing reviews, it’s already making waves in the mezcal game.

Unlike the other mezcalerias on this list, La Casa Grande doesn’t offer true mezcal tastings. By that, I mean you can’t order a set of three or four small glasses of mezcal for a fixed fee. You need to order each glass ala carte. This was the last mezcaleria we visited in Oaxaca so we didn’t mind doing that.

As always, we asked our bartender for recommendations so he picked out three of his favorites for us. And as usual, they were all fantastic.

La Casa Grande’s mezcal ranges in price from MXN 125-200. These three glasses came out to MXN 540.

As described, La Casa Grande is a relatively new mezcaleria in Oaxaca. The space is cozy and well-designed and much bigger than many of the mezcalerias on this list.

In spite of La Casa Grande not having true mezcal tastings, we chose to come here based on people’s comments about the bartender Roberto. Everyone was right. He was gregarious and engaging and made our final mezcal tasting experience in Oaxaca that much more enjoyable. ¡Muchas gracias Roberto!

La Casa Grande is located right next to Mezcaleria In Situ. For the sake of convenience, I’d advise you to go to both bars one after the other but that probably wouldn’t be the best idea.

La Casa Grande

Address: Vicente Guerrero 413-A, Zona Feb 10 2015, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca
Operating Hours: 3-10PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What We Paid: MXN 540 (March 2022)

6. La Mezcaloteca

Like In Situ, La Mezcaloteca has a reputation for being one of the best mezcalerias in Oaxaca. However, it’s also one of the most exclusive. It’s the only mezcaleria we came across that requires advanced reservations.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know of their reservation requirement until a couple of days before we planned on coming here. We found out through our bartender at Mezcalogia. Based on people’s Google reviews, you need to make a booking through their website months in advance. I tried to make a booking anyway but never received a response. Oh well.

According to their website, mezcal tastings at La Mezcaloteca cost MXN 450 per person, same as In Situ. Picey yes, but probably worth it if you’d like to taste some of the very best mezcal in Oaxaca. Just be sure to make a reservation months in advance.

La Mezcaloteca

Address: Reforma No. 506, RUTA INDEPENDENCIA, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca
Operating Hours: 3-8PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
Expect to Pay: MXN 450

LOCATION MAP

To help you navigate to these mezcalerias in Oaxaca, I’ve pinned them all on the map below. They’re all located in downtown Oaxaca so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting to them on foot. Click on the link for a live version of the map.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE BEST MEZCALERIAS IN OAXACA

As described, we’re hardly experts on mezcal. I can’t give you a meaningful description of each mezcal brand but I can say that we enjoyed them all very much. Unless you’re a snob, I don’t think you’d be unhappy with any mezcal here. This is Oaxaca after all, the center of the mezcal universe.

If you’re a novice like us, then you don’t need to go to the most expensive bars to have a good mezcal tasting experience. I think you’ll be more than happy at places like Expendio Cuish and Mezcalillera. We didn’t go but another often-recommended bar is La Casa del Mezcal near Benito Juarez Market.

While there are discernible differences between the different mezcals – even for novices like us – we aren’t experienced enough to truly appreciate them yet.

Aside from doing tastings at mezcalerias, people with a keen interest in the spirit may want to go on a mezcal distillery tour. If you’d like to learn more about the mezcal tradition, then one of the best ways you can do that is to visit one of the many mezcal distilleries just outside the city. The tour we went on took us to three distilleries of varying sizes.

In any case, I hope you enjoyed this article on traditional mezcal in Oaxaca. I’ll end it with a Oaxacan saying attributed to this magical Mexican potion that’s uniquely smokey, a little mysterious, and oh so easy to love:

“Para todo mal, mezcal, y para todo bien, también; y si no hay remedio litro y medio” (For all bad, mezcal, and for all good, as well; and if there is no remedy, liter and a half).

¡Salud!

Disclosure

Some of the links in this article on the best mezcalerias in Oaxaca are affiliate links, meaning we’ll earn a small commission if you make a purchase at no added cost to you. As always, we only recommend products and services that we use ourselves and firmly believe in. We really appreciate your support as this helps us make more of these free travel guides. Muchas gracias!

To be honest, I didn’t know if I should write this Mexico City food guide. The Mexican capital is one of the largest cities in the world so I didn’t know how one article could do justice to the vast and diverse culinary landscape of Mexico City (CDMX). Roma-Condesa alone would take several articles to adequately cover.

But as is always the case with any food and restaurant guide, taste is subjective. Some people prefer fine dining, others are drawn to street food. There can never be one perfect guide to satisfy everyone’s tastes so I did my best to come up with a list of what we believe to be some of the best restaurants and food experiences in Mexico City.

Although the focus of this article is on Mexican food, we tried to create as diverse a list as possible. What you’ll find in this Mexico City food guide is a list of establishments that cover the gamut from fine dining restaurants to roadside stalls to cafes and dessert shops.

If you’re visiting Mexico City for a few days and love Mexican food, then I hope this article leads you to many memorable meals in the Mexican capital.

If you’d like to go on a food tour, then be sure to check out our guide to the tastiest food tours in Mexico City.

MEXICO CITY RESTAURANTS QUICK LINKS

To help plan your trip to Mexico City, we’ve put together links to recommended hotels, tours, and other travel-related services here.

HOTELS

Top-rated hotels in Roma-Condesa, one of the best areas to stay in Mexico City.

• Luxury: CASA LUCIANA Condesa
• Midrange: Casa Mannach
• Budget: Casa Melgar

TOURS

• Sightseeing Tour: Chapultepec Castle and Anthropology Museum Tour
• Bike Tour: Street Art Bike Tour with Snack
• Food Tours: Mexico City Foor Tours and Cooking Classes
• Day Trip: Teotihuacan, Guadalupe Shrine & Tlatelolco Tour

OTHER SERVICES

• Travel Insurance (with COVID cover)
• Airport Transfer
• Mexico SIM Card

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THE BEST MEXICO CITY RESTAURANTS FOR TRADITIONAL MEXICAN CUISINE

To help organize this list of the best Mexico City restaurants, I’ve arranged them by category. Click on a link to jump to any section of the guide.

Restaurants Taquerias / Street Food Stalls Pastelerias / Cafes Markets / Food Halls

RESTAURANTS

1. Quintonil

There’s no better way to start this list of the best Mexico City restaurants than with Quintonil. Google “best restaurants in mexico city” and Quintonil is guaranteed to be on every list. As of this writing, it’s number 8 on the list of the 50 Best Restaurants in Latin America and number 27 overall on the 50 Best global list.

Helmed by Chef Jorge Vallejo, what you’ll find at Quintonil are modern interpretations of traditional Mexican cuisine. Dishes like spider crab in green mole with lime kaffir or braised oxtail in black recado sauce instantly jumped out at us.

Up to this point, we had been enjoying mostly street food and local fonda fare (small family-owned eateries), so seeing and tasting what a talented chef could do with local ingredients was interesting.

If I remember correctly, this dish was a cold starter made with nopales. Nopales refer to the edible pads of the prickly pear cactus plant.

This is one of the dishes I was referring to above. What you’re looking at is an appetizer of spider crab in green mole with lime kaffir, Thai basil, and blue corn tostadas. I don’t know what’s in it but that green sauce was delicious.

For my entree, I went with this incredibly tasty braised oxtail in black recado with almond puree and red onions. Like many traditional Mexican dishes, they serve it with a side of fresh tortillas.

You put a little bit of everything into the blue corn tortilla and eat it like a taco. After weeks of eating street tacos, it was nice to see a more modern take on traditional Mexican food.

For her entree, Ren chose the striped bass in a chapulin (grasshopper) adobo with cauliflower, grilled kale, and kohlrabi dressing. Just look at the char on that bass!

We had a lot of amazing food in Mexico City, but this dish may have been the best. It was so damn good.

For dessert, we had this inventive dish made with guava rocks, pink pepper, and caramelized white chocolate. If I remember our server’s description correctly, they call it “guava rocks” because it’s made with nitrous-frozen chunks of guava. Fantastic!

Headed by one of the most talented young Mexican chefs in CDMX, Quintonil is one of the best restaurants in Mexico City – top two or three easily – so it’s a great place to go for a truly special meal in the capital. In spite of its reputation, the restaurant has a relaxed atmosphere and a warm and welcoming dining room. I sometimes feel uneasy at places like this but I felt completely comfortable here.

We ordered ala carte but if you’re celebrating a special occasion, then you may want to go for the tasting menus. Dishes are seasonal so you can check the Quintonil website for the latest offerings.

Quintonil

Address: Av. Isaac Newton 55, Polanco, Polanco IV Secc, Miguel Hidalgo, 11560 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Operating Hours: 12:30PM-12MN, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What to Order: Tasting menu

2. Entremar

Headed by Chef Gabriela Cámara, Contramar in Roma Norte is one of the best restaurants in Mexico City for seafood. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most popular. We tried showing up one day without reservations and the wait, for a table for two, was over two hours. Luckily for us, there’s Entremar.

Not as many tourists know this, but Chef Cámara has another seafood restaurant in Polanco called Entremar. It has a very similar menu as Contramar but you don’t have to wait nearly as long for a table. In our case, we went for lunch and we didn’t have to wait at all. By the time we finished our meal, the restaurant was at most half full so I suggest going here instead.

We started our lunch with this terrific appetizer of tuna tostadas. Each order comes with four pieces.

We fell in love with this dish in Spain so we followed the tuna tostadas with this beautiful pulpo a la gallega. Also known as polbo a feira, this delicious Spanish tapas dish consisting of boiled octopus served with loads of paprika is a specialty of Galicia in the northwest region of Spain.

This fish dish is what we came here for. We had read about Contramar’s pescado a la talla so we were thrilled to find it here at Entremar as well.

Pescado a la talla is a grilled butterflied whole fish that can be topped with a red chili sauce, a green parsley sauce, or both. The two sauces are equally delicious so I suggest getting both.

To eat, you take slivers of the grilled fish and wrap them in fresh tortillas with refried beans and avocado. ¡Riquisimo!

Entremar offers different types of beer on their menu but I recommend getting a pitcher of clericot instead. Available in 1- or 2-liter pitchers, it refers to a sangria-like drink that’s popular throughout Latin America.

Entremar is a two-story restaurant right next to Parque Uruguay in the chic Polanco district. They have a spacious dining room but if a table is available, then I recommend sitting upstairs on the balcony. You’ll have an overhead view of the park while tucking into your tasty pescado a la talla.

Entremar

Address: B Y C, Hegel 307, Polanco V Secc, Miguel Hidalgo, 11560 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Operating Hours: 12NN-8PM, daily
What to Order: Seafood dishes

3. Panaderia Rosetta

Like Contramar, Panaderia Rosetta is one of the most popular restaurants in Mexico City. Helmed by celebrated Chef Elena Reygadas, it’s a hugely popular bakery and restaurant in the Roma Norte neighborhood, just around the corner from Chef Reygadas’ equally popular Mexican-Italian restaurant Rosetta.

La Panaderia serves mostly pastries and light breakfast dishes so they’re most popular for brunch, but they do offer a few sandwiches as well. One of the pastries they’re best known for is this flaky guava roll filled with creamy ricotta. It’s delicious and a must-try at Panaderia Rosetta.

Behind the guava roll is a bolillo bread roll filled with asiago cheese and tomato.

Pictured below is a pair of soft-boiled eggs served with tarragon butter and rye sourdough bread.

Visit Panaderia Rosetta before noon and you’ll find yourself in a sea of hungry diners waiting to get their hands (and their mouths) on their delicious pastries. If I remember correctly, we waited a little over half an hour to be seated.

Chef Elena Reygadas is one of the most respected chefs in Mexico City so you may want to visit Restaurante Rosetta as well. We didn’t go but from what I’ve read, they serve Italian dishes with a Mexican twist.

Panaderia Rosetta

Address: Colima 179, Roma Nte., Cuauhtémoc, 06700 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Operating Hours: 7AM-10PM, Mon-Sat / 7:30AM-9:30PM, Sunday
What to Order: Pastries, light brunch dishes

4. Antolina

Antolina is a great restaurant to visit in the leafy Condesa neighborhood. They serve elevated Mexican cuisine using local ingredients sourced mostly from the chinampas of Xochimilco.

Isn’t this dish beautiful? We shared this starter of molotes de platano in mole negro. Molote refers to a Mexican appetizer or snack made with fried corn masa filled with different ingredients. These were filled with cottage cheese and huazontle.

Can you ever say no to roasted bone marrow? For one of our entrees, we went with these beef flautas drenched in green salsa and served with a side of roasted bone marrow. The bone marrow was nice but a little thin.

This was probably my favorite dish from today’s meal. It doesn’t look like it but pictured below are beef and pork short ribs served in mole manchamanteles. The short ribs are coated in a tempura-style batter and then deep-fried.

Antolina has a lovely dining room but it was a beautiful day so we opted to sit outside. The Condesa neighborhood is great for that.

Antolina

Address: Aguascalientes 232, Hipódromo, Cuauhtémoc, 06100 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Operating Hours: 1-10:30PM, Sun-Wed / 1-11:30PM, Thurs-Sat
What to Order: Molotes, tostadas, flautas

5. El Inicio

El Inicio is a casual restaurant in Roma Norte that serves typical breakfast fare and Mexican comfort food like enchiladas, enfrijoladas (enchiladas in bean sauce), huevos revueltos (scrambled eggs), and omelettes.

Pictured below is a delicious crepe filled with huitlacoche and drowned in a rich mole poblano sauce. Huitlacoche was one of the ingredients we were most excited to try in Mexico. It’s the Mexican term for corn smut, a fungus that grows on maize. It has a taste and texture very similar to mushrooms.

El Inicio is a great place to enjoy a casual Mexican meal in Roma Norte.

El Inicio

Address: Av. Álvaro Obregón 61, Roma Nte., Cuauhtémoc, 06700 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Operating Hours: 8:30AM-10PM, Mon-Sat / 8:30AM-6PM, Sunday
What to Order: Enchiladas, enfrijoladas, enmoladas

6. Fonda Margarita

A fonda is a small, family-run Mexican restaurant, similar to an Indonesian warung. Typically located inside a mercado (market), most offer simple menus with classic Mexican dishes made with the freshest local ingredients. I’m partial to traditional Mexican restaurants so fondas were among my favorite places to eat in Mexico.

There are many fondas in Mexico City but one of the most popular is Fonda Margarita. This place is so well-known that a relative of ours, who’s never been to Mexico City, asked us about it. According to him, his Mexican co-workers are always telling him about this fantastic restaurant in Mexico City that serves the most delicious breakfast dishes.

Fonda Margarita offers just a few dishes on their menu but one of the things they’re best known for are these frijoles negros con huveos, or “black beans with eggs”. I believe they serve them to everyone who eats here as a side dish. They’re delicious and go so well with fresh tortillas.

Pictured below is a shallow bowl of cerdo en salsa verde or “pork in green salsa”. The green salsa in this dish was one of the best we had anywhere in Mexico.

Even better than the pork dish were these fried egg tostadas served with a tasty pasilla chili sauce. The dishes at Fonda Margarita are simple but they’re made with soul.

We weren’t planning on having anything else but we saw many locals tucking into this flan-like dessert. I’ve had jericalla and other flan-like dishes in Mexico but this was our first time trying jeriqueso. As its name suggests, it’s a type of flan made with cheese. So good!

If you’d like to enjoy a simple but authentic Mexican breakfast in the city, then Fonda Margarita is a great place to go. They’re open Tuesday to Sunday until noon.

At Fonda Margarita, you’ll be sharing a table with mostly locals. Authentic ad unpretentious, these are exactly the types of restaurants we look for on our trips.

I don’t know if they have them everyday but there was a three-person band playing live bolero music while we were there. We loved the atmosphere of this place.

Fonda Margarita

Address: Adolfo Prieto 1364 B, Tlacoquemecatl del Valle, Benito Juárez, 03100 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Operating Hours: 6:30AM-12NN, Tue-Sun (closed on Mondays)
What to Order: Traditional Mexican breakfast

TAQUERIAS / STREET FOOD STALLS

Mexican food is terrific in general but I’m partial to street food so tacos are one of my favorite things about Mexico City. It’s known as the “taco capital of the world” for a reason.

I’ve listed our favorites taquerias below but be sure to click through to our article on the best tacos in Mexico City for more recommendations.

7. Tacos Don Juan

With all the delicious tacos in Mexico City, you’d think we’d have a hard time picking a favorite but we didn’t. Tacos Don Juan in the upscale La Condesa neighborhood was our hands-down favorite taqueria in Mexico City. We enjoyed this place so much that we wound up eating here five times in two weeks.

Tacos Don Juan is a casual neighborhood joint that serves a wealth of tasty tacos made from suadero, lengua, carnitas, pastor, and more. We never had a bad taco here. Everything we ate was absolutely delicious, especially the quesabirria which they serve only on weekends.

Tacos Don Juan gets a steady stream of customers during the week but on weekends, the place gets jam-packed with peole pining for those delicious quesabirria tacos. Be sure to arrive early because they do run out.

Pictured below is a tasty pair of tacos made with suadero (meat from between the belly and leg) and lengua (tongue). Suadero is already one of the best tacos you can eat in Mexico City but Tacos Don Juan makes it even better. They have a version with toasted cheese as well (suaqueso or suadero con queso). Don’t miss it.

This is the line to Tacos Don Juan on a weekday. It gets way more crowded than this on Saturdays and Sundays.

The humble taco is the flag-bearer for Mexican street food and Don Juan is one of the best taco spots to visit in Mexico City.

Tacos Don Juan

Address: Calle Juan Escutia 35, Colonia Condesa, Cuauhtémoc, 06140 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Operating Hours: 10AM-4:45PM, Mon-Fri / 10AM-3PM, Sat-Sun
What to Order: Suadero, quesabirria, carnitas

8. El Pescadito

You think Tacos Don Juan is a good enough reason to visit La Condesa? How about two good reasons? El Pescadito is another great taqueria in Mexico City that’s located directly across the street from Don Juan. How’s that for convenience?

Unlike Don Juan which serves tacos topped with different meat fillings, El Pescadito is known for its fish and shrimp tacos. It’s one of the best seafood restaurants we visited in Mexico City. Because they have such different offerings from Don Juan, you can easily visit both on the same day, one after the other.

Pictured below is what they call the que-sotote, a taco made with a shrimp- and cheese-stuffed chili pepper served with even more shrimp and cheese. Like Don Juan, El Pescadito serves loaded tacos so be careful not to overorder.

As much as I love seafood, I’m not as big a fan of fish or shrimp tacos but the offerings at El Pescadito are some of the best we’ve had anywhere in Mexico. They’re absolutely delicious.

El Pescadito

Address: C. Atlixco 38, Colonia Condesa, Cuauhtémoc, 06140 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Operating Hours: 10AM-6PM, daily
What to Order: Pescado, camaron

9. El Vilsito (The Best Tacos al Pastor!)

When it comes to tacos in Mexico City, there’s nothing more iconic than tacos al pastor. It’s arguably the most popular taco in the capital and something you’ll find in every neighborhood in Mexico City.

If you’ve never had it, tacos al pastor are made with corn tortillas topped with thin shavings of spit-roasted pork sliced from a vertical rotisserie. It evolved from tacos arabes in Puebla, a dish that was introduced to Mexico by Lebanese immigrants who migrated to the country after the First World War. You can think of tacos al pastor as the Mexican version of Lebanese shawarma.

We enjoyed many tasty tacos al pastor in Mexico City, so it’s hard to pick a favorite, but El Vilsito is definitely one of the best. It’s the unique garage/taqueria featured in the tacos al pastor episode of Taco Chronicles on Netflix.

Pictured below is a beautiful pair of tacos al pastor from El Vilsito. They load them up with lots of al pastor meat, chopped onions, cilantro, and a slice of grilled pineapple. This truly is Mexican street food at its most delicious.

El Vilsito is definitely one of the more unique restaurants we visited in Mexico City. It operates in the same space as an auto repair shop.

One customer drove in with his Kia and stopped to get some tacos while he waited for an estimate. Why can’t we have a taqueria like this at our car repair shop? Ha!

El Vilsito

Address: Petén 248 y, Avenida Universidad, Narvarte Poniente, 03020 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Operating Hours: 2PM-3AM, Mon-Thurs / 2PM-5AM, Fri / 3PM-5AM, Sat / 3PM-12MN, Sun
What to Order: Tacos al pastor

10. Tacos Hola El Güero

Tacos Hola El Güero is another terrific taqueria in La Condesa. Like the previous two, it’s exceedingly popular with locals. We walked by this place a lot and it was almost always full no matter what time of day.

Tacos Hola El Güero specializes in tacos de guisados, a type of taco filled with a variety of stewed meats and vegetables like chicharron (pork skin), higado (liver), picadillo (hash), and calabazitas (pumpkin). If you’re a vegetarian, then meatless tacos de guisados are a great option for food in Mexico City.

What you’re looking at below is a quartet of tacos de guisados topped with higado, chorizo with potatoes, picadillo, and chicharron with salsa.

This is the scene you can expect to find at Tacos Hola El Güero – just a bunch of locals enjoying their tacos de guisados on the sidewalk. I absolutely love Mexican street food.

As expected, Hola El Güero gets especially crowded at peak times so I suggest going during off-hours if you can. Tacos de guisados can get a little messy so they’re best eaten while sitting down.

