The Mérida cantina is alive and well. These are the places where tradition wasn't performed — it was inherited.
Lucía Montes
Food journalist
A downtown cantina on a Friday at 7 pm.
In Mérida, going to a cantina is a cultural act. The rule is simple: every drink brings free snacks, and the conversation never stops.
Over a century in operation, walls full of yellowing photos and live trova almost every day.
Neighborhood cantina in Itzimná. Unpretentious, with regulars who've been showing up the same weekday for decades.
Greet the bartender, settle up before leaving, tip reasonably. Everything else you learn by watching.
About the author
Lucía Montes
Journalist focused on Yucatecan food and home kitchens. Believes the best trips start at a market.
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