Mercado Lázaro Cárdenas, Tlalpan

The Mercado Lázaro Cárdenas is named for the Villa Lázaro Cárdenas, a housing development that began in 1948. The neighborhood, like just about everything in and around the Coapa Area, had long been an area of farms and ranches. Things took off in the late 1940s with the opening of a casino. This was followed by an early housing development called the Hacienda of San Juan de Dios, after the original Hacienda from the 19th century. The entire old Hacienda is still used to refer to the multiple colonias into which it was later divided.

This subdivision, is today named for the former president, Lázaro Cárdenas, because he lived for some time in the same building as the former casino. The Mercado Lázaro Cárdenas shouldn’t be confused with the better-known market in Del Valle. Here, you have an especially attractive place to eat on the famous Calzada Acoxpa. The market was long known, more simply, as the Mercada de Comidas. That’s for the great variety of lunch counters and kitchens on the second floor.

Caddy-corner from the giant Paseo Acoxpa, the market will provide welcome relief from the mall’s variety of food. Hungry shoppers can still have hope. Inside the market, and not just on the second floor, a variety of vendors offer sit-down service and excellent food. Perhaps most iconic, the northeast corner of the market is dominated by a conical shaped tent where one restaurantier serves lunch. This is, rather strategically, right next to the stairs to the second floor.

Hours: Daily, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.