I know you’ll find someplace delicious to eat with the money jingling around in your pocket in Mexico. Eateries abound. It helps to know what type of food each type of establishment specializes in, in order to satisfy that craving you have though.
Breakfast is pretty thin fare in my area. The best you can do is head to a juguetería (juice shop) for some freshly pressed juice or licuados (milky concoctions). If you need a bit of umph to your morning, you can get a pajarete (milk and liquor drink). There are a few cafes now, nothing so fancy as Starbucks, but they don’t open as early as I like to have my breakfast. You can also stop by the panadería (bakery) and pick up some sweet breads and carton de leche (carton of milk).
However, around 9, no matter what the season, it’s a good season for soup for breakfast. Yep, hot soup. Friday through Sunday you’ll see people carrying plastic handled buckets with foil which means they’ve gone and picked up their menudo or pozole for the morning.
During the week, the local birriería (place that serves birriria) is the place to be. Consomé (broth) with carne de chivo (goat meat in guajillo sauce) or montalay (vegetables, usually potatoes, carrots and peas, and ground meat bits in also in guajillo sauce) is one of our favorite morning delights.
Around 10, you might be able to find some places that sell desayunos (breakfasts) or buffets (pronounced bu-fet) with servings of huevos rancheros.
After 11, you can stop in at places that specialize in tortas (sandwiches made with bolillo) or huaraches (larger corn tortilla quesadillas about the size of your huaraches –shoe–hence the name). Loncherías or it’s Spanglish variant luncherías serve a variety of items. We even found a place that only serves tacos de canasta (basket tacos)–delicious!
Rotiserías sell rotisserie chicken and the fixings often include rice, mole, some sort of bland pasta concoction and salsa. Fried chicken can be found at places that sell Pollo Familiar and come with pretty much the same fixings.
The pizzería (pizza place) opens around 1. Don’t be surprised if your pizza comes with ketchup and hot sauce. Apparently it’s the way Mexicans enjoy their Italian pies.
A little later in the day and you can stop by places that sell comida corrida which is the Mexican version of fast food. It’s like a buffet setup with a daily set menu. You can order 2 or 3 guisados (servings)or a la carte to go.
Our town has both a Japanese and Chinese restaurant. The food offered isn’t what you might expect. It has a decidedly Mexican flavor. Spicy chili fried rice? No, thank you. However, as they are both run by people from those respective countries, if you know what to ask for, you can get a damn good authentic meal.
You’ll find some seafood dishes at the ostionería or un restaurante de mariscos or marisquería or even a coctelería. Try ceviche or coctel de camarón there. These establishments do brisk business during Lent when beef and pork are prohibited.
Restaurantes familiares often have a play area for the kids, giving the parents a bit more time to enjoy their meals. Cenadurías are simillar to the loncherías but open later in the day.
Taquerías also open late in the day. Don’t expect to get a taco before noon. Some open around 3 pm while our favorite taco guy doesn’t set up his stall until 7 at night. Tacos are served late into the night, but you need to get their sooner rather than later for tacos de tripa in my experience.
A kermés or quermés are those random side-of-the-road tent establishments that aren’t always there. Typically these spots are run by a few families that donate their proceeds for a cause, like one of the children needs a liver transplant or diasysis treatment. There is usually a sign indicating who will receive the proceeds, or there is supposed to be. These are not regular eating establishments and do not require a restaurant permit. They do have to present their cause to the presidencia (town hall) to get a permit to sell food for the day. The menus is whatever the volunteers cobble together.
On the other hand, there are regular roadside vendors which a variety of menu options. Some in shacks, some under lonas (tarps) and some with carts. Check with locals to see who offers the best food and best prices. We have enjoyed many a good meal perched on wobbly plastic chairs along the side of a dusty road.
Some eating establishments have a Servicio a domicilio (delivery service). Remember the tip rate in Mexico is 10% which is expected for this service. When in doubt on whether you should tip, ask a local. Quite often you can find a jar marked propinas (tips) near the register.
Eating out does have its risk. We’ve had mild food poisoning on a few occasions and not from those roadside stands, but established eateries. Allowing the Garcia effect to keep us safe, we no longer those items that have made us sick at any restaurant. Moctezuma’s revenge has never been an issue, however. Water is sold sealed in a bottle. Ice is made from ice vendors and isn’t any dirtier than the ice from soda dispensers found throughout the US.
Should you wish something other than a meal, you can get ice cream from the nevería, popsicles from the paletería, or gaspachos from the gaspachería. Other vendors sell jugos (juices), cacahuates (peanuts), raspados (shaved flavored ice) garbanzos, elotes (corn ears) and esquites (corn in a cup). You can find mobile fruit vendors with tasty cups of in-season fruit, or mangos with chili powder on a stick, churros (fried dough in long bendy tubes covered in sugar), tamales, camotes (sweet potatoes), churros de maíz (long thin fried corn sticks served with tomatoes, cabbage, and hot sauce) and kettle fried potato chips served with limón, salt and hot sauce. All for just a few pesos. Who needs fast food when you can have freshly prepared delights every single day?
Bricks come in two colors, red and gray and are manufactured in different ways depending on the color. Red, or brown, bricks are kilned in Yuriria, about 40 minutes from here. They are sent to different towns by the truckload. The tabiqueros can be found lounging around their trucks waiting for customers. Bricks are currently between 2.90 and 3 pesos per brick. An entire load of bricks, which usually is about 1600 bricks can be purchased slightly cheaper than the cost per individual brick. The tabiqueros will take the bricks to your construction site, unload and stack them. Try to keep count of the stacked bricks so that you can be sure you are getting each and every brick you paid for.
Gray bricks are used for foundations and can be bought directly from the manufacturer, ladrillera mecanizada. The bricks are pressed out 6 at a time. Cement blocks are made in the same manner. One thousand of these pressed bricks currently costs $3000 pesos. Patio tiles, paving bricks, sewer pipes and roofing tiles are often sold at these establishments as well.
Grava (gravel), arena (construction dirt), relleno (reddish dirt used for fill), tierra (dirt suitable for landscaping) can be bought all at one location, usually manned by a pre-pubescent boy with a backhoe. You can buy these materials by the truckload and have them delivered or you can take your own truck and have the kid load you up. You can buy a certain peso amount or certain scoop measurement. You can have this same boy and backhoe come to your construction site and dig holes or fill in dirt for a nominal price per hour.
Scalfolding can be rented at places that display “renta de adamios.” Wood used for framing is rented from places that advertise “se renta madera de construcción and charged a monthly rate. You can request tarimas (standard size rectangular pallets used to form poured cement)and vigas (posts) along with miscellaneous wood pieces often cut to the size and specification you need. These items are all treated with oil for waterproofing so you might want to have them delivered to avoid staining your clothes or getting a nasty infection from a splinter. Make sure to keep track of how many pieces you rented, what sizes and when the rent is due.
If you are looking for screw, nails, bolts or nuts that are not your typical size, try the tornillería, that’s their specialty.
For plumbing, hire a plomero/electricista and get your supplies from el Plomería, or ferre-electrica store. Plumbing and electric are done differently here. Make sure your plumber/electrician is qualified. Often you’ll find those that are working here in Mexico were licensed in the U.S. before being deported. Hiring a plomero/electricista is one of the more costly parts of building but it pays to have it done right the first time. Boilas (hot water heaters) and stove fixtures are also installed by plomeros even though these are typically gas powered appliances.
The glass part of windows and doors are made by the vidriería who will again come and do measurements, cut the glass to size, deliver and install them for a set price. There are options for your glass. Vidrio chino is a type of glass with designs on it or opaque. Vidrio claro is regular glass. Vidrio filtrasol has a thin layer of UV shading. Espejo is mirror glass.
Láminas (corrugated tin sheeting) can be bought at the laminiería. but can also be found at most Ferreterías and even some Madererías. This is often 
Lighting fixtures and wiring are found at the Ferretería and ferre-electrica. Some electrical places are beginning to carry solar products as well, but most solar electricity items are found at their own little store.
Tinacos (those large water storage containers on the roof) for some reason are often sold at places where you get tile. Look for tinacos and tile displays at stores that sell pisos y azulejos (floors and tiles). Mosaico (mosaic) is the older, thick tile style. You’ll most likely also find toilets, sinks, and bathtubs at these stores.
Both exterior and interior paint can be bought at places that sell pinturas. Try to at least buy the mid-priced paint. Cheaper paints are mostly water and you’ll need several coats of paint for it to look nice. Just so you know, if you hire a painter, expect him to thin even the wateriest paint with water before applying. That’s just how they do it here.
There you have it! Now you know where to go for your construction materials. So what’s your next project?
Surviving Mexico 