Legacy food markets

While food and drink can be bought affordably in a supermarket, there are many traditional market halls, bazaars and fish markets which make shopping an experience in its own right.

Market halls contain retailers for food and similar products, in particular goods such as meat, seafood, cheese, confectionery, herbs and spices, wine, alcoholic beverages and farmed goods such as flowers and holiday ornaments, often with restaurants on the same site. Common in Europe and Japan, market halls had their heyday in the late 19th and early 20th century, in the transition from outdoor markets to supermarkets. A district with an old rail station and a grand old hotel is likely to have a legacy market hall, too. Many market halls mainly have retailers selling high end quality products; others (generally away from tourist areas) have retailers selling cheap clearance products, such as fruit which is the wrong size for supermarkets or broken cookies straight from the factory. The retailers (stall-holders) in a market hall are usually small businesses independent of the hall management.

A fish market or seafood market can be either wholesale or retail; in the latter case a good place to buy seafood more fresh than in a supermarket.

Many of these markets, in particular those for fish, focus on wholesales for local retailers and restaurants. They open early in the morning, and might be closed at weekends.

Many legacy department stores have a high-end food section.

Legacy food markets are extremely common throughout Latin America. Most large cities have dozens (some even hundreds) of legacy food markets. Traditional markets are found in most cities and towns of any significant size. Towns that don't have a permanent market usually have tianguis, which are temporary marketplaces that "pop up" on a certain day of the week. Many towns have a Tianguis that has operated continuously since pre-Hispanic times. In many large cities, one or more of the marketplaces have evolved into significant tourist attractions. These include about a dozen major markets in Mexico City, as well as the largest markets in Bogota, Santiago, and Buenos Aires. In some towns, the local tianguis has also developed a reputation among tourists and has become an attraction in itself. Famous tianguