Mercado Santa Cecilia, Tláhuac

The Mercado Santa Cecilia is one of the most important commercial centers and meeting points in the central neighborhood of the same name in Tláhuac. Badly damaged in the 2017 earthquakes, vendors struggled in the surrounding streets and plazas. But the market only really reopened, remodeled, in the summer of 2022.

Just east of Tláhuac’s significant chinampa district, the market often stocks some food actually originating there and in surrounding farms. It’s a fantastic place for lunch, and like nearly any other market, it’s loaded with places to eat and food being prepared fresh daily. It’s not the biggest neighborhood market, but if you’re around, it’s important to stop in just to get a sense of the flavors and dishes on offer.

More than anything, people visit Santa Cecilia today for Day of the Dead festivities. These have grown, year after year, until today the are some of the area’s most important for younger people and those with an urban art and street art angle. Some observances take place in the Gran Parque Santa Cecilia, practically adjoining the market. Still more take place in the surrounding streets. For those en route to Mixquic, a bit further south and east, the market here can make a great pre-vigil landing point for stocking up.

Roughly a 20-minute walk southeast from Metro Tláhuac, the same distance in a taxi takes about five minutes.

Hours: Daily, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.