44 Best Restaurants in Yucatán and Campeche States, Mexico

This contemporary restaurant at the Wayam Mundo Imperial hotel in the García Ginerés neighborhood has floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a plant-filled terrace. Chef Maycoll Calderón allows fresh ingredients to take center stage, avoiding anything too fussy in such flavorful Italian and Latin American dishes as ceviche, arroz con pollo, pizza, and pasta. Extensive cocktail and mocktail menus make the most of the area's tropical fruits. 

On the inland side of the barrier island, a charming little house painted sky-blue and cherry-red contains El Cuyo's best restaurant. Here, Oscar Flores, who presides in the kitchen, and his English wife, Cathy Sissens, lead guests—never more than 20 on any night—on a nine-course journey through Mexico's culinary regions, with Cathy sharing some background on each mole, ceviche, or taco that's served. The owners can accommodate most dietary restrictions; just let them know when you make reservations, which are required. 

Shaded by a giant palapa roof, this open-air restaurant is an inviting spot for lunch or an early dinner (it closes at 7 pm). Though you'll find the same Yucatecan dishes (pollo pibil, sopa de lima) here as elsewhere, the preparation is excellent. Best of all is the poc chuc—little bites of pork marinated in sour orange, garlic, and chiles and grilled over charcoal. There is also a Mérida location if you don't want to make the trip to the original one. 

A henequen plantation in the 17th century, this beautiful hacienda just outside Mérida serves some of the best regional food around, primarily attracting well-to-do Meridanos for a leisurely lunch (let that be your guide on what to wear). Start with sopa de lima, then move on to standout mains like poc chuc (slices of pork in a sour-orange sauce) or cochinita pibil—both served with homemade tortillas—perhaps followed by dessert, which comes with a complimentary digestif. After your meal, stroll through the gardens where peacocks roam. If you’d like to spend the night, the hacienda has six handsome suites, but you'll need to book ahead for weekends and holidays. There are also two locations of Hacienda Teya in the heart of Mérida: one at the Paseo 60 mall and the other on Calle 60, across from Parque Santa Lucia.

At the town's favorite lunch spot, glass walls replicate an oblong Maya house, which is surrounded by a profusion of plants. Seafood, with a campechano twist, reigns supreme here, and a truly ambitious meal might start with calamari, stone-crab claws, or camarones al coco (coconut-encrusted shrimp), perhaps followed by pan de cazón (a shark-meat casserole that's one of Campeche's most distinctive dishes) or robalo fish topped with puréed cilantro, parsley, orange, and olive oil. For dessert, the classic choice is the signature and impossibly sweet coconut cake. As the sun goes down, candles are set out on the white-linen tablecloths, and soft blue lighting illuminates the outside atrium.

Located on Calle 47, which was pedestrianized in 2023 as its status as Mérida's restaurant row became more official, this colorful restaurant specializes in grilled fish and meat dishes, though the cocktail menu of mezcal and tequila favorites is a draw as well. The scene is lively but not excessively so, making this a perfect option for a special-occasion celebration.

At this eatery on Mérida's restaurant row, the salads, pizzas, and pasta dishes could hold their own against any served by establishments in Italy itself. The restaurant group also has other locations, including Oliva Patio and Olivia Pizzeria in the north of the city.

The patio of this historic home glows with candlelight in the evening, but during the day, things feel a lot more casual. Although the menu has a few fish or meat dishes (cochinita pibil, say, or butterfly chicken breast in a cream sauce), the emphasis is on vegetarian dishes such as chaya soup (made from a green plant similar to spinach), stuffed mushrooms, spinach lasagna, and avocado pizza. Prices are reasonable, and service is excellent. Expect live music in the open-air courtyard daily between 8:30 pm and midnight.

An oat-processing facility, in an area that's busy by day but quiet at night, has been converted into an innovative cultural complex. In addition to this restaurant offering creatively updated Yucatecan dishes, you'll also find several bars, a gallery, an arthouse cinema, and a pop-up space that typically features the work of a local artisan or collective.

Apoala is one of the best choices for Mexican food on the lively restaurant-lined Parque Santa Lucia. The menu includes both Oaxacan and Yucatecan dishes—moles and beef dishes from the former, ceviches and cochinita pibil from the latter. The presentation is elevated without being fussy.

This casual spot north of Parque Santa Ana has a French flair, with vintage posters and antique signs, and its French owner, Eric Sureau, is on the premises most days, assuring that the quiches, crêpes, and salads all leave the kitchen comme il faut. There are tables in the lovely and shady yard in the back. In addition Sureau has a small but excellently curated selection of wines and some of the best cheeses in the city if you want to buy the essentials for a little gathering around the pool at your rental or hotel.

