Never Noticed This Before

I have written before about the "tianguis", the weekly, open-air markets of Mexico, a tradition that goes back to pre-Hispanic times.  Here in Mexico City there are more than 1000 tianguis.  These street markets sell fruits and vegetables, meats, clothing, shoes, cosmetics, household goods... just about everything imaginable. Each "colonia" or neighborhood usually has one of more of them.  In the Colonia Nápoles every Sunday there is a very large "tianguis" that stretches the entire length of Filadelfia Street, just around the corner from my apartment.  On Thursdays there is a smaller "tianguis" that is set up along the periphery of the neighborhood park.  There are also a couple of small, specialized, outdoor markets selling organic products which I suppose could be classified as "tianguis".

On Wednesday as I was walking around Nápoles, I discovered yet another one that I had not seen before.  It stretched for about a block down the street behind the shopping mall near my apartment.

This "tianguis" was comprised mainly of makeshift restaurants catering to the working folks looking for an inexpensive afternoon meal. 

They say that street food is the tastiest and cheapest that you can find in Mexico.  Still, I remain paranoid about eating at places that do not have refrigeration.


This vendor was selling pork rinds, potato chips, French fries, and something that I had not heard of... "salchipulpos".  It turns out that those are little sausages (salchichas) cut so that they look like octopus (pulpos).

There were a few stalls selling fresh produce, one selling soccer shirts, and another selling cosmetics.