The Mercado Hidalgo is Veracruz's main covered market, and a good place to see the produce of the Gulf coast and the state's interior at close range. The market sells tropical fruits — mamey, guanábana, pitahaya — alongside the herbs and spices used in Veracruz cooking, fresh seafood, dried chiles, and the local coffee grown in the highlands around Coatepec and Xalapa, some of the best in Mexico.
The market is busy in the morning and quieter by mid-afternoon. It is not a tourist market — the prices are local prices, the stalls are aimed at local buyers — which makes it more interesting than the curio markets near the waterfront. The food stalls inside serve cheap lunches of tamales, caldo de pollo, and huaraches; a meal at one of them is a good deal and a good experience.