San Juan Market

It is officially called Ernesto Pugibet Market but is better known as San Juan Market. It is over 150 years old and began as a simple little flea market which has become today one of the most famous markets and, perhaps, the most gourmet of the city.

It is a great mecca for foodies. You can find all kinds of products from other states, Europe, Asia and America. There is exotic crocodile and ostrich meat. Fruit and vegetable stalls with a great stall full of textures and colors. Undoubtedly it is a place to visit and find amazing products.

What you will find. This is the city's gourmet market and the place chefs from well-known restaurants come to stock up: cut cheeses and charcuterie, preserves and imported goods from Europe, Asia and the Americas, alongside butchers and fishmongers whose stallholders have served the same customers for decades. Fruit and vegetables are laid out immaculately —it is a highly photogenic market— and sellers offer generous samples before you buy. What there is little of is everyday Mexican cooking: to eat on the spot, the option is baguettes, which some counters pair with a glass of wine.

Some history. Its official name is Mercado Ernesto Pugibet, after the street it stands on. The trade in this area goes back to the old barrio of San Juan Moyotlan —"place of mosquitoes" in Nahuatl— which is where the popular name comes from; the present building occupies the site of the warehouse of the El Buen Tono cigarette factory and took shape after the 1933 reorganisation of the city's markets. All that remains of the factory is the Buen Tono church, round the corner on Plaza de San Juan.

Do not mix them up. There is another San Juan market, the one at Arcos de Belén a few blocks away, and the experience is completely different: for the gourmet one, the address is Ernesto Pugibet 21. The market hides among the streets of the Centro and is easy to walk past, so keep the map open.

When to go. Mornings are the best moment: the full range is out and there is room to move. Weekends fill up with Mexican and international visitors. San Juan de Letrán and Salto del Agua metro stations are a few blocks away; bring cash, though the larger stalls take cards.