Secundaria Juan de la Barrera Lunch?

Question

I'm heading to Secundaria Federal Juan de la Barrera next week for a teacher exchange program. Everyone keeps mentioning the cafeteria food, apparently it's legendary, for better or worse. I'm curious...what's the *one* dish I absolutely HAVE to try (or avoid) at the school cafeteria? Is there some secret menu item? Some local favorite that only the students know about?

myriamweiss · Answer

forget the cafeteria entirely, the real move is the lady selling tamales from a cooler by the bike rack around 10am. she's there every day rain or shine and the verde ones are incredible, they're made with masa from the molino on avenida lopez portillo. the cafeteria's tamales come frozen and microwaved, not even close. also if you see a kid selling marquesitas out of their backpack near the gate after 1pm, buy one, they're better than any cafeteria dessert

roseline · Answer

The real insider move at Juan de la Barrera is the empanadas de cazon that show up around noon. A woman brings them in a basket from her house and sells them right by the basketball court, not even near the cafeteria. They're a specialty from Campeche and cost 20 pesos each, the students mob her before she even sets down. For the actual cafeteria stuff, the arroz con leche is surprisingly good and consistent, it's the only dessert that isn't just packaged cookies.

birgajensen · Answer

oh the cafeteria is definitely a trip. if you want the real student experience skip the main line and find the woman who sells tacos de canasta from a cooler near the back. she's usually there around 11 and they're still warm, the chicharron ones go fast. for the hot food the tortas de pierna are way more reliable than the milanesas, the bread's always fresh. just don't get the agua de sabor from the dispenser, it's basically pink sugar water

cathleenecker · Answer

imo the real move is the quesadillas de huitlacoche from the cart outside the main gate around 10:30am. not technically cafeteria but it's where all the students go when they say they're "getting lunch". the lady there makes them fresh and they're like 15 pesos each. inside the cafeteria the only thing i'd really avoid is the torta de jamon, it's just sad white bread with one slice of ham. the agua de horchata is decent though, way better than that pink sugar water the other person mentioned

juliane · Answer

You'll want to find the señora who sets up near the science building entrance, not the main cafeteria line. She makes sopes de picadillo from about 11:30 and they're gone by 12:15, the masa is hand-pressed and she crisps them on a comal right there. The cafeteria's own picadillo comes from a steam table bag, completely different thing. If you see the line for the torta de cochinita lady get longer than 8 people, skip it and wait for the empanadas de cazon person the other reply mentioned, they're actually from the same neighborhood in Chetumal originally and hers show up more reliably.

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Secundaria Juan de la Barrera Lunch?