The Dulcería y Sorbetería Colón has occupied the northwest corner of the Plaza Mayor since 1906 and is probably the most beloved institution in Mérida's food scene. The sorbets and ice creams are made from regional fruits — mamey, guanábana, tamarind, chico zapote, black zapote — that you are unlikely to find anywhere else. Sitting at an outside table with a sorbet, watching the plaza, is one of the essential Mérida experiences.
The selection changes with what is in season, but there are always ten or fifteen flavours, all interesting and some extraordinary. The mamey sorbet — made from the sweet, apricot-scented flesh of the mamey sapote fruit — is the standard recommendation, and the tamarind is excellent for anyone who likes something sour. Prices are very low. The interior, with its original tile floors and glass display cases, has been maintained without renovation, and eating here in the 1920s or 1950s would not have felt dramatically different. It also sells Yucatecan sweets and candies, which make good gifts.