Historic Market Square

Historic Market Square, known to many as El Mercado, is the most colorful few blocks in San Antonio and the easiest way to feel the city's Mexican heart. On the west side of downtown along Commerce Street, the square has been a trading place since the nineteenth century, and today it gathers more than a hundred locally owned businesses across indoor market halls and open plazas strung with papel picado: shops selling Mexican folk art, embroidered dresses and guayaberas, pottery, silver, piñatas, cowboy hats and handcrafted leather goods; working artists with stalls of their own; and restaurants and bakeries serving Mexican and Tex-Mex food, from enchilada plates to pan dulce. On most weekends the plazas fill with live music, folklórico dancers and families, and the square hosts big festivals through the year, including major Fiesta events in April and Día de los Muertos celebrations around the start of November. Admission is free and so is the atmosphere; you pay only for what you buy and eat. Hours vary by season and by business, and the city-run square has kept reduced weekday schedules in some periods, so check the official site before a weekday visit — weekends are the liveliest and most reliable. Bargaining is not the custom in most shops, quality ranges from souvenir to genuinely fine craftsmanship, and the best buys tend to be Mexican textiles, tin and talavera pieces, and leather goods. The square sits about a fifteen-minute walk from the River Walk and the Alamo, near the Spanish Governor's Palace and San Fernando Cathedral, so it fits easily into a west-side downtown loop.

The square's story is the story of San Antonio's west side. In the nineteenth century, open-air markets here sold produce, livestock and goods brought up from Mexico, and the plaza became famous for the "chili queens," women who set up lamp-lit tables at night selling chili con carne and tamales — an early chapter in the history of Tex-Mex and a tradition the square still celebrates during special events. The market buildings were rebuilt and restored over the twentieth century, and the city now operates Market Square as a cultural and commercial center, keeping its focus on local, family-run businesses.

How to enjoy it: come hungry and in no hurry. Wander the indoor market hall first for the dense maze of stalls, then the outdoor plazas for the restaurants, bakeries and music. Weekend afternoons bring the most performers; the festival calendar can turn the whole district into a street party with stages, food booths and dancers. Long-running restaurants on the square, some open long hours and decorated year-round with Christmas lights and murals, are part of the experience — a plate of enchiladas and a margarita under the papel picado is a San Antonio rite. Bakeries sell pan dulce and Mexican cookies that make good snacks for the walk back.

Practicalities: there is a paid parking lot adjoining the square and garages nearby, though walking from downtown hotels is easy outside the heat of summer. Many shops take cards, but small vendors may prefer cash. Weekday hours can be limited and the square has had seasonal schedule changes, so plan for a Friday, Saturday or Sunday if you can, and check the official site the week you visit. Combine Market Square with San Fernando Cathedral and the Saga light show on Main Plaza a few blocks east for a perfect west-side evening.