Top Restaurants in Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza Food Guide: 10 Must-Eat Restaurants & Street Food Stalls in Chichen Itza
While the ruins of pyramids such as El Castillo and Kukulcan are the primary reason to visit Chichen Itza, they are hardly all that’s on offer here. Otherworldly bird-watching and stargazing experiences can be found within the Maya Jungle Reserve and in Hacienda Chichen's Bird Refuge. Daytrips run from both Merida and Cancun.
Things to do in Chichen Itza
1. Chilam Balam
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 50 reviews
Reviewed By Mila W - Vancouver Island, Canada
Chilam Balam was the name of the nearby restaurant where our tour stopped for lunch after visiting Chichen Itza. We were welcomed by the smiling staff who provided hand disinfectant at the entrance. The restaurant is a large hall with large mural paintings on the walls. The meal was a large buffet down both ends of the room with delicious Mexican dishes, as well as hot dogs! The hand-rolled pork tacos were rolled and made right in front of us, and were amazing. The fresh fruit on offer was fresh and very sweet. Drinks were extra. The service was friendly. Local dancers, earring traditional Mayan garb, balancing bottles or trays with bottles on their heads provided entertainment. This is a restaurant for the crowds from the local tourist attractions, but it is certainly worth a visit because of the quality of the food and cleanliness. I was pleasantly surprised!
2. Hotel Okaan Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4 based on 75 reviews
Reviewed By Sarah-Mick - Sleaford, United Kingdom
This hotel has absolutely stunning circular rooms. We booked a Deluxe Bungalow to sleep 3 with our grown up son having the second bed. The room was fantastic, shower great, beautiful butterfly towel art to welcome us. In fact everything we needed for a comfortable stay.
Breakfast was lovely, fresh fruit, omelette, coffee, toast and fresh orange juice.
This hotel is well worth a visit, slightly off the beaten track and up a very bumpy road. Very close to Chichen Itza, the hotel arranged a guided tour for us, payable directly to the guide, who arrived at the hotel and escorted us to Chichen Itza.
3. Las Redes
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 32 reviews
Reviewed By gingalala - London
My family is vegetarian and we had a bit of trouble finding good veggi food. But this place made us feel at home. They made veg food for us and also had veg options in their buffet. Lovely service, great food and the people were very friendly. I would recommend trying hochaka here if you can. Very economically priced compared to the hotels that charge a lot.
4. Pueblo Maya
Overall Ratings
4 based on 208 reviews
Mexican Restaurant & Mexican Crafts MarketBotanic Garden, Swimming Pool & Lounging Area with HammocksAfter exploring the ruins at Chichen Itza, come to Pueblo Maya where you can eat authentic regional cuisine in our Mexican restaurant, have a cocktail, swim, and lounge around in a hammock. Then shop for high quality Mexican clothes, crafts and jewelry in our Mexican craft market. We also have a botanic garden featuring local plants. There is something for every member of the family at Pueblo Maya. Children are welcome.Pueblo Maya is located about 1 km (about ½ mile) from the entrance to the Mayan archaeological ruins of Chichen Itza.
Reviewed By Karen P - McDonough, Georgia
This was a pre arranged stop along the way as we toured Chichen Itza and the Cenote. The food was delicious and the restaurant was able to accommodate large crowds in there. Nice entertainment.
5. Restaurante Hacienda Xaybe'h
Overall Ratings
4 based on 95 reviews
Reviewed By heyjudithz - Knoxville, Tennessee
I will begin by taking partial responsibility for people in countries outside of the U.S.A. expecting tips; I'm sorry, but Americans are ruining it for everyone, as we are accustomed to tipping our grossly underpaid restaurant workers, in order that they take home a living wage. We were reminded several times during our meal that "tips are not included," small signs on the tables reiterated this point, and baskets with a note saying "TIPS" taped to the bottom were set about the tables. Enough already! Tips are optional! Don't try to make me feel bad about it. First of all, you buy a ticket when you go in the door. You are led to assume that this covers your lunch. BUT NO! Drinks are not included, but they don't tell you this, they just smile and wheel by a huge drink cart and ask what you would like. So, at the end, they hit you up for the cost of the drink. No, it's not a lot, it's just the principal of the matter. Lest you think I am some ignorant cheapskate who is not used to travelling, I have been to nearly 40 countries and have made at least 50 trips to Latin America alone, and I have never been anywhere that hammers you so hard for tips. I'm a generous person, and I prefer to have a tip be my decision. I don't need to be asked 8 times during my meal. As to the food, it was okay, but nothing to write home about. I wouldn't recommend this place.
6. Las Mestizas Comida Yucateca
Overall Ratings
4 based on 287 reviews
Reviewed By Rob C - San Jose, California
This is a restaurant that serves typical Yucatan food It is roomy, very clean and staffed by professional, english speaking maya men all of whom cant be taller than 5'5". The food is good arrives promptly and the servers are courtious, even the bathrooms are on par with western standards. Recommended
7. Loncheria Los Arcos
Overall Ratings
4 based on 31 reviews
Reviewed By DebO76 - Syracuse, New York
The food was mediocre at best and the service wasn't great. Some of our party's meals didn't come out until 15 minutes after the others were served.
8. Hotel & Bungalows Mayaland - Buffet Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4 based on 473 reviews
Reviewed By Kauai-Biz-Traveler - Riverside, California
Nothing special but the food was good and ample. The atmosphere was great. Long tables with individual chairs made for fairly tight Seating. The pulled pork tacos were the best imho.
9. Oxtun
Overall Ratings
4 based on 384 reviews
THE OFFICIAL RESTAURANT OF CHICHEN ITZA! Open until the last customer leaves! Oxtun is open during and after the show "Nights of Kukulcan".
Reviewed By Angelhims50 - Salmon Arm, Canada
On our way out of Chichen Itza, after an interesting afternoon seeing the sites, we were approached by a waiter at Oxtun. We were very hungry but only had an hour till our bus left. We mentioned this to the young man and he said that would be no problem. He was absolutely correct. The service was very fast, efficient and the food was tasty, plentiful and reasonably priced. The restaurant was also very clean and comfortable. We got out of there with time to spare.
10. restaurante KUKULCAN Maya
Overall Ratings
3 based on 17 reviews
Reviewed By malholme - Lewes, United Kingdom
This is my first ever TERRIBLE restaurant review. We were taken here by our guide after a morning at Chichen Itza. We think she genuinely believed it to be good. The restaurant serves a fixed price buffet for tourists at 120 mexican pesos-not expensive.. A lady makes tortillas at the start of the buffet- interesting to see- but they were not all that good. The trays of food looked as if it had been prepared for days and were totally unappetizing. The only recognizable food was chicken and pork. The chicken was tough dried out and tasteless. We had been recommended to try the pork, which is a speciality of the restaurant -it was stringy and unappetizing. Drinks are extra so we ordered Pineapple Juice - UGH- it was the worst Pineapple Juice I have ever had anywhere in the world. Entertainment was provided by dancers in beautiful local costumes, but it appeared to be "put on for the tourists" I tried a rice pudding dessert - it reminded me of the worst watery post-war school dinner rice pudding-another UGH. Many of the group were unhappy with their bills at the end of the"meal" as they had not had the buffet but were overcharged. We recommended at the end of our tour of central America to our guide not to use this restaurant and she agreed.
