3 Best Restaurants in Campeche City, Yucatán and Campeche States

At the town's favorite lunch spot, glass walls replicate an oblong Maya house, which is surrounded by a profusion of plants. Seafood, with a campechano twist, reigns supreme here, and a truly ambitious meal might start with calamari, stone-crab claws, or camarones al coco (coconut-encrusted shrimp), perhaps followed by pan de cazón (a shark-meat casserole that's one of Campeche's most distinctive dishes) or robalo fish topped with puréed cilantro, parsley, orange, and olive oil. For dessert, the classic choice is the signature and impossibly sweet coconut cake. As the sun goes down, candles are set out on the white-linen tablecloths, and soft blue lighting illuminates the outside atrium.

Calle 8, which runs along the north side of the historic center and roughly follows the route of the old sea wall, is now a bit of a restaurant row, home to this and other eateries. Seafood is the specialty here, though it also has a number of signature cocktails, like the Pregonero, made with a chile liquor, tamarind, and pineapple.

Traditional Yucatecan dishes—like panuchos (fried masa cakes stuffed with beans and piled high with shredded meat, lettuce, sour onions, and other toppings) or chile mestizo (poblano pepper stuffed with shredded meat)—are the specialties here. Although waitresses dressed in colorful regional-style skirts will explain the dishes, if you're unsure what to order ask to see the album containing photos of top dishes with multilingual captions. Lunches and dinners are finished off with a complimentary tamarind margarita, and a guitar trio performs some evenings. This is also a great place for breakfast. You can try plain agua de chaya here—in other restaurants, it's often sweetened with pineapple.