The Mérida breakfasts worth getting up early for

In Mérida, breakfast is the serious meal of the day. It’s had early, before the heat, and there are dishes that only exist at that hour. Here’s the guide.

If you come from another city, the first shock is the timing: at 7 a.m. the kitchens are full and by 11 many have closed. The second shock is the menu: nobody here has “eggs and ham” for breakfast.

The morning dishes

• Huevos motuleños. Fried tortilla, beans, a fried egg, tomato sauce, peas, ham, cheese and fried plantain. The flagship breakfast.
• Papadzules. Boiled-egg tacos bathed in pumpkin-seed sauce. Pre-Hispanic and mild.
• Yucatecan chilaquiles, with cream and sometimes cochinita on top.
• Panuchos and salbutes of turkey, of cochinita, of “whatever there is”.
• Poc chuc for breakfast at the bolder kitchens.
• Sweet bread and coffee at the classic bakeries (the “concha”, the “hojaldre”, the “campechana”).

Where to have breakfast

Markets (the most authentic and cheapest):

• Lucas de Gálvez — cochinita, salbutes, “salpicón”, juices. See the Lucas de Gálvez market.
• Santiago market and Santa Ana market — quieter, with kitchens that have been there for years.
• Slow Food (Saturdays) — healthy, producer-direct breakfast — Slow Food market.

Cheap kitchens and diners:

• La Socorrito, Wayan’e (pan tacos, early), Teya (a hacienda in the city), La Chaya Maya (sit-down, for tourists and locals alike).

Specialty coffee (for a lighter breakfast and wifi): plenty in Santiago, Santa Ana and Paseo Montejo.

Local rules

• Go early. The good stuff runs out.
• Order chaya or saramuyo water, and pot coffee.
• Habanero on the side, never on top without warning.
• On Sundays half of Mérida has breakfast out; arrive before 9 or expect a queue.

To keep going with traditional Yucatecan food: where to eat real cochinita pibil and 7 places to eat healthily.