Mercado El Chorrito, San Miguel Chapultepec

The Mercado El Chorrito in San Miguel Chapultepec is one of the neighborhood centers, and a fantastic place to find yourself. Although it’s formally named the Mercado Plutarco Elías Calles, legend has it that the name stems from a water shortage. Vendors had to puncture the pipes inside to get a little water to trickle out (in chorritos, trickles). The market opened in 1955.

Mercado El Chorrito has been a mainstay in the neighborhood ever since. Home to as many as 300 vendors, many of them will set-up shop outside. El Chorrito is probably best known for barbacoa, Hidalgo-style barbecue. But there are all manner of other eateries, from fondas and comida corrida to full-on restaurants with menus beyond the daily lunch prix fixe.

• The advantage for international visitors is that you get fresh, and freshly prepared cooked meals. These are generally at a much more favorable price than you’ll see in actual restaurants.
• You’re also supporting truly local, small businesses.
• Public Markets in Mexico City have been recognized as a tangible part of the heritage of the City’s culture and cuisine. So visiting pays off in more ways than one.

The market is just off Avenida Parque Lira, and so can be easily visited after a trip to Lira Park, or to broader Tacubaya to the south. Most international visitors will arrive from Metro Constituyentes to the north, and between the market and Section II of Chapultepec Park.