Tacos Hola El Güero

Address: Amsterdam 135, Hipódromo, Cuauhtémoc, 06100 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Operating Hours: 9AM-9PM, Mon-Fri / 9AM-7PM, Sat / 8:30AM-3:30PM, Sun
What to Order: Tacos de guisado

11. Tacos de Canasta Los Especiales

Tacos de canasta or “basket tacos” is another type of taco that you should try in Mexico City. They consist of tacos filled with various stews and ingredients like shredded chicken with tomatoes, chorizo with potatoes, refried beans, and more. The tacos are bathed in oil or butter and sold from baskets to keep them warm, hence the name “basket tacos”.

Tacos de canasta are usually sold as street food but in the Historic Center (El Centro) of Mexico City, you can enjoy them at the ultra-popular Los Especiales restaurant. This place is like an assembly line for tasty tacos de canasta.

The line at the restaurant was too long at the time so I picked up an assorted order of five to go. These were some of the best-tasting tacos de canasta we’ve had anywhere in Mexico.

Located in the busy city center, the line to dine inside Los Especiales is always long. If you’d rather not wait, then you can get them to go and enjoy them on a bench somewhere.

Tacos de Canasta Los Especiales

Address: Av Francisco I. Madero 71, Centro Histórico de la Cdad. de México, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06000 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Operating Hours: 9AM-10PM, Mon-Sat / 9AM-6PM, Sun
What to Order: Tacos de canasta

12. Tlacoyos at Mercado Medellin

When you hear the phrase “pre-Hispanic Mexican dish”, what’s the first thing you think of? For many people, it’s tamales. But explore the streets of Mexico City and you’ll find another pre-Columbian dish commonly sold as street food – tlacoyo.

Tlacoyo refers to a sandal-shaped Mexican dish made of corn masa. It can be stuffed with a variety of ingredients like beans, cheese, huitlacoche (corn smut), and chicharron before being toasted or fried.

We were about to enter Mercado Medellin in Roma Norte when we found this tlacoyo and quesadilla stall surrounded by customers. Among the customers waiting for their tlacoyo was a local guide leading a food tour. From her shirt, I could see she worked for one of the top food tour companies in Mexico City so I knew we had stumbled onto something really good.

Pictured below is our tasty tlacoyo filled with squash blossom, soft cheese (queso fresco), and beans. There were a lot of customers ahead of us so we had to wait a bit to get this, but it was definitely worth it.

The same street vendor sells excellent quesadillas as well. The masa gets it dark color from blue corn kernels.

Here’s a look inside the quesadilla. We wanted huitlacoche but they were out of it so we got it filled with mushroom, onion, and quesillo (Oaxaca cheese) instead. It was delicious.

It’s amazing to watch these ladies at work. Some of them have been making the same dish for decades so it’s no surprise that some of the best food in Mexico City can be found at places like this.

I don’t believe it has a name but you can find this stall on the corner of Campeche and Medellin Streets in the Roma Norte neighborhood, just outside Mercado Medellin.

Tlacoyos at Mercado Medellin

Address: Corner of Campeche and Medellin, Cuauhtémoc, 06760 Ciudad de México, CDMX
What to Order: Tlacoyos, quesadillas

13. La Esquina del Chilaquil

If you’ve done research on the best street food in Mexico City, then you’ve probably read about La Esquina del Chilaquil. It’s little more than a tent on a corner in La Condesa but they’re one of the most famous street vendors in Mexico City.

As its name suggests, La Esquina del Chilaquil is famous for its tortas (Mexican sandwiches) made with chicken milanesa, chilaquiles (lightly fried tortilla strips), and salsa. Chilaquiles is a popular breakfast dish throughout Mexico but I believe this is the only time we’ve ever had it in a sandwich.

These tortas are a street food classic in Mexico City and a must-do for any Traveleater. They’re quite heavy so you may want to split one sandwich between two people first, just to get a taste.

Here’s what the filling looks like. Not the prettiest sandwich in Mexico City but one of the tastiest. This one was filled with salsa verde (green sauce).

We had read reviews from people having to wait up to 40 minutes for a sandwich. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait that long as the line moves fairly quickly. La Esquina del Chilaquil serves up their tasty sandwiches from 8AM till 1PM daily.

La Esquina del Chilaquil

Address: Alfonso Reyes 139, Hipódromo, Cuauhtémoc, 06100 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Operating Hours: 8AM-1PM, daily
What to Order: Torta de chilaquiles

14. Las Escaleras

We learned about this hole-in-the-wall called Las Escaleras from a chef we follow on Instagram. They serve Mexican street foods like tacos, tostadas, and gorditas but what they’re really known for are their quesadillas.

Unlike typical quesadillas in Mexico, these bad boys are much bigger and deep-fried. They can be filled with various ingredients like potatoes, squash blossoms, or huitlacoche before being topped with salsa, shredded lettuce, and queso fresco.

Located in the Centro district, Las Escaleras is literally a hole-in-the-wall. You could probably walk by this stall dozens of times without ever noticing it.

Escaleras means “stairs” in Spanish. When you peer into this tiny space, it becomes clear why the stall is called Las Escaleras. There’s a set of steps right behind this gentleman who makes the quesadillas. I have no idea where it goes but a woman comes down and he passes orders to her.

Las Escaleras

Address: Centro, C. 5 de Febrero 52, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06090 Centro, CDMX, Mexico
Operating Hours: 11AM-2AM, Mon-Sat (closed on Sundays)
What to Order: Quesadillas

PASTELERIAS / CAFES

15. Quentin Cafe

I was chatting with a barista in San Miguel de Allende and he was telling me that Mexico, as a whole, doesn’t have a strong coffee-drinking culture. It’s true. Aside from a few cities like SMDA and Oaxaca, you don’t see that many coffee shops around. Thankfully, in Mexico City, there’s a cute cafe to satisfy your caffeine cravings on almost every block.

Quentin Cafe is located about a couple of blocks from our AirBnb in La Condesa. We walked by this cafe every day, at least twice a day, and it was never not packed with locals. Their coffee is good but their pastries are incredible.

The kouign-amann hiding behind the cup of coffee below was the best kouign-amann we’ve ever tasted in our lives. It was flaky and buttery and oh so good. We got a croissant to go because of this kouign-amann and it was terrific too.

This is pretty much the scene you can expect to find at Quentin Cafe at any time of day. It’s hugely popular with locals who live in the area.

They have a small indoor seating area but most people enjoy their coffee outside in this lovely makeshift al fresco space. Surrounded by trees and the sound of birds, it’s a great place to enjoy coffee and while away the time in Mexico City.

Quentin Cafe

Address: Amsterdam 67a, Hipódromo, Cuauhtémoc, 06100 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Operating Hours: 7AM-10PM, Mon-Fri / 8AM-10PM, Sat / 8AM-9PM, Sun
What to Order: Coffee, pastries

16. Pasteleria Ideal

Speaking of pastries, Pasteleria Ideal is the place to go for traditional sweets in Mexico City’s Historic Center. I was walking near the zocalo (main square) when a Mexican tourist walked up to me and asked where the shop was after spotting my Pasteleria Ideal bag.

Pasteleria Ideal seems to be one of the most successful pastry shops in Mexico City. This becomes clear when you walk into their stores and see the horde of customers clearing the pastries off their shelves.

One of the things that surprised me the most about Pasteleria Ideal was how big it is. I know they have two or three branches in El Centro but the one I went to along Republica de Uruguay is massive.

I was expecting a cute little pastry shop but this is more like a pastry supermarket. Aside from the dozens and dozens of pastry varieties they have on display, they have dozens and dozens of cakes and cookies too!

If you have a sweet tooth, then you definitely need to make a stop at Pasteleria Ideal after going sightseeing in El Centro. They’re strictly a takeaway shop. There’s no dining area so you’ll need to get everything to go.

This is what I brought home with me that day – a slice of guava dulce de leche cake. It was delicious and just one of many tasty treats you can bring home from Pasteleria Ideal.

Pasteleria Ideal

Address: República de Uruguay 74, Centro Histórico de la Cdad. de México, Centro, Venustiano Carranza, 06000 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Operating Hours: 5AM-8PM, daily
What to Order: Pastries, cakes, cookies

17. Churreria El Moro

Google “where to eat in mexico city” and many articles will mention Churreria El Moro. It’s a popular chain of churrerias that could very well serve the very best churros in Mexico City.

I don’t know if this is a permanent item on their menu but aside from the usual churros, they were offering red velvet churros. Aren’t they pretty? Like the regular variety, they’re coated in a sugar-cinnamon mix but instead of hot chocolate, they come with a cream cheese dip.

El Churreria El Moro also offers churro ice cream sandwiches. These were ok. I suggest sticking to the churros with hot chocolate.

If you’re a vegan, then you’ll be pleased to know that El Churreria El Moro makes 100% vegan churros as well.

Aside from their delicious churros, what I loved most about Churreria El Moro is their branding. Every shop looks like this – minimalist with a clean white and blue color palette. We went to their branch in La Condesa but they have several outlets throughout Mexico City.

Churreria El Moro

Address: Multiple locations
Operating Hours: Varies per branch
What to Order: Churros con chocolate

18. Chocolateria La Rifa

Coffee from Oaxaca, Vercaruz, and Chiapas is good, but do you know what’s even better in Mexico? Chocolate.

Mexican chocolate has been an important commodity in the country for thousands of years. It dates back to the times of the Mayans and the Aztecs when cacao beans were used not just for consumption, but for religious reasons and as a form of currency.

Today, about 99% of cacao in Mexico is produced in the states of Tabasco and Chiapas. We wanted to find a good chocolate place in CDMX and our research led us to Chocolateria La Rifa, a small cafe and chocolateria in the trendy Juarez neighborhood of Mexico City.

In Mexico, you can get chocolate drinks made with different intensities and mixed with either water or milk. Personally, I prefer milk but water is more traditional.

The Juarez neighborhood is one of our favorite areas in Mexico City. Similar in feel to La Condesa or Roma Norte, it’s a trendy tree-lined borough with lots of interesting restaurants and cafes like Chocolateria La Rifa that you can visit.

Chocolateria La Rifa

Address: C. Dinamarca 47, Cuauhtémoc, 06600 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Operating Hours: 8:30AM-9PM, daily
What to Order: Mexican chocolate

MARKETS / FOOD HALLS

We love markets and food halls in Mexico because they offer a wealth of food options. Mercados are home to fondas that make some of the most delicious traditional Mexican dishes. In contrast, food halls are trendier, more Instagram-worthy establishments that offer modern global fare. You’ll find plenty of both in Mexico City.

I didn’t include them in this list but two of the most famous traditional markets in Mexico City are Mercado de San Juan and Mercado La Merced. If you’d like to eat insects in CDMX, then I suggest going to Mercado de San Juan. I ate a chocolate-covered scorpion there.

19. Comedor de Los Milagros

Comedor de Los Milagros is a fun food hall in the Roma neighborhood. It’s technically in Roma Sur but it’s right on the border with Roma Norte, not too far from Mercado Medellin. It’s home to about a dozen stalls offering both international and Mexican food.

If you’re traveling in a group, then food halls like this one are always a great choice. With all the choices available, there’s usually something for everyone.

I don’t remember the name of the stall but we spent the afternoon eating mollejas de res (beef gizzard) and washing it down with giant mugs of ice-cold Mexican beer.

Don’t you just love the vibe at these trendy food halls? They’re always fun and the energy is great. They’re not necessarily known for serving the best or cheapest food but you’re guaranteed to have a good time every time.

Comedor de Los Milagros has two floors. The first floor has all the food kiosks while the second floor, which is mostly a balcony with a few tables, has these fun Instagram backdrops.

Comedor de Los Milagros

Address: Medellín 221, Roma Sur, Cuauhtémoc, 06760 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Operating Hours: 11:30AM-11:30PM, Mon-Wed / 11:30AM-2AM, Thurs-Fri / 10AM-2AM, Sat-Sun

20. Mercado Roma

I had read about Mercado Roma in an older article on the best things to do in Mexico City. If I remember correctly, it’s one of the first if not the very first food hall that opened in the Roma Norte neighborhood.

Mercado Roma looks just as cool as it did in that article but the vibe here felt quite different from Comedor de Los Milagros. The people working at the various stalls were so much more aggressive. They were all trying to get us to eat their stall, which I didn’t like at all. It was a massive turn-off so we wound up leaving and going somewhere else.

I have a pet peeve about overly aggressive touts but if that doesn’t bother you, then you’ll probably enjoy Mercado Roma. It looks like a good place to get a drink.

Aggressive touts aside, Mercado Roma is a cool-looking food hall with plenty of choices for food and drink. It has a second floor, occupied by a restaurant/bar if I remember correctly, and a nightclub somewhere upstairs.

Mercado Roma

Address: C. Querétaro 225, Roma Nte., Cuauhtémoc, 06700 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Operating Hours: 10AM-10:30PM, Mon-Wed / 10AM-12:30AM, Thurs / 10AM-1AM, Fri-Sat / 10AM-7:30PM, Sun

21. Comedor Lucerna

Located in the Juarez neighborhood, Comedor Lucerna is similar in feel to Comedor de Los Milagros except it’s a little smaller with fewer food stalls.

We were here in the middle of the afternoon on a cloudy weekday so we had the place pretty much to ourselves, but it may get busier at night or on weekends.

We wanted a little break from Mexican food so we went with a stall that served American comfort food like hot dogs and burgers. They were ok.

Burgers are my ultimate comfort food. What’s yours?

Comedor Lucerna is a colorful food hall that’s hard to miss. If you explore the Juarez neighborhood, then you may want to stop here for a quick bite and a drink.

Comedor Lucerna

Address: C. Lucerna 51, Juárez, Cuauhtémoc, 06600 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Operating Hours: 12NN-11PM, Sun-Wed / 12NN-1AM, Thurs-Sat

22. Mercado de Coyoacan

The Coyoacan neighborhood is a must-visit in Mexico City. Located towards the south of CDMX, it’s far enough and different enough that it feels almost like a separate city.

The Frida Kahlo House Museum is arguably the top attraction in Coyoacan but one place that you shouldn’t miss, especially if you’re hungry, is Mercado de Coyoacan. It’s home to one of the best market stalls we visited anywhere in Mexico City.

Tostadas Coyoacan is clearly the most popular stall at Mercado de Coyoacan. They occupy four or five stalls so they’re kinda hard to miss!

As their name suggests, Tostadas Coyoacan is known for its tostadas. They’re basically crunchy deep-fried tortillas topped with a variety of ingredients.

This tostada was topped with tinga de pollo or shredded chicken cooked in tomato sauce. Delicious!

Can you tell what those translucent chunks are peeking out from underneath the mound of lettuce? It’s called pata and refers to cartilage/tendon made from pork feet.

If you’ve never had tendon before, it has a soft and chewy texture that’s sort of similar to pork ear, but with less snap. We love it.

This tostada was topped with octopus…

…and this one with spicy shrimp. I forgot to take a picture of it but we had tuna tostadas as well. Every single one of these tostadas was delicious and among the best we had anywhere in Mexico.

Mercado de Coyoacan

Address: Ignacio Allende s/n, Del Carmen, Coyoacán, 04100 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Operating Hours: 8AM-8PM, daily

LOCATION MAP

To help you navigate to these Mexico City restaurants, I’ve pinned them all on the map below. Click on the link for a live version of the map.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THIS MEXICO CITY FOOD GUIDE

Mexico City is a food lover’s paradise. You can’t visit Mexico City and not be overwhelmed by its many restaurants and street stalls offering an endless variety of Mexican food.

We absolutely love tacos which is one of the main reasons why we enjoyed Mexico City so much. It’s home to the best and biggest variety of tacos in Mexico. I’ve already talked about tacos de suadero, guisado, canasta, and al pastor, but another taco you may want to try is cochinita pibil.

A specialty of Mayan cuisine, cochinita pibil tacos are made with Yucatan-style pork marinated in sour orange juice and then slow-cooked in an earthen oven. It’s common in Merida and Valladolid but not so much in Mexico City. One of the best places to have it in CDMX is at the popular El Turix taqueria in swanky Polanco.

Lastly, I know how in-demand vegetarian food is these days. We’re meat eaters so we didn’t try any, but if you’d like to have vegetarian or vegan tacos in Mexico City, then one of the most recommended places is the Por Siempre Vegana taqueria in Roma Norte.

And with that, I’ll end this Mexico City food guide and wish you many unforgettable meals in this vast, frenzied, sometimes confusing, but always delicious city. ¡Buen provecho!

Disclosure

Some of the links in this guide to the best Mexico City restaurants are affiliate links. What that means is that we’ll get a small commission if you make a booking at no additional cost to you. As always, we only recommend products and services that we use ourselves and firmly believe in. We really appreciate your support as this helps us make more of these free travel guides. ¡Muchas gracias!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Traveleater Lyn shares with us fifteen traditional dishes to try on your next visit to the UAE (United Arab Emirates).

Clouds of fragrant smoke billow out of a shisha as your heart beats to the sinuous rhythm of the darbuka. Accompanied by the strumming of the oud and the glittering tinkle of the Qanun harp, the violin wails, underscored by the rich and yearning tone of the ney cane flute. You sit still, enthralled by the scents and sounds and the rich history they encapsulate and convey.

It’s the perfect setting to enjoy a traditional Middle Eastern meal. The sand dunes of the UAE (United Arab Emirates) would make the perfect setting for such a meal, but you don’t need to go to the desert for this experience.

The Dubai Food Festival celebrates the city’s position as the gastronomic capital of the Middle East. Inaugurated in 2014, this annual food extravaganza offers a plethora of tasty Dubai dishes served side by side with foods from the many nationalities and cultures that call Dubai their home.

The Dubai Food Festival takes place in May but there’s lots of delicious food to be had at any time of the year. Luxury shopping centers abound in the UAE and Dubai Mall and Yas Mall in Abu Dhabi – the biggest shopping centers in their respective cities and among the largest in the world – are like oases for Middle Eastern and Arabic restaurants serving a mouthwatering array of traditional Emirati dishes.

But of course, you can still visit the desert for the ambiance. After all, a desert food safari from Dubai or Abu Dhabi would make for a pretty remarkable experience.

Whichever your preference, here are fifteen traditional Emirati dishes to look for on your next trip to the Middle East, whether it be Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or anywhere else in the UAE.

EMIRATI CUISINE QUICK LINKS

If you’re planning a trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and want to learn more about Emirati cuisine, then you may be interested in joining a food tour.

• Dubai: Food Tours in Dubai
• Abu Dhabi: Food Tours in Abu Dhabi

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WHAT IS TRADITIONAL EMIRATI CUISINE?

Emirati cuisine refers to the Arabic food traditions of the United Arab Emirates. It consists of aromatic dishes flavored by a wealth of spices and herbs like saffron, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, and thyme.

Meat, grain, and dairy are used extensively in traditional food. Dates, roasted nuts, and dried limes called loomi are key ingredients in many Emirati recipes. Being a desert nation, vegetables aren’t featured as strongly in the local cuisine.

Chicken, small fowl, goat, and lamb are the most commonly consumed meats in the UAE. Being a country on the Persian Gulf, fish and seafood feature prominently in the Emirati diet as well. Camel meat is also consumed though it’s typically reserved for special occasions.

Many traditional Emirati dishes come in the form of stews prepared in single pots. This can be traced back to the country’s desert landscape where having fewer dishes to wash was key.

Being a multicultural nation and one of the top tourist destinations in the world, the food in Dubai and Abu Dhabi is becoming increasingly international. But as this list will show you, there are plenty of traditional Emirati dishes to look forward to in the UAE.

MUST-TRY FOOD IN DUBAI & ABU DHABI

1. Khobz Al Khameer

Khobz al khameer is a traditional Emirati yeasted flatbread typically served as a breakfast dish. It’s a golden-hued bread cooked with ghee or egg wash and topped with sesame seeds. It’s made with ingredients similar to yeast bread served in other parts of the world. 

In addition to the usual yeast bread ingredients, khobz al khameer is often made with a pinch or two of spice. Cardamom and turmeric are favorites while saffron is used mainly as a coloring agent. Khboz al khameer is also made using milk powder instead of liquid milk which is more common in the west.

Khobz al khameer is an airy and hollow bread that’s cooked on a special khameer bread maker or oven. The bread is first cooked on the oven’s cover for a minute before being transferred inside where it quickly rises and puffs up.

When cooked, the bread’s hollow center can be filled with date paste or any other filling. It can also be served with date syrup and cheese.

Photo by Wirestock

2. Rigag

Rigag is an unleavened, wafer-thin traditional Emirati flatbread that you can enjoy on its own, typically for breakfast, or as an accompaniment to stews like tharid. Made with just three ingredients – flour, water, and salt – it becomes especially popular during the holy month of Ramadan.

When enjoyed as a standalone dish, rigag is often topped with cheese, eggs, honey, and other ingredients while still cooking on a pan. When eaten as an accompaniment, it can be served topped or incorporated into meat stews, or served on its own with a side of yogurt.

Photo by Hihitetlin

3. Chebab

You can think of the chebab as a type of yeasted Emirati pancake. They’re similar to Moroccan baghrir except they’re more flavorful and aromatic thanks to the use of spices like cardamom and saffron.

A popular breakfast dish, these delicious spiced pancakes are usually served with cheese and date syrup.

Photo by [email protected]

4. Balaleet

Balaleet is another popular breakfast dish in the Emiartes. It refers to a noodle dish that can be both savory and sweet. It is, in fact, a savory-sweet dish that’s typically served for breakfast though it can also be eaten for dessert.

Balaleet is made by first sauteeing and then boiling vermicelli noodles. Once they’re cooked, they’re sweetened with sugar, cardamom, turmeric, and saffron-infused rose water. When eaten for breakfast, they’re usually served with an omelette or scrambled eggs on top.

