Where residents actually go
Cozumeleños live a few blocks back from the waterfront, and that inland grid is where the real island runs. Walk east away from the malecon and the cruise strip, cross Avenida 10, and by the time you hit Avenida 30 the prices have dropped, the flyer-hawkers have vanished and the food has gotten better. Here is where locals eat, shop and spend a day off.
Markets and everyday food
The Mercado Municipal (Mercado Adolfo Rosado Salas), a few blocks inland off Calle Rosado Salas, is the everyday heart of town. Produce stalls out front, and a row of loncherías inside doing comida corrida at midday, a set lunch of soup, a main, rice, beans and agua fresca for roughly 90 to 140 MXN (approximate). Go at lunch, around 1 to 3 pm, when the cooked-food counters are busiest and freshest. Order whatever the pot of the day is and a horchata.
Fondas, taco stands and cantinas
- Avenida 30 and the inland avenues are lined with taquerías, many of which only open at night. This is the cheap, honest end of Cozumel eating: al pastor off the trompo, cochinita in the morning, and salbutes and panuchos.
- Family-run marisquerías away from the water do ceviche and whole fish for a fraction of the waterfront price. If a place has a handwritten menu and nobody outside waving you in, you have found it.
- A few old-school cantinas inland pour cheap beer with free botanas, snacks that keep coming as you drink, the local afternoon ritual.
The plaza and weekend rituals
The central plaza (the zocalo), one block off the malecon, fills every evening with food carts, kids on bikes and couples, and on some nights there is live marimba or a municipal band. Sunday evening on the plaza is the genuine local gathering, families out after church and dinner, not a show put on for tourists. Show up around dusk and buy a marquesita, a crisp rolled crepe filled with cheese and cajeta, from a cart.
A day off
On weekends families head to the calmer west-coast beaches south of town with coolers, or drive the ring road to the east side for beers and ceviche at the low-key bars. The Parque Benito Juarez and the seafront benches fill in the cool of the evening. When there is a fair or a feast day, the plaza is the center of it.
What to order and when
Cochinita and tacos in the morning; comida corrida at the market for lunch; ceviche and whole fish in the afternoon or early evening; late-night tacos from the trompo. Eat on the local clock and you will eat better and cheaper. More detail on the food page.