Our Merida food tour offers guests a culinary experience around the old city. It's a carefully curated food adventure, led by our team of Merida tastemakers. Before we get started, our tour reflects the local cuisine, and the limitations of street food vendors and local eateries mean we cannot cater for every dietary restriction. Here's an honest appraisal for the tour, so no-one is disappointed: ✘ Unsuitable for vegetarian, vegan and pescatarian diets, as the number of tastings would be very limited. ✔ Gluten intolerance and mild nut allergies are possible, though not all tastings have alternatives. ✔ Suitable for no seafood diets If you are feeling adventurous for a foodie journey, read on!
Nighttime is when Mérida truly comes alive. If you want to experience the city’s bold Yucatecan flavours at their best, this evening food tour offers the only evening culinary experience in town. This isn’t about fine dining, it’s about authentic local food you’d be unlikely to find on your own. The tour begins in the late afternoon with classic local favourites, including tangy shredded cochinita pibil tucked into fresh tortas and golden, cheese-stuffed empanadas. From there, it becomes a roaming feast through Mérida’s streets, sampling tacos, handmade tortillas, panuchos, and salbutes, alongside deeper, more traditional dishes like turkey relleno negro and the Yucatán classic, cheesy queso relleno. Along the way, step inside one of Mérida’s legendary cantinas for a cold beer and traditional botanas. With 15+ tastings across four hours, this is the city’s most generous food tour. You haven’t truly experienced Mérida until you’ve tasted it at night.
The tour concludes after 3.5-4 hours at the Parque de la Madre, not far from the Plaza Grande. You'll leave not only full, but with a much deeper understanding of Merida food culture and the confidence to continue eating your way through the Yucatán and beyond.
Despite the thunderstorms and flooding our guide made this a very enjoyable experience. He was very knowledgeable and entertaining. I would certainly recommend this experience
Great time. Adrian was very knowledgable and helpful. Tour took about 3 and a half hours and was well worth the price. Lots of places and foods we would have never known to look for.
This was our second Chef's Tour, our first in Merida, and it was just as good as the first. We received reminders and good communication leading up to the event, so the meeting spot was easy to find. Our guide Adrian was fantastic - knowledgeable, warm, and proud of the food he was sharing with us. Also incredibly thoughtful, we were not prepared for the downpour and he got us ponchos. The amount of food was almost overwhelming, in the best way. Every stop introduced us to something new, unique, and delicious that we never would have found or tried on our own. The highlight was the turkey relleno negro. Highly recommend this tour, and Adrian specifically, to anyone visiting Merida who wants to eat well, see the city through a local's eyes, and learn something along the way.
Together with our guide Nestor we visited serveral local places where we ate amazing food and tried some drinks. Nestor is a great guide. Besides the many things he could tell us about he food culture, he also tought us about the history of the city itself. We had a great time!
Adrian was a fabulous guide so knowledgeable. The food was fabulous and extensive.
This was my first time visiting Merida, and as a someone who likes to cook and is a foodie - I wanted to explore and learn more about the local cuisine. My tour guide (Sam) provided excellent hospitality and was super knowledgeable about each bite and provided great knowledge into the history and culture of Merida, and its known dishes. I would highly recommend this experience!
We had a great time on our food tour. Adrian was responsive to messages and the tour started on time with just the two of us. We had 15 different tasting experiences including a few drinks - trust me that you need an appetite to eat it all. We were taken to places we’d never have tried on our own and Adrian gave us great info on both the food and the city itself. Would highly recommend if you want to experience the real food of Merida and work out the difference between all the different cuts of meat and presentations. All the food was thoroughly local - fully recommended.
We had an absolutely fantastic experience with A Chef’s Tour in Mérida! Our guide, Adrian, was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and passionate about Yucatan culture and cuisine. He did a wonderful job explaining the history and significance of each dish, making the tour both delicious and educational. Every stop was outstanding. We sampled an amazing variety of local specialties, including bolita de queso, torta de lechón al horno, salbute de relleno negro, Xtabentún, crema morisca soda, taco de queso Edam, mamey, local spices, beer, botanas, sikilpak, taco de cochinita pibil, taco de lomitos de Valladolid, and a traditional marquesita to finish. My personal favorite was the torta de lechón al horno (suckling pig sandwich). The flavors were incredible, and it was one of the best things I ate during our entire trip. My daughter’s favorite was the taco de cochinita pibil, and she absolutely loved ending the evening with a freshly made marquesita. What made this tour so special is that we never would have discovered or tried so many of these foods on our own. Adrian made us feel comfortable stepping outside our comfort zones and helped us gain a much deeper appreciation for the food, history, and culture of the Yucatán. If you’re visiting Mérida, do not miss this tour. It was one of the highlights of our trip and worth every penny. Highly, highly recommend A Chef’s Tour and especially Adrian!
