La Casita De Paja

IF YOU’RE A TOURIST, DO NOT COME. If I could give this place a zero, I would. This place SCAMS tourists.

First, there is no menu. The waiter asked what we wanted to order and I asked for a menu. The waiter said they have none. I am not from Yucatán, so I don’t know the local cuisine. This was my first day in Mérida, and this was the first restaurant I visited. I insisted on seeing a menu, and the waiter declined that service. This should have been my first red flag.

In total, I ordered two grapefruit drinks, one main dish, and two sides. The waiter informed us that the total price for the food was $790 MXN. We gave him $1,000 MXN as payment. Then, things got interesting because he requested another $100 MXN as “tip”. He walked away with the payment, and then I waited for a couple of minutes to request my change. He said he would give back the change; however, he only returned $150 MXN. The change should have been $210 MXN. This was NOT the correct amount of change we were expecting.

Food was good but the price the waiter determined no way justified the excessive amount. He overcharged because he could have. We are tourists, so of course, I do not know better.

During my stay in Merida, I visited fine dining restaurants at the city center. At those other restaurants, I ordered food for two people (and were large portions) plus appetizers, plus multiple rounds of drinks, and the price was still comparable to what our waiter requested at La Casita de Paja.

How can a local establishment charge the same amount as a fine dining restaurant at Merida city center, while providing LESS food?

As a tourist, I recommend not supporting this establishment. The food was good. However, the AUDACITY of the waiter lying to us and scamming us was absolutely ludicrous.

If you get recommended this place, kindly DECLINE.