Those restaurants in Honduras where you can expect table service and a menu are called restaurantes. In large towns and cities, you’ll find high-priced restaurants offering international-style food, or at least creatively prepared Honduran standards. In smaller towns, hotel restaurants are often the best places to get a good meal.

Simpler places offering set meals at inexpensive prices are known as comedores (eateries) or merenderos. The best way to judge a comedor is to check the number of locals eating there—the more, the better.

Common in many larger Honduran towns, and on highways servicing buses and other drivers, are buffet restaurants, which are just what they sound like: an array of different dishes to choose from, priced depending on what you get, but typically around US$4 for a meal with rice, beans, salad, a main dish, and a fruit drink. These are often great places to fill up on veggies, if you’re getting tired of all that meat and tortillas. It’s always a good idea to get to buffet restaurants soon after they put the food out, when it’s fresh and hot. If you don’t drag yourself in for breakfast until 9:30 a.m., you may find the eggs looking rather haggard after sitting there for three hours.

Most town markets have a section with a few stalls inside serving inexpensive and typically good-quality breakfasts and lunches.