If you’re travelling to Mexico City and are keen to explore the street food scene, there is no better way to explore than with a local. A seasoned guide can explain the nuances of the dishes and the history of various recipes. They will lead you into hidden corners of the marketplaces filled with delicious secrets! And without a doubt, the very best Mexico City Food Tour I’ve ever been on has to be the Eat Like a Local Street Food 101 tour!
There has never been anything I’d been so quick to review. During my most recent stay in Mexico City, I was travelling solo. Whenever I’m alone, I love to join a group tour. While I do personally enjoy my solitude, I also enjoy meeting new people and getting to experience new adventures with others. I knew a food tour was in order, as I think there is no better way to get to know someone than having a meal with them! But it took me a while to find a tour that really piqued my interest. But then I found Eat Like a Local.
Eat Like a Local is a female-owned Mexico City Food Tour company that strives to be one of the best in sustainable tourism. It pays its female-only employees a proper wage and supports female-owned businesses in the market places. Plus, part of the tour price helps young girls go to school to learn to speak English. Providing them with a rich education that sets them up to succeed and grow. Any extra money the tour company earns goes towards sending some of the girls to go on a trip of their own. Anywhere around the world. Allowing them to see the same world of travel, they help tourists experience in their own city.
The company even uses part of the tour price to support the infrastructure of the marketplaces. Helping to improve them. So many tours I saw listed seem to use the marketplaces as a tourist attraction. These tours don’t actively view the marketplace as a real place of work and community. While eating inside the marketplace is great to support the individual businesses, supporting the infrastructure where they work is a sign of a true venture into sustainable tourism. So with all that in mind, and a promise of some truly phenomenal street food, I booked my ticket and joined the tour.
Eat Like a Local offers three different food “safaris” for you to choose from. Each one costs $115 USD. This covers all the food you’ll eat on the tour as well as your transportation. I opted for the Mexican Food 101 tour as it seemed to cover the widest variety of food. They also have a Flower Market and Mezcal tasting tour but since I don’t drink very much I thought that one might not be for me. There is also a street food at night tour that I really can’t wait to check out next time I’m in town!
When you book, you’ll only pay half of the total tour price online via their website. The other half you MUST pay in CASH upon meeting the guide. They use this cash to pay for the food along the way. So it’s essential to bring the right amount of money when you arrive at the meeting point. Don’t think you can just stop at the ATM after the tour is over.
Like any good tour group, the size of the group is small. This means you have a much more intimate experience. But with the guide and the rest of the group. I cannot stress enough how the five of us felt like old friends by the end of the day. I even knew all their kids’ names! Small tour groups really are a sign of a great experience to come.
The entire tour lasted about four hours. In that time we covered a lot of ground (thanks to hopping on and off the metro.) They say that you’ll walk about 4.5 miles throughout the tour. I loved all the walking as it really helped make room for more food! Dress comfortably, and wear good walking shoes. Be sure this means closed-toe shoes since the marketplaces can get wet.
When booking the tour, one of the things that both intrigued, excited and made me a bit nervous was the fact we would travel via the metro. I had long wanted to experience taking the metro in Mexico City. But after hearing so many stories about how dangerous it was, I was always hesitant. But my tour guide Panda made the experience fear-free and super explanatory for future trips. The metro was so efficient and I never felt unsafe. And aside from drawing attention to ourselves as a group of loud English speakers on a tour, I don’t think anyone would have given us a second look.
I was careful to bring only my phone with me and kept it in a bag with an internal zip when required. Panda was great about letting us know when we should be more careful. Just like any big city, some areas are more prevalent with pickpockets. The largest market in Barcelona is a huge hot spot for pickpockets, so don’t think it’s just CDMX. I never felt the least bit afraid anywhere we went on the tour. So don’t let their overly cautious advice put you off! Use common sense, leave your large camera at home and don’t wear or bring anything flashy. Our tour guide also took lots of pictures and even emailed them to us afterwards. So if you wanted to just leave everything at home, and immense yourself, you’ll still get lots of souvenir pictures to take home.
This tour might be challenging if you’re travelling in a wheelchair or have issues with accessibility. Both are due to the distance covered and the lack of accessible entrances in various parts of the marketplace. But, you can absolutely reach out to the tour company directly to book a private tour. They do lots of private tours and they will be able to curate a specific tour just for you.
I am definitely someone who has a small bladder, so bathroom breaks are always imperative for longer tours. There were plenty of stops along the way for bathrooms. Don’t hesitate to ask if you need to use one. Most of the bathrooms inside the marketplace cost 5 pesos to enter, so bring a bit of change to use them. Our guide also had some coins for those who didn’t have any on them.
The tour states they can accommodate all different dietary restrictions, including vegetarian and gluten-free. Be sure to let them know in advance. This way, they can ensure something will be available for you at every stop. We had a vegetarian with us on our tour, and it was so fun to see all the different alternatives to our dishes. He definitely had to skip one of two stops but there were plenty of options at most places. And honestly, there is so much food on tour, missing out on one or two places might actually be a good idea!
Their website lists all the different types of food you’ll taste along the way, so I’m not giving anything away by detailing my experience here. I wanted to share the wonderful stories from my experience as a means to encourage those travelling to Mexico City to book a tour for themselves. But also as a way for those who read my blog to feel immersed in another world to travel along with me. Even if they can’t go themselves. Even if I did give you step-by-step instructions on where to go, you’d never be able to explore these places for yourself. There are too many hidden secrets and tiny sellers that only locals can guide you to.
We met up in La Condesa to start the tour off right with a coffee! This gave us all a chance to meet each other and get to know our guide. Our guide, Panda, was one of the most hilarious and fun people I’d ever met. From the minute she starting she felt like an old school friend and had us all smiling from ear to ear. After grabbing our coffees, we needed a little sweet treat. So we set out for pastries! We stopped at a Condesa institution which sells concha (sweet bread.) The perfect starter to get our stomachs prepped.
Next, we explored two different street food stalls in La Condesa. One was selling the classic breakfast staple Tacos de Canasta, aka sweaty tacos. These tacos are made by filling a taco with stew and bathing them in oil or butter. They are then layered up inside baskets and sold all over the city. Sometimes on the back of bicycles, but in this case at a street food stall.
The man working here had been selling them for over 35 years!! He is so popular that he made enough money selling these tacos to be able to send his kids to university! Here you had the options of a variety of fillings, from pork to potato and chicharron. Once you pick your filling, you could smother them in hot sauce. I was so surprised by how delicious they were. I had never tried tacos de canasta before because I thought they’d be soggy. But that wasn’t the case at all! I could have honestly eaten a dozen. But knew I had to save room in my stomach, as this was only our second stop!
The next stop was tacos mixiotes. Mixiotes are made from stewing meat inside an agave leaf bag. The meat was so flavourful, seasoned with a mixture of all different chillies. This stand had almost a dozen other toppings you could add to your taco. I wanted to really savour the flavour of the meat, so I just went with a few slices of nopales (cactus) pads. And, of course, a squeeze of lime and hot sauce.
It was about now that I realized I would never be able to finish everything we sampled at this rate. As much as I wanted to because everything we ate was delicious. Thankfully, Panda, our guide, stepped in and told us no one would be offended if we didn’t finish. And we could split what we could share, or she could ask the vendor for a smaller portion. I felt so relieved as I’m always so worried that my small stomach and inability to always finish what’s on my plate is apt to offend the cook!
After this stop, we hopped onto the metro at Baldera station. I had been pretty nervous about riding the metro. But from the minute we descended down into the station, I realized how perfectly normal and unintimidating it was. All your tickets are paid for upon entering, but Panda took us through how to buy your tickets and use the system in case you want to ride the metro on your own after the tour.
The metro platforms were incredibly clean and actually super pretty to look at. The floors and walls were made of beautiful stone that looked like the station were carved out of the ground. While we were on tour, the metro was fairly empty, only getting busy near mid-afternoon. Most of the time, we could all get seats with no problem. When the cars were super full, we simply waited for the next train. They come very frequently so we had no trouble getting enough space and feeling safe. Interesting to note that there are also female-only train cars. These are marked on the floor of the station platform with pink signs marked with “Solo Dames y Menores de 12 Anos.”
The next stop on tour was inside Jamaica Market! Although you might read the word “Jamaica” and think of the country, Jamaica actually means “hibiscus flower” in Spanish. The Jamaica Market is home to the largest flower market in the city, with over 1,150 stalls selling over 5,000 different varieties of flowers! Almost all of them grown around Mexico.
The market is divided into two different areas; the first is almost devoid of flowers entirely and primarily sells produce, meat and other grocery staples. When you cross over to the second section of the market, you’re immediately overwhelmed with the smell of flowers. Before you can even see the flowers, you’ll know you’ve arrived.
Our first stop was at a long communal table right at the market entrance. Pig heads hung in the butcher shops down the aislse, and you knew right away this was the place to get pork! The order was simple, tacos de carnitas, topped with raw onions and cilantro. While I thought I’d had carnitas before, after tasting this, it felt like I had never eaten them before in my life. This was the best-tasting taco I’ve ever eaten, and I still dream about it! While we were eating, Panda explained to us the myths about why you are almost always given two tortillas with every serving of tacos. But I’ll leave that tidbit for you to discover on tour…
To pair with our tacos, we got to sample tepache. Tepache is a fermented pineapple drink made from the peel and the rind of pineapples and refined cane sugar. It had that tang you get from other fermented drinks like kombucha. It was super sweet but so delicious and definitely cleansed the palette from the fatty pork tacos. The perfect combination!
Next up, we walked around the market to the brightly coloured bins of what looked like powdered sugar. Beside these pins were huge round discs on popsicle sticks that looked like white lollipops with the words “Rico Jicaleta.” I have seen these signs all over the city and always wondered what they were! It turns out the giant thing on a popsicle stick is a Jicama, a root vegetable.
To convince kids to eat their vegetables, someone came up with the genius idea to cover the jicama with chamoy (pickled plum with chile sauce) and then dip the veggie in powdered sugar. Since the jicama is pretty neutral in its flavouring it allows itself to be the vehicle for these amazing flavours of powered sugar. Everything as simple as strawberry or blueberry to more exciting flavours like mango chilli and tamarind. You can even use the other colours to create a cool rainbow-like pattern on the jicama. I can see why these are such a popular treat with both kids and adults.
Next up on tour, we walked deeper into the marketplace amongst hundreds and hundreds of piñatas. The Jamaica market is known for its huge piñatas selection. Design range from traditional stars to cartoon characters. And I even saw a covid one! What a perfect thing to bash away at, a way of taking out all the pent up frustration over the loss of the last two years.
Sitting down outside a small shop beside piles of bright fruits and vegetables, we tried what I thought was the most incredible taco innovation of the whole tour; green chorizo! The proud owner displayed all his different types of chorizo sausages outside the shop. But none were as eye wateringly delicious to look at as the green chorizo. The pork-based sausage is mixed with a blend of fresh green veggies like spinach and lettuce. Then zesty green herbs are added to ramp the flavour up. Anything from cilantro, thyme, marjoram, whatever is in season.
After this they add green chillies (because heat is a staple of the chorizo sausage) and the most important and unique ingredient – NUTS! Yes, that’s right, they add anything from peanuts to pumpkins seeds or almonds to the meat. We ate it completely plain to start to ensure we could appreciate the flavour of all the ingredients. And OMG, I cannot explain how incredible this was. Truly one of the most unique and surprising parts of the tour. I wish I could remember where this was so I could go back to eat more!
Heading down to the other side of the market, we stopped at a few more stalls for some tiny samples as we went. Crispy tortillas covered in locally made crema y queso (cream cheese) and a bite of chicharrón (deep-fried pork skin).
On the other side of the market, where the smell of flowers filled the air, we stopped for a selection of fresh fruit. The fruit was just what the doctor ordered to change things up and refresh my palette. I always admire the beautiful spreads at these fruit stands when I pass by. So many different fruits I’ve never tried, let alone seen before. Lucky for me, when we stopped, the friendliest man came out from behind the piles of fruit with these little banana leaf trays. Inside were slices of all kinds of fruits. Panda took us through what each bite was, and we dove in.
My taste buds were exploding. I couldn’t believe how delicious some of these fruits were, things I’d never tried before, which set my mouth alight. My favourite by far was the Soursop, which was tangy, sweet, and, as the name indicates, sour. I need to find this in Toronto! And my other favourite was the black zapote, which tastes like chocolatey permission pudding! The Chirimoya blew my mind as it tasted like a strawberry blended with a kiwi. I was truly entranced by all the flavours and vowed to make more of an effort to buy fresh fruit next time I’m in town.
Walking around the flower market was the best kind of chaos. We didn’t have a ton of time to admire the flowers; this is a working market, after all. People were milling about, grabbing carfuls of flowers for their stands in the city and small bouquets for their homes. Voices cried over one and other as people haggled for the best price.
During the Day of the Dead ceremonies, this market is packed to the rooftops with trucks full of orange Mexican marigolds. These are the most popular flower synonymous with the festival. They are used to decorate the ofrendas of past loved ones as the brightly coloured flowers are thought to guide the spirits of those who have passed back home.
As we moved through the crowds of people, we arrived at the back, where the larger floral displays are located. These are for celebrations like communions and quinceaneras in addition to funerals and weddings. But apparently, one of the most popular reasons people buy huge floral displays is to apologize for cheating on their wives…or at least that’s what Panda told us! The bigger the arrangement, the more sorry you are!
The next stop on tour was for a cup of esquites fritos. Esquites are fire-roasted corn kernels, stewed in lard, and mixed with aromatic herbs and arbol chillies. I’ve had esquites many times before, as they are one of my favourite street snacks, but none as delicious as the ones we got here! There are definitely some secret ingredients at work here.
Before leaving the market, we stopped at a tortilla maker cranking out hundreds of perfect corn circles every hour. There is genuinely nothing more fresh than eating a hot tortilla right off the press. With nothing more than a sprinkle of salt, you can really appreciate how simple and complex the flavours are. And why this tiny disc has become such a staple of Mexican food throughout the centuries.
After a quick bathroom break, we hopped back on the metro. We transferred from the teal line (#4) to the pink line (#1) and made our way directly into the Mercados de la Merced. Mercados de la Merced, or La Merced Market, has its own dedicated metro stop. And unlike other metro stations where you need to exit onto the street to get to your next destination, this stop exits right into the heart of the market. This is actually the only way you should enter the market. The exterior streets around here are a little dangerous but by entering directly inside, you avoid the exterior entirely.
La Merced Market is named after the monastery of Nuestra Señora de la Merced de Redención de Cautivos. The monastery was established here in 1594, just after the Spanish Conquest. The neighbourhood that sprang up around the monastery also goes by the name La Merced. After the conquest, this part of the city, being just on the outskirts (before the expansion of what is now CDMX), was a hotbed for traders. They would arrive here from all different parts of the country and beyond. They could easily dump their goods here for sale and transfer further into the central part of the city.
By 1860, almost the entire neighbourhood was one big market. So the city decided to move the marketplace into a permanent, covered building. By now, the old La Merced Monastery has been closed down for years. But the empty building proved to be the perfect place to establish the new permanent market.
In the 20th century, the market continued to expand becoming one of the largest wholesale markets in the city. Here you can find everything from fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, toys, clothes, flowers, candy and more.
Sadly, there is a dark history to the building as well. In 1988 a fireworks stall exploded inside the marketplace, killing more than 60 people! Then again, in 1998, there was another fire due to faulty wiring that destroyed much of the old main hall and 572 stalls. Luckily no one was killed in that fire, but the damage was extensive. Despite the accident occurring almost 20 years ago, repairs are still ongoing.
Just in front of the entrance to the market from the metro station, you’ll see a cheerful cartoon map of the marketplace. Each different section of the market is dedicated to a different specialty, so you know exactly where to go for what. I was immediately drawn to the candy section and was delighted to hear we would be stopping in there near the end of the tour.
Our first stop inside the market threw us right into the deep end of Mexican cuisine, at the Insectos stand. Yes, that’s right, bugs! I actually really like bugs as food; I’ve had them a few times around the world and find the flavour pretty interesting. If you don’t want to try them, just politely say no. Don’t make a big show of being grossed out or anything like that. Insects have been eaten and used in cooking here for centuries. It’s disrespectful to act disgusted by a kind of food they consider pretty normal.
I do recommend trying them at least once. And when you stop here at the stall, they also give you a glass of freshly pressed pineapple juice to chase down the bugs. In case it’s just not for you. My favourite was the crickets, but I was actually surprised how much I liked the little worms! The scorpion was the least tasty, a little too earthy for my liking, but I’m sure it would be great in other dishes.
We walked through the crowds of stalls towards the outer edge of the market, along Rosario street. Despite being a working street, with cars and lorries driving through, it also feels like an extension of the marketplace. Stalls pour out onto the streets with their wares leaning out so far they almost touch either side of the road. It’s so tight that often when a big truck comes thru, some stores need to move things they’re selling back inside to allow the cars to pass. It’s a very cool bit of choreography to watch.
We took a seat inside a casual bar where we gathered around a large table, welcomed by the smiles of the locals. Then we were given a series of brightly colours bowls, jars and glass bottles, like a modern-day apothecary in the centre of Mexico City. We were greeted by the amazingly kind Arely, one of the girls from the 80IQ program. 80IQ is a program created by the Eat Like a Local founder that funds the education of these young women and where they also receive mentoring.
