WHERE TO FIND CHEAP RESTAURANTS AND CHEAP SUPERMARKETS?

I am planning for a trip to Cancun and before I go, I want to learn the cheap places to eat in Cancun. Not Mcdonalds or Burger King but something authentic but really cheap like where the local Mexicans eat. How much are the locals paying for a decent cheap food and where are they, that is what I want to know.

And I have seen some posts by people living in Cancun and they are shopping in Walmart and other places. I was wondering why they do not shop at the street bazaars like the ones we see in travel channel. Is Walmart cheaper than the street vendors? Or you guys do not go there because you do not trust the quality. I assumed it should be really cheap since most of the customers are locals.

Please post your ideas, experiences.

 

There aren't many outdoor mercados where they sell food in Cancun, the only places I can think of are quite far away from home. And one of those is in a neighborhood I'm not comfortable in, and my husband would certainly have a fit if I went there alone. When I've been there I have been the only white person there.

Soriana is 5 minutes from my house and has great produce, and there's no risk of getting mugged if I go alone. Walmart sucks in my opinion, but has some good things which make it necessary to condescend to shop there once in a while.

Mexico is not what you see on the Travel Channel.

 

Go to Parque las Palapas, there are several very-Mexican-outside-restaurants (if I can call them restaurants) where you find quesadillas for 8 pesos (maybe they are at 9 now!!!). There are also tacos etc... In my opinion, they are the best in Cancun There is also closeby a Mexican cantina, a little bit more expensive :wink:

I don't know if I am the only white, and I don't really care, since Cancun is a rather safe place, and THAT is a safe one (heart of Cancun). and you can enjoy there in the evening a lot of entertainment and local clothes, jewelry etc... It is at least a pleasure for the eyes.

 

I do not understand this. how come there are no mercados in Cancun??? Where are the local people buy their food from? Not from Walmart I suppose with the salary that they are making.

I understand that as a white female foreigner you do not want to be in a huge crowd of local people just to save a few bucks but for me I think I can handle it.

Now for the restaurants I was not asking for street vendors cooking on the street, I was referring to clean and neat but cheap places. I am in Houston, TX and there are like hundreds of restaurants here where you can have really really nice and delicious food for less than 10 bucks. And for less than 6-7 bucks I know maybe 30-40 restaurants and 99% of the people working there, are Mexicans.

Given the fact that the Mexicans in Mexico are making 1/5 of what they are making in the USA, I should be able to find similar places in Cancun. Maybe I am more budget minded than you guys and you probaly never bothered to look for cheaper which I understand. Everyone have different budgets.

Is there a forum or website where they list all these cheap places? Like the one below. Please look at the website and tell me if you ever went to one of the restaurants in the website. Because it really looks cheap to me.

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Thanks

 

misterno,
Those of us that live here (Mexicans and ex pats) buy their food at Walmart, Soriana, Chedraui, Costco, Sam's, all the big grocery stores. The one outdoor market that I know of (market 23) is not that great, kind of small and smelly. I loved my outdoor markets in Toronto, they just don't exist here the same way. My parents are constantly amazed that people do shop at Walmart etc, for the same reason you are. They can't believe that I make as little money as I do but still have to pay pretty much the same prices for stuff as in Canada or the States and in some cases MORE money (electronics, etc.).

Looking at that list on the site you posted, I would agree with a lot of their choices. I do think that Labna is a bit more expensive than they stated. Basically, eating just about anywhere downtown is cheaper than eating in the hotel zone. Lots of choices on Tulum, Uxmal, Yaxchilan and around Parque las Palapas and Market 28 for great meals under or around $10.

 

There is a real mercado that sells food on Sundays only. It's WAY out on the north side of Lopez Portillo across from a Chedraui (well, across from a big grocery store anyway). And that's the one I would not go to alone.

Misterno, Believe me I do know lots of cheap places. I am married to a Mexican who refuses to pay extra for anything. But with the price of gas and the hassle of going out to that mercado it's cheaper for us to go to one of the 7 large modern grocery stores which are within 1 mile of our house.

And yes, the local Mexicans do shop in the regular grocery stores here. One issue is that Cancun is quite hot and food in an un-air-conditioned mercado doesn't last as long as food lasts in a supermarket. So the mercado concept for food is not actually cheaper here.

The mercado in SM23 (Plaza 23) is ok, sometimes there is some nice produce there. I do feel safe there alone.

It's the other mercado, the one halfway to Merida, on Lopez Portillo that is just too much for me. The aisles are very narrow and when I have been there I've been pinched and pushed and felt up. I've also seen people eyeing how easily they could get my purse away from me. I don't need to go there alone, thanks anyway.

I'll trade the authentic experience of being pawed in public for the sterile polite experience of a modern well-lit supermarket.

As for restaurants there are a number of reasonably priced places that are always packed with local Mexicans. One is Tacos Rigo which is near Mercado 28. To me the food is nothing amazing, but my Mexican friends swear by it. However, I'll pay extra not to have to sit in ugly fluorescent lighting.

I honestly think that here many people see unpleasant lighting and think that the place must be cheap since they aren't putting any money into decor. I prefer to not go out unless I'm going somewhere pleasant to be in.

There are some other places on Ave Kohunlich that are always packed with Mexicans, have cheap prices and bad lighting. The secret with them is to go there are 2 or 3 in the afternoon before they turn on the horrible lights.

And many of the best places to eat (cheap food) in Cancun are street vendors. The best tamales in this town (that I've found) are sold from 6 to 10 pm on the street next to Soriana. And there's a taco stand off of Yaxchilan that is one of the best places in town to get tacos (so I hear from Mexicans who can discern the difference anyway).

 

The only place that used to be a traditional outdoor market was Mercado 28. But as Cancun grew (with Mexicans) they started opening Gigante, Chedraui, and la Comer on Tulum. Go to Merida for a huge market, even though most people living in Merida shop at supermarkets as well.

It's not clear on whether you've actually been to Cancun, but go to any of the supermarkets outside of the contained downtown area and you will see them full of "locals," from all socio-economic classes.

I think Labna and El Cejas are pricier than one would expect for a budget place. And most of the cheap places we go to eat are in the immediate neighborhood, so there's really no reason for tourists to go there.

My favorite quesadilla place is off of Palenque. If it has a name, I don't know what it is. For panuchos and salbutes, we go to Parque las Palapas or Restaurante Emaro near Mercado 28. For seafood, Pescado con Limon en Mercado 28 or El Timon Jarocho on Lopez Portillo at Comacalco.

The markets are roving, so there'll be one in Region 521 on Tuesdays, Region 228 on Wednesdays, near Terraza Peraza in Region 100 on Saturdays, etc.

 

woow I am surprised that an American would eat from a street vendor and do not find it unhealthy.

Now, when you say seafood places and tamales and other foods, ike how much are you paying for lunch and dinner in these cheap and good places? Can you give me some ball park figures?

PS: I have never been to Cancun.

 

I know why don't you ask i the reception where can you find a cheap "Fonda", "comida tipica mexicana", or 'comida corrida". I don't think that cheap is all ways the bes. Have you heard the say "you get what you paid for"?

most Mexicans eat at home if you ask me, but I think when they go out to eat they like tacos. they should make vegetarian tacos hmmmm
dam that would be like an egg roll. :shock:

try this website and only show you a picture of some local restaurant but you ca all ways asked the receptionist http://www.vivapuertomorelos.com/restaurants.html or you can ask the street vendor on the beach " donde puedo comer comida tipica Mexicana barata."


Go to mercado 23 but I don't know what the address is.
:cry:

 

I do it ALL the time when I'm there.