Quick Answer
Comida corrida is the Mexican set lunch: a fixed-price sequence of soup, a dry soup of rice or pasta, a main course chosen from two or three options, agua fresca and often a small dessert. It is served in fondas and cocinas económicas, roughly between two and four in the afternoon.
- Comida corrida is a fixed-price set lunch served in small Mexican restaurants, usually between about two and four in the afternoon.
- The sequence is soup, then a dry soup - rice or pasta - then a main you pick from two or three, plus agua fresca and often a small dessert.
- It is the cheapest full meal in Mexico, and the place that serves it is a fonda or a cocina económica.
What it is
A whole meal for one price, decided by whoever is cooking. You get a sequence rather than a menu, and the only choice you usually make is which guisado you want as the main.
The usual shape is sopa aguada - the actual soup - then sopa seca, which is rice or pasta and is called dry soup for reasons nobody stops to explain, then the guisado, and often a small dessert. Plenty of fondas make you pick between the first two: ¿sopa o arroz? is a question you should expect.
El guisado is the word you will need out loud. It is the stewed or braised main - tinga, chicharrón en salsa verde, albóndigas, milanesa - and it is the one part of the meal you choose.
The facts about comida corrida
- What it is
- A fixed-price set lunch: soup, dry soup, a main you pick, agua fresca, usually dessert.
- When
- Roughly 1pm to 5pm, busiest between 2 and 4 - that is when la comida, the main meal of the day, happens.
- Where
- Fondas and cocinas económicas. Chalked on a board outside, not printed on a menu.
- The courses
- Sopa aguada, sopa seca (rice or pasta), guisado (the main you pick), postre. Some fondas make you choose between the first two. The agua is already on the table.
- What it costs
- The cheapest full cooked meal available. Prices vary widely by neighborhood and have moved a lot recently, so ask rather than trusting a figure online.
- Also called
- Menú del día, comida del día, or just la corrida.
Literal meaning
Corrida is from correr, and here it carries the sense of run through or run in sequence. The meal runs; you sit there and it arrives.
Which is also what separates it from ordering. A la carta you build a meal. Corrida, somebody built it this morning and you are joining it partway through the day.
The format is older than it looks. It is usually traced to the Porfiriato, when European set-menu service reached Mexico City and the fondas rebuilt it around Mexican food and around workers who could not go home to eat at two. What survived is the sequence, the fixed price and the absence of a menu.
How it works in Mexico
It is the weekday lunch for a very large number of people. Offices empty around two, and the fondas nearest them fill with the same faces every day.
You order by asking for it: ¿tiene comida corrida? and then ¿qué hay de guisado? The answer is a list of two or three, spoken quickly, and you pick one. If you miss it, ¿me la repite, por favor? is completely normal.
Three more phrases carry the rest of the meal. ¿De qué es el agua? because there are usually two. Para llevar, because fondas do takeout constantly and will pack it in a tupper. And ¿me da la cuenta? at the end - tipping in a fonda is coins or around ten percent, not restaurant percentages.
The agua comes in a jug and refills are usually included. The dessert usually is too, and it is small on purpose. Coffee sometimes costs extra, and it is worth asking rather than assuming.
Prices vary a lot by neighborhood and have moved in recent years, so treat any figure you read online as out of date. What stays true is that it is reliably the cheapest way to eat a full cooked meal in the country.
Examples
- ¿Tiene comida corrida?Do you have a lunch special?
- ¿Qué hay de guisado?What do you have for the main?
- De guisado hay tinga, milanesa y chiles rellenos.For the main there's tinga, milanesa and stuffed peppers.
- ¿La sopa seca es arroz o fideos?Is the dry soup rice or noodles?
Where you'll hear it
- A handwritten board outside a Narvarte fonda with three guisados chalked on it and today's date
- An office emptying at two, everybody walking to the same place without discussing it
- A jug of agua de jamaica landing on the table before anybody has ordered anything
- Gelatina arriving as dessert, and being genuinely the correct end to the meal
Ordering one
YouBuenas tardes, ¿tiene comida corrida?
Afternoon - do you have a comida corrida?Buenas tardes first. Walking in and ordering cold reads as brusque.
ThemSí. Hay sopa de fideo, arroz, y de guisado tinga o milanesa.
Yes. There's noodle soup, rice, and for the main, tinga or milanesa.The list comes fast. ¿Me la repite, por favor? is normal and nobody minds.
YouTinga, por favor. ¿El agua va incluida?
Tinga, please. Is the drink included?It usually is, along with dessert. Coffee often is not.
ThemSí. De tomar hay de jamaica y de horchata.
