Street food in Mérida

Esquites and elotes – corn

🌽 This is Mexican street corn served in two different ways. Both versions are popular street foods across the whole of Mexico. It is important to remember that these corn snacks are generally not the yellow sweetened variety of corn you’re probably used to. You’re more likely to be offered white corn (although, yes, the photo above does have both types in it).

🌽 Elotes are grilled or boiled corn on the cob, generally smothered in mayonnaise and lemon juice and then rolled in chile powder and/or cheese.

🌽 Esquites is off-the-cob corn kernels in a cup smothered in mayonnaise / cream with cheese, lime juice, chile and a whole host of optional extras. Esquites is one of my absolute favourite snacks.

Marquesitas

🧇 A marquesita is essentially a savoury filled ice cream cone. The mixture is poured on a hot griddle and heats it up until it looks like a flattened cone. Personally, I love it when I strike gold and get an ever so slightly chewy one.

🧇 The marquesita was born during a particularly cold spell in Mérida when ice cream sales were unusually low. Someone decided to try using the cone batter in a different way and a new snack was born.

🧇 The marquesita is rolled up tight and filled with different fillings of your choice. Grated edam (queso de bola) tends to be a staple ingredient but it isn’t mandatory. You can then add any combination of peanut butter, banana, jam, Nutella, Nusita (a local three-flavour spread).

🧇 Recently, super fancy marquesitas have appeared in Mérida that include ice cream and other fun ingredients.

Tostilocos

When you order tostilocos, you are paying for someone to open a bag of nachos and smother it in all sorts of delicious unhealthiness (looks gross, tastes great).

🧀 Tostilocos, I believe, were invented in Tijuana (like the Caesar Salad). The name means “crazy chips”.

🧀 Your bag of nachos will be opened lengthways and covered in cream, liquid cheese, cheese, chile sauce, jalapeños and sometimes even meat. Basically, anything goes on tostilocos.

🧀 If you’re at a really ‘fancy’ stand you may be offered chile nuts, chile candy and extra chile sauces to really make this snack ‘pop’. 

Helados, paletas y bolis – ice creams

Ice creams are taken very seriously in Mexico and Mérida is no exception. When it’s hot for so much of the year, ice cream is an ‘all of the time’ kind of thing.

🍦You can buy branded ice creams in stores like Oxxo, find an artisanal ice cream store, or from the guys walking around selling their wares from tiny cool boxes. All are perfectly safe. 

⚠️ Be warned that the homemade bolis can give a big old surprise if there is too much food colouring. Suffice to say we have had some interesting experiences helping our kids in the toilet after they’ve had cheap blue bolis.

Fruit based snacks

In Mérida there are fresh fruits everywhere you look. The trees are laden with it, and the markets overflow with this sweet natural goodness. The most common fruits to see are oranges, melons, grapefruit, coconut, mango and papaya.

🥭 If you head downtown to Centro you’ll see plenty of small stands selling cups full of cut fruit, generally smothered in chile powder. Even many of the supermarkets have a cut fruit bar with tubs of chile powder standing alongside, ready for the necessary dousing. 

🥭 Agua Frescas are delicious fruit drinks that are incredibly refreshing. They will always be made with purified water (good) and will sometimes have added sugar (bad). As a general rule, if it’s pre-made it may well have added sugar, if it’s being made in front of you, it’s unlikely to have extra sugar.

Tacos and more

Forget taco Tuesday, every day is taco-day in Mexico!

🌮 Tacos are folded tortillas (generally corn in Yucatán but you can find wheat in the stores) usually stuffed with meat but there are generally options available for vegetarians too.

🌮 In Mérida you will find that taco stands tend to be open for breakfast so get there early.

🌮 Tacos al Pastor are very popular – this is a marinated pork roasted on a spit. This probably came from Lebanon originally but has been entirely Mexicanised with a fabulous array of salsas and pico de Gallo (a delicious tomato and cilantro based salsa that can be pretty spicy).

🌮 By lunch, people in Mérida have moved onto loncherias or cocina economicas (many of which deliver), which are often found around the markets for cheap, simple but delicious meals. 

🌮 At a loncheria you might find empanadas, quesadillas, tortas (filled bread rolls), panuchos (refried tortilla stuffed with beans and topped with chicken or turkey and salad), salbutes (more or less the same but without the beans) and sopes. Pretty much whenever you’re out and about, whether at a street food stand or a local restaurant you’ll be offered any of these options. 

🧀 In Mexico City, if you want a quesadilla with cheese, please remember to specify that you want it with cheese. Those weird and wonderful people don’t think cheese is a vital ingredient in the quesadilla.

Street food in Mérida – gorditas

Similar to an arepa, the gordita is made from masa and filled with either savoury or sweet stuff.

🫓 Did you know that gordita means ‘fatty’ in Spanish?

Tamales

🫔 A tamal (one tamal, many tamales) is a type of corn dough dumpling stuffed with a filling and wrapped in either a corn husk or banana leaves. Fillings include chicken, mole, vegetables and cheese. There are even sweet tamales.

🫔 Tamales are eaten all year around, especially at birthday parties in Yucatán.

🫔 In Yucatán, tamales and pib (a type of tamal) are served at Hanal Pixán (Yucatecan Day of the Dead).

Fried foods – hot dogs etc

You’ll see many of these street stalls around, particularly at festivals and events. They tend to sell churros, fries, corn dogs, bits of sausage and chips (crisps to my British readers).

Candies & beach sweets

If you head to the beach you’ll see the guys heading up and down the beach calling ‘meringue’ over and over. They don’t only sell meringues but all sorts of local candies (that can also be picked up in town). All are delicious if you enjoy sugar. They generally cost up to $25 pesos a piece. Stop a guy and have a look. You can also get similar candies in the Lucas de Galvez market.

Drinks – alcoholic & non- alcoholic

🍺 The photo above is of a michelada stand – this is a spicy beer drink that is both delicious & refreshing.

🍊 You will also find stands like this selling juices / agua frescas, as noted above. All are safe & delicious to try.

→ Read the MexicoCassie guide to Mexican drinks to learn more about what drinks are available in Mexico.

Convenience stores

You can barely move in Merida without stumbling over an Oxxo, Seven-Eleven or a Six. Here you can buy absolutely anything your heart desires…as long as your heart desires potato chips, chocolate, biscuits, soda or beer. And of course, fast food stores are everywhere too.

And, of course, a final plea for sustainability when travelling: carry your own cutlery and crockery rather than add to the mountains of waste we humans create on a daily basis.