Though it serves good basic pastas, salads, and burgers, as well as some Mexican bar-food favorites, this restaurant's popularity is primarily due to its delicious cocktails, aguas frescas, and lively atmosphere. You can dine outside, enjoying the activity on Paseo Montejo, or inside, where the people-watching is just as interesting.

This restored colonial gem a couple of blocks north of the main square deserves a place on any list of Mexico's best pizza restaurants. Lots of reds and yellows brighten the interior, and the outdoor patio overlooking Parque de la Candelaria becomes prime real estate on beautiful evenings. With 30 years in the restaurant business, most of them spent back in Italy, the owners here know pizza. They whip up 11 varieties, as well as sweet and salted focaccia and enormous calzones. A selection of Italian wines rounds out the offerings. Casa Italia opens at 7 each evening—come early if you want to snag a patio table.

The creative menu developed by the Sicilian chef, Giuseppe Genovese (commonly known as "Beppe"), offers a mix of Italian, Mediterranean, and Caribbean cuisine. Locals gather for seafood pasta, grilled lobster, octopus salad, and fresh ceviche, all bathed in garlic and olive oil, and breads, sausages, and pizzas are made from scratch in the small kitchen where Beppe works his magic. The pizza topped with smoked ham, mozzarella, and arugula makes a perfect starter for two. This is the only spot on the island where you'll find authentic espresso, sorbet, and tiramisu.

Campechano families come here to enjoy a light supper, perhaps a delicious sandwich claveteado of honey-and-clove-spiked ham, along with a typical drink like agua de chaya, a mixture of pineapple water and chaya (a leafy vegetable similar to spinach). The dining area is a wide colonial veranda with marble flooring and tables decked out in plastic tablecloths. No alcohol is served, and you simply mark your choices on the paper menu (note that for tacos, "m" means maíz, or corn; for tortillas, "h" stands for harina, or flour). On weekends, try the tamal torteado, a tamale with beans, tomato sauce, turkey, and pork wrapped in banana leaves—although not listed on the menu, it's available on request. 

Follow your nose to this dessert café, where the aromas of French pastries and rich cocoa waft into Campeche's narrow streets. Tucked inside a stone-walled colonial building are small wooden tables and a collection of antiques, like a vintage cash register still used for ringing up transactions. Drink recipes originated from the owner's research into Mayan traditions and her time spent with local families; prepared with the purest form of organic cocoa, they're infused with mint, chile, and more. Not a chocolate lover? You’ll enjoy all-natural fruit juices made with jicama and piña. Crepes and cookies make nice accompaniments. A small gift shop sells locally made products and blocks of dark chocolate.

A notch above its malecón neighbors, this restaurant has contemporary Yucatecan-inspired decor (think pasta tiles, tzalam wood details, and florescent pink chairs). The menu is extensive but almost everything is from the sea, including shrimp cocktails, Baja-style fish tacos, and platters of crab. There is also a second location in Mérida, but the food tastes better at this original restaurant, where it's paired with sea breezes. Reservations are suggested—on warm evenings and holidays weekends, all the tables are often filled.

This elegant colonial house on the south side of the main square specializes in hearty Yucatecan cuisine, with such menu highlights as pollo X'catik (chicken baked in butter cream) and lomitos de Valladolid (cubed pork loin in a tomato-chile sauce). If you're not feeling quite so adventurous, you can choose from mar y tierra (meaning, basically, surf and turf) options. The small front dining room is stylish, but we recommend snagging a table in the leafy back courtyard—it's perfect for lunch on a hot afternoon. El Atrio keeps long hours, opening at 7 am and going strong until 11:30 pm.

The homemade ice cream and sorbet at El Colón have been keeping locals cool since 1907. Served in a pyramid-shape scoop, the tropical fruit flavors (like chico zapote, a brown fruit native to Mexico that tastes a little like cinnamon and comes from a tree used in chewing-gum production) are particularly refreshing. The shop also sells cookies and fresh candies—the meringues are exceptional. There are five locations throughout the city, and while the one on the Plaza Grande is the oldest, the one on Paseo de Montejo is the most popular, especially on warm evenings. 

