Eating in the Hotel Zone is convenient but expensive and aimed squarely at international tastes — most resort guests rarely leave their all-inclusive. For better food at lower prices, head downtown to Avenida Yaxchilán, Parque Las Palapas, and the Mercado 23, where the cocinas económicas serve Yucatecan staples: cochinita pibil, panuchos, salbutes, sopa de lima. Several of the bay's best restaurants — La Habichuela, Lorenzillo's, Du Mexique, Río Churrasco — combine waterfront settings with serious cooking. The fresh-caught seafood at Isla Mujeres is half the cost and twice as good as in the Hotel Zone if you make the 20-minute ferry trip across.