Photo by DmZo

5. Shakshuka

Shakshuka is believed to be Tunisian in origin though it’s a staple breakfast dish in many parts of North Africa and the Middle East, including the UAE. In recent decades, it’s been embraced by the west and has become one of the most popular breakfast dishes hailing from that region of the world.

Shakshuka refers to a simple but delicious tomato-based dish of poached eggs. To make it, shallots, garlic, tomatoes, bell peppers, and chilies are first sauteed in olive oil. Tomato paste, pureed uncooked tomatoes, and honey are then added to the pan.

Once the tomato base is cooked, eggs are cracked into the mixture. The egg whites are allowed to blend into the tomato sauce while the egg yolks are left intact and poached to perfection. The dish is then sprinkled with za’atar and garnished with basil leaves before serving.

Photo by fotek

6. Harees

Harees is a popular traditional dish in Emirati cuisine. It refers to a porridge made with beaten skinless wheat and meat, usually chicken or lamb. It’s typically served garnished with different ingredients like sugar, cinnamon, ghee, pistachio, and raisins.

Harees becomes especially popular during the holy month of Ramadan. It’s a filling and nutritious dish that’s easy on the stomach, which is a boon during the month of fasting.

Before using, wheat has to be soaked for at least 5 hours, better if overnight. It’s then placed in a pot of water with meat, onion, garlic, and spices. Even with a pressure cooker, it still takes at least 1.5 hours for the wheat to be fully cooked through. The grains are then mashed till smooth and cooked in a pan with the deboned meat and coconut milk while being constantly stirred.

Indeed, the cooking process is long and laborious, but it shouldn’t be difficult to find Emirati restaurants that serve traditional harees, especially during Ramadan. It’s a popular dish throughout the Arabian Peninsula and in other countries like Armenia.

Photo by Wirestock

7. Madrouba

Madrouba, also spelled madrooba, is another type of Emirati porridge made with rice and meat, usually chicken. It’s similar to harees in that it’s traditionally prepared by beating the rice into a smooth mash using a wooden spoon called a medhrab. Though the dish may look deceptively simple, it can be fairly involved to make.

To prepare, the meat is first boiled and simmered in a pot of water with caramelized onions, dried lime, and spices. After the meat is cooked all the way through, rice is added and stirred constantly to ensure that it doesn’t stick and burn.

Stirring also softens the rice instead of leaving it to absorb all the fluids like in machboos. The rice is then mashed into a fine consistency.

For me, madrouba is the ultimate comfort food. It’s thick, nutritious, and filling. Plus it’s delicious, too.

Photo by AmnaMF, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

8. Tharid

Like harees, tharid is a preferred dish for iftar and for breaking the fast during the holy month of Ramadan. Also known as thareed, it refers to a thick stew made with some type of meat like chicken, lamb, or goat mixed with potatoes and seasonal vegetables. The stew is typically served on or with rigag, the traditional Emirati flatbread.

Tharid is a heavily-seasoned, melt-in-your-mouth meat dish, the result of slowly simmering meat and other ingredients in spices for at least 1.5 hours. The flatbread served with the stew soaks up the dish’s juices and serves as a handy vessel for scooping up the meat and vegetables.

Without question, tharid is a heavenly combination of flavors and textures and one of the best Emirati dishes you can try in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Photo by topphoto

9. Ghuzi

Ghuzi or khuzi is a delicious slow-cooked meat and rice dish. Like machboos, it’s considered by many to be a national dish of the UAE.

Ghuzi recipes vary but one restaurant in Dubai makes it by marinating meat – usually lamb or goat – in spices like garlic, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, and saffron for at least 8 hours. The marinated meat is then cooked in an oven for 4 hours at low heat until the meat turns a reddish-brown color.

Once the meat is fully cooked and ready to be served, it’s placed on a bed of rice and potatoes. The rice, which has been soaked in water and then slow-cooked in the lamb’s braising liquid, forms the bottom layer. This is then followed by roasted potatoes before being topped with meat.

Before serving, ghuzi is often garnished with currants, raisins, and roasted nuts like pistachios.

Photo by [email protected]

10. Machboos

No Dubai food guide would ever be complete without machboos. Also known as kabsa, it’s a traditional rice dish that’s widely considered to be a national dish in all countries of the Arabian Peninsula.

Machboos refers to a hearty meat and yellow basmati rice dish. But unlike Ghuzi, the meat and rice are cooked together in one pot.

The meat, usually lamb, is marinated in a mixture of spices like garlic, cumin, cloves, bzar (Emirati spice blend), and chilli powder. It’s then browned in oil before being braised in water or stock with onions, garlic, turmeric powder, coriander powder, dried lime, and chopped tomatoes.

Once the meat is almost cooked, soaked basmati rice is added to the pot and slow-cooked at very low heat, undisturbed, until all the cooking liquid is absorbed. Coriander leaves and green chilies can also be added before the rice is fully cooked.

You can find delicious machboos at many restaurants in Dubai and Abu Dhabi but one of my personal favorites is the highly-rated Al Fanar Restaurant & Café in Yas Mall. If you visit Abu Dhabi, then I highly recommend trying it there.

Photo by Senalfred

11. Maqluba

As you can probably tell by now, hearty meat and rice dishes are popular in Emirati cuisine. Maqluba or maqlooba is another example. The word maqluba literally means “upside-down” and refers to the way the pot used to cook the dish is flipped upside down to serve it.

Like ghuzi and machboos, maqluba is made with rice, meat, tubers, and vegetables. Chicken and lamb are the preferred meats while eggplant and cauliflower are the most commonly used vegetables. The different ingredients are layered carefully in the pot with the vegetables going in first, followed by the meat, then the rice.

Maqluba is typically garnished with pine nuts and chopped fresh parsley and served with salad and yogurt.

Photo by zurijeta

12. Samak Mashwi

Thanks to its location in the Persian Gulf region, fish and seafood have long featured prominently in traditional Emirati cuisine. There are many delicious seafood dishes you can try in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, one of my favorites being samak mashwi.

Samak mashwi refers to fish, usually seabream, grilled in the traditional Emirati way. The fish is marinated in a mixture of herbs and spices like coriander, cumin, chilli, turmeric, paprika, dried lime powder, and date paste. The fish is then grilled with its scales still on to help it stay moist even in high heat. It’s a delicious dish and a must-try in the UAE.

Photo by fanfon

13. Luqaimat

If you’re curious about trying Arabic desserts, then you can start with luqaimat. Sweet, sticky, and crunchy, they’re a popular street food in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and a beloved traditional Emirati dessert.

Luqaimat are essentially deep-fried dough balls flavored with spices like cardamom and saffron. They taste like crispy fried doughnuts – crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside.

Luqaimat are typically glazed or drizzled with date molasses before being garnished with sesame seeds for added texture. Because they’re so sticky, they’re typically eaten using toothpicks or mini-skewers.

Photo by sablinstanislav

14. Kunafa

If you visit Dubai or Abu Dhabi, then you must not miss kunafa. It’s an incredibly delicious dessert that’s consumed in many Arab and Balkan countries like Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Lebanon.

Kunafa consists of kataifi pastry soaked in a sweet, sugar-based syrup and layered with cheese. Depending on where it’s from and who’s making it, it can be enriched with other ingredients like pistachios, almonds, raisins, rose water, lemon juice, and cinnamon. It’s decadent and delicious and a definite must-try dessert in the UAE.

Photo by reflex_safak

15. Gahwa (Arabic Coffee)

There’s no better end to a decadent meal in Dubai than with dessert and a cup of Arabic coffee. Known in the Emirati dialect as gahwa, coffee has been a central part of Arab culture for centuries. In fact, so important is the coffee tradition to Arab culture that it was awarded Intangible Cultural Heritage status by UNESCO in 2015.

The preparation and consumption of Arabic coffee is steeped in ritual. It’s a national tradition in the UAE and considered a symbol of unity and generosity.

Arabic coffee is strong and bitter so it’s traditionally served with dates and other desserts.

Photo by Sophie_James

BONUS: Stuffed Camel

This last entry is an interesting but uncommon dish so I thought I’d add it as a bonus.

If you want a memorable, truly out-of-this-world experience in Dubai, then you need to try stuffed camel. It’s a lavish and extravagant dish that takes a whole village (or what might feel like it) to prepare.

Stuffed is the operative term. The camel is cleaned, trimmed, and then stuffed with an entire cooked lamb. The lamb itself is stuffed with whole cooked chickens, which are in turn stuffed with cooked rice and boiled eggs. After the camel has been sufficiently stuffed, it’s roasted on a spit over an open flame until cooked through.

As delicious as it sounds, you might have difficulty finding this stuffed camel dish at regular Emirati restaurants. Stuffed camel is traditional Emirati wedding fare so if you’re lucky enough to be invited to a traditional upscale UAE wedding, then you might find it there.

EMIRATI FOOD TOURS

Needless to say, no one knows traditional food in the Emirates better than someone who actually lives there. So what better way to experience the food in Dubai and Abu Dhabi than with a local guide? Not only can they take you to the city’s best markets, street food stalls, and restaurants, but they’ll be able to explain all the Emirati dishes to you in more detail.

Check out Get Your Guide for a list of food-related tours and activities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON TRADITIONAL EMIRATI CUISINE

To a lot of people, Emirati food is shrouded in mystery. However, it’s one cuisine that needs to be discovered.

Traditional Emirati cuisine is exciting, intense, unique, and most certainly worth exploring. If you visit Dubai in May, then you need to attend the Dubai Food Festival. Add it to your itinerary along with traditional Emirati restaurants in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and any other destination in the UAE.

There are many reasons why Dubai and Abu Dhabi are among the most visited cities in the world. Good local food is definitely one of them.

Disclosure

Some of the links in this article on traditional Dubai foods are affiliate links. If you make a booking or reservation, then we’ll earn a small commission at no added cost to you. As always, we only recommend products and services that we use ourselves and firmly believe in. We really appreciate your support as it helps us make more of these free travel and food guides. Thank you!

Cover photo by sablinstanislav. Stock images via Depositphotos.

Filipinos LOVE to eat. Eating and sharing food is a big part of Filipino culture. It brings people together and builds a sense of community. Rarely will you attend a gathering or celebration in the Philippines where food wasn’t a central component.

In fact, one of the most common greetings in the Philippines (even among strangers) is kain na or kumain ka na? This literally translates to “let’s eat” or “have you eaten?” In some instances, the person being invited to eat isn’t really expected to accept, but it’s considered good manners to offer anyway.

Filipino snacks (aka Pinoy snacks) are a big part of Filipino food culture and this is best exemplified in the light afternoon meal known as merienda. I’ll get to it in more detail below but merienda in the Philippines basically refers to any small meal – both savory and sweet – that’s typically eaten between lunch and dinner.

In this article, I’ll describe some of the most popular Filipino snacks that locals eat for merienda. Kain na!

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WHAT IS FILIPINO MERIENDA?

The word merienda literally translates to “snack”. It’s a food tradition that’s practiced in different countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy, Argentina, Croatia, Morocco, and Brazil. Being a colony of Spain for over 300 years, it’s clear that Filipinos inherited the tradition from the Spanish though it’s a custom that’s beloved by many cultures around the world.

In Filipino cuisine, merienda is typically enjoyed sometime in the mid-afternoon, around 3 or 4PM. It’s a light snack that can be savory or sweet and is meant to tide you over until dinner.

Most if not all Filipinos who were raised in the Philippines grew up eating merienda. Even Filipinos who grew up in the diaspora are familiar with it because it’s a custom that their parents likely took with them.

Growing up in the Philippines, you just expect to have merienda everyday, even if you’re visiting a friend’s house over the weekend. It’s as common an eating habit in the Philippines as breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

THE BEST FILIPINO SNACKS

There are many different types of Filipino snacks that people enjoy for merienda. It can vary from household to household but these are some of the most common.

1. Turon

There’s no better way to start this article on popular Filipino snacks than with turon, a delicious dish made with thin slices of saba banana (banana cultivar) coated in brown sugar and then deep-fried in lumpia wrapper. It’s a sweet and crunchy Filipino snack that’s also commonly eaten for dessert or sold as street food in the Philippines.

Many Filipinos have fond memories of turon because it’s something we grew up eating. In fact, whenever my US-based brother visits the Philippines, it’s one of the first dishes he looks for. Cheap and easy to make, it’s Filipino comfort food at its most delicious.

Like many people, turon is personally one of my favorite Filipino snacks. Eaten at room temperature, it’s always filled with saba but some versions can be made with a thin sliver of langka (jackfruit) as well. At restaurants, it can be served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert. It’s so delicious.

Speaking of dessert, if you have a fondness for the sweeter things in life, then be sure to check out our article on traditional Filipino desserts.

Photo by junpinzon

2. Banana Cue

Turon may be the most popular saba-based Filipino snack but not far behind is banana cue (or banana q). It’s a very similar dish except the saba banana is skewered whole and then coated with brown sugar before being deep-fried.

Both are commonly sold as street food though banana cue may be less frequently made at home. At least that’s how I remember it. It’s even less common to find it on dessert menus at Filipino restaurants.

Photo by bugking88

3. Puto / Kutsinta

Puto is one of the most iconic foods in the Philippines. When you think of dishes that best represent Filipino culture and cuisine, puto is one of the first things that comes to mind.

Puto refers to a steamed rice cake made with slightly fermented glutinous rice dough (galapong). Traditionally, they’re made with glutinous rice soaked in coconut milk but more modern versions are often made using glutinous rice flour instead.

The most common versions of puto are small in size, about the diameter of a golf ball, and muffin-shaped. They’re typically plain white but they can come in different colors as well depending on what other ingredients they’re made with like ube, pandan, or queso (cheese).

Pictured below is a basket of puto enriched with cheese. Note the thin sliver of cheese on top. Not all puto is made with that sliver of cheese.

Photo by MikeEdwards

Bite-sized puto is the most common but it can be made in other sizes as well. The version of putong puti (white puto) pictured below is palm-sized and individually wrapped in banana leaves.

Photo by raksyBH

Puto can also be made into larger sizes, about the same diameter as an average cake or pie. These larger versions of puto are meant for sharing. They’re sliced into wedges and served with grated coconut.

Photo by inotm5

What you’re looking at below is kutsinta, a variation of puto made with lye, annatto (achuete) seeds, and brown sugar (instead of white sugar). Lye gives kutsinta a much stickier and chewier texture while the annatto gives the rice cake its signature deep orange color.

The classic white version of puto is very often sold with kutsinta. Whenever my mom would bring home puto, they would always come with a separate packet of kutsinta. I like them both a lot but kutsinta has always been one of my favorite Filipino snacks.

Sticky, chewy, and a little sweet, kutsinta is absolutely delicious, especially when topped with grated coconut. Like puto, it can be enjoyed for dessert but it’s more commonly consumed as a mid-day snack.

Photo by junpinzon

4. Suman

Like puto, suman is an iconic Filipino snack that’s one of the most culturally representative dishes in Filipino cuisine. It’s made with glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk which is then wrapped in banana leaves before steaming.

Suman is one of the most beloved Filipino snacks but it’s also commonly eaten as breakfast food. Very sticky in texture, it’s typically served warm with a sprinkling of sugar on top or drizzled with latik, a type of caramelized syrup made with coconut cream.

The most common version of suman is cigar-shaped (pictured below) but it can be made in different shapes and varieties as well.

Photo by hendraxu

5. Mangga’t Bagoong

Because of our love for fried foods and all things sweet, I’ll admit that Filipino snacks aren’t the healthiest. If you want to snack on something that’s healthier and guilt-free, then you may want to try mangga’t bagoong. As innocuous as green mangoes are, I say that with some trepidation because bagoong is an acquired taste and not for everyone.

Mangga literally means “mango” but in this case, it refers specifically to unripe green mango. Crunchy and sour in taste, it’s cut into slivers and often enjoyed as a snack with an extremely pungent condiment made from fermented shrimp or krill called bagoong. Salty, savory, a little sweet, and fishy, it’s a popular condiment that exists in many countries throughout Southeast Asia like Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.

Mangga with bagoong may not be for everyone but it’s a punch of flavor and texture that anyone with an adventurous palate will surely enjoy. It’s definitely one of the healthier Filipino snacks out there which is probably why it’s preferred more by women. Pregnant Filipino women often crave for mangga’t bagoong.

Photo by dontree

6. Taho

Like turon, taho is a classic Filipino snack. Just the mere mention of the word taho brings back happy childhood memories for many Filipinos.

Taho refers to the Filipino version of douhua, a popular Chinese snack of silken tofu that’s consumed in many parts of Asia. Douhua can be consumed in many ways but in the Philippines, it’s made with three basic ingredients – silken tofu, arnibal (brown sugar syrup), and sago (tapioca) pearls.

Taho is typically sold as street food and never made at home. It’s peddled from two large aluminum buckets strung on either side of a bamboo pole. Slung over the vendor’s shoulders, one bucket would have the silken tofu while the other carried the arnibal and sago.

Every day, either early in the morning or mid-afternoon, the vendor would comb the neighborhoods yelling “tahoooooo!” at the top of his lungs. Kids of all ages would then scramble and run to their front doors to buy a bowl or glass of their favorite Filipino merienda.

Like turon, kutsinta, and fish balls, taho is a highly nostalgic dish and definitely one of my favorite Filipino snacks.

Photo by junpinzon

7. Fish Balls

Like taho and banana cue, fish balls are among the most iconic Filipino street food snacks. You can buy bags of frozen fish balls from the supermarket to make at home but the experience just isn’t the same.

Fish balls are exactly what they sound like – balls of flour mixed with some type of flaked fish meat. They’re deep-fried in oil, skewered, and then served with one of three sauces – a savory-sweet brown sauce, vinegar and chili, or a combination of the two.

Fish balls are something many Filipino kids associate with school. They’re commonly sold by mobile street vendors who’d park their carts outside elementary schools and high schools. For many kids, it was something to snack on before going home.

Photo by junpinzon

When I was in school, fish balls were always skewered. Today, they’re often sold from plastic cups as well.

Photo by junpinzon

8. Banana Chips

Banana chips are less like merienda and more like a true snack. By that, I mean people typically snack on them at any time of the day, much like potato chips. Merienda can still qualify as a meal while saba banana chips are purely snacks.

Banana chips are sweet Filipino snacks made with thinly sliced saba bananas coated in brown sugar and then deep-fried. In some Latin American countries, they can be savory but in the Philippines, they’re always sweet.

Photo by thegoatman

9. Dried Mangoes

Dried mangoes from Cebu are among the most popular Filipino souvenir food items. You’ll almost always find them at souvenir shops at any airport in the Philippines. They’re popular because they keep well, they’re easy to carry, and they’re damn delicious.

Like banana chips, dried mangoes aren’t consumed for merienda but more as a pure snack. You can even consider them to be a type of soft candy snack, similar to any dried fruit. Unlike bags of potato chips which you can finish in one sitting, people usually eat a few pieces of dried mango and then save the rest for later.

I loved dried mangoes as a kid. But compared to other Filipino snacks, they’re pretty expensive so my mom would only buy them on occasion. That made them even more desirable.

As you may know, Filipino mangoes are among the best and sweetest in the world, which is why these dried mangoes from Cebu are such a coveted tourist item.

Photo by olena.sakhatska

10. Chicharon

Deep-fried pork rinds are a thing in many countries and the Philippines is no exception. These crunchy snacks made from pork skin and other animal parts are among the most popular snacks in the Philippines.

The word chicharon can refer to a family of crunchy fried snacks but the most popular type is made from pork skin (pictured below). Fried pork rinds are the most common but chicharon can be made from pork mesentery, chicken esophagus, and chicken skin as well.

Chicharon isn’t usually eaten for merienda but more as a pure snack or bar chow. Visit any Filipino bar and you’ll probably find some type of chicharon dish on the menu.

Photo by luismicss

This is hands down my favorite type of chicharon. What you’re looking at is chicharon bulaklak or chicharon made from fried pork mesentery.

Unlike other types of chicharon which are just crunchy, chicharon bulaklak is both crunchy and chewy. Bulaklak means “flower” in Filipino and refers to the frilly, flower-like shape of the mesentery.

Chicharon of any type is usually eaten with spiced vinegar to help cut the unctuousness of the fat. Not exactly one of the healthier Filipino snacks but definitely one of the most delicious.

Photo by MikeEdwards

Can you guess what type of chicharon this is? I’ll give you a clue – it’s made from the biggest organ of any animal.

Fresh off the fryer below are cups of fried chicken skin. Life is short. Grab a cup.

Photo by junpinzon

11. Bibingka

If you visit the Philippines during the holiday season, then you need to try bibingka. Though it’s now available year-round, it’s one of the most popular Filipino snacks associated with Christmas.

Bibingka refers to a type of rice cake made from sticky rice and coconut milk. Unlike other types of Filipino rice cake that are typically steamed, bibingka is baked in a clay pot lined with banana leaves. The pot is sandwiched between two layers of smoldering charcoal to cook the batter from the top and bottom.

Bibingka is a special holiday treat that many Filipinos look forward to around Christmas time. Like other Filipino rice cakes, it can be eaten for dessert though it’s more commonly enjoyed for merienda, usually with melted butter and grated coconut.

Photo by junpinzon

12. Biko

Biko is another type of Filipino sweet rice cake. Suman-like in texture, it’s a thick and dense cake made by cooking sticky rice with coconut milk and then topping it with caramelized brown sugar and coconut cream.

Biko is also referred to as bibingka malagkit (sticky bibingka), though it bears little resemblance to the previous dish.

