San Luis Potosí's local food draws on the Huastec tradition of the surrounding region and on a colonial-era cuisine that developed differently from Mexico City or Oaxaca. The dish to know is the enchilada potosina — a corn tortilla tinted orange-red with ancho chile and stuffed with fresh white cheese, served with crema and crumbled queso. They are not the same as enchiladas anywhere else.
Other local specialties worth seeking: gorditas potosinas (thick oval masa cakes split and filled with beans, cheese, or chicharrón), zachuli (an enormous banana-leaf tamale stuffed with chicken, pork, and chile that is a communal dish), queso de tuna (a sweet dark candy pressed from prickly pear fruit), and the local chile-spiked lemonade, agua de tuna. The market fondas at the Mercado Hidalgo and the Fondas del Mercado República are the best places to eat these dishes inexpensively and genuinely. La Corriente in the centre does excellent fish tacos and enchiladas.