Market Square (El Mercado)

The largest Mexican marketplace in the United States outside Mexico itself, three blocks of open-air stalls, shops, and restaurants in downtown San Antonio, a few minutes' walk from the Alamo. Mi Tierra Café anchors the northwest corner and has been serving Mexican food around the clock since 1941, its interior covered in Christmas lights regardless of the season.

The market stalls sell crafts, leather goods, silver jewellery, ceramics, sombreros, and textiles — a mix of genuine Mexican imports and tourist-grade tat, but the atmosphere is lively and the browse is enjoyable. The restaurants around the perimeter range from excellent to mediocre; the best approach is to follow the locals.

things to do market sight
A story
Market Square has been a trading centre since the city's founding in the 18th century. In the 1890s it was a thriving open-air market where the original "chili queens" — Mexican women who set up braziers and sold bowls of spiced beef and chili — first introduced chili con carne to Americans. The chili queens operated until 1937, when health ordinances finally drove them out; the dish they invented went on to become the official state food of Texas.

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