The food section of the Mercado Lucas de Gálvez, on the upper floor and in the surrounding arcades, has the cheapest and most honest Yucatecan cooking in the city. This is where market vendors, bus drivers, office workers, and anyone else eating on a budget has lunch. The standard dishes — sopa de lima, papadzules, panuchos with cochinita, poc chuc — cost a fraction of what a tourist restaurant charges. The quality is consistent and the portions are large.
The system is simple: find a counter with what you want to eat, take a stool or a bench, and point. Most vendors speak some English but it is not necessary. The best counters for regional food are on the upper floor of the main building, accessed by a wide staircase from the central hall. The seating is basic — formica tables, plastic chairs — but the atmosphere, with its mix of market noise, steam from the pots, and the Maya conversations around you, is exactly what you came to the Yucatán for. Breakfast and lunch are the main meals; many counters close by mid-afternoon.