Yes. To drink we have hibiscus and horchata.¿De qué es el agua? is the question if nobody offers. There are usually two.
Mini dialogue
Common mistake
Expecting a second bowl of soup. Sopa seca is rice or pasta, and a learner who has translated it literally spends the whole second course confused about what went wrong.
Turning up at six. Most fondas start around one and are packing up by five or six, with the peak between two and four. The evening meal in Mexico is lighter, later, and it is not this - a foreigner who waits until dinner time finds the kitchen closed.
Don't sound gringo
the single most useful thing to know about eating cheaply in mexico. one price, a fixed sequence, no menu decisions.
Walk into a fonda in the afternoon and ask for the comida corrida.
The thing that confuses everybody the first time is that two of the courses are called soup. The sopa aguada is the actual soup. The sopa seca - dry soup - is rice or pasta, and it arrives second.
Nobody in Mexico finds that strange, and once you stop expecting a second bowl of liquid the whole meal makes sense.
FAQ
What is comida corrida?
A fixed-price set lunch served in small Mexican restaurants. You get soup, a dry soup of rice or pasta, a main chosen from two or three options, agua fresca and usually a small dessert.
What is sopa seca?
Dry soup - rice, pasta or fideos. It is the second course of a comida corrida and it is not a mistake. The liquid one is sopa aguada.
What time is comida corrida served?
Roughly one to five, busiest between two and four. La comida is Mexico's main meal and it sits in the afternoon; the evening meal is lighter and later.
How do you order comida corrida?
¿Tiene comida corrida? then ¿qué hay de guisado? The answer is a spoken list of two or three. If it goes too fast, ¿me la repite, por favor? is completely normal.
What is a guisado?
The stewed or braised main course - tinga, chicharrón en salsa verde, albóndigas, milanesa. It is the one part of a comida corrida you get to choose.
What is a menú ejecutivo?
The same idea one price bracket up, served in a proper restaurant near an office. Comida corrida is the fonda version; menú ejecutivo comes with tablecloths.
What is a fonda?
A small family-run restaurant, often in or near a market - the kind of place that serves comida corrida. A cocina económica is close but skews cheaper and more takeout-oriented, sometimes with no table service.
Is the drink included in comida corrida?
Usually yes, and refills too. Dessert is normally included and small. Coffee often costs extra, so it is worth asking rather than assuming.
What is the difference between comida corrida and menú del día?
Nothing much. Menú del día is the slightly more restaurant-ish name and turns up on printed cards; comida corrida is what gets chalked on a board outside a fonda.
comida corrida vs sopa seca, fonda and menú ejecutivo
comida corridavssopa seca
The one that catches everybody. Sopa seca is dry soup - rice, pasta, or fideos - and it is the second course, not a mistake in the kitchen. The liquid one is sopa aguada.Page coming sooncomida corridavsfonda
The place rather than the meal. Una fonda is the small family-run restaurant, often in or near a market. Una cocina económica is close but cheaper and more takeout-oriented, often with no table service. Both serve comida corrida.Page coming sooncomida corridavsmenú ejecutivo
The tier above. Same idea - fixed price, fixed sequence - in a proper restaurant near an office, with tablecloths and a higher price. This is the real contrast with comida corrida, not menú del día.Page coming sooncomida corridavsmenú del día
Same thing, different word, and a shade more restaurant-ish. You will see menú del día on a printed card and comida corrida chalked on a board.Page coming sooncomida corridavsla comida
Not lunch exactly. La comida is the main meal of the day and it happens in the afternoon, roughly two to four. Breakfast is el desayuno and the evening meal, la cena, is much lighter.Page coming soon
Related words
Test yourself
Tap an answer.
Your sopa seca arrives and it's a plate of rice. What happened?
What time should you turn up for comida corrida?
The one thing
the mexican set lunch: soup, a dry soup of rice or pasta, a main you pick, agua and dessert, one price. served about two to four in a fonda. sopa seca is rice, not a mistake.
Sources
- ContextEste es el origen de las llamadas comidas corridas en MéxicoMXCOn the French set-menu scheme the fondas adapted, and what survived of it.
- Context¿Por qué le decimos comida corrida? Este es el origenChilangoCorrida because the courses run one after another, de corrido, with no pauses.
- Press¿Por qué se llama comida corrida? La historia detrás de estos platillosExcélsiorTraces it to the Porfiriato and to workers eating away from home near the factories.
- ContextLa historia del menú que alimentó a generaciones de mexicanosMéxico Travel ChannelOn the fondas and the women cooks who adapted a European set-menu scheme to Mexican food.
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