Photo by junpinzon

13. Ensaymada

Like the merienda tradition, ensaymada is a dish with Spanish roots. Originally a Mallorcan dish, it refers to a type of Filipino brioche bread baked with butter and then topped with buttercream, sugar, and grated cheese, usually queso de bola (Edam cheese).

Like bibingka, ensaymada is available throughout the year but it holds special significance during the holiday season. Food is a common Christmas gift item in the Philippines and people will often gift relatives and friends with boxes of specially-made ensaymada.

Filipino cuisine draws many influences from Spanish cooking traditions and ensaymada is one of the best examples of that.

Photo by nuitgarden

14. Empanada

The empanada is another dish that was brought to the Philippines by the Spanish. Common throughout Latin America, it refers to a half-moon-shaped baked or fried pastry stuffed with ground meat, potatoes, carrots, onions, and raisins.

Filipino empanadas are usually small in size, about the length of your palm. People often eat two or three of these for merienda.

Photo by whitestorm4

One of the most famous types of Filipino empanada is from Vigan, a city in northern Luzon famous for its regional cuisine. It’s a larger type of empanada – about the size of an American taco – and is more orange in color due to the use of annatto seeds in the batter.

Vigan empanada also differs in its filling. It’s stuffed with grated green papaya, mung bean sprouts, shredded carrots, hard-boiled egg, and skinless Vigan longganisa. Just one of these bad boys will definitely be enough for merienda.

Photo by MikeEdwards

15. Balut

Last on this list is that infamous and bizarre Filipino snack known as balut. If you’ve never heard of it, balut refers to an unfertilized duck egg embryo that’s been incubated for 2-3 weeks, boiled, and then eaten directly from its shell.

What makes balut so controversial and off-putting for many, including some Filipinos, is that the fetus is often developed enough to be recognizable. You can see the beak, eyes, wings, and early formation of feathers. It’s definitely the most challenging snack on this list and not something everyone has the stomach for.

Photo by [email protected]

FINAL THOUGHTS ON FILIPINO SNACKS

When considering which dishes to include in this list of the best Filipino snacks, I thought about adding things like lumpia, Japanese sweet corn, and halo-halo.

I didn’t wind up adding lumpia because it’s eaten mainly as an appetizer while halo-halo is typically consumed for dessert. Japanese sweet corn, often sold as street food, makes more sense and would probably be the 16th entry on this list. Ginataang bilo-bilo would be a good addition too.

Though Filipinos are equally fond of commercially processed snacks like Clover Chips, Jack n’ Jill Chippy, Boy Bawang, and Tomi Sweet Corn Chips, I consider them to be junk food and not something you’d put on the same list as puto or suman.

In the Philippines, we call those types of snacks chichirya (junk food). Filipinos have quite a fondness for junk food so I may write a separate article on chichirya and Filipino candies like Choc Nut (peanut-flavored milk chocolate candy) as well.

Until then, I hope you enjoyed reading this article on the most popular Filipino snacks. If you have any favorite merienda dishes to add, then please let us know in the comment section below. Salamat!

Cover photo by asimojet. Stock images via Depositphotos.

To be honest, Valladolid wasn’t even on my itinerary. We travel for food so our destination choices were based largely on Google searches for “best food cities in mexico”.

Popular food cities like Oaxaca, Puebla, Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Merida were included in nearly every article I found. Only when I was doing research on Yucatecan cuisine did I learn about Valladolid.

I saw dishes with names like longaniza de valladolid and lomitos de valladolid so I did some digging. As it turns out, a few dishes that are enjoyed throughout the Yucatan Peninsula originated in Valladolid. I had to add it to my itinerary.

Many people visit Valladolid for just a few days, mainly as a stopover between Merida and cities in the Riviera Maya like Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum. I needed more time to explore its regional cuisine so I spent over a week in this small but charming pueblo magico.

If you’re visiting Valladolid and have a keen interest in regional Mexican cuisine, then this list of the best Valladolid restaurants will be of interest to you.

VALLADOLID RESTAURANTS QUICK LINKS

To help you with your Valladolid trip planning, we’ve put together links to top-rated hotels, tours, and other travel-related services here.

HOTELS

Recommended hotels in Centro, one of the most convenient areas to stay for first-time visitors to Valladolid.

• Luxury: Le Muuch Hotel Boutique
• Midrange: Real Hispano
• Budget: Casona del Negro Aguilar

TOURS

• Cenote Ticket: Cenote Maya Native Park Admission Ticket
• Cooking Class: Real Mexican Cooking Class & Professional Chef

OTHER SERVICES

• Travel Insurance (with COVID cover)
• Transfers: Cancun | Merida
• Mexico SIM Card

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WHAT FOOD IS VALLADOLID KNOWN FOR?

Valladolid is a small city in the eastern half of Yucatan state, close to the border with Quintana Roo. As of this writing, it’s one of 132 pueblos magicos (literally “magical towns”) you can visit in Mexico.

Being a city on the Yucatan Peninsula, traditional Yucatecan food is what you can expect to find in Valladolid. The Yucatan was the heart of the ancient Mayan Civilization so traditional Yucatan cuisine is heavily influenced by Mayan culinary traditions. It’s for this reason why Yucatecan food is often referred to as Mayan cuisine.

I won’t get into too much detail here but some of the tastiest and most important dishes in Valladolid regional cuisine include lomitos, longaniza, cochinita pibil, and pibihuajes. For more information, you can refer to our guide on traditional Mayan cuisine.

THE BEST RESTAURANTS IN VALLADOLID

1. Restaurante Constanza

I was walking down Calle 37 in downtown Valladolid one morning when I chanced upon Restaurante Constanza. It’s a cozy restaurant that serves a wide menu of breakfast, seafood, and regional dishes. You can find many Yucatecan specialties here like cochinita pibil, lomitos de valladolid, poc chuc, and papadzules.

I was looking at their menu near the front gate when one of the servers started chatting with me. According to him, Restaurante Constanza had just opened up the week before. I’m always happy to support local businesses so I promised to come back at noon when they were ready to serve lunch.

I love trying local food so I was unsure at first what to order, but I eventually settled on this beautiful plate of longaniza de valladolid. As you can tell from its name, it’s a local sausage made with ground pork seasoned with garlic, chile ancho, vinegar, pepper, and spices. It’s served with fresh corn tortillas and a bevy of sides like pickled red onions, avocados, refried beans, tortilla chips, and sour orange wedges.

If you like sampling local sausages when you travel, then you need to try longaniza de valladolid. It’s delicious.

For dessert, I enjoyed this equally beautiful bowl of caballero pobre. Drenched in syrup and served with slices of fresh fruit and raisins, you can think of it as the Yucatecan version of french toast.

Aside from their menu of local dishes, another thing that drew me to Restaurante Constanza was the space itself. It’s located in what appears to be a converted house.

I didn’t bother going inside but there are two tables on the front porch – where I sat – and two more on the front lawn. Eating here makes you feel like you’re having Sunday brunch in someone’s home.

Restaurante Constanza is one of the newest restaurants in Valladolid but I’ve got a feeling they’ll be around for a long time.

Restaurante Constanza

Address: C. 37 192A, Centro, 97780 Valladolid, Yucatan
Operating Hours: 8AM-5PM, daily
What to Order: Breakfast dishes, seafood, traditional Yucatecan dishes

2. Yum Ka’ax El Buen Sabor

Valladolid is known for its Mayan food so when I see a restaurant with a Mayan-sounding name like Yum Ka’ax, I’m instantly on my phone searching for reviews. Thankfully, the reviews were great.

Yum Ka’ax is a Mayan restaurant that serves breakfast dishes, antojitos, tamales, and other Yucatecan specialties. There’s lots of good local food to be had here so I wavered between the cochinita, poc chuc, and sopa de lima before eventually going with the lomitos de valladolid. It’s a tasty local dish consisting of diced pork loin cooked in a slightly spicy tomato sauce.

Like my longaniza de valladolid at Restaurante Constanza, these lomitos were served with a slew of side dishes like rice, hard-boiled egg, avocado, corn tortillas, and plantains. My server was quite amiable and happy to help me choose the right dish. These lomitos were delicious.

One thing that drew me to Yum Ka’ax was their ice cream. They have three flavors – queso de bola (Edam cheese), elote (corn), and chaya (local herb). I wanted to try all three but unfortunately, all they had that day was queso de bola.

I wasn’t bummed for too long because this queso de bola ice cream was delicious. Edam cheese is an important and often-used ingredient in many Yucatecan dishes and desserts.

Valladolid, like the rest of the Yucatan Peninusla, can get blisteringly hot. Aside from diving into a cenotes, fresh juices are among the best ways to cool down.

Yum Ka’ax serves many different types of aguas frescas but since this is Valladolid, I suggest trying agua de chaya. It’s made from a chard-like shrub native to the Yucatan.

Enriched with pineapple or lemon, agua de chaya is a deliciously fresh drink that will keep you healthy and hydrated in Valladolid.

If you want good food (and excellent service) at reasonable prices in Valladolid, then Yum Ka’ax El Buen Sabor is a great place to consider.

Yum Ka’ax El Buen Sabor

Address: Calle 42 número 190 Candelaria 97780 Valladolid Yucatán MX, entre 33 Y 35
Operating Hours: 7AM-8PM, daily
What to Order: Breakfast dishes, antojitos, traditional Yucatecan dishes

3. Loncheria Olich

I went to a few good restaurants in Valladolid but Loncheria Olich may have been my favorite. I enjoyed it for its food and its ambiance.

Loncheria Olich is a casual restaurant that serves breakfast and dinner. They serve breakfast from 8AM till 1PM and dinner from 6-10PM. I ate here twice, both times for breakfast.

On my first visit, I had longaniza de valladolid. I enjoyed longaniza a few times in Valladolid and Merida and this one was definitely my favorite. It had a crispy but crumbly texture that was an absolute joy to eat.

I enjoyed that longaniza de valladolid so much that I had breakfast here again before taking the bus to Playa del Carmen. This time, I had huevos motuleños, one of the most famous Yucatecan regional dishes. Originally from the town of Motul, it’s a hearty breakfast dish consisting of corn tortillas topped with fried eggs, black beans, cheese, and tomato sauce.

If you’re really hungry and want to try both these dishes, then I suggest getting the motuleños valladolid. It’s basically huevos motuleños served with Valladolid longaniza.

A deliciously fresh mason jar of agua de chaya con piña to wash all that delicious breakfast food down.

I think I enjoyed this space as much as the food itself.

The dining area at Loncheria Olich is located in the back, in a tranquil garden-like space with plenty of potted plants. It’s a breezy al fresco space that’s partially covered so you don’t have to suffer under the intense heat of the Yucatecan sun.

I’ve seen pictures of Loncheria Olich at night and the space looks as charming as it does during the day. I think they serve mostly soups and antojitos at night.

If you want tasty food at great prices served in a space that makes you feel good, then I highly recommend going to Loncheria Olich. For me, it’s definitely one of the best restaurants in Valladolid.

Loncheria Olich

Address: Calle 40 No 179 B entre Calle 33 y 35, Sta Lucía, 97780 Valladolid, Yucatan
Operating Hours: 8AM-1PM, 6-10PM, Mon-Sat / 6-10PM, Sunday
What to Order: Yucatecan Breakfast dishes

4. El Sazon de Valladolid

El Sazon is another great place to visit for good Mexican food in Valladolid. Located on the outskirts of the centro area, this highly-rated restaurant serves regional cuisines along with seafood, a few vegetarian options, and breakfast dishes. They have such an extensive menu that it can be hard to decide what to get.

After going through their menu a few times and poring through online reviews for clues, I ultimately went with this platter of salbutes. Salbutes are among the most popular antojitos in the Yucatan. They’re puffy deep-fried tortillas that can be topped with any number of ingredients. In this case, two with cochinita and two with shredded chicken.

Cochinita is arguably the single most important dish in Mayan cuisine. It refers to a dish of slow-roasted pork marinated in achiote and sour orange juice. The pork is wrapped in banana leaves and then slow-cooked for up to 16 hours in an earthen oven called a píib. It’s absolutely delicious and a must-try dish in Valladolid.

Admittedly, this wasn’t the best cochinita I had in Valladolid but these salbutes were definitely the most generous. The salbutes themselves were quite large and practically overflowing with meat.

For dessert, I had this smooth and creamy flan napolitano, one of the most delicious desserts you can have in Mexico. It’s basically the Mexican version of a popular custard dessert that exists in some form in many countries throughout the world like Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, and the Philippines.

El Sazon de Valladolid is located several blocks west of Valladolid’s zocalo (main square). It’s in a less busy and much quieter neighborhood that doesn’t get as much vehicular traffic (or tourists).

If you want solid Mexican cuisine in a quiet restaurant that offers good service, then El Sazon de Valladolid is a good place to go.

El Sazon de Valladolid

Address: Valladolid – Cancun 231 A x 48 y 50, Bacalar, 97780 Valladolid, Yucatan
Operating Hours: 8AM-10:30PM, daily
What to Order: Breakfast dishes, antojitos, seafood

5. La Selva

My AirBnB host recommended this restaurant to me. He frequents La Selva himself to get antojitos and soup at very reasonable prices. Salbutes, panuchos, tacos, and tostadas go for just MXN 15 apiece.

Pictured below is my overflowing plate with three salbutes, two panuchos, and one empanada. If I remember correctly, the panuchos were topped with lomitos while the salbutes were made with shredded chicken. The empanada was filled with ground pork and cheese.

These antojitos were delicious but if you’re an average eater, then don’t overorder and get six. Four will probably be enough.

Like El Sazon de Valladolid, La Selva is located several blocks away from the zocalo. Had it now been for my AirBnB host, then I probably wouldn’t have found this place. ¡Muchas gracias!

La Selva

Address: C. 42 179C, Sta Lucía, 97780 Valladolid, Yucatan
Operating Hours: 6-10PM, Fri-Wed (closed Thursdays)
What to Order: Antojitos

6. Echate un Taco

I had cochinita many times in Merida and Valladolid and the version I had here at Echate un Taco was in my top two. This burnt orange mound of slow-roasted pork served on beautiful Mexican dining ware was perhaps the single best thing I had in Valladolid.

Echate un Taco sources their cochinita from Tixcacalcupul, a municipality about 20 km (12.4 miles) south of Valladolid. According to my very gregarious server, this small Yucatecan town is known for producing some of the very best cochinita on the peninsula.

Served with a side of corn tortillas so you could make your own tacos, this cochinita was seriously delicious.

Echate un Taco has a small indoor dining room but if you enjoy dining alfresco, then you can enjoy your cochinita or other Yucatan specialties here. Aside from cochinita, they serve many other regional favorites like lomitos, sopa de lima, papadzules, and poc chuc.

Echate un Taco is located on the same block as El Sazon de Valladolid. It’s a fun little restaurant with great service and what could very well be the best cochinita in Valladolid.

Echate un Taco

Address: Calle 41 x 48 y 50, Bacalar, 97784 Valladolid, Yucatan
Operating Hours: 1-10PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What to Order: Cochinita pibil, traditional Yucatecan dishes

7. Burrito Amor

Frequent visitors to Tulum may be familiar with this restaurant. Burrito Amor is a fun burrito restaurant that built a loyal following in Tulum before setting up shop in Valladolid. From their website, it looks like they’ll be opening a branch somewhere in the US as well.

Burrito Amor offers a more contemporary menu of Mexican food. You’ll find different types of meat and seafood burritos, egg burritos, salads, and breakfast bowls. There are a few vegetarian and vegan options as well.

Pictured below is my tasty grilled pork and pineapple burrito. This is a regular size but if you add MXN 25, then you can upsize any burrito to a large.

Burrito Amor has a lush, plant-filled garden area in the back where you can enjoy your burrito.

You can also dine in this lovely indoor dining space with tiled floors. They seem to share this space with an art club and cafe.

Between the cafe and Burrito Amor’s alfresco dining space is this room with various ceramics and handicrafts on display. I’m not sure what the story is here but I believe these are all for sale.

In any case, Burrito Amor is a fun little restaurant and a great place to enjoy breakfast or a burrito (or a breakfast burrito) in Valladolid.

Burrito Amor

Address: C. 44 por 35, Candelaria, 97782 Valladolid, Yucatan
Operating Hours: 8AM-10PM, Thurs-Tue (closed Wednesdays)
What to Order: Breakfast dishes, burritos

8. Las Tortolas

I rode a bicycle from my AirBnB to Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman’s cenote. By the time I had gotten back to the outskirts of Valladolid, I was dying of hunger and thirst. Thankfully, this delicious family-run torta (sandwich) shop was along the way.

I’ve had many tortas throughout Mexico and this was one of my favorites. They make them with different fillings like ham, eggs, and longaniza. I was starving from the bike ride so I went for the cubana, which is basically a sandwich with all of the above.

This beautiful sandwich was filled with longaniza, ham, hot dogs, breaded pork, and scrambled eggs. This seriously hit the spot!

Here’s a look at all those delectable layers of meat, egg, and bread. Yummers!

Las Tortolas is located a few blocks south of the zocalo. You can probably walk there in about 15-20 minutes.

Las Tortolas

Address: C. 38 255, San Juan, 97783 Valladolid, Yucatan
Operating Hours: 7AM-2PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What to Order: Tortas

9. Nena Nena

Nena Nena isn’t a vegan restaurant but they do make well-prepared vegetarian food. There are no veggie burgers here but you can get vegetarian options of popular Mexican dishes like gorditas, guajillas, tlacoyos, and enchiladas.

However, I’m not a vegetarian so I went with this beautiful plate of tacos de canasta. Tacos de canasta literally means “basket tacos” and refers to tacos that are filled with various stews and then bathed in oil or melted butter. They’re sold from baskets to keep them warm hence the name.

Even before I looked at Nena Nena’s menu, I already knew what I wanted. There was a familiar-looking basket at the entrance to the restaurant with a sign that read “tacos de canasta”. I’ll take five please.

I asked for five but it looks like my server was kind enough to give me six. ¡Muchisimas gracias! Nena Nena fills their tacos de canasta with pressed chicharron, potato and chorizo, potato and chili pepper, refried beans, and pork.

Speaking of tacos de canasta, be sure to check out our guide on the best tacos in Mexico City if you plan on visiting the country’s capital.

Aside from their delicious basket tacos, another thing I loved about Nena Nena was the space. Cafe-like in feel, it’s a relaxed and hip atmosphere with one of the more contemporary-looking interiors I found in Valladolid.

Nena Nena is one of the more fun restaurants I went to in Valladolid. I definitely recommend checking them out, especially if you’re looking for vegetarian or vegan options.

Nena Nena

Address: Calle 37 por 44 y 42, Centro, 97780 Valladolid, Yucatan
Operating Hours: 10AM-6PM, Wed-Mon (closed Tuesdays)
What to Order: Tacos de canasta, vegetarian-friendly dishes

10. Sabrositacos

If you’re looking for a no-frills taqueria in Valladolid, the kind that locals go to, then look no further than Sabrositacos. Located on the same block as La Selva, this humble taco restaurant was recommended to me by my AirBnB host as well.

Sabrositacos is like your typical neighborhood taqueria. They serve the usual taqueria offerings like tacos, tortas, quesadillas, and antojitos.

It had been a while since my last al pastor tacos so I went with four, two mixed with cheese. I will seriously never grow tired of these.

Sabrositacos serves beer and other alcoholic drinks. If you want to spend the night eating tacos and drinking beer at a non-touristy restaurant in Valladolid, then Sabrositacos is a great place to go.

Sabrositacos

Address: 31 200U X 40 y 42, Santa Lucía, 97780 Valladolid, Yucatan
Operating Hours: 6:30PM-12MN, Tur-Sun (closed Mondays)
What to Order: Tacos, antojitos

11. Tres Mentiras

I was so happy I found this restaurant. It was actually located on the same street as my AirBnB, several blocks north of the zocalo, but in a section that I didn’t pass too often. I saw it by chance when riding my bike in and out of town.

Tres Mentiras is a restaurant/bar that serves a full range of drinks like mezcal cocktails, tequila, margaritas, martinis, gin and tonics, beer, and more. Their menu offers many comfort food options both Mexican and international like tacos, quesadillas, burritos, chicken wings, and hamburgers.

Pictured below is a tasty trio of pulpo (octopus) tacos. They have octopus, shrimp, fish, flank steak, chicken, and cochinita. Each order comes with three.

Tres Mentiras offers many dishes to choose from but they have an even wider selection of perfectly blended cocktails. I asked my server for recommendations and she pointed me to this piña gengibre made with pineapple, ginger, and Espadin mezcal. I love Mexico.

Tres Mentiras is a fun and colorful restaurant with elaborate murals on the walls. No one was performing that night but they have a stage for live music as well.

Tres Mentiras is a hidden gem in Valladolid. If you’re in the mood for good comfort food, cocktails, and music in a venue that isn’t frequented by tourists, then this is a great place for you to go.

Tres Mentiras

Address: C. 33 214, Candelaria, 97782 Valladolid, Yucatan
Operating Hours: 4PM-1:30AM, Tue-Sun (closed Mondays)
What to Order: Tacos, quesadillas, mezcal cocktails

12. Paletas y Helados Kukulkan

As described, it can get brutally hot in Valladolid and the Yucatan. At the hottest times of the day, refreshing drinks and desserts like these scoops of Mexican ice cream are the next best thing to a cenotes.

Paletas y Helados Kukulkan is an ice cream and frozen popiscle cart that offers the usual flavors like chocolate, Nutella, and vanilla but they also have more Mexican offerings like elote and limon-tequila. Guess which two I got?

