Eat List: Merida & the Northern Yucatán

Market stalls, masa, taquerías, fine dining and even natural wine.

Pancho Maíz, a masa driven restaurant in Mérida.

The city of Mérida and the villages that surround it on the northern end of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula offer a sense of the region’s vibrant cuisine without the crowds of the Riviera Maya. The markets here are gritty and real, while a collective of small producers of salt, honey, corn and vegetables called Traspatio Maya has helped reconnect broken foodways and given new life to countless culinary projects. The food here is harder to box in than you might imagine. Influences are Mayan, Spanish, Lebanese, Caribbean and even Dutch. You’ll see queso de bola, balls of Edam cheese, just as often as you will recado seasoning pastes and nixtamalized papaya.

You cannot deny the steady stream of expats moving to Mérida and increased development everywhere you look, though it’s far from feeling like Cancún or even Tulum. This corner of Mexico has made a major push to increase tourism as it relates to tourism in recent years. Mérida has redeveloped Calle 47 into a gastronomic corridor with more than a dozen restaurants and bars, while the chef Roberto Solís continues to expand his empire, with several new openings in the last few years. The city has hosted major international culinary events like The Best Chef Awards and Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants, while Hokul Vuh, northeast of the city at the Aké archeological site, brings in 18 global chefs (and a lot of media attention) each year. Additionally, the region has also added three new pueblos magicos (Espita, Motul and Tekax), part of a national initiative to promote cultural richness that will shift additional resources into local cuisine.

The following list takes in the region’s rustic markets and laid back fondas, as well as the modern restaurants that are popping up in central Mérida and unexpected places outside of the city. These are my recommendations for where to eat in Mérida and the northern Yucatán: