Chone's central market is the working heart of the city and one of the better places in Manabí to observe the agricultural economy of the coastal interior in action. Early mornings bring in sellers from the surrounding valley communities — cacao beans, fresh fruit, green plantains, live chickens, dried herbs, and the enormous variety of tubers and legumes that Manabí cooking depends on.
The market is also where you eat breakfast or lunch for almost nothing. The women running the food stalls inside and around the market serve the most honest version of local cooking: thick viche soup (a peanut-and-seafood broth), encebollado de pescado (a tuna and yuca soup that doubles as a hangover cure), and generous lunch plates of rice, lentils, a protein, and patacones. Arrive before 9 am for breakfast or between noon and 1 pm for lunch — the best food sells out.