Mercado 20 de Noviembre

The Mercado 20 de Noviembre fills a city block on Calle 20 de Noviembre, two blocks south of the Zócalo, directly south of the Mercado Benito Juárez. Built in 1882, it takes its name from the street, and some say also from the date the Mexican Revolution began, 20 November 1910. When it opened it sold fruit, vegetables and animals; over the years it turned almost entirely into a place to eat, and many Oaxacans still call it the "mercado de la comida". It has about 200 stalls grouped roughly into bread and chocolate, soups and broths, regional cooking and grilled meat.

The comedores are small family-run counters with benches, each serving a set of Oaxacan classics: moles negro, coloradito and amarillo, enchiladas, chiles de agua stuffed with quesillo, tlayudas, empanadas de amarillo and soups. The bakers' and chocolate stalls sell pan de yema, egg-yolk bread meant for dunking, with hot chocolate made with water or milk, and drinks such as tejate.

The best-known part is the Pasillo de Humo, the "smoke aisle" along the market's east side. Butchers there hang strips of tasajo (thin salted beef), red chile-rubbed cecina and chains of chorizo; you choose your meat, it is grilled over charcoal on the spot, and you add tortillas, grilled spring onions, chiles de agua, guacamole and salsas from the vendors around you, then eat at shared tables in the smoke. Next door, the Mercado Benito Juárez, opened in 1894 under the name Mercado Porfirio Díaz and renamed in 1912, is the general market for produce, mole pastes, quesillo, chapulines, mezcal, baskets, sandals and crafts, and a good place to buy food to take home.