A Pretty Penny

I have my own organic garden (I really do) so I don't frequent the Slow Food market that was recently launched in Merida but you should. You can read all about it here. It has become popular with the expats and beyond. It's half way between the Mega Balcones and Costco so you can at least do all of your shopping in the same neighborhood. It is on Saturdays from 9-1. If you are going south of calle 60 turn right on calle 31 and go a couple of blocks. There is a photo of the entrance and some of the products on this blog . And you can read the comments and see I'm not the only one questioning the prices.

I'm sure there is an excellent reason by the bread at this market cost as much as the bread at Balthazar Bakery in New York or Poilane in Paris but I've not figured it out yet. If I were sitting there in the heat from 9 to 1 behind my tomatoes, beets and swiss chard I'd be asking a pretty penny too!

UPDATE DEC. 1, 2010 Now I am addicted to the sour dough bread and the bread and butter pickles from Slow Food Market, alas.

Super Markets

The closest Supermarket to centro is the Walmart on Paseo Montejo across from the big hotels at Perez Ponce. But it's not the best choice any more. There are 7 or more Walmarts in town now and you can find them faster by googling Merida Walmart than I can type. If you continue along Montejo you'll pass the wine stores called covi which have a decent selection but so do the supermarkets. Down the paseo is one of the most popular supermarkets among the Expats and locals, Superama. They have a decent selection of organic foods but their prices are higher than other places and I can never seem to find everything I need there. Then further out Montejo you'll find a Commercial at the Grand Plaza Mall on the right and a Chedraui across the street on the left. Those are the easiest supermarkets for a tourist to find. But...

My favorite place to shop is the Mega Balcones. If you take calle 60 to the north you will pass the Hyatt Hotel. go left-ish between the Pemex and the Smoking Bar until you come to the traffic circle at the circuito. You'll see the big yellow round building with the Mega sign to the left. Getting back to centro is a bit tricky but you'll figure it out. If you continue on 60 past the circle you'll be on Avenida Tecnológico. On the right you'll find Costco which is where you'll find the essentials. Parmesian, Mozerella and real chedder cheese. Organic mixed greens, arugula and vine ripe tomatoes. You'll need a Costco card or tag along behind a gringo and say you forgot yours.

Here are the links to the Supermarket addresses Merida.

Local Markets in Centro

Lucas de Gálvez
Calle 67 and 54

David Sterling from Los-Dos cooking school gives tours to the market as part of his classes. He says it better than me so I've reprinted his description which you can read in full here.


The market "receives over 100,000 visitors daily. Among its proprietors are Lebanese descendants, rural folk who speak only Mayan, and entrepreneurs who started their businesses here and now have branches in large, modern shopping malls. The occupants of the market are subject to all the mores and prejudices that inflict society at large, such that hierarchies and castes still prevail in which the bottom rungs are occupied by messenger boys and homeless people asking for caridad.

The market never sleeps: cleaning crews finish by 3:00am, and the food stalls that served them throughout the night close, too, just as various merchants are arriving to start the next day. From 5:00am until about 8:00am, some 8000 people take shortcuts through the market, on their way to work or school. Some of them stop to buy a banana or a sandwich. Then slowly, other merchants arrive, and everyone is open and the market bustling with business by 9:00am. It is a rhythm, a pulse, that continues seven days a week, 365 days a year, not even stopping to catch a breath at Christmas or New Year, when, naturally, even more sales are to be made."


Calle 47 x 58
The market at Santa Ana Park was "renovated" a few years ago and it has some small stand selling fruits and veggies. There are some decent enough food stalls there but when I've been there in the past they all scream at the tourist walking by and I've never been able to eat a meal in peace there. I think the food is better in the market of Santiago. I've never found anything exceptional in the touristy shops there. From time to time there is a Oaxaca or Chiapas market set up in the park. Sometimes you'll find an interesting mole or hand bag there. There is a chiapas coffee shop just off the corner on 58. The closest supermarket (not that super) is Isstey on calle 60 which is a government subsidized grocery. And there is a Walmart on Paseo Montejo at the corner of Perez Ponce.

Calle 57 x 70 & 72
The market at Santiago Park is the best of the small markets. There are some village ladies selling home grown flowers. A good variety of vegetables. There is a meat section I avoid, but I'm squeamish. I eat huevros divorciados at the Virgen de Morena for breakfast or tamales at La Reina de Itzlana for dinner. There are fresh juices and tortillas available too. Across the park on calle 72 there is a little Ake supermarket that has basics. There is a new Super Ake nearby on calle 59 at calle 80.

Calle 70 x 77
The market at San Sebastian Park is small but there are a few shops in the area. The food stalls are popular at night and you can tell the good and freshest ones by the amount of locals eating there. There is a Dunosusa on calle 75 x 66 y 68 if you need a box of cereal or some baby formula. The closest supermarkets to this neighborhood are the Bodega Aurrera or the Chedraui on Avenida Itzaes south of calle 75. You see them on the way in to centro from the airport.