Paletas y Helados Kukulkan is like any typical ice cream cart in Mexico but what I like about it is that it’s hidden in plain sight. It’s located in the heart of Valladolid, right by the zocalo, but you’d never know it was there.

You can find the cart inside Centro Artesanal Zaci, a shopping arcade on the north side of the plaza. It’s home to a few shops selling clothing and handicrafts and a lush, plant-filled garden in its inner courtyard. It’s a great place to sit down and enjoy a cup of ice cream to cool down from the intense Yucatan heat.

I believe Paletas y Helados Kukulkan has a proper shop along Calzada de los Frailes but this cart is easier to get to.

Paletas y Helados Kukulkan

Address: Centro Artesanal “Zaci”, C. 39 30, Centro, 97780 Valladolid, Yucatan
Operating Hours: 8AM-7PM, daily
What to Order: Elote ice cream

BAZAR MUNICIPAL

There are a few good places to get cheap eats in Valladolid, but the most conveniently located is Bazar Municipal. My AirBnB host turned me on to this place as well.

Located right off the zocalo, on the same side as Centri Artesanal Zaci, Bazar Municipal is home to a food court with about a dozen stalls offering inexpensive food.

13. Loncheria Canul

Whenever we visit an unfamiliar hawker center in Singapore, we always look for the stalls with the longest line of locals. This guarantees that you get the best and most authentic food. The same rule applies anywhere in the world.

But when no single stall stands out, we follow another rule – avoid the stalls with the most aggressive touts. Places like that are aggressive for a reason (ie crappy food) so avoid them at all costs. You’ll find a few of those here at Bazar Municipal.

True enough, one of the quietest stalls at the food court had the highest reviewer rating – Loncheria Canul.

Loncheria Canul has a focused menu offering a few specialties from Yucatecan cuisine like sopa de lima, lomitos, and longaniza. I went with a dish that was somewhat familiar to me because we have something similar in our native Philippines – escabeche.

Escabeche in the Philippines is typically made with fish but what you’re looking at below is pollo (chicken) en escabeche oriental. The term escabeche refers to a culinary technique that involves cooking marinated meats, fish, poultry, or vegetables in an acidic sauce, usually with vinegar.

The reason why the dish is called “oriental” is because it’s originally from the eastern part of the Yucatan Peninsula, specifically Valladolid.

Loncheria Canul

Address: Bazar Municipal, C. 40 190, Centro, 97780 Valladolid, Yucatan
Operating Hours: 4-10PM, daily
What to Order: Escabeche de pollo, antojitos

MERCADO MUNICIPAL

Mercado Municipal is Valladolid’s main market. Home to butchers, produce sellers, and handicraft shops, it’s a good place to visit if you’d like to get a glimpse of local life in Valladolid.

Like any public market in Mexico, Mercado Municipal is also a great place to get cheap eats in Valladolid.

14. Taqueria Ebeneezer

Remember what I said about looking for the stalls with the longest line of locals? That approach definitely helped me here.

Ebeneezer is a small taqueria tucked away in a corner of Mercado Municipal. They offer a few specialties in Yucatecan cuisine like cochinita and lechon al horno that you can enjoy in salbutes, panuchos, pibihuajes, or polcanes.

Until I got to this stall, I had never heard of pibihuajes before so I googled it. As it turns out, it’s a Yucatecan dish that originated right here in Valladolid.

This is what pibihuajes looks like. It’s basically an oval-shaped sphere of bread made with dough and red beans. It’s baked in a píib before being split open and filled with various ingredients like cochinita, lechon, lomitos, or carne asada.

You can think of pibihuajes as a mini Yucatecan sandwich bun, but much denser in texture.

Taqueria Ebeneezer

Address: Mercado Municipal de Valladolid, C. 32 #0, Sta Ana, 97780 Valladolid, Yucatan
Operating Hours: 5AM-4PM, daily
What to Order: Salbutes, panuchos, pibihuajes, polcanes

15. Loncheria Mati

After eating my pibihuajes and walking out of Mercado Municipal, I noticed this humble restaurant right across the street. It was buzzing with locals, which to me is like a big neon sign that says “come here”.

Another great sign? Loncheria Mati basically offers just a couple things on their menu – empanadas and salbutes/panuchos/polcanes.

The majority of locals were feasting on their empanadas so that’s what I decided to try as well. Loncheria Mati makes empanadas filled with ground meat, cheese, or ground meat and cheese.

Yucatan cuisine is known for a specific type of empanada made with chaya. You can usually see flecks of green in the fried dough but this one didn’t seem to have any.

As you can see below, I got one filled with ground meat and cheese. No wonder Loncheria Mati was packed. Their empanadas are delicious.

Loncheria Mati

Address: C. 37 180, Sta Ana, 97780 Valladolid, Yucatan
Operating Hours: 7AM-12:30AM, daily
What to Order: Empanadas, salbutes, panuchos, polcanes

LOCATION MAP

To help you navigate to these restaurants in Valladolid, I’ve pinned them all on the map below. Click on the link for a live version of the map.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE BEST VALLADOLID RESTAURANTS

I may have been late to the Valladolid party but I’m happy I made a stop here. There are many reasons to visit this charming pueblo magico. It’s the closest jumping-off point to Chichen Itza and there are several cenotes within biking distance of the town.

Bus as this guide on Valladolid restaurants shows, Yucatecan cuisine is another great reason to visit. Thanks for reading and I hope this article leads you to many wonderful meals in Valladolid.

¡Buen provecho!

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What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Merida and the Yucatan Peninsula? For many people, it’s Mayan culture and cenotes. Merida is the capital city of Yucatan state and a great jumping-off point to explore the peninsula’s many cenotes and Mayan ruins.

What some people may not realize is that Merida is also home to some of the best Mexican food in the country. It’s on par with other popular food destinations like Oaxaca, Puebla, Mexico City, and Guadalajara. In fact, we were having dinner with a local in Oaxaca one night when he told us that in his opinion, Oaxaca and Merida have the best food in Mexico.

Merida is home to many great restaurants serving terrific Yucatecan food. Chichen Itza may be the biggest reason why people visit Merida and the Yucatan Peninsula but delicious traditional dishes and local specialties keep them coming back.

If you’re visiting the Yucatan and love Mexican cuisine, then this guide to the best restaurants in Merida will be very useful to you.

MERIDA RESTAURANTS QUICK LINKS

To help you with your Merida trip planning, we’ve put together links to popular hotels, tours, and other travel-related services here.

HOTELS

Recommended hotels in Centro, one of the most convenient areas to stay for first-time visitors to Merida.

• Luxury: Mansión Mérida Boutique Hotel
• Midrange: Courtyard by Marriott Merida Downtown
• Budget: Hostal La Ermita

TOURS

• Food Tour: 3-Hour Walking Food Tour
• Cenotes Tour: Full-Day Cuzama Cenote Tour from Mérida
• Cooking Classes: Merida Cooking Classes
• Day Trip: Chichén Itzá, Izamal, Valladolid, & Cenote Trip

OTHER SERVICES

• Travel Insurance (with COVID cover)
• Airport Transfer
• Mexico SIM Card

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WHAT LOCAL DISHES IS MERIDA KNOWN FOR?

The Yucatan Peninsula was the seat of the ancient Mayan civilization so Yucatan food is heavily influenced by Mayan cuisine. Because of its history of colonization, migration, and trade, Yucatecan food also draws influences from Spanish, Dutch, Lebanese, Caribbean, and North African cuisines.

Being the capital city of Yucatan state, Merida is home to a wealth of amazing food, all of which you can read about in our guide on Yucatan food. I won’t get into too much detail here but some of the tastiest Yucatan specialties you should look for in Merida include cochinita pibil, salbutes, panuchos, poc chuc, and relleno negro.

Be sure to read our guide on Yucatan cuisine for more details. It includes pictures and information on 25 of the most delicious traditional dishes to look for in Merida and the Yucatan Peninsula.

THE BEST RESTAURANTS IN MERIDA

To help organize this list of Merida restaurants, I’ve categorized them by type of establishment. Click on a link to jump to any section of the guide.

Sit-Down Restaurants Casual Restaurants Markets / Street Food Stalls Dessert Shops

Sit-Down Restaurants

Personally, we love street food and fondas (small family-owned restaurants) but not everyone is as crazy about them as we are. Many people prefer proper restaurants.

If you’d rather go to fine dining and sit-down establishments, then in this section are some of the best and most recommended Merida restaurants in the downtown area.

1. La Chaya Maya

No article on the best restaurants in Merida would be complete without La Chaya Maya. A Merida institution, it’s recommended in nearly every article about the best food in Merida. Even my AirBnB host told me to eat here.

La Chaya Maya is known for serving some of the tastiest examples of local dishes like huevos motuleños, cochinita pibil, lomitos de valladolid, and relleno negro. They have an extensive menu so you can find most if not all Yucatan specialties here.

With all the good food to be had at La Chaya Maya, I was unsure what to get so I wound up going with a dish that isn’t commonly served at street food stalls – papadzules. It refers to an enchilada-like dish of corn tortillas stuffed with hard-boiled eggs and then drenched in a sauce made from pepitas (pumpkin seeds).

You don’t have to be a vegetarian to enjoy this dish. It’s delicious.

La Chaya Maya is one of the most popular restaurants in Merida so you may have to wait for a table at peak times. It’s definitely worth it.

I went to their newer restaurant but La Chaya Maya has two branches just one block apart. If one is full, then you can try walking to the other one. By all accounts, it’s one of the best restaurants in Merida so you should definitely enjoy at least one meal here no matter how short your stay.

La Chaya Maya

Address: C. 57 x 62, Parque Santa Lucia, Centro, 97000 Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 7AM-10PM, daily
What to Order: Traditional Yucatan cuisine

2. Museo de la Gastronomia Yucateca (MUGY)

Like Chaya Maya, no list of the best restaurants in Merida can be complete without mentioning Museo de la Gastronomia Yucateca, or MUGY for short. It’s a beautiful fine dining restaurant that serves some of the best food in Merida.

One thing to remember about Merida restaurants is that even fine dining establishments will serve many of the same dishes you’d find at fondas, like salbutes and panuchos. I don’t want to pay 3-4 times more for antojitos (snacks) that taste just as good at market stalls so I go for Yucatan specialties that I know are likely to be done better at proper restaurants.

At MUGY, I had poc chuc, a signature dish in Yucatan cuisine consisting of a slow-roasted fillet of pork marinated in sour orange juice. I had poc chuc several times in Merida and this was by far the best. It was delicious.

Here’s a closer look at that wonderfully tender fillet of pork. Slow-roasted pork, sour oranges, habanero chili peppers, and achiote are among the most important components of Yucatan cuisine.

Another important ingredient in the local cuisine is chaya, a chard-like shrub native to the peninsula. You’ll find it used in many Yucatan specialties like empanadas, tamales, and huevos con chaya (eggs with chaya).

Personally, I enjoyed it most when pureed into drinks (agua de chaya). You can enjoy cold refreshing beverages made with just chaya, chaya with pineapple, or chaya with lemon. They’re all delicious – sweet, herby, and a little citrusy if you get it with fruit.

MUGY is a lovely fine dining restaurant with great food and excellent service. Surprisingly, they have reasonable prices as well. My poc chuc and chaya came out to just MXN 245.

They have rooms where you can dine indoors but the best space is right here in the inner open courtyard.

This is the reason why the restaurant is called Museo de la Gastronomia Yucateca. There really is a museum inside the restaurant. One section of MUGY is dedicated to a small exhibit detailing the history and characteristics of Mayan food.

Even if you don’t eat at MUGY, you can still visit the museum for free.

MUGY may look a bit intimidating from the outside but there’s nothing to worry about. It looks like a fine dining restaurant but the atmosphere is actually quite casual and relaxed. I went there for dinner and some diners were dressed in shorts and t-shirts.

Museo de la Gastronomia Yucateca (MUGY)

Address: Calle 62 #466 x 55 y 57, Centro, 97000 Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 11AM-11PM, Mon-Thurs / 11AM-1PM, Fri / 9AM-1AM, Sat / 9AM-11PM, Sun
What to Order: Traditional Yucatecan cuisine

3. Katun Cocina Yucateca

Katun is located about 2.5 km (1.6 miles) north of Plaza Grande, just off Paseo de Montejo. Many first-time visitors to Merida will be spending some time here so Katun is a great place to enjoy a meal after going sightseeing in the area.

Like the previous two restaurants, Katun features an extensive menu of traditional Yucatan specialties like papadzules, cochinita, lechon al horno, and brazo de reina. I went with the poc chuc. It wasn’t quite as delicious as MUGY’s version but it was still very good.

No matter where you have it, poc chuc is typically served with a few side dishes like pickled red onions, sour orange wedges, avocados, corn tortillas, and frijol con puerco.

Katun is one of the best restaurants you can go to for traditional food in Merida. The restaurant’s atmosphere is more casual as well.

Katun Cocina Yucateca

Address: C. 60 319B, Centro, 97000 Ejido del Centro, Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 8AM-7PM, daily
What to Order: Traditional Yucatan cuisine

4. La Prospe del Xtup

La Prospe del Xtup is another Merida restaurant that serves a wide array of local specialties. I had lunch at this place to specifically have a dish that I didn’t see on any other restaurant menu – relleno blanco.

Relleno negro – a Mayan dish of turkey and pork drenched in a thick dark sauce – is one of the most common traditional dishes in Merida. It’s available everywhere unlike relleno blanco which seems harder to come by.

Relleno blanco is a similar dish but instead of the dark roasted chile ancho sauce, it’s served with tomato sauce and k’ool – a white sauce made with thickened turkey broth.

Here’s a closer look at the ground pork. Relleno blanco is tasty but personally, I prefer its darker and more popular cousin.

Another reason I wanted to eat at La Prospe del Xtup was because of this dessert – dulce de papaya. It’s a simple Yucatecan dessert of sweetened unripe papaya served with shreds of Edam cheese.

These inner open courtyards are a common feature of Merida buildings. La Prospe del Xtup looks plain during the day but like MUGY, I imagine this space to look much more dramatic at night.

Like the previous three restaurants, La Prospe del Xtup is a great place to visit for traditional Yucatan specialties in Merida.

La Prospe del Xtup

Address: Calle 59 530, Parque Santiago, Centro, 97000 Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 12NN-7PM, daily
What to Order: Traditional Yucatan cuisine

5. Cheen Cocina Yucateca

Like Katun, Cheen is a bit outside the downtown Merida area but it’s definitely worth the walk. It’s one of the best Merida restaurants to visit for what feels like a delicious, lovingly prepared, home-cooked meal. I know that sounds a bit cheesy but that’s exactly what it feels like when you eat here.

Unlike the previous restaurants on this list, Cheen looks and feels like a family-run restaurant. It’s in a converted home about 2 km (1.2 miles) east of Plaza Grande. I was drawn to its stellar reviews which described its food as some of the best and most authentic in Merida. According to one local, the food they serve is exactly how his grandmother used to make it.

Cheen has a more focused menu but you can find the most important Yucatan specialties here like cochinita, relleno negro, and papdzules. I asked my server for recommendations and she suggested I get the queso relleno, a classic Mexican-Dutch fusion dish made with stuffed cheese.

Queso relleno consists of a rind of queso de bola (Edam cheese) stuffed with minced meat, nuts, raisins, and other ingredients before being poured over with k’ool and tomato sauce. It’s a delicious but extremely filling dish so don’t expect to eat anything else after this!

When you eat at Cheen, you’ll feel like a guest in someone’s house. It’s cozy and feels very much like a home restaurant.

Cheen Cocina Yucateca is as warm and inviting outside as it is inside. It’s a hidden gem and for me, one of the best restaurants in Merida.

Cheen Cocina Yucateca

Address: C. 61 x 34, Centro, 97000 Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 8AM-6PM, Mon, Wed-Sat / 8AM-5PM, Sun (closed Tuesdays)
What to Order: Traditional Yucatan food

6. Manjar Blanco

If you’ve seen the cochinita episode of the Netflix series Taco Chronicles, then Manjar Blanco may be familiar to you. It was the main Merida restaurant featured on that show.

Manjar Blanco offers a similar menu of local specialties as the pervious restaurants on this list, but they’re known for serving some of the very best cochinita pibil in the Yucatan. I enjoyed cochinita many times in Merida, Valladolid, and Mexico City and this was easily one of the best. The producers of that show really did their homework.

Cochinita pibil is arguably the most iconic Yucatecan dish so it’s important that you try the best. Manjar Blanco is definitely one of the best Merida restaurants you can visit to try this dish.

If you haven’t seen the show, cochinita pibil refers to slow-roasted suckling pig marinated in achiote paste and sour orange juice. It’s wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in an earthen oven called a píib for up to 16 hours until the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender. It’s absolutely delicious and a must-try dish in Merida.

I was so taken by that Taco Chronicles episode that I went straight to Manjar Blanco after checking in to my AirBnB. It didn’t disappoint.

Manjar Blanco is definitely one of the best restaurants in Merida to try cochinita and other Yucatan specialties.

Manjar Blanco

Address: Calle 47 496, entre 58 y 60, Zona Paseo Montejo, Centro, 97000 Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 8AM-6PM, daily
What to Order: Traditional Yucatan cuisine

Casual Restaurants

I’m a street food guy so these are the types of restaurants I look for on trips. Just very casual establishments that focus mainly on great food.

7. La Teraza Amarilla de San Fernando

La Teraza Amarilla de San Fernando is a no frills restaurant that offers Yucatan meat specialties like cochinita, lechon al horno, relleno negro, and longaniza de valladolid. You can enjoy them in salbutes, panuchos, tacos, or tortas.

If it’s you first time in Merida, then I suggest trying them on salbutes and panuchos, two of the most popular antojitos in the Yucatan. They’re basically deep-fried tortillas that can be topped with any number of ingredients. The only difference between the two is that panuchos are filled with refried beans.

Pictured below are two salbutes and one panucho topped with cochinita, lechon al horno, and lomitos de valladolid.

La Teraza Amarilla de San Fernando is located just around the corner from Katun Cocina Yucateca. It’s another great restaurant to visit after going sightseeing along Paseo de Montejo.

La Teraza Amarilla de San Fernando

Address: Av Cupules 503C, Alcalá Martín, 97050 Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 7AM-2PM, Tue-Thurs, Sat-Sun (closed Mon, Fri)
What to Order: Salbutes, panuchos, tacos, tortas

8. Taqueria Nuevo San Fernando

Just a minute away from La Teraza Amarilla is Nuevo San Fernando, a taqueria that offers just two things on their menu – cochinita and lechon al horno. You can enjoy them in tacos or tortas.

If you have a sudden craving for street tacos after visiting the colonial houses along Paseo de Montejo, then Taqueria Nuevo San Fernando is a good restaurant to visit.

Like La Teraza Amarilla, Taqueria Nuevo San Fernando is a simple restaurant that serves good inexpensive Yucatecan food in Merida.

Taqueria Nuevo San Fernando

Address: 97000, Av Cupules 506, Centro, Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 7AM-1PM, daily
What to Order: Tacos, tortas

9. Wayan’e

Speaking of street tacos, fans of Mexico’s most iconic dish need to go to Wayan’e. It’s one of the best restaurants in Merida to have tacos topped with Yucatan specialties like poc chuc, castacan (crispy pork belly), higadilla (liver and organ meats), and lomitos.

Only after leaving Merida did I learn that higadilla is a less common Yucatan dish. I regret not trying it here because Wayan’e is the only restaurant I went to that offers it. I’m definitely trying it on our next trip back to Merida.

On my plate below are tacos topped with castacan, huevos con chaya, pollo hulk, and chilibull. I thought the name “pollo hulk” was intriguing so I ordered it. I was amused to find the pieces of chicken tinged green, probably from chaya and green salsa. I’m not sure what chilibull is but it’s some type of stew made from chili peppers.

Wayan’e offers some of the best tacos in Merida. They make tacos with local ingredients that you can’t find anywhere else. Not even in Mexico City, the taco capital of the world, can you find tacos like these!

All of these tacos were delicious but the castacan is a must. It’s a specialty at Wayan’e.

Wayan’e is a hugely popular taqueria with multiple locations. I suggest going to this branch. It’s just a few minutes’ walk from the main plaza and the easiest to get to.

Wayan’e

Address: 412, Calle 59 408, Centro, 97000 Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 7AM-2:30PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What to Order: Tacos

10. Taqueria de La Union

Located in downtown Merida, Taqueria de La Union is another great restaurant to visit for street tacos. It’s a small restaurant that offers Yucatecan meats like cochinita, lechon al horno, and longaniza de valladolid served in tacos, tortas, panuchos, or polcanes. Polcanes are deep-fried masa and ibes (white beans) patties that can be filled with various ingredients.

Pictured below is my beautiful trio of cochinita, longaniza de valladolid, and lechon al horno tacos, all piled generously with juicy pork on homemade tortillas.

Three tacos weren’t enough so I ordered a fourth – this intriguing-sounding taco called pork belly al pastor. I was expecting a cross between castacan and tacos al pastor but it turned out to be a type of pork belly stew served with the usual al pastor pineapples. Delicious!

If you want to eat street tacos in a cleaner, less chaotic environment in Merida, then Taqueria de La Union is a great restaurant to visit. They make some of the best tacos in the Merida centro area.

Taqueria de La Union

Address: C. 55 488, Parque Santa Lucia, Centro, 97000 Centro, Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 1-10PM, Tue-Sun (closed Mondays)
What to Order: Tacos

Markets / Street Food Stalls

If you’re traveling on a budget and want cheap eats, then markets are among the best places you can visit. Not only will they give you a glimpse into local life and culture, but you’ll often find fondas and stalls offering great food at reasonable prices.