Wear comfortable shoes. Go early and tour Casa Montejo and walk around the square. Stop by the tourist center around the square but do not grab any food. You'll eat so much so pace yourself. You'll love a lot of the food and some you'll just be glad you tried. I do wish we were able to sample more of the fruits in the market. We had the mamey which I wasn't found of. We learned some history of Merida which I found very interesting.
We loved this experience! We were so happy to be taken around to local vendors to taste traditional dishes. Adrian was amazing and very knowledgeable. 10/10 would do it again
This is a must if you are visiting Merida. Adrian took us to places we wouldn't have visited and we sampled 14 local foods/ drinks. It was a great way to get to know the city and would highly recommend it.
Adrian is a fantastic guide! We toured through a dozen places, all locally-owned. The food was varied, delicious, and Adrian had all kinds of stories and info about the dishes as Merida itself. Highly recommend!
Had a great tour with Adrian . Would recommend to anyone visiting Merida . It didn't feel touristy allt all and we tried so many dishes. More than any other tour I've been on . Great tour
Great time with Nestor and so much different tasty food!
This experience was truly one of a kind. We liked that it was offered at night, as most of our actives were already during the day. Our guide, Nestor, was very knowledgeable and interesting as he led us around the market, sampling everything from el pastor, to different types of tacos. But it wasn't' just the market! After we left the market, we wandered the streets of the city while he shared some history, took us to spots we might not venture into on our own (one was right across the street from our lodging!). We ate so much, but we also understood what made these food special, how they were prepared. We've tired a lot of foods in Merida and being chefs, we are quite critical. You could tell that the spots that were chosen, were chosen for a reason. All the flavors were on point and prepared with passion. If you come with a partner, don't be afraid to ask to share portions, because it is a lot of food! This is an amazing tour and Nestor was great!
Our guide Adrian was excellent! We loved the tour, we left stuffed with 15+ tastings, a great variety of food and drinks in local establishments that we would have never discovered otherwise. I also liked that the guide gave us cultural insights throughout the tour.
Wonderful! Adrian Diaz paced the 4-hour afternoon/evening walk nicely for our group of friends. He won my heart in the first bakery, and broke it by saying goodbye after the waffle crepe with Edam cheese. All the food stops were great, his explanations were helpful, and as a long-time licensed guide, Adrian knew so much about Yucantan history, especially indigenous and immigrant influences on cuisine in different time periods. He was careful to keep us out of the skinned-carcass side of the markets, but this is a seriously local tour of working class shops and stalls in back alleys. Do yourself a favor and take this tour.
The best food tour in Yucatan. My partner and I had a great time eating some incredible food around Merida. We can’t recommend this enough, as the food and the guide Nestor were both amazing!!
This tour was great and Adrian was an excellent guide, telling us lots of interesting details about the food, its production, and other info. We went to loads of food outlets we’d never have discovered ourselves. We started with a delicious cheese bolita from a bakery, then headed into a couple of markets where visited loads of stalls and ate tacos and tortillas every which way, finishing at a bar for a beer. It was a small group, all really nice people, and we had a great time.
This is the best food tour I have been on. Nestor was an absolute gem of a guide, and knew so much about the rich history of Mexico, and the Yucutan Peninsula. We ate over 15 incredible dishes over 4 hours as we walked through the rich culture of Merida. This is a 1000/10 food tour, couldn't recommend enough!
It was really super fun to eat food from the locals at all kinds of stalls, where I normally wouldn't dare to get food directly. The guide was also very friendly and could tell a lot about the city and the food
Very nice food tour. It's pricey but it's more than worth the money. The guide Adrian is enthusiastic and takes you to places you wouldn't otherwise find yourself. We tried to go back to a place the next day to buy food again but even this didn't work. It’s a really fun (and tasty) tour 👌🏻😃. You will get 15 food/drinks and will leave the tour on a full stomach 😎.
Monday through Friday 9 am to 7 pm EST
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