23 Best Cafes & Coffee Shops in Merida (Digital Nomad Guide)

Coffee Shops and Cafes in Merida

The first thing I do when I know I’ll be traveling to a new city and staying a while is look up “best cafes” and “best coffee shops,” especially “best coffee shops for working at with a laptop,” or “best cafes with WiFi.”

After spending a whole bunch of time in the beautiful city of Merida, Mexico, I can be sure to tell you that there are a good bunch of cafes that are good for working. As for the rest of them, they’ll look impressively pretty on your Instagram feed.

Merida, Mexico, is a tropical city with warm temperatures year-round, and for this reason, lots of cafes are indoor-outdoor, have beautiful gardens and outside seating and most have private WiFi networks.

I often work remotely when I travel in some international destinations around the world, so finding cafes and coffee shops with WiFi that allow travelers like digital nomads to work with a laptop are a priority!

Here’s a list of cafes to try in Merida, Mexico, along with the best features of each, whether being a good place to work, or the best cafe in which to take photos of your food and drinks.

Are you ready for this list? ¿Están listos? ¡Vamos!

Merida cafes best for working remotely

If you’re like us, you may have to work remotely while traveling.

It’s the same reason we rated cafes to work from in Brooklyn, the best cafes in Taipei and the cafes you can work from in Tallinn, Estonia. Phew!

If you’re well-equipped to work from anywhere as long as there’s WiFi, you’ll be very happy with all the WiFi-friendly cafe spots in Merida during your stay.

Check out this list of the best cafes to work from in Merida, from Centro Historico to Paseo Montejo.

Manifesto (Centro Historico)

Manifesto is hailed as the no-nonsense coffee joint in town, with two locations you can visit.

The Manifesto shop closer to Plaza Grande on Calle 59 has a few tables where you can work, and there’s a bunch of natural light coming in through the tall entryway.

The northern location on Calle 18 is “Manifesto Cold Brew,” with the difference being that it has outdoor seating so you can enjoy fresh air.

Either location would be an awesome place to get some work done in a cafe, and with Manifesto’s literal manifest on the wall telling you how to appreciate your coffee, you will stay caffeinated.

Marago Coffee (Paseo de Montejo)

Marago Coffee is a convenient spot on Paseo Montejo and it is QUITE popular! On weekends, don’t be surprised if there’s a line to get seated, or if there aren’t any tables left where you can sit down with a laptop.

However, on the more off hours on weekdays or after the brunch rush, Marago is an excellent place to be seated with a laptop and some good WiFi. In fact, every time we pass by Marago Coffee, there is someone in the outdoor patio seats working remotely.

As for the menu, it is huge. This menu is a book, I swear. They make hot coffee drinks, cold coffee drinks, smoothies and brunch foods, and every order that comes out for another table gives me order envy.

El Apapacho (Calle 62)

El Apapacho is such a unique place to work from in Merida. The feminist-inspired earthy and literature-friendly cafe and restaurant is nomad-friendly and has WiFi. It is located on Calle 62 kind of between Centro Historico and Paseo 60. For us, this was a great location during our entire month in Merida.

The menu here is also like a novel, which seems in line with all the books on the shelves. Don’t be overwhelmed: there’s the coffee section, then the food section and then finally, the mezcal cocktail section.

In fact, you can work remotely at this coffee shop and restaurant in the daytime, or at night! No one’s judging.

Starbucks Montejo (Paseo de Montejo)

Before you groan, and before I seem like I’m defending Starbucks, I’ll just say that Starbucks of Paseo Montejo is a little treat.

This is a great option for a cafe to work from if you’re looking for some WiFi at a cafe in Merida. There are outlets everywhere, and the Starbucks has free WiFi, so that you can work remotely with no problem. What’s more is that the WiFi is super fast.

With this central location on Paseo Montejo (also close to Walmart), you’ll see that there is a plethora of outdoor seating in addition to the second floor, which has the indoor seating (and A/C).

I like this Starbucks as a work spot because it’s nomad-friendly, there’s both Starbucks drinks and some food options (bagels, cookies, etc.) and there’s a bathroom upstairs! If you’re into cold brew, note: the cold brew they make is sweet, by default. We’re not sure why or how.

Pan & Koffee (Calle 43)

Pan & Koffee (or “PAN & KØF.FÉE”) as the website lists the name of the cafe) is kind of like a hidden gem of a place.