MERCADO SANTIAGO

Mercado Santiago was my favorite market in Merida. It’s clean, organized, and home to a few stalls offering delicious Yucatan food. I enjoyed it so much I went here three times and ate at three different stalls.

11. Taqueria La Lupita

Taco Chronicles featured two Merida restaurants in their cochinita pibil episode – Manjar Blanco and this one, Taqueria La Lupita. It’s a popular stall inside Mercado Santiago that offers Yucatan food like cochinita, lechon al horno, relleno negro, and escabeche oriental. You can enjoy it in a variety of ways – on salbutes, panuchos, tortas, tacos, and polcanes.

I ordered two salbutes and one panucho at Taqueria La Lupita. This salbut was topped with cochinita. I still preferred the cochinita at Manjar Blanco but this was damn good too, probably in my top three not just in Merida, but in all of the Yucatan.

This salbut was topped with lechon al horno. Not every restaurant does this but my favorite lechon salbutes or panuchos were topped with a piece of crispy pork skin. Lechon al horno isn’t as flavorful as cochinita so the piece of pork skin adds more flavor and crunch.

Here’s the panucho topped with relleno negro.

As described, relleno negro is an ancient Yucatecan dish of turkey meat and ground pork bathed in a dark sauce made from roasted chile ancho peppers. It’s served with slices of hard-boiled egg and can be enjoyed on its own, as a stew like relleno blanco, or as a topping on salbutes, panuchos, and tacos.

In most cases, it’s hard to visually tell the difference between salbutes and panuchos but you can clearly see the difference here. The fried corn tortilla looks less puffy. Salbutes are generally softer and puffier while panuchos are a little more crunchy. Personally, I prefer salbutes.

Taqueria La Lupita

Address: Calle 57 Mercado de Santiago Interior, Centro, 97000 Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 6:30AM-1:30PM, daily
What to Order: Salbutes, panuchos, tacos, tortas

12. La Reina Itzalana

La Taqueria Lupita is located inside Mercado Santiago while this stall – La Reina Itzalana – is located around its perimeter. La Reina Itzalana offers a full menu of Yucatan food favorites like papadzules, huevos motuleños, salbutes, and panuchos. I was here specifically to try their sopa de lima which I read was one of the best in Merida.

Sopa de lima means “lime soup” and refers to a type of Yucatecan soup made with shredded turkey or chicken served in a broth with fried corn tortilla strips.

As you can probably guess from its name, it’s a citrusy soup that gets its signature acidity from lime juice. It’s one of the most popular dishes in Yucatan cuisine and a must-try in Merida.

La Reina Itzalana

Address: Parque Santiago, Centro, 97000 Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 7AM-3PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What to Order: Sopa de lima, papadzules, tortas, quesadillas

13. Taqueria Tetiz

If you’re looking for fresh seafood dishes in Merida, then look no further than Taqueria Tetiz. They offer different types of seafood preparations served on tacos, salbutes, panuchos, and tostadas.

Taqueria Tetiz seems to have multiple locations but I suggest going to their stall inside Mercado Santiago. Based on their reviews, they’re one of the best seafood taquerias in Merida.

Check out my server hamming it up for the camera. He must have been happy with my tip. Friendly service always leads to big tips. Ha!

I was tempted to get shrimp and fish tacos but since I’m in Merida, I stuck to salbutes. On my plate below is a beautiful trio of camaron (shrimp), pescado (fish), and caracol (sea snail) salbutes. All three were seriously delicious.

I enjoyed the previous three salbutes so much that I had to get another, this time pulpo (octopus). I can’t decide which one I liked best!

Taqueria Tetiz

Address: Mercado de Santiago, local 23, 28 y 33, C. 72, Centro, 97000 Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 6AM-2PM, Mon, Wed-Sat (closed Tue, Sun)
What to Order: Seafood

ARTESANIAS BAZAR GARCIA REJON

Artesanias Bazar Garcia Rejon is a shopping market located in the Merida centro area. It’s home to dozens of shops selling clothes, bags, shoes, and other non-touristy items.

I didn’t come here to go shopping but I did go to have breakfast at one of the many food stalls inside the market. They offer typical Yucatecan and Mexican antojitos like salbutes, panuchos, tacos, and tortas.

14. Taqueria El Pavo Feliz

Whenever we enter an unfamiliar hawker center in Singapore, the trick is to look for the stalls with the longest line of locals. This rule applies no matter where you are in the world, including Mexican markets.

At Artesanias Bazar Garcia Rejon, that stall was clearly Taqueria El Pavo Feliz. I don’t remember what time I was here but I know it was pretty early, maybe around 8AM. The place was already buzzing with locals enjoying panuchos and tortas filled with all kinds of Yucatan specialties.

I started off with this tasty pair of salbutes. If I remember correctly, one was castacan and the other was lechon al horno.

As was often the case, my initial order wouldn’t be enough so I’d have to get another. What you’re looking at below is a delicious relleno negro salbut. Pavo (turkey) is a specialty here so I recommend trying this.

Taqueira El Pavo Feliz opens from 5AM till 12NN so I suggest coming here for breakfast as early as you can.

Taqueria El Pavo Feliz

Address: Local 122 y 123, Calle 65, esquina con Calle 60 S/N, Centro, 97000 Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 5AM-12MN, daily
What to Order: Salbutes, panuchos, tacos, tortas

PARQUE DE SANTA ANA

15. Parque de Santa Ana Food Stalls

Parque de Santa Ana is a park located about a 15-minute walk from the main square. The park itself isn’t all that interesting but it’s worth a visit if you’re looking for cheap eats in Merida. It’s home to a cluster of food stalls offering Yucatan food at reasonable prices.

You’ll probably find around a dozen food stalls here selling pretty much the same dishes. No single stall seemed more popular than the others so I just randomly picked one.

I do advise on avoiding any stalls with overly aggressive touts. Places like that are aggressive for a reason.

After that fantastic queso relleno at Cheen, I wanted to see what the same dish tasted like at a cheaper place so I tried it here.

The tomato sauce and k’ool tasted similar but the main difference was in the queso de bola. It was hard and clearly wasn’t heated to make it softer and a little melty. I recommend sticking to antojitos at stalls like this.

The ground pork filling was also a bit dry and not as well-seasoned.

This agua de chaya con piña, on the other hand, was delicious. Up to this point, agua de jamaica (hibiscus) was my drink of choice in Mexico but in the Yucatan, it was chaya.

Parque de Santa Ana

Address: C. 60 y 45, Zona Paseo Montejo, Centro, 97000 Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: Varies per stall

PLAZA GRANDE

Plaza Grande refers to the zocalo or main square in Merida. Nearly every major city we’ve visited in Mexico has one.

Merida’s zocalo is no different from any other zocalo, at least on most days. On Sundays, it turns into the most vibrant part of the city. Keep reading to learn why.

16. Merida en Domingo (Merida Sunday Market)

Sunday is my favorite day in Merida, and Merida’s Plaza Grande is my favorite place to be on a Sunday. From 11AM till around 9PM, the streets are mostly closed off to vehicular traffic so people can enjoy the street food and handicrafts that go on sale in and around the zocalo.

Take a stroll along the perimeter of the zocalo and you’ll find these food stalls set up with tables and chairs just off the sidewalk.

I walked all around the zocalo and only one side didn’t have food stalls set up. If I remember correctly, it was the only side where cars were allowed to pass.

You’ll find a few roadside vendors selling a variety of Yucatecan and Mexican antojitos like salbutes, panuchos, tacos, kibis, polcanes, and marquesitas. I didn’t try them but these octopus-shaped fried hot dogs with french fries were quite popular.

Marquesitas are among the most popular street snacks in the Yucatan. You’ll find them sold from mobile carts (commonly at night) in different cities throughout the Yucatan like Merida, Valladolid, and Playa del Carmen.

Marquesitas are basically rolled-up crunchy crepes filled with a variety of sweet ingredients like chocolate, cajeta (dulce de leche), seasonal fruits, and jam. The most classic version is filled with Nutella and shreds of grated queso de bola.

If you’re fond of Lebanese food, then this Yucatecan snack may be familiar to you. It’s called kibis, and it’s basically the Mexican version of kibbeh, a Lebanese meatball-like dish made with spiced ground meat and bulgur wheat.

The same stall that sold kibis had polcanes as well. It’s a pre-Hispanic Yucatecan snack made with deep-fried masa and ibes (white beans) patties.

If you like Mexican tamales, then you need to try tamales colados. It’s a Yucatecan version of tamales made with strained corn masa dough. It’s known for its silky smooth texture that’s softer and more delicate than any other type of tamales. This alone is worth the trip to the Sunday market.

Merida en Domingo (Merida Sunday Market)

Address: Plaza Grande, C. 60 S/N, Centro, 97000 Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 11AM-9PM, Sunday

Dessert Shops

The one thing that surprised me most about Merida was the intense heat. The Yucatan Peninsula experiences a more tropical climate so diving into refreshing desserts and drinks will feel like a dip in a cenotes.

17. Dulceria y Sorbeteria Colon

Dulceria y Sorbeteria Colon is a popular ice cream and pastry shop in Merida. They sell different types of pastries, sweets, and ice cream, but I was here specifically for their champola.

Popular throughout the Yucatan, a champola is basically a type of milkshake made with pureed whole fruit like lemon, mango, strawberry, and mamey. My server recommended I get the coconut which is one of the most traditional flavors. My god was this refreshing!

Dulceria y Sorbeteria Colon has multiple locations. I went to the branch along Paseo de Montejo but they have an outlet right at the zocalo as well.

Dulceria y Sorbeteria Colon

Address: C. 56 47A, Zona Paseo Montejo, Centro, 97000 Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 10AM-12MN, daily
What to Order: Champolas

18. Paleteria Las Rellenas de la 60

Paleta is Spanish for “popiscle”. I usually prefer scoops of ice cream over popsicles but these paletas nearly changed my mind.

Rellena means “stuffed” or “filled” so Paleteria Las Rellenas de la 60 specializes in popsicles stuffed with different ingredients. They have different flavors of popsicles made with either milk or water.

Popsicles made with milk can be stuffed with cajeta, Bailey’s liqueur, or Nutella, while popsicles made with water are filled with chamoy, a Mexican sauce made from fermented fruit.

Pictured below is a paleta de leche made with Mexican chocolate. It’s stuffed with rompope which is a type of Mexican eggnog. I kid you not, this was one of the best popsicles I’ve ever had in my life.

Here’s a look at the rompope filling. This Mexican chocolate is just one of two flavors you can get filled with rompope. The other is vanilla.

If you like chocolate and eggnog, then you NEED to try this.

After finishing my rompope-filled chocolate popsicle, I couldn’t stop at just one so I got this elote paleta de leche right after it. Can you guess what it was filled with?

It was filled with cajeta or dulce de leche. Yummers!

I went back to the shop the very next day so I could try their paletas de agua. This one was watermelon filled with chamoy. This was good too but for me, not nearly as good as the paletas de leche.

Here’s an inside look at the chamoy. It has an interesting sour-salty flavor that goes well with fruit-flavored ice creams.

As described, it can get brutally hot anywhere in the Yucatan so places like Paleteria Las Rellenas de la 60 will feel like an oasis in Merida.

Paleteria Las Rellenas de la 60

Address: C. 60 399A, Centro, 97000 Centro, Merida, Mexico
Operating Hours: 11AM-10PM, daily
What to Order: Paletas

LOCATION MAP

To help you navigate to these restaurants in Merida, I’ve pinned them all on the map below. Click on the link for a live version of the map.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE BEST RESTAURANTS IN MERIDA

This Merida food guide focuses solely on Yucatecan cuisine. We prefer local food most of the time but you can find many good international restaurants in Merida centro as well.

One area that often gets mentioned is Parque Santa Lucia. This small park a few blocks north of the zocalo is home to a few highly recommended international restaurants. I went there during the day and if I remember correctly, I saw an Argentinian restaurant, a French restaurant, and maybe one or two Italian restaurants.

Based on what I’ve read, Parque Santa Lucia is dedicated to Yucatecan trova musicians. Every Thursday night, musicians gather at the park to play classic songs from the traditional Yucatecan serenade. It’s a popular event so I suggest getting there early if you plan on having dinner at one of the restaurants around the park.

And with that, I’ll end this food guide and wish you many memorable meals in Merida. I hope you enjoy these restaurant recommendations as much as I did. If you have any questions or suggestions, then please do let us know in the comment section below.

Thanks for reading and have a delicious time eating your way through Merida and the Yucatan!

Disclosure

Some of the links in this article on the best Merida restaurants are affiliate links, meaning we’ll earn a small commission if you make a purchase at no added cost to you. As always, we only recommend products and services that we use ourselves and firmly believe in. We really appreciate your support as this helps us make more of these free travel guides. Muchas gracias!

When deciding upon which cities to visit on this year-long (or more) trip to Mexico, I googled “best food cities in mexico”. Taste is subjective so articles varied in their recommended cities, but there were a handful of destinations that made it to nearly every list – Puebla, Oaxaca, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, and Merida.

Merida, the capital city of Yucatan state, is one of the most visited destinations in the Yucatan Peninsula. Known as the cultural heart and soul of the Yucatan, millions of travelers flock to Merida each year to admire its colonial architecture and taste its fantastic regional cuisine. Visit Merida and you’ll be treated to a bevy of delicious Yucatan dishes like cochinita pibil, salbutes, panuchos, queso relleno, and sopa de lima.

Because of its popularity and size, Merida was the only Yucatan city mentioned on those lists, but you can experience the same level of food throughout much of the Yucatan Peninsula. I spent over a week in Valladolid and was smitten by the Yucatecan cuisine there too.

If you love Mexican food like we do, then you’re going to enjoy visiting this part of Mexico. Food is a major part of the Mexican experience so be sure to look for these 25 traditional Yucatecan dishes on your next trip to the Yucatan Peninsula.

YUCATECAN FOOD QUICK LINKS

If you’re staying long enough in the Yucatan and want to really dive into Yucatecan food, then you may want to join a guided tour or take a cooking class. They’re among the best ways to learn about Mayan cuisine. Check out some of the most popular food-related tours and activities in different cities throughout the Yucatan.

• Food Tours: Yucatan Food Tours
• Yucatan Cooking Classes: Merida | Riviera Maya

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WHERE IS THE YUCATAN PENINSULA?

When used to describe a destination in Mexico, the term “Yucatan” can pertain to one of two things – Yucatan State and Yucatan Peninsula.

Yucatan State – or officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatan – is one of 32 states that comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It consists of 106 municipalities, the capital city of which is Merida.

Yucatan Peninsula refers to the large peninsula that encompasses southeastern Mexico and adjacent parts of Guatemala and Belize. The peninsula is home to three Mexican states – Yucatan, Quintana Roo, and Campeche – along with almost all of Belize and the Petén Department of Guatemala.

The Yucatan Peninsula was the central location of the ancient Mayan civilization. Vestiges of the Mayan people can be appreciated in the many archaeological sites throughout the peninsula, the most famous being Chichen Itza and Tulum. It can also be enjoyed in its regional cuisine, which is why Yucatan food can also be described as Mayan food.

In this article, we’ll talk about traditional Mayan food that you can enjoy in the Mexican part of the Yucatan Peninsula, mostly from the State of Yucatan.

WHAT IS TRADITIONAL YUCATAN FOOD?

Traditional Yucatan cuisine is heavily influenced by Mayan food, but it also draws influences from European (Spanish and Dutch), Caribbean, North African, and Middle Eastern (Lebanese) cuisines.

Much of Yucatan cooking is based on four types of pastes or recados – steak recado (steak paste), recado rojo (red paste), recado negro (black paste), and recado blanco (white paste). These elaborate mixtures form the backbone of Yucatan Mexican cuisine and provide the flavor for many traditional Yucatecan dishes.

Steak paste is used mainly for pickling and to season meat, red paste for cochinita, black paste for relleno negro, and white paste for puchero.

Yucatan cuisine utilizes many ingredients and cooking techniques, some of the most important being sour oranges, habanero chilis, achiote, chaya, and the píib.

Sour Orange

The sour orange (naranja agria) is perhaps the most important ingredient in Yucatan cuisine. Also known as Seville orange or bitter orange, this citrus fruit is native to Southeast Asia and made its way to the Yucatan by way of the Spanish.

The sour orange is ubiquitous in Yucatan food. It’s used in many Yucatan dishes like cochinita pibil, lechon al horno, escabeche oriental, poc chuc, and longaniza de valladolid. Sour orange juice is used as an ingredient in marinades and often takes the place of vinegar to brighten up dishes and help preserve food.

Habanero Chili

Yucatan cuisine makes use of different types of pepper but the habanero chili is the most important. Introduced to the peninsula by way of the Caribbean, habanero chilis are among the hottest peppers in the world and often used as an ingredient in spicy Yucatecan salsas.

Habanero chilis can also be roasted, pickled, or chopped into pieces and added directly to food. When mixed with sour orange juice, it works as an effective preservative to help keep perishable foods from spoiling under the intense tropical heat of the Yucatan.

Achiote

Like the sour orange and habanero chili pepper, achiote is a widely used ingredient in Yucatan food. Also known as annatto, seeds from the achiote tree are crushed and used as a flavoring and coloring agent in many Yucatecan dishes like cochinita pibil. Together with sour orange juice, it’s what gives this iconic Yucatecan dish its signature color and flavor.

Achiote is also the main ingredient in recado rojo. The ground-up seeds are mixed with different spices like oregano, cumin, coriander, black pepper, and cloves to form one of Yucatan cuisine’s most commonly used spice mixtures.

Chaya

Go to any Yucatan restaurant and you’ll probably see the word “chaya” on the menu. Also known as tree spinach, it refers to a nutritious chard-like shrub native to the Yucatan Peninsula.

You’ll find chaya used as an ingredient in many dishes like Yucatecan-style empanadas, huevos con chaya (eggs with chaya), tamales, and brazo de reina. Personally, I enjoyed it often as a cold refreshing beverage mixed with pineapple or lemon.

Píib

After weeks of traveling in western and central Mexico, the one thing that surprised me most about the Yucatan Peninsula was the heat. Compared to the rest of Mexico, it experiences a more tropical climate which puts food at a greater risk of spoiling.

To help preserve food, the ancient Mayans came up with a method of cooking and smoking wild game to keep it from spoiling. Freshly hunted meat would be rubbed with a spice mixture and then slow-cooked in an earthen oven called a píib or pib to keep it from spoiling on hunts that would often last several days.

Several Mayan dishes like cochinita pibil, considered by many to be the most representative dish of Yucatecan cuisine, is still prepared in this way.

MUST-TRY MAYAN DISHES IN YUCATAN CUISINE

This is by no means an exhaustive list but these are some of the most popular and delicious Yucatan foods you’ll come across when exploring this part of Mexico.

1. Cochinita Pibil

As described, cochinita pibil is considered by many to be the signature dish of Yucatecan cuisine. It was the Mayan dish featured on the Netflix series Taco Chronicles and the one I was most excited to try in Merida.

Cochinita is a traditional Yucatecan dish of slow-roasted pork marinated in sour orange juice and achiote. Cochinita literally means “baby pig” so the dish is traditionally made with a whole roasted suckling pig, though it can be prepared with pork shoulder or pork loin.

To prepare, the meat is rubbed with an achiote paste and then marinated overnight in sour orange juice. The achiote is what gives the dish its characteristic burnt orange color while the highly acidic sour orange juice acts as a meat tenderizer.

The marinated pork is then wrapped in banana leaves and slow-cooked for as long as 16 hours in an airtight píib. The result is an incredibly tender, citrusy, and smokey pork dish that’s typically eaten in tacos, tortas, salbutes, or panuchos. It can also be served on its own with pickled red onion and a side of corn tortillas. It’s absolutely delicious and one of the best Yucatan foods you can eat on the peninsula.

I had cochinita many times in the Yucatan but one of the best versions I had was from a restaurant in Valladolid (pictured below). They source their cochinita from Tixcacalcupul, a municipality about 20 km (12.4 miles) south of Valladolid. According to my server, this remote Yucatan pueblo is known for having some of the very best cochinita on the Yucatan Peninsula.

In the cochinita episode of Taco Chronicles, the producers were interviewing a young female traveler eating cochinita pibil tacos. According to her, she had been a vegetarian for over a year before arriving in Merida. She allowed herself to try cochinita pibil just once before resuming her journey to full-fledged vegetarianism. She ate her first cochinita pibil taco and never went back to being vegetarian again.

The cochinita pibil tacos pictured below were from the Merida restaurant featured on that episode. It was my first taste of cochinita at a Yucatan restaurant and it’s still one of my favorites.

Served on freshly made corn tortillas and topped with loads of pickled red onions, it was absolutely delicious. Go easy on the habanero salsa because it’s devilishly spicy.

2. Poc Chuc

If cochinita sounds appealing to you, then you’ll definitely enjoy poc chuc. It’s another signature dish in Yucatan cuisine made with slow-roasted pork marinated in sour orange juice.

To prepare, a thin pork fillet is marinated in sour orange juice and then grilled over a wood or charcoal fire. In the Mayan language, poc means “to toast” over hot embers while chuc refers to “charcoal”. Like cochinita, this cooking method was devised as a way of preserving meat.

Poc chuc is typically served with fresh tortillas and a variety of side dishes like pickled red onions, avocado slices, sour orange wedges, chiltomate, and frijol con puerco. Chiltomate is a charcoal-roasted tomato salsa while frijol con puerco is a classic Yucatecan pork and beans stew.