This tiny restaurant fills a void in island cuisine with the day's catch transformed into the sushi roll of your choice. Local favorites include the Holbox Rainbow made with shrimp, salmon, tuna, and sea bass. Nearly every roll is stuffed with cream cheese, an ingredient that makes the sushi far from authentic yet memorably tasty. Placing a sweet spin on the menu is the Banana Roll with shrimp, avocado, and cream cheese topped with fried banana and eel sauce. The restaurant also serves Thai dishes and has a full cocktail menu—the ginger margarita packs a punch.

K’u’uk, which means "sprout" in Mayan, is chic in every sense of the word, from the suave waiters to the molecular gastronomy dining experience in a historic mansion facing the Monumento a la Patria on Paseo de Montejo. The presentation is artistic—picture dollops of baby pumpkin dusted with goat cheese the texture of powdered snow, potatoes slices as thin as tissue paper, and desserts sprinkled with dehydrated berries or honey-soaked seeds. Many of the Yucatecan options are prepared in a custom-built pibil oven, allowing for a modernized way to impart a traditional smoky flavor. Plan to stay awhile, since dining takes between two and three hours.

You'll know that a fun evening lies ahead even before you are seated at your table at this outdoor restaurant, where the pizzas and empanadas are cooked in a wood oven and several different pasta dishes are offered each day. A food truck serves as the main kitchen, kids (and adults) can make their own s'mores around a fire, and strings of taverna lights glow overhead. Well-behaved dogs are welcome, too, adding to the feeling that you have joined a casual gathering of friends at the beach.

Calle 8, which runs along the north side of the historic center and roughly follows the route of the old sea wall, is now a bit of a restaurant row, home to this and other eateries. Seafood is the specialty here, though it also has a number of signature cocktails, like the Pregonero, made with a chile liquor, tamarind, and pineapple.

This cantina at the corner of Calles 62 and 49 is popular with locals, expats, and visitors thanks to its large courtyard and likewise large cocktails. You'll be offered free bar snacks as long as you keep ordering drinks, though it's worth trying some of the delicious (if basic) ceviches, enchiladas, and tacos, too. Live bands play most evenings. 

Residents of Mérida have strong opinions on who makes the best salbutes and panuchos, two signature Yucatecan dishes, and La Poderosa is at the top of many lists. All the seats at this restaurant in the southern part of Centro—near San Sebastian's square and market—are outdoors, and it's an especially lovely spot on warm evenings. Its evening hours also make it stand out from some other popular casual eateries, which are often open for breakfast and lunch only. A meal of three or four empanadas, panuchos, or salbutes, accompanied by a soda, will only set you back about $5. Note: There are several restaurants in Mérida named La Poderosa. The one you want is the one in San Sebastian.

This lively family-owned eatery on Parque Santa Lucía has outdoor seating that's the perfect place to eat on cool evenings, as well as plenty of tables in an air-conditioned dining room for days when the heat doesn't break. The menu is made up of filling salads, thin-crust pizzas, and pasta dishes. Happy hour runs weekdays from 7 to 9 pm (there's usually some kind of deal on the excellent wine list, too). There is also a larger location, simply La Tratto, a little to the north of the historic center on Prolongación Paseo de Montejo.

This bright, sunny café on Mérida's restaurant row is an appealing spot for a cappuccino, latte, or tea, paired with an avocado toast, yogurt and fruit, or a pastry.

This vintage Yucatecan restaurant with high colonial ceilings and an elegant atmosphere is a longtime local favorite. The combinado yucateco (Yucatecan combination plate) is a great way to try different dishes like cochinita pibil, longaniza asada (grilled pork sausages), escabeche de Valladolid (turkey with chiles, onions, and seasonings in an acidic sauce), and poc chuc (slices of pork in a sour-orange sauce). In fact, Los Almendros invented some dishes that have become regional classics—including the cheese soup, which is also spectacular. A live trio performs daily from 2 to 5 pm.

Inside a colonial-era building, this small (just five tables) family-run restaurant is decorated with Mexican crafts and has an enormous menu of familiar favorites like burritos and fajitas. Grilled fish and steak are served with rice and shredded lettuce, as are the rolled tacos and enchiladas topped with red or green chile sauce. If you’re an early riser, stop by for French toast or a breakfast crêpe.

Chef Jorge Melul, a master baker, has become known on the island for his breads, cakes, and pastas, made from organic, local grown ingredients. For a memorable meal, start with shrimp tempura dipped in chipotle cream or homemade pesto and then order the fish cooked in white wine and topped with spinach and pears. The daily catch is purchased directly from the fishermen who dock on the shores. If it's just ambience you're after, head to the rooftop Luuma bar for a reasonably priced basil mojito or ginger margarita.