With its charm as a small fishing village and artists' colony, along with the sun and scuba diving on Mexico’s eastern coast, Playa del Carmen remains a popular spot for Israeli backpackers. Always on a budget—and forever hungry for good food and friendly faces—hundreds are heading this month to Chabad of Playa del Carmen, where they are enjoying a meat and chicken meal for only 30 pesos, or about $2.25.

“We want to encourage all the young Israeli backpackers to eat kosher while they are traveling,” says Rabbi Mendel Goldberg, who along with his wife, Chaya, co-directs the local Chabad center.

“We are having about 150 people eating every day here,” he continues, “and it's amazing that while some just enjoy the kosher food and good company, others are with us for services, guys are putting on tefillin, and many are joining for the always-free Shabbat and holiday meals.”

The meals are co-sponsored by Chabad of Playa del Carmen and a donor who wishes to remain anonymous, according to Goldberg, who adds that “for lots of these young people, it's their first encounter with traditional Judaism.” Others, he notes, keep kosher at home, “but on the road, it's not always easy."

Another bonus, adds the rabbi: "We are even cheaper than McDonalds!”

With the success they’re having, Goldberg says, they will only be able to supply food until the end of the eight-day holiday of Sukkot, which begins on Wednesday night, Sept. 18.

“We hope to find more donors," he says, "so we can continue through the end of the tourist season at the beginning of October.”