With her adorable son in tow, Arley came to our table to practice speaking English and teach us to make a Mexican Michelada. Micheladas are such a fun beverage to make and we loved learning all the steps and ingredients that go into it! First, cover the rim in chamoy and dip in caramelized sesame seeds. Next, add more chamoy, Worcestershire, and hot sauce then filled the glass with a cold beer! Since I don’t drink beer, so I was given a glass of fizzy pineapple juice, and let me tell you mixture was just as delicious!!! We took this chance to enjoy our cold drinks, a refreshing break from the heat of the day. We grabbed for a bit, chatting with Arley and even celebrating an anniversary in our little group!
From here, Arley handed us over to Wendy, another girl from the program. Wendy spoke incredibly well at only 14 years old and was such a great guide! She took us to her grandmother’s street food stall, where a series of women bustling around a hot comal. They went about serving us bite-size pieces of a variety of classic Mexican street food samples.
The one I was most excited about trying were the quesadillas. Although this might not seem very exotic, the filling inside the quesadilla was ‘huitlacoche‘ or, as it is known in English, corn smut! Huitlacoche is considered a delicacy in Mexico, even though it might not seem very appetizing. The word comes from the Nahuatl language and means “sleeping excrescence,” because the corn is transformed by a fungus that impedes them from developing. Thus, they remain “sleeping.” If the fungus doesn’t sound appealing to you, I’d ask, “well, have you ever eaten mushroom?” because the flavour is essentially the same. I couldn’t believe how complex the flavour was, and I was so happy I had finally been able to sample it!
We also got quesadillas with squash blossoms filled with cheese from Oaxaca. Then there was a slice of tlacoyo filled with black beans and covered in requeson (like ricotta cheese) and more nopales. The last item on the place was Pambazo. The pambazo sandwich is apparently the most authentic Mexico City street food. One that originated here. It is made from a white bun that has been dipped in adobo sauce and then filled with chorizo, cheese, cream and lettuce.
After all this, I thought there was no way I’d ever be able to get up. But somehow, we shuffled out of the tiny chairs outside the street food stall and bid a sad farewell to Wendy’s family. They waved goodbye to us with big smiles as we headed back into the crowded marketplace. But I perked up as we learned we were on our way to the candy district. There are many reasons I love Mexico City, but one of them has got to be their love of bulk candies. You can find little carts wheeling around the neighbourhood every day. Filled with candy fills at the ready for your cravings. But here in the marketplace must be where they all come to load up these carts every morning.
Candies exploded out of bins and baskets in rainbow colours everywhere we looked. We sampled a few unique varieties like dried mango with chilis, tamarind candies, spicy candied almonds and, of course, lots and lots of flavoured powdered sugar. My favourites are these little fruit-shaped gummies that look like they are made of glass. Almost too pretty to eat! I could honestly have been here for hours, but I was too full to try anything more, lucky for my blood sugar.
To arrive at our last stop on tour, we hopped once more on the metro and made our way over to the Juarez neighbourhood. This part of town is just starting to become a new hot spot for hip eateries. We stopped at one of the chicest gelato shops, where we were greeted by flavours out of this world. Tamarind & mezcal, Oaxacan chocolate, cempasúchil (marigold), tonka bean, olive oil, lavender, and even epazote elato leaf are just some of the falvours that are on rotation here. We got to sample any three flavours we wanted. Although I had felt like I couldn’t eat another bite earlier, there seems to always be a second stomach for dessert.
This was our last stop, so we all just sat around chatting while eating our ice cream. None of us wanted to leave. We had all really become friends by the end of the day. Panda gave us all her recommendations based on the questions we asked along the way. After much hesitation, we all eventually parted ways! Leaving with full bellies, smiles on our faces, and lots of stories to share with our friends and family. The perfect end to the perfect tour.
Tipping is always a considerate thing to do at the end of a tour just as at the end of a meal. It’s a way to say “thank you” to the guide for their time, effort and expertise. While it’s not required, it is appreciated. Don’t feel the need to financially burden yourself but honestly, even a little bit goes a long way to show your appreciation.
I truly can’t say enough good things about this tour and I really hope if you get the chance to visit Mexico City you put booking this Mexico City Food Tour with Eat Like a Local at the top of your list!
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