Foods Allowed into Mexico

Hello All We would like to bring some of our own food with us from Canada and would like to know which foods are restricted. Meat and vegetables are probably restrcted but what about cheese? We are staying the month of March in Mazatlan if you have any suggestions for buying fresh food while there. Any other advice re staying in Mazatlan would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your consideration.
Regards,
Ted and Sandy Wilson
Vancouver, Canada

Meat is definitely restricted. We shop at Costco here in Cancun. The meat is from Alberta of all places, the chicken from the US and a lot of the cheese from France. I don't really think you will have to worry about the food if you stick to the larger chain stores. (Walmart, Costco, Sams Club) The fish is local, but, very fresh.

I can't speak to what's allowed, but I can't think of anything you might want that isn't available in Mazatlan. It's a city of a million more or less, with all the major grocery players. We shopped at Wal-mart there this month and it was very similar to a US Wal-mart. Lots of fresh cheeses, mostly soft white. Good seafood department and produce. There's also a (fairly) new Mega near the Zona Dorada tourist area. Take the Centro bus there (8 pesos new, 5.5 old) and a taxi (right outside the door) back to your TS.

For general Mazatlan info, go to www.mazinfo.com. I'm envious of your month. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask.

Jim Ricks

See here for discussion on bringing food to Mexico:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52961

We just got back from Mazatlan. The Mega store opened January 24th. We went there on the 26th - along with everyone in town. They have a good selection of everything you can imagine and since it is new, it is spotless.

It is across the street from SAM'S Club. If you take a white bus with Gran Plaza written on it, you will be able to get off by the parking garage. It costs5.5 pesos from the Mayan Palace.

Great thread that you shared! Thank you.
Ted

In Mazatlan a little closer there is a Gigante Super as well. And a bit further is a Soriana, which is more like a variety store with groceries. I don't know what the new Mega looks like, but Soriana used to be the best. Probably Mega is now since it is the newest.

If the new Mega is across from Sam's, what is where the old Mega (that used to be Commercial Mexicana) in the mall was?

As an aside, in the same area as Mega is El Bambu, a really good restaurant known for Carne Asada. It is really a "locals place," but they have a few menus in English now and a couple of bilingual servers. We've been going there before those days. If you go, check out the mural on the back wall. We were there when it was being painted.

Fern

Fern Modena said:

If the new Mega is across from Sam's, what is where the old Mega (that used to be Commercial Mexicana) in the mall was?

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They closed the old one. The new one is huge. They do have other items, but not as many as Wal-Mart. We were just there to buy snacks and breakfast items.

Sam's has great rotisserie chicken that we could not resist - they had samples. Even though we don't usually cook when at a Mayan Palace, we couldn't resist the chicken - so bought some frozen veggies to zap in the microwave for a great dinner one night. They also have a great pound cake with nuts on it that we had with coffee several mornings.

What a vacation!!

Mazatlan for a MONTH!! AWESOME!! Ever since our first trip to Mazatlan, I've been thinking of doing TWO WEEKS back to back and going again, but a WHOLE MONTH . . . WOW!! I'd LOVE it!! Have a great time!!

We loved the Sam's Club, and bought all of our groceries there. Everything was fresh and clean!! (Our last trip to Mexico, before Mazatlan, (Aventura Spa Palace in Cancun) we both got sick and were about to swear off going to Mexico again, if we got that ill ever again. But Mazatlan was a GREAT experience!! We will definitely go back!)

It seems we never get out until the day after we arrive for even light shopping. Would it be ok to bring say a can of coffee, canned milk and sugar? Gotta have my coffee first thing in the am.

cerralee said:

It seems we never get out until the day after we arrive for even light shopping. Would it be ok to bring say a can of coffee, canned milk and sugar? Gotta have my coffee first thing in the am.

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I bet your TS will have a starter coffee service for at least 1 day if there isn't a c-store onsite. OTOH, I always pack the coffee and filters and sweetener as well as a few condiments, a little foil and zip-lock bags in the checked bag.

DW builds sort of an all-purpose seasoning of sea salt, fresh pepper, powdered garlic, some dry basil, oregano, and rosemary and some pepper flakes. Feel free to modify to your own taste. I put the mixture in a shaker and screw the top down over plastic wrap- to be removed after we arrive. With this we can cook anything from steaks to fish to pasta without spending a bundle on individual spices at resort prices.

The whole mess weighs under a pound- 2 with coffee, and takes up any more space than a hard-bound book.

Jim Ricks

cerralee said:

It seems we never get out until the day after we arrive for even light shopping. Would it be ok to bring say a can of coffee, canned milk and sugar? Gotta have my coffee first thing in the am.

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We always bring coffee and sugar, though not the canned milk, and have never had a problem with the airport. We also bring an assortment of spices like Passepartout - though not such a clever blend. We use little film cans for the spices.

If you have a problem with Customs - highly unlikely - the worst that will happen is that they will throw out the food. :annoyed:

In my experience, they are looking for fresh food, not prepared food. No pork products, no produce, and meat, if it passes, probably will need a USDA deal or something similar from Canada. I used to bring the precooked bacon that I would buy at Sam's, but I keep hearing pork all the time is a no-no.
Anything canned or prepackaged should be OK.

We always go to Gigante after we get there and pick up anything we need. Great cheese, wine, liquors, breads....basically anything. Will be at El Cid Marina and they have a small store that has the basics if we need more.

Last year we went downtown to the Market and bought smoked marlin and fresh shrimp. We cooked the shrimp and had it for the week. it was wonderful and you can get any size you want.
The market has mega fresh veggies,fruits, meats, poultry,fish, etc. That seems to be where lots of the locals shop. Even if you do not buy anything it is fascinating to watch them cut up meat etc.

We are going on March 8 for 11 days and can hardly wait. We will head to the Shrimp market right away this time. I am taking a plastic bottle of Seafood sauce this time too. Gigante may have it but last yr. we got the shrimp after we had been there so I do not know.

Judy
www.MyTimeshareAdventures.com