Oaxaca is a market city. The Mercado Benito Juarez and Mercado 20 de Noviembre sit side by side near the Zocalo and between them they cover everything from fresh produce to handwoven textiles to grilled meat so smoky you can smell it a block away. But the real treasure is the rotating village market days in the surrounding towns.
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City Markets
Mercado Benito Juarez is the main market in the center. Ground floor is food — cheese, chocolate, chapulines, dried chiles, mole pastes. Upper level has crafts, leather goods and textiles. It is touristy but the quality is there, especially for Oaxacan chocolate and mole paste to take home.
Mercado 20 de Noviembre is right next door and this is where you eat. The Pasillo de Humo (Smoke Aisle) has vendors grilling tasajo (dried beef), chorizo, and cecina over charcoal. You pick your meat, grab a seat at any of the communal tables, and tortillas and salsas appear.
Village Market Days
This is the real reason to be in the Oaxaca valley. Each surrounding village has its weekly market day (dia de tianguis). The schedule has been the same for centuries.
Sunday: Tlacolula — the biggest of the village markets. An enormous tianguis that sprawls through the streets. Mezcal vendors, produce, livestock, textiles. Get there early. The colectivo from Oaxaca takes about 45 minutes.
Friday: Ocotlan — a large market with good pottery and black clay (barro negro) from nearby San Bartolo Coyotepec.
Wednesday: Etla — smaller and more local, good for cheese and bread.
Saturday: Oaxaca central market itself goes into overdrive. The Abastos market on the outskirts is where locals shop in bulk.
What to Buy
Oaxacan chocolate (Mayordomo brand is solid), dried mole paste, mezcal from the source, black pottery from San Bartolo Coyotepec, woven rugs from Teotitlan del Valle, alebrijes (carved wooden animals) from Arrazola. The village sources are always cheaper than the city shops, but the city markets are more convenient.