This cafe was on my list, and it wasn’t until our third week in town that I stopped by for a coconut milk cappuccino.

Oh my, you’ve got to see this cafe. It is a treasure. Clearly it is one of the best places for remote workers or digital nomads to come by with a laptop for a little bit of work (note that some, if not all, tables have a 90-minute maximum).

The tall ceiling will awe you, and then the massive croissants in the bakery display will win your heart. Also, the backyard and garden is a total charmer. If I could work anywhere every day, this might be it.

Staff is super nice, credit cards are accepted, and the whole place has a happy feel. There are indeed restrooms!

Voltacafé Santa Lucía (Calle 53, Centro)

Voltacafe is another hidden gem with a garden where you may not expect it. In this charming collection of aesthetically-pleasing businesses called Plaza Carmesí at Calle 53, the interior courtyard with outdoor seating at Voltacafe is perfect for a day of working with your laptop.

The perfect greenery is relaxing, the umbrellas and leaves provide shade and this is a place where digital nomads can be very happy to get some work done.

With a menu of food and drinks like caramel frappes, you will not go hungry or thirsty here while getting work done.

Estacion 72 (García Ginerés)

Estacion 72 is a cafe, coffee shop and restaurant near the Merida Slow Food Farmer’s Market of the García Ginerés neighborhood.

There are many tables at which to work with a laptop, and while there’s no official outdoor dining or backyard, there is a patio table or two at the entrance. For inside, there’s nice A/C and staff is super nice.

The menu is pretty lengthy, and they do specialty coffee brewing like V60 pour-overs and Chemex brews. There’s also smoothies, omelets, chilaquiles and smoothie bowls. Yum.

Bengala Kaffeehaus (Calle 60, Parque Santa Lucia)

Bengala Kaffeehaus was one of the first cafes in Merida that we tried, and we could easily see why it makes a nice place to work.

The cafe has a small entrance from Calle 60, and immediately there’s a small coffee shop with two high-top tables on either side.

The real treat is the back courtyard, which is part of a hotel. When we were there, it was quiet, and we thought about how it would be a great spot to do some blogging at!

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One thing to note is that there were quite a few mosquitoes in the courtyard…. but if you have the ability to move inside and you’re fine with working alongside some noise like espresso being ground, this could be a cool spot for a remote work day in Merida.

Latte Quattro Sette (Calle 47, Zona Paseo Montejo)

Latte Quattro Sette is regarded as one of the other best spots to do some work for a little while with WiFi, in Merida’s Centro area. It’s also a super Insta-worthy spot.

The interior of the cafe is bright and airy, and the menu consists of sandwiches, cookies and treats, avocado toast and hot or iced lattes, of course.

Little did we know, Latte Quattro Sette is an official Insta-popular cafe. Is that even a thing? I guess we have to find out.

Best Specialty Cafes in Merida

We like to make coffee while we travel, but there’s absolutely nothing like tasting the real local roasts when you’re far away from home.

This being said, did you know that Mexican coffee is a real treat?

One of our favorite things about visiting so many cafes in Mexico City was that we learned where Mexican coffee comes from.

Despite the huge size of Mexico, it is not one of the major players in the global coffee industry. More attention by far is given to Brazil, Guatemala, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Costa Rica and Colombia for sure.

What about Mexico? Mexico’s coffee region is mostly dedicated to three main states: Chiapas, Veracruz and Oaxaca.

If you visit some third wave specialty coffee shops in Merida, you will have the experience of talking to experts who can speak to how coffee is sourced from farmers, often indigenous peoples, in these areas of Mexico’s coffee belt.

We like to drink our coffee black to get the real flavor. If you’re a black coffee drinker, as for a ‘cafe americano,’ which is the way to order a black coffee in Mexico.

Here are the specialty coffee shops in Merida to try during your trip!

Cafe Organico (Calle 33D)

Cafe Organico is a special spot. It is earthy (”crunchy,” if you will) and everything for sale inside seems to be gluten-free and/or vegan.

The menu is not huge, and it’s all in Spanish, despite the array of foreign and imported health food products you can buy inside, but there are some good finds. For instance, we tried the vegan “burrita,” which is a breakfast meal and it had some vegan meat products.

I had the coconut milk cappuccino (I actually would not recommend this one and I would go for the americano if I go back).

We give this cafe potential because of its dedication to the vegan world and sustainable products.