3. Castacan

Castacan refers to the Yucatecan version of crispy pork belly. It’s made from the stomach of the cerdo pelón or hairless pig, a Mexican breed that feeds exclusively on corn, cassava, pumpkin, and sweet potato.

To prepare, the pork belly is cut into small chunks with a thin piece of skin that gets crunchy when fried. It’s typically eaten in tacos with various accompaniments like pickled red onion, habanero pepper, and Oaxacan cheese.

Pictured below is a corn tortilla filled with tasty castacan meat and black beans. It’s from Wayan’e, one of the most popular taquerias in Merida.

4. Lechon al Horno

As you can probably tell by now, pork features prominently in Mayan food. Lechon al horno literally means “baked suckling pig” and refers to a slow-roasted pork dish that’s been consumed for breakfast in the Yucatan since the time of the Spanish conquest.

Like cochinita, lechon al horno is traditionally wrapped in banana leaves and slow-cooked for many hours in a píib. The result is incredibly tender and succulent pork meat that’s typically eaten in tacos, tortas, salbutes, or panuchos, often with refried beans and xnipec, a spicy habanero pepper salsa.

Pictured below is lechon al horno served on a panucho with pickled red onion and a shard of crispy pork skin.

Here’s lechon al horno served on a salbut. Not every restaurant does this but the best lechon al horno salbutes I had were topped with a crisped-up piece of pork skin. Delicious!

5. Lomitos de Valladolid

As its name suggests, lomitos de valladolid is a pork dish originally from the city of Valladolid. It consists of diced cubes of pork loin cooked in a slightly spicy tomato sauce. It’s typically served with hard-boiled eggs and different side dishes like corn tortillas, rice, avocado, salsa, and refried beans.

6. Longaniza de Valladolid

If you like sausages, then you need to try longaniza de valladolid. It’s a type of Yucatecan pork sausage seasoned with chile ancho, garlic, pepper, vinegar, and spices.

Longaniza de valladolid is served roasted with a variety of side dishes like pickled red onions, sour orange wedges, habanero pepper salsa, refried beans, and fried tortilla chips. When prepared well, the roasted sausage has a wonderfully crisp but crumbly texture that’s an absolute joy to eat. It’s delicious.

7. Higadilla

This is the only dish on this list of Yucatan foods that I didn’t personally try. I remember seeing it at Wayan’e but I didn’t order it because at the time, I didn’t know it was from the Yucatan Peninsula. Only after doing research for this article did I learn that it’s one of the less common specialties in Yucatecan cuisine.

Hígado in Spanish means “liver” so higadilla refers to a Yucatecan dish made with liver and other organ meats like the kidneys, heart, lungs, and tongue. The offal is meticulously cleaned and boiled with garlic, oregano, and seasonings before being chopped into cubes and flavored with sour orange juice and achiote.

8. Relleno Negro

Pavo en relleno negro – or simply relleno negro – refers to a popular Yucatecan dish made with turkey meat and ground pork swimming in a thick dark sauce. The jet-black sauce may be off-putting for some, but like mole negro or mole poblano, relleno negro gets its color mainly from roasted chili peppers (chile ancho).

Relleno negro is one of the oldest recipes in Yucatecan regional cuisine. Like many Mexican sauces, it’s made with a laundry list of ingredients like sour orange juice, achiote, tomatoes, epazote, burnt tortillas, garlic, and spices. It can be eaten on its own with chopped boiled eggs or served as a topping on salbutes and panuchos.

I didn’t see this nearly as often as relleno negro. In fact, I spotted it just once on a restaurant’s menu in Merida.

What you’re looking at is relleno blanco, a similar turkey and ground pork dish swimming in a white sauce called k’ool. The white sauce is made by adding saffron and wheat flour to the same water used to boil the turkey.

Relleno blanco is served by pouring the white sauce over the turkey and ground pork, and then finishing it with some tomato sauce.

9. Salbutes

Salbutes and panuchos are among the most common antojitos or snacks you’ll find anywhere on the Yucatan Peninsula. A salbut is basically a deep-fried tortilla topped with any number of ingredients like cochinita, relleno negro, lechon al horno, lomitos, carne asada, and seafood. Like tacos, you can basically top them with anything.

10. Panuchos

Panuchos are almost the same thing as salbutes except they’re made with corn dough stuffed with refried black beans. Like salbutes, they can be topped with anything.

Salbutes and panuchos look almost identical but you can easily tell the difference when you take a bite. While a salbut is soft, like a puffy fried tortilla, a panucho is a little harder and crunchier in texture. They’re both good but personally, I prefer salbutes.

On the plate below are two salbutes and one panucho. Can you tell which is which?

11. Pibihuajes

I was standing outside a busy food stall inside a market in Valladolid when I noticed nearly every customer eating these grenade-sized ovals of food. They looked similar to kibis and were stuffed with the same ingredients normally used as toppings for salbutes or panuchos.

I asked the server what it was and he told me they’re called pibihuajes. I googled them and as it turns out, they’re a specialty dish of Valladolid. According to the origin story, cochinita vendors asked chachachuajes sellers (similar to tamales) to make them so they could stuff them with their cochinita. People enjoyed them and the rest is history.

Pibihuajes are basically football-shaped spheres of bread made with dough and red beans. They’re baked in a píib before being split open and filled with different ingredients like cochinita, lomitos, and lechon al horno. They’re very firm and dense in texture – less like a bread and more like mashed plantains.

Unlike salbutes and panuchos, pibihuajes don’t seem to be as common in other parts of the Yucatan Peninsula so you should definitely try them when you visit Valladolid.

12. Kibis

The taco al pastor is probably the most well-known dish derived from Lebanese influence on Mexican food. Kibis is another.

People familiar with Lebanese food will recognize kibis as the Mexican version of kibbeh, a meatball-like Lebanese dish made with spiced ground meat, pine nuts, onions, and bulgur wheat.

Kibis is made in a similar way as kibbeh but it differs in spices used and how it’s eaten. Being a Yucatecan dish, kibis recipes include sour orange juice and habanero chili peppers. It can also be split lengthwise and filled with various ingredients like red onion, chopped cabbage, ground beef, and queso de bola (Edam cheese).

Kibis is a popular appetizer or street snack sold throughout the Yucatan, often in glass boxes by street vendors. You can also find them at cantinas or peddled along the beach.

13. Polcanes

Polcanes are a pre-Hispanic dish commonly eaten as an appetizer or street snack in the Yucatan. They’re deep-fried patties made from masa stuffed with a mixture of ibes (Yucatecan white beans), pepitas (pumpkin seeds), chives, and ground chili pepper.

Polcanes are typically eaten with a side of red onions, cabbage, tomato sauce, and cheese. In some cases, they can also be split open and stuffed with the ingredients.

The name polcan comes from the Mayan words pol and can, meaning “head” and “snake”. They used to be more oval in shape, like the head of a snake, but nowadays, they’re typically round and resemble gorditas.

14. Papadzules

Papadzules are another Yucatecan dish with ancient roots. They resemble enchiladas and consist of stuffed corn tortillas drenched in two sauces – one made from pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and the other a tomato sauce.

If you’re a vegetarian, then you’ll definitely want to try papadzules. The dish contains no meat and is stuffed only with coarsely-chopped hard-boiled eggs. Because of its appearance, some speculate that papadzules may be the forerunner to modern enchiladas.

15. Sopa de Lima (Yucatecan soup with fried tortilla strips)

Like salbutes, panuchos, and cochinita, sopa de lima is one of the most popular dishes in Yucatan cuisine. Meaning “lime soup”, sopa de lima refers to a type of Yucatecan soup made with shredded chicken or turkey meat served in a broth with fried tortilla strips.

As you can probably guess, sopa de lima is known for its citrusy flavor derived from lime juice. Depending on the cook, it can be made with other ingredients as well like tomatoes, bell peppers, avocado, and cilantro. It’s a flavorful and filling soup that can be enjoyed as a full meal.

16. Queso Relleno

Like kibis, queso relleno is one of the most well-known examples of delicious fusion foods in the Yucatan Peninsula, this time Mexican and Dutch.

Queso relleno is a Yucatecan dish made with a queso de bola rind (Edam cheese) stuffed with a filling of spiced minced pork, ground beef, raisins, nuts, spices, and other ingredients. The stuffed rind is steamed to lightly melt the cheese before being drenched in k’ool and topped with tomato sauce.

No one really knows how, but Dutch Edam cheese became a common food item in the Yucatan. Wealthy hacienda owners would eat the creamy insides and discard the tougher rinds. Servants would save, stuff, and steam the rinds, giving rise to queso relleno.

I was particularly interested in this dish because queso de bola is popular in our native Philippines as well, especially as a Christmas food. As you can imagine, queso relleno is a filling dish so don’t expect to have room for anything else if you order this.

17. Huevos Motuleños

Huevos motuleños is one of the most popular dishes in this Yucatan food guide. We enjoyed it for breakfast all throughout Mexico without realizing that it’s originally from the Yucatan town of Motul, about 44 km (27.3 miles) east of Merida.

Huevos motuleños is a popular breakfast dish consisting of corn tortillas topped with black beans, fried eggs, cheese, and tomato sauce. Depending on the cook, it can be made with other ingredients as well like diced ham, peas, and fried plantains.

18. Pollo en Escabeche Oriental

The term escabeche refers to a cooking method popular in Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and the Philippines. It consists of marinated meats, fish, poultry, or vegetables cooked in an acidic sauce, usually with vinegar.

Pollo en escabeche oriental refers to a specific type of Yucatecan escabeche made with chicken (or turkey meat). The chicken is marinated in a mixture of vinegar, garlic, coriander, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, and seasonings before being boiled in water with chopped red onions and sour orange juice. The chicken is then cooked on a grill and served in a broth with onions and chili peppers.

This version of Yucatecan escabeche is called “oriental” because it hails from the eastern part of the Yucatan Peninsula, specifically Valladolid.

19. Tamales Colados

If you like Mexican tamales, then you need to try tamales colados. In her book The Art of Mexican Cooking, British food writer and Mexican food expert Diana Kennedy describes this elaborate form of tamale as “the highest form of tamale-making” in Mexico.

What makes tamales colados so special is that the masa corn dough is strained, giving it a silky soft and extra smooth texture. It’s then mixed with a gravy filling and wrapped in banana leaves before being steamed for hours. This creates a tamale that’s softer and more delicate than any other in Mexico.

Tamales colados are served in banana leaf and topped with tomato sauce. In some cases, it can also be topped with shredded chicken.

20. Marquesitas

Marquesitas are among the most common street foods you’ll find in the Yucatan. Typically sold from street food carts at night, they consist of a rolled-up crunchy crepe filled with a variety of ingredients like cajeta (dulce de leche), jam, fruits, and chocolate. One of the most common versions is filled with Nutella and Edam cheese.

21. Dulce de Papaya

Dulce de papaya is a simple Yucatecan dessert of unripe papaya cooked at low heat with sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and water. It’s sweet and firm in texture when cooked and usually served with small cubes or shreds of grated Edam cheese.

22. Caballero Pobre

Caballero pobre is basically the Yucatecan version of French toast. Enjoyed as a snack or for dessert, it’s very similar to Spanish torrijas or Portuguese/Brazilian rabanadas, but with its own unique twist.

To prepare, slices of bread are dipped in a mixture of milk, vanilla, and sugar. What makes caballero pobre unique is that the bread is coated in a second mixture made with egg whites that are beaten till stiff and then mixed with beaten egg yolks.

The coated slices of bread are then fried in oil and served with syrup, raisins, almond slivers, and slices of fruit.

23. Champola

As described, it can get brutally hot in the Yucatan Peninsula. This is why refreshing desserts and drinks like champola are a godsend in this part of Mexico.

Champola is a popular dessert in the states of Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo. It’s basically a Yucatecan milkshake enriched with pureed whole fruit like strawberry, mango, mamey, and soursop.

I asked my server for the most traditional version and he recommended I get the coconut. After drinking this, I felt like I had just gone swimming in a cenote. It was so damn refreshing.

24. Machacados

Machacados is another refreshing dessert/drink from the Yucatan Peninsula. It’s originally from Chetumal in Quintana Roo though you can find it in other cities throughout the Riviera Maya like Cancun, Cozumel, and Playa del Carmen.

Machacados are very similar to raspados except they’re made with condensed milk and crushed fruit instead of the usual flavored syrups.

25. Agua de Chaya con Piña

After trying chaya for the first time at a restaurant in Merida, it quickly became one of my favorite Mexican drinks.

As previously described, chaya refers to a type of chard-like shrub native to the Yucatan. It’s used as an ingredient in many savory dishes but I enjoyed it most as a cold beverage.

Chaya can be pureed into a refreshing drink with just water and sugar but it can also be mixed with pineapple or lemon. I tried all three and I enjoyed them all. It’s sweet and herby in flavor, but in a good way.

YUCATAN FOOD TOURS

Needless to say, no one knows Yucatan food like a local, so what better way to experience the best of Yucatan cuisine than by going on a guided food tour?

Not only will a food-obsessed local take you to the city’s best markets, restaurants, and street food stalls, but they can give you tidbits of information that you simply can’t find on Google. Check our Get Your Guide for a list of food tours in different cities throughout the Yucatan Peninsula.

YUCATAN COOKING CLASSES

If you want to do a deep dive into Yucatan cuisine, then you may be interested in taking a cooking class. It’s one of the best ways to learn about Mayan food because it gives you a chance to work with the local ingredients that go behind each dish.

If you’re adept in the kitchen and want to take a cooking class in the Yucatan, then check out Cookly for a list of classes in Merida and the Riviera Maya.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON MAYAN CUISINE

At the time of this writing, I’ve been traveleating through Mexico for almost six months and Yucatecan food is some of the most interesting I’ve enjoyed so far. It’s definitely up there with Oaxacan and Pueblan food.

The taste of sour oranges, habanero, and achiote is something I’ll always associate with Yucatan food. Pork is usually the last thing I order on a restaurant’s menu but well-seasoned dishes like cochinita, poc chuc, and longaniza de valladolid will have me craving for pork long after I leave the peninsula. The Yucatecan love for slow-roasted pork is palpable and easy to understand, simply because it’s so delicious.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this guide on the best Mayan dishes to try in the Yucatan. I certainly enjoyed writing (and doing field research for) it. We’ve fallen in love with Mexico and Mexican food so you can bet your queso relleno that we’ll be back.

Hasta luego and have a wonderful time eating your way through the Yucatan Peninsula!

Disclosure

Some of the links in this Yucatan food guide are affiliate links, meaning we’ll earn a small commission if you make a purchase at no added cost to you. As always, we only recommend products and services that we use ourselves and firmly believe in. We really appreciate your support as this helps us make more of these free travel guides. Muchas gracias!

Playa del Carmen is beautiful. It’s one of the most sought-after beach destinations in the Riviera Maya. It’s developed commercially, but not to the extent of Cancun or Tulum. At the moment, it’s closer in feel to Puerto Vallarta which is a very good thing.

Like any tourist hotspot in the Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen can be expensive. Take a stroll along its main walking street – La Quinta Avenida – and you’ll find dozens of designer boutiques and high-concept restaurants.

I looked at one fine dining restaurant’s menu and was shocked to find the humble taco priced at MXN 225! At a taqueria in Mexico City, they usually go for about MXN 15-20 apiece. That MXN 225 taco wasn’t filled with lobster, gold leaf, or caviar either. It was made with Yucatecan-style longganiza, which I enjoyed whole plates of for as little as MXN 85 at nice restaurants in Valladolid.

Playa del Carmen is home to many amazing restaurants but you don’t have to sell a kidney to eat delicious food there. I’m not a beach bum so I spent most of my time in Playa del Carmen looking for the best food without breaking the bank.

All the Playa del Carmen restaurants and food stalls in this guide – serving Mexican and International food – offer filling meals for under MXN 200 with drinks (as of April 2022).

PLAYA DEL CARMEN RESTAURANTS QUICK LINKS

To help you plan your trip to Playa del Carmen, we’ve compiled links to top-rated hotels, tours, and other travel services here.

HOTELS

All-inclusive resorts are a favorite in Playa del Carmen, but if you’d like to stay close to the city center, then you may want to consider one of these hotels.

• Luxury: La Leyenda Boutique Hotel by Bunik
• Midrange: Hotel Cache
• Budget: Wabi Hostel

TOURS

• Sightseeing Tour: Private Walking Tour with a Guide
• Food Tour: 3-Hour Local Food Walking Tour
• Day Trip: Early Chichen Itza and Ik Kil Cenote
• Cooking Classes: Playa del Carmen Cooking Classes

OTHER SERVICES

• Travel Insurance (with COVID cover)
• Cancun Airport Transfer
• Mexico SIM Card

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THE BEST AFFORDABLE RESTAURANTS IN PLAYA DEL CARMEN

I’ve organized this list of Playa del Carmen restaurants by category to make it easier to digest. Click on a link to jump to any section of the guide.

Mexican Food International Food Street Food

Mexican Food

1. El Sabrosito del Fogon

If you were to go on popularity alone, then El Sabrosito del Fogon (or El Fogon for short) has to be one of the best restaurants in Playa del Carmen. It’s a hugely popular Mexican restaurant that serves delicious tacos and other local food favorites like quesadillas, tortas (sandwiches), alambres, and quesos fundidos.

Pictured below is a pair of Mexican cuisine’s most iconic tacos – tacos al pastor. If you’ve never had it, it consists of a corn tortilla topped with marinated grilled pork shaved from a vertical spit. You can think of it as the Mexican version of Lebanese shawarma, Greek gyros, or Turkish doner kebab.

At El Fogon, you can get delicious pastor tacos for just MXN 22 apiece, MXN 23 if you want it with wheat tortillas you gringo.

What you’re looking at here is an orden of quesadillas con champiñones (mushroom). Orden literally means “order” and always pertains to more than one piece.

At El Fogon, an orden of quesadillas comes with three pieces and ranges in price from MXN 72-104, depending on what it’s made with.

An inside look at my tasty quesadilla filled with mushrooms and melted cheese. Quesadillas are quite filling so an orden of three may be enough to fill up some people.

I spent a total of MXN 184 for two pastor tacos, three quesadillas, and a drink at El Fogon. I went to the branch along Avenida Constituyentes but El Fogon has several locations – four in Playa del Carmen and one in Cancun.

Based on what I’ve read, El Fogon is so popular with both locals and tourists that you sometimes have to queue in line for a table. I suggest going at off-peak hours.

El Sabrosito del Fogon

Address: Av. Constituyentes, Quintas del Carmen, Gonzalo Guerrero, 77720 Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: 1-11:30PM, daily
What to Order: Tacos, quesadillas, tortas, quesos fundidos
What I Paid: MXN 184 with drinks (April 2022)

2. El Chuleton

El Chuleton is another great taqueria in Playa del Carmen. Like El Fogon, they’re known for their tacos and other Mexican food favorites like tortas, molcajetes, alambres, and quesos fundidos. They serve a few desayunos or breakfast dishes as well.

Barely contained on the plate below are six tacos – four tacos al pastor and two tacos de chorizo. Unlike El Fogon, El Chuleton serves their pastor tacos plain without grilled pineapple.

Tacos at El Chuleton go for anywhere between MXN 21-45 each, depending on what they’re made with.

El Chuleton gives you the salsas and garnishes on the side so you can add them to your tacos yourself. I do wish they make the pastor with pineapple though.

I paid a total of MXN 175 for six tacos and a drink at El Chuleton. They’re a Traveler’s Choice awardee with a perfect 5-star rating on TripAdvisor.

If you’re in the mood for great affordable tacos in Playa del Carmen, then El Chuleton is one of the best restaurants you can go to.

El Chuleton

Address: Av. 20 entre Constituyentes y, C. 16 Nte. Bis, Centro, 77710 Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: 9AM-12MN, daily
What to Order: Tacos, tortas, quesos fundidos
What I Paid: MXN 175 with a drink (April 2022)

3. Taqueria El Ingrato

Taqueria El Ingrato is another great restaurant for tacos in Playa del Carmen. They serve tacos made with different types of meat like cecina, arrachera, chorizo, and pollo but what they’re really known for are their tacos al pastor. They have a perennial 2×1 deal where you get a free pastor taco for every two that you order.

Pictured below is an overflowing plate of four pastor tacos and two tacos campechanos. I forgot about their 2×1 deal so I made the mistake of ordering just three pastor tacos. Had I ordered four, then I would have gotten two more for free.

Here’s a closer look at the taco campechano. A taco campechano is basically a taco topped with a mixture of meats. The meats used can differ from restaurant to restaurant. El Ingrato appears to make theirs with arrachera (skirt steak) and chorizo.

I spent a total of MXN 140 for six tacos and a soda. Please be advised that there’s more than one “El Ingrato” on Google Maps. Click on the link for a map to the correct restaurant.

Taqueria El Ingrato

Address: Av. Constituyentes 280, Gonzalo Guerrero, 77720 Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: 3:15PM-12:45AM, Mon-Sat / 3:15-11:45PM, Sun
What to Order: Tacos
What I Paid: MXN 140 with a drink (April 2022)

4. Ay Taco!

Speaking of al pastor deals, Ay Taco! is another place to get a sweet deal on Mexico’s most beloved taco. Their pastor tacos are normally MXN 20 apiece but you can get six for just MXN 100.

As you can see below, they don’t scrimp on the fillings either. They load up each double tortilla with lots of pastor meat, onions, cilantro, and grilled pineapple. Not only was this a sweet deal, but these were some of the best tacos I had in Playa del Carmen.

