Yucatan Living

Best Lunch in Merida Servicio Al Domicilio

So, you’ve been working in the garden all morning and you just knocked off for a refreshing swim. You’re sitting in your lounge chair, reading a good book, a tall glass of cold limonada at your side. You're comfortable and don’t want to leave home… but you’re hungry.

Nice fantasy! For us Working Gringos, we’ve been bent over a hot keyboard all morning, at least when we haven’t been answering the phone. Everyone in the office is starving, but no one has time to go out and bring back food.

Luckily for both slacking gringos and Working Gringos, Merida has many good home delivery options. If you're like us, you might find it a bit unnerving to call and order servicio al domicilio the first time. The order-takers usually want to know your numero de telefono (phone number), your dirección (address), the color de su fachada (the color of the facade of your house) and, of course, su orden (your order). They talk very quickly and you might have to ask them to habla despacio, por favor (speak slowly, please), but after a few calls, you'll get the hang of it.

We have a few lunch favorites, and we’ll use those for the initial nominees, but we’re hoping to learn of other favorites from our readers. We’d like to encourage our readers to nominate local businesses rather than international mega-chains. Reader nominations are gratefully accepted until September 1st, so leave a comment with your nomination and let the best guy on a motorcycle with a hotbox on the back win!

The initial nominees are:

Jupiter’s – Craving something healthy? Jupiter’s has panini sandwiches, smoothies and fruit juices. The paninis (we're betting that's Italian for 'sandwich') comes on nice fresh bread and there's even a vegetarian option. The smoothies are delicious and you can get them with or without additions like protein or energy blends. This is an expat-owned business, not that you should frequent it for that reason... just thought you'd like to know. Call them at 948-9162.

La Parilla – They call their food "Mexican Grill", their name means “the grill” and their specialty is grilled meat for tacos, tortas and platillos (plates). There are lots of delicious things that come with the meat, of course, like grilled cambray onions, avocado, salsas, tortillas, and lots more. If you're trying to order for a big group of people (similar to a big Mexican family...) La Parilla has great options for large parties. Their number is 948-0148.

Messina’s Pizza – Fresh, hot and absolutely delicious! (Can you tell we’re writing this before lunch?). Messina’s pizzas always arrive hot, with little bags of coarsely ground pepper and chili. We usually order the pizza with everything on it, and there’s rarely anything left shortly after lunch (well, nerds and pizza, you know… it’s a time-honored pairing). They offer garlic bread and other side dishes, too. Messina’s is a local chain, but 924-9899 will get you the Centro delivery service.

Meyer’s Deli – Thomas Meyer operates a German Deli on the north end of the Centro (near the Mega grocery store) and there are some things there that you can’t get anywhere else in town, like fresh German breads and lots of delicious sausages and other meats. Thomas Meyer has a degree from Germany in meat preparation, but you don't need to know that... you can TASTE that he knows what he's doing. For lunch, we like his sandwiches, which are a sometimes-welcome break from Yucatecan or Mexican food. Variety is the spice of life, right? Meyer’s Deli delivers to the Centro (but don't let that stop you from visiting their store... there are lots of delicious goodies there). Just call them at 926-0117.

Pollo Brujo – A perennial favorite around this office. We were introduced to Pollo Brujo on our first trip to Merida, when we just didn’t want to leave the hotel pool for lunch (ahhh, those were the days!). Our hosts called Pollo Brujo and we’ve been in chicken-love ever since. The dogs like it too! Order a pollo entero (whole chicken) with or without ensalada (salad). The roast chicken comes cut into manageable pieces, accompanied by not-so-great tortillas, generous helpings of fresh salsa and pickled pink onions, and a heap of fresh lettuce with a lime. You can also order a spicy dish of jalapeno peppers and carrots escabeche (pickled). Pollo Brujo is a local chain, with restaurants around town and very fast delivery. Call 920-1980 for Centro delivery.