Cafe Cafico (Calle 58, Zona Paseo Montejo/Centro)

Cafe Cafico was a quick find for us because we were searching for a cafe with takeaway. Due to our luck, this coffee shop, which also roasts its own beans, is right near Parque Santa Ana, and is takeaway-only, at the time of writing.

All coffees come from Mexico, which is exciting. We felt that this was a proper way to try the most local Mexican coffees from Chiapas and Veracruz.

Cafe Cafico is basically no-frills, and you have to stand in the doorway to order and pay in cash while your drinks are prepared.

They only sell cold brew by the liter, in a concentrate form. This is great to know if you’ll be in Merida a while and you’d like to have a whole load of cold brew on hand to keep cool (and wired).

Manifesto Cold Brew (Calle 18, Col. México)

Manifesto’s northern location called Manifesto Cold Brew is the sister location for Manifesto Toastadora in the downtown Centro region.

Are you a cold brew lover? You are in for a treat. Manifesto makes a mean and strong cold brew that we tried at their Centro location.

To learn more about Manifesto’s coffees and from where they source beans in Mexico, you can visit this page of their website. Here, you’ll see that they source coffee beans from Chiapas, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Guerrero and also Puebla.

Their coffees are always seasonal harvests and they create sustainable relationships with farms that are avoiding deforestation, in order to help the local ecosystems.

Manifesto in this location is a great spot at which to sit outside and enjoy an artisanal Mexican roast.

Tierra de Cafe (Calle 62, Parque Santa Ana/Centro)

We walked past this cafe way too many times before we stopped to take a look!

The name drew me in immediately - Tierra de Cafe, which means “Land of Coffee.” The subtext here says Tostadora de Especialidad, meaning Specialty Roaster, and I could’ve told you this just by the smell from the outside. It is wonderful.

The cafe was born in Chiapas, according to their website, where the owners of the cafe claim that the love of coffee came naturally for them. They opened their first Merida cafe in 2017 to share the love of coffee with people in the center of town.

Stop by and try a cup! This cafe is proud of the journey from the bean to the cup.

María & Montejo, Rituales de Café (Calle 58, Zona Paseo Montejo)

This new cafe is a bright and modern welcome right near Paseo Montejo. I found it while I was out for a jog one morning and their cute bicycle next to a chalkboard had me at “buenos dias.”

With a very cute website and open hours til 8pm (!!), this is one of the best new places to try great coffee in Merida (with a really convenient location if you are spending time near Montejo).

This one’s not a hot Instagram spot yet, but … it will be.

Most Instagrammable Cafes in Merida

The Instagrammers and TikTokers are here, and they want to know where in Merida to take the best photos for the gram at hip coffee shops and cafes.

Luckily, the city has no shortage of beautiful and charming spots at which to snap a gram.

In fact, there are almost too many, and for good measure, we’ve included a range of the most well-known spots like Casa THO, to some of our secret findings like Portavia (shhh).

Casa THO (Paseo de Montejo, Zona Paseo Montejo)

Casa THO is the clear winner in the best-known spots for taking an incredible photo at a restaurant-bar-tropical courtyard garden. I had to stop myself from taking photos just to enjoy the place.

Casa THO is one of Merida’s “concept spaces,” meaning it was designed in a thoughtfully aesthetically-pleasing way for boutique shopping, dining and drinking.

Upon entering from the street, you can peek in to a pristine white-walled courtyard with palm trees growing out from its center, and once you enter (don’t forget your mask and sanitizing gel), peek through the lovely boutiques until you drool over the perfect photo op at every angle of this space.

Also, yes, the reason why we’re here - Casa THO has a cafe, but because the place is more like a restaurant with wait service, you probably cannot work remotely from here for four hours, and you also cannot easily stop in for takeaway because we didn’t notice there being a counter for that.

The ‘concept house’ has a Facebook page (the website is blank).

Menta & Rosa (Calle 56, Zona Paseo Montejo/Centro)

Such a total cutie from the outside, Menta & Rosa has a tickly pink exterior with a bicycle or two, where, even when I walked by on a quiet weekend morning, two teenagers were posing outside taking selfies against the rose-colored wall.

You can go inside and order some brunch food for a pink or mint-hued photo, like the ones on the cafe’s Instagram.