Aside from pastor tacos, Ay Taco! serves other Mexican specialties as well like tortas, alambres, quesadillas, and volcanes. They serve hamburgers too.

I spent a total of MXN 120 for six tacos and a drink at Ay Taco! As you can see from the picture below, it isn’t a traditional restaurant but a taco truck with a small covered area of a few tables and chairs. Like El Chuleton, they’re a Traveler’s Choice awardee with a perfect 5-star rating on TripAdvisor.

Ay Taco! is one of the restaurants immediately surrounding Andador Solidaridad, a public park with some of the best affordable restaurants in Playa del Carmen.

Ay Taco!

Address: Calle 8 Nte, Centro, 77710 Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: 1-11PM, daily
What to Order: Tacos, tortas, volcanes, alambres
What I Paid: MXN 120 with a drink (April 2022)

5. Los Culiados Mariscos

Being a coastal city, Playa del Carmen is home to many great restaurants serving fresh seafood. The best seafood restaurants can be painfully expensive but thankfully, there are Mexican restaurants like Los Culiados Mariscos that serve excellent fish tacos and other seafood dishes at reasonable prices.

Located just a block away from Ay Taco!, Los Culiados serves different types of seafood tacos and tostadas, cocteles, ceviches, and aguachiles. Pictured below is a tasty trio of tacos made with fish (de pescado), shrimp (gobernador), and a mixture of fish, shrimp, and octopus (quesadilla de merma al carbon).

The seafood and fish tacos at Los Culiados go for anywhere between MXN 38-60. Tostadas are a little more expensive at about MXN 75 per piece while medium-sized portions of ceviche and aguachile hover around the MXN 150 range.

I spent a total of just MXN 148 for three seafood tacos and a Coke at Los Culiados Mariscos. It’s located right next to Andador Solidaridad, on the same side as Ay Taco! and a couple of other restaurants on this list.

Los Culiados Mariscos

Address: Calle 8 norte #166 Mz13 Lt13, entre Av.15 y, Av. 20, Centro, 77710 Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: 11AM-9PM, daily
What to Order: Seafood tostadas, tacos, ceviches, aguachiles
With a Drink: MXN 148 with a drink (April 2022)

6. Señor Taco

So far, all the taquerias on this Playa del Carmen restaurants guide serve either seafood or meat tacos. If you want to go to a restaurant that serves both, then head over to Señor Taco. It’s a humble Mexican restaurant that serves breakfast dishes and tacos made from different types of meat and seafood.

Aside from the usual pastor, chorizo, camaron, and pescado, they serve more daring offerings as well like tripa (small intestines), lengua (tongue), and one of our personal favorites – suadero (meat between the belly and leg).

On the plate below are tacos made with pescado, camaron, suadero, and tripa. To be honest, these weren’t the best tacos I had in Playa del Carmen but they’re pretty good, especially for the price. Their tacos range from just MXN 20-35.

I spent a total of just MXN 157 for four tacos and a soda at Señor Taco.

Personally, I preferred the other taquerias on this list but many people do love Señor Taco. They’re a Traveler’s Choice awardee with a near-perfect 4.5-star rating on TripAdvisor.

Señor Taco

Address: Calle 2 entre Av. 10 y 15, Centro, 77720 Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: 12NN-9PM, Mon-Fri / 12NN-5PM, Sat (closed Sundays)
What to Order: Tacos
What I Paid: MXN 157 with a drink (April 2022)

7. Restaurante Nativo

Restaurante Nativo is one of the most popular restaurants in Playa del Carmen. They offer an extensive menu of traditional Mexican fare like tacos, enchiladas, antojitos, seafood, and desayunos. They offer many delicious dishes, but what they’re best known for are their drinks. More on that below.

It’s hard to tell what this green and white mess of deliciousness is, but what you’re looking at is a plate of enchiladas suizas. It’s a type of enchilada made with chicken, manchego cheese, and salsa verde.

The enchiladas made for a terrific breakfast but what really blew me away was this yogurt smoothie. This particular concoction is called the mangazo, and it’s made with mango, yogurt, rompope (Mexican eggnog), and milk. My god was this insanely delicious.

Restaurante Nativo serves good food but what they’re really known for are their fresh fruit juices. They offer many different types of fresh juices and smoothies made with either milk or yogurt.

The restaurant was full when I was there but even more people were getting their fresh fruit juices to go. They’re amazingly delicious and as you can see below, quite large too. Those are standard-size salt and pepper shakers.

Restaurante Nativo offers a selection of fresh fruit plates as well. As good as their juices are, I bet those are delicious too.

Restaurante Nativo is designed to look like a beach hut. It’s a colorful restaurant with great atmosphere and tasty food.

I spent MXN 177 for a plate of enchiladas and a yogurt smoothie at Restaurante Nativo. You see those people outside? They’re all waiting for their juices and smoothies to go.

Restaurante Nativo is a Traveler’s Choice awardee with a stellar 4.5-star rating on TripAdvisor. Judging by how refreshingly delicious that mangazo was, they have to be one of the best restaurants in Playa del Carmen for juices and smoothies. I walked by many juice bars in the city but none were as popular as this.

Restaurante Nativo

Address: Lt 2, 30 Avenida Nte. Mz 26, Gonzalo Guerrero, 77710 Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: 7:30AM-12MN, daily
What to Order: Fresh juices, smoothies, traditional Mexican dishes
What I Paid: MXN 177 with a drink (April 2022)

8. Loncheria Los Machacados

Speaking of refreshing drinks, you need to try machacados – a Quintana Roo frozen drink that’s enjoyed mostly as a dessert. Made with shaved ice, it’s similar to raspados except it’s topped with crushed fruit and condensed milk instead of the usual flavored syrups.

Machacados are originally from Chetumal in southern Quintana Roo. You can find it in Playa del Carmen though it isn’t nearly as common as raspados. The only restaurant I could find that was within walking distance of La Quinta Avenida was the aptly named Loncheria Los Machacados.

On a searing Playa del Carmen day, amazing desserts like machacados will feel like a dive into a cenote. Los Machacados offers several flavors but my server recommended I try the fresa con platano (strawberry with banana). It was incredibly refreshing and delicious.

It’s worth noting that machacado in northern Mexico means something completely different. It refers to a dish of shredded dry beef mixed with scrambled eggs.

Los Machacados specializes in the shaved ice dessert but they do offer other Yucatecan dishes as well like sopa de lima, salbutes, and panuchos. I had these two hand-sized empanadas to go with my machacado.

You can get Los Machacados’ empanadas filled with cheese, chicken, or pork, or a mixture of the three.

Here’s an inside look at my empanada mixta. You can clearly see all three fillings in this picture – cheese, pork, and shredded chicken.

These Yucatecan empanadas are a good size and can be quite filling, especially if you get them filled with cheese. Aside from the usual Mexican cheese, Los Machacados also makes them filled with queso de bola (edam cheese).

I spent a whopping MXN 95 on two empanadas and a machacado. I had already eaten dinner before walking to Los Machacados, but the most expensive thing on their menu is the sopa de lima which goes for just MXN 70. You could easily enjoy a full meal here and a machacado for less than MXN 200.

Los Machacados is located about a 15-minute walk from La Quinta Avenida. You can refer to the location map at the bottom of this post to see exactly where it is.

Loncheria Los Machacados

Address: 77710, Av. 45 Nte. 134, Centro, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: 4:30-11:30PM, daily
What to Order: Machacados
What I Paid: MXN 95 for two empanadas and a machacado (April 2022)

9. Asadero El Pollo

Who doesn’t like roast chicken? Chicken barbecued on a grill exists in some form in most if not all countries, and Mexico is no exception.

Asadero El Pollo is a no-frills restaurant that offers just one thing on their menu – Mexican roast chicken. You can get half or a whole chicken for just MXN 90 or MXN 140 respectively. It comes with rice, salsa, onions, and tortillas.

I love tacos so I enjoy putting all the components together. If you’re hungry and on a strict budget, then this restaurant is tough to beat. I paid just MXN 110 for half a roast chicken and a drink.

Asadero El Pollo is a simple restaurant frequented by both locals and tourists.

Sitting at the table next to me was a foreigner who had clearly just come from a workout. He was devouring a whole chicken to himself like there was no tomorrow.

Asadero El Pollo looks plain but it’s hard to miss. Just look for the cloud of smoke billowing from the restaurant.

Asadero El Pollo

Address: 20 Avenida Nte. 652, Centro, 77710 Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: 10AM-6PM, daily
What to Order: Roast chicken
Expect to Spend: MXN 110 with a drink (April 2022)

International Food

There are plenty of inexpensive Mexican restaurants in Playa del Carmen, but there are a good number of affordable international restaurants as well. Here are a few you can go to.

10. Mi Kfe Sabor Venezolano (Venezuelan)

If you’re in the mood for arepas and Venezuelan food, then Mi Kfe is one of the best restaurants you can go to in Playa del Carmen.

I knew that I wanted arepas even before getting to the restaurant, but I was pleased to find tequeños on the menu as well. Tequeños are Venezuelan cheese sticks made with queso blanco wrapped in elastic puff pastry.

Gooey and creamy with a crisp, flaky coating, tequeños are absolutely delicious. If you like mozzarella sticks, then you need to order this.

Here’s a look inside a tequeño. I enjoy most types of cheese sticks but this has to be one of my favorites. The coating is uniquely delicious.

Mi Kfe has almost twenty different types of arepas fillings on their menu, including over a half-dozen vegetarian-friendly options. Most are MXN 83 with the most expensive option priced at just MXN 96.

I asked my server for recommendations and she suggested I get the reina pepeada. It’s filled with chicken breast and a creamy avocado-mayonnaise sauce.

Aside from arepas, Mi Kfe offers many other Venezuelan dishes as well like cachapas, patacones, and empanaditas. If you’re hungry, then you may want to try pabellon criollo, the Venezuelan national dish of shredded beef, black beans, and rice. It’s a starchy and filling meal that goes for just MXN 149.

I paid MXN 190 for an order of five tequeños, an arepa, and a drink.

Mi Kfe is located along Avenida 10 Norte, just one street away from La Quinta Avenida. Like La Quinta, Avenida 10 Norte has plenty of restaurants on either side and most are considerably cheaper. You’ll find plenty of great restaurant options here.

Mi Kfe Sabor Venezolano

Address: Avenida 10 Norte, entre calles 6 y 8, Centro, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: 12NN-10PM, Mon-Sat / 11AM-9PM, Sun
What to Order: Arepas, tequeños, patacones, cachapas
Expect to Spend: MXN 190 with a drink (April 2022)

11. N’taconadas Restaurante (Colombian)

If you like Venezuelan food, then you probably enjoy Colombian food as well. Being neighbors in South America, their cuisines are quite similar and share different variations of the same dishes like arepas, empanadas, and patacones.

There are a few Colombian restaurants in Playa del Carmen but one of the best and most accessible is N’taconadas Restaurante. It’s a family-owned restaurant along 15 Avenida Norte, just two streets away from La Quinta Avenida.

N’taconadas doesn’t offer as wide a menu as Mi Kfe but they do serve tasty food. Pictured below is a trio of Colombian empanadas filled with either beef or chicken. Each one costs MXN 25 but you can get three for just MXN 60.

Here’s a look inside my chicken empanada. The pico de gallo they serve on the side goes so well with these empanadas.

For my main course, I had this delicious and filling patacon con chicharron. Patacones are a Colombian staple made with flattened and double-fried unripe plantains. They’re slightly sweet, almost neutral in taste, and have a unique texture that’s quite enjoyable to eat.

At N’taconadas, you can get patacones topped with different ingredients like shredded chicken, chicharron, chorizo, or hogao (Colombian tomato and onion salsa). The chicharron is delicious and highly recommended.

Colombian pride is strong at N’taconadas!

I spent just MXN 180 for a satisfying and filling meal at N’taconadas. Definitely check them out if you get a hankering for Colombian food in Playa del Carmen.

N’taconadas Restaurante

Address: 15 Avenida Nte 152, Centro, 77710 Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: 9AM-7PM, Mon-Wed / 9AM-11PM, Thurs-Sat (closed Sundays)
What to Order: Patacones, empanadas, arepas
What I Paid: MXN 180 with a drink (April 2022)

12. Falafel Nessya (Middle Eastern)

I was in the mood for a healthy lunch one day so I dropped by this cute Middle Eastern restaurant that specializes in falafel. If you’ve never had it, falafel is a popular Lebanese or Middle Eastern dish of deep-fried balls made from ground chickpeas, herbs, and spices. It’s a great dish for people looking for vegetarian-friendly options.

Falafel Nessya has a focused menu with just a few items – falafel, sabich, hummus, and Israeli salad. This tasty and filling pita falafel set me back just MXN 80. With a drink, I spent a total of just MXN 100.

Falafel Nessya is a small restaurant with just three or four tables. It’s usually full so I suggest going at off-peak hours to get a table.

Falafel Nessya

Address: Calle 6 Norte entre avenida 10 y 15, Centro, 77710 Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: 1-11PM, daily
What to Order: Falafel, hummus
What I Paid: MXN 100 with a drink (April 2022)

13. Eat Bar (Mediterranean)

Speaking of vegetarian-friendly options, another great Playa del Carmen restaurant you can visit for healthy food is Eat Bar. Similar to Falafel Nessya, they offer Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes like hummus, falafel, sabich, and shakshuka.

While Falafel Nessya is a strictly vegetarian restaurant, Eat Bar offers meat dishes as well like beef kebabs, burgers, roast chicken, and tuna salad pita sandwiches.

Pictured below is my tasty sabich pita sandwich. It’s an Israeli dish made with fried eggplant, hard-boiled egg, hummus, and vegetable salad. If you like falafel, then you’ll probably enjoy this as well.

I spent a total of MXN 130 on my sabich pita sandwich and a drink. Eat Bar has two branches, one along Avenida 10 Norte (near Mi Kfe) and another at Andador Solidaridad, right next to Ay Taco!

The Avenida 10 Norte branch (pictured below) gets more crowded so you may want to try the Andador Solidarid shop if this is one is full.

Eat Bar

Address: 10 Avenida Nte. LB, entre calle 6 y 8, Centro, 77710 Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: 11AM-11PM, daily
What to Order: Sabich, hummus, shakshuka, kebabs
What I Paid: MXN 130 with a drink (April 2022)

14. Tom Yam Gong (Thai)

After month of traveling in Mexico, do you know what I miss most about Southeast Asia? The taste of fish sauce. I had been craving dishes made with fish sauce for weeks when I chanced upon Tom Yam Gong, a terrific restaurant that serves affordable and authentic Thai meals.

Normally, I’d be apprehensive about going to a Thai restaurant in Mexico, but I read that the chef at Tom Yam Gong was a Thai national now living in Playa del Carmen. Yes folks, this restaurant is the real deal.

Tom Yam Gong offers many Thai dishes on their menu like som tam, satay, tom yum goong, and tom kha gai, but I went for this plate of good old-fashioned pad thai. It’s that delicious and ever-reliable stir-fried noodle dish made with chicken, shrimp, fried tofu, peanuts, egg, and bean sprouts. Fish sauce craving satisfied.

I spent a total of MXN 184 for pad thai and a soda at Tom Yam Gong. It’s near two other international restaurants that didn’t make it to this list but you may want to check out as well – Machu Picchu (Peruvian food) and La Cubana (Cuban food).

Tom Yam Gong

Address: Avenida 15 entre calle 4 y, Calle 2 Nte, Centro, 77724 Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: 12NN-10PM, daily
What to Order: Pad Thai, som tam, tom yum goong, satay
What I Paid: MXN 184 with a drink (April 2022)

15. Comet 984 (Vegan)

Comet 984 is probably one of the more interesting restaurants on this list. It’s interesting because it looks and sounds like an American 50s diner – the kind of place you’d go to for burgers, hot dogs, and milkshakes.

While you can find all those diner staples at Comet 984, none of them are made with animal products. Comet 984 is a vegan restaurant that serves hamburgers and hot dogs made exclusively with plant-based products.

What you’re looking at below is the Krusty Burger, a vegan burger made with a slice of breaded cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and salsa. The “cheese” is made with soya milk.

I ordered a side of french fries as well which were amazing.

I spent a total of MXN 175 for a vegan burger, french fries, and a soda at Comet 984. This vegan 50s diner is definitely a unique restaurant in Playa del Carmen.

Comet 984

Address: 77710 Calle 8 Norte LB Entre avenida 20 y 25, Centro, 77710 Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: 1-9PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What to Order: Vegan burgers, hot dogs, milkshakes
Expect to Spend: MXN 175 with a drink (April 2022)

Street Food

When you’re traveling on a budget and want good local food, then there’s no better choice than street food. It’s cheap and delicious and gives you an unfiltered look at how locals eat.

There are a few street food clusters you can visit in Playa del Carmen.

CALLE 14 NORTE BIS

Calle 14 Norte Bis is the street that divides the Super Aki and Mega supermarkets. On that street are three to four food trucks selling different types of Mexican antojitos, tacos, and tortas.

16. Tacos de Birria El Compa

The Tacos de Birria El Compa food truck is by far the most popular stall on this strip. They serve the usual tacos and tortas but as their name suggests, what they’re really known for is their birria.

A specialty of Gudalajara and Jalisco state, birria is a type of Mexican stew made from spicy goat meat adobo that’s slow-cooked in a pot till tender. It’s typically eaten in corn tortillas with onions, cilantro, lime, and salsa.

At El Compa, you can enjoy birria in tacos, tacos dorados (rolled up and crunchy), and tortas, but the best way to have it is in quesabirria tacos.

Quesabirria refers to a variation of birria tacos that first emerged in Tijuana. They’re basically birria tacos made with melted cheese. Quesabirria is absolutely delicious and something you don’t see as often so you should definitely try it here.

I paid just MXN 87 for three quesabirria tacos and a soda. Quesabirria tacos are filling because of the cheese so start of with two or three first before getting more.

Calle 14 Norte Bis Street Food Stalls

Address: Avenida Nte. 101, Gonzalo Guerrero, 77720 Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: Around 7AM-10PM, daily
What to Order: Quesabirria tacos
What I Paid: MXN 87 with a drink (April 2022)

CALLE 2 NORTE

Calle 2 Norte is home to another cluster of street food stalls in Playa del Carmen. You’ll find around four to five food stalls between Asadero El Pollo and Señor Taco along Calle 2 Norte.

17. Taqueria El Jarocho

This taco food truck is one of the most popular stalls on this strip. It doesn’t show up on Google Maps but the sign on the truck says “Taqueria El Jarocho”.

I saw the word “jarocho” attached to many restaurant names in Playa del Carmen so I googled it. Apparently, jarocho refers to someone from the city of Veracruz.

El Jarocho serves the usual taqueria offerings like tacos, tortas, quesadillas, and burritos. You can get them filled with different types of meat and seafood like pastor, carne asada, camaron, and pescado.

What you’re looking at below are tacos filled with two of my favorite type of meat – suadero and tripa. These were delicious and among the best tacos I had in Playa del Carmen, all for just MXN 100 with a drink.

Calle 2 Norte Street Food Stalls

Address: Calle 2 Nte, Centro, 77710 Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: Around 2-11:30PM, daily
What to Order: Tacos
What I Paid: MXN 100 with a drink (April 2022)

ANDADOR SOLIDARIDAD

I already liked Andador Solidaridad park because of all the cheap and delicious restaurants around it, but this weekend night market made me love it even more. From Friday till Sunday, you’ll find a variety of crafts vendors and food stands setting up at the park. I don’t know exactly what time it starts and ends but I believe it goes from around 5PM till midnight.

You’ll find live musicians and bands performing at the park as well. The weekend night market has great atmosphere and lots of delicious street food.

18. Andador Solidaridad Weekend Night Market

There wasn’t any one stall that stood out at the market so I just went to the ones I found most interesting.

One stall called Las Jarochitas was selling tamales and atole de coco. The tamale is probably the most well-known pre-Hispanic dish in Latin America. It’s made with masa corn dough that’s filled with a variety of ingredients and then steamed in corn husk.

Tamales are often enjoyed with atole, a pre-Hispanic drink made with masa, water, piloncillo (unrefined whole cane sugar), cinnamon, and vanilla. In some versions like this one, chocolate can also be mixed in.

This is arguably the most popular snack in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. You’ll find food stalls, mostly at night, selling this dessert snack throughout the Yucatan.

What you’re looking at is a marquesita, a Yucatan food favorite made with a rolled-up crunchy crepe. It can be filled with a variety of ingredients like fruit, cajeta (dulce de leche), jam, and chocolate, but one of the most common versions is made with Nutella and shreds of edam cheese.

I paid MXN 100 for the marquesita, tamale, and atole de coco. I don’t know how often the food vendors change but there were stalls selling tacos, antojitos, pozole, arepas, pastries, cakes, raspados, and drinks.

Andador Solidaridad Weekend Night Market

Address: Unnamed Road, Gonzalo Guerrero, 77720 Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
Operating Hours: Around 5PM-12MN, Fri-Sun

LOCATION MAP

To help you navigate to these food stalls and restaurants in Playa del Carmen, I’ve pinned them all on the map below. Click on the link for a live version of the map.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE BEST CHEAP RESTAURANTS IN PLAYA DEL CARMEN

Eating out in Playa del Carmen can be expensive, but as this list shows you, it doesn’t have to be. You can have tasty and filling meals for less than MXN 200. You just have to get off toruisty La Quinta Avenida to find them.

If you’re visiting the Riviera Maya and traveling with limited funds, then I hope this article helps you stretch your budget and make the most of your time there.

Thanks for reading and have an amazing time in Playa del Carmen!

Disclosure

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