LAGALÁ 56:426 (Te extraño, extraño) (Calle 56, Centro)

LAGALÁ is another Merida concept space downtown designed with a great visual aesthetic, kind of like a home I’d like to own one day.

The space itself is a cafe and restaurant (no takeaway), with some private rooms for dining, kind of like if a cafe were someone’s big mansion with dining rooms. LAGALA empties into a sunny concrete backyard with a classy text wall at the back that’s great for a photo op.

Te extraño, extraño is the name of the cafe itself, and the menu is great. We had the cold brew (it was one of the best cold brews I’ve had in my life, I’m not kidding), the guava juice (oh my gosh) and the apapacho dip (incredible) with avocado toast.

There’s a coo feature about the design elements of LAGALA at glocal.mx.

Casa Chica (Paseo de Montejo)

Casa Chica is no secret, due to its attractive location on a nice stretch of Paseo de Montejo and its vibrant umbrella’d tables out front.

If you like outdoor dining with either sun or shade, you can sit down at Casa Chica like a regular.

A few great things about this cafe are its very photogenic inside (leaves painted on the walls), neon pink-lit bar, tiled floors and photogenic food.

Also, they have a 2-for-1 happy hour during select hours and you will probably want to get on that asap. You can see the latest promotions on the cafe’s Facebook page.

Portavía (Calle 60, Centro)

Portavia, on the other hand, is in fact a secret that I like to say I discovered. Having walked down Calle 60 for a week until my friend was visiting and we popped in together, I wouldn’t have known it was really there.

Portavia is somewhat of a modern concept space, housing Mexican art, showrooms of jewelry, handicrafts and a central cafe in a natural-light setting with an open ceiling to the sky.

The cafe has a full menu and tables at which to sit, as you gaze at interesting art, figurines, carved crocodiles and Day of the Dead statues.

Baretto | Espresso Bar (Calle 47, Centro)

Baretto is Merida’s Italian espresso bar, located on Merida’s famous ‘restaurant row,’ or ‘culinary row,’ as some refer to Calle 47 east of Paseo de Montejo. It’s not a bad location for following your caffeine with food, or the other way around!

Despite being themed from Italian espresso, the cafe sells Mexican coffee roasts from origins like Veracruz.

The interior has great light and is perfectly photogenic. Check out the big stone counter, the shelving that goes up to the ceiling and the full-height photo prints that surround the cool tiled floor.

Want to verify the Insta-worthy-ness before you go? Hop over to their Instagram.

Cafes for Bread and Pastry Lovers

You may think of tacos, tamales, tortillas and totopos when you think of Merida and the Yucatan, but have you heard about these incredible cafes and coffee shops with artisanal bread and baked goods?

You’ll be stopped in your tracks when you sit down to any of these best cafes for delicious baked goods in Merida, listed below. How will you ever choose?

JUSTO Bread Studio (Zona Paseo Montejo)

JUSTO Bread Studio is an attractive cafe right near Monumento de la Patria on Paseo de Montejo. The central location can’t be beat, for anyone staying or living nearby!

The croissants are massive, the sandwiches are worth a photo on their own, and the avocado toasts look like they sprouted gardens of their own.

Bring an appetite, and rather than visiting their website, go straight to the cafe’s Instagram.

Escargot Panadería Artesanal (Calle 53)

Escargot Panaderia is a modest bakery on Calle 53 with little more than a small storefront for an entrance. I was caught by the name, and had to drop in.

The interior is a bit rustic, like a place good for stopping in to inhale some bread, rather than working remotely for half a day. Look in at the coffee menu and the bakery shelves of bread for what you wish to indulge in when you arrive.

Rumors have it, as per reviews online, that the cardamom latte is to die for. You can message the business on Facebook.

Kadus Bistro (Calle 60, Col, Alcalá Martín/Yucatán)

Kadus Bistro is a cute spot located near Estadio Gral. Salvador Alvarado. It’s a chill spot for smoothie bowls and coffee. There’s also avocado toast, waffles, croissants and pumpkin spice lattes … at certain autumn-themed times of year.

The interior is sunlit and bright, with a cute and classic cafe kind of vibe.

The waffles and croissants are especially decadent, if you’re into drizzled syrups, tiny flowers for garnish and other creative elements. Great for a photo, and great for consuming some carbs.

There’s more info on Tripadvisor, which lists the cafe’s updated hours.

Are you moving on from Merida to Mexico City? Check out our list of the best coffee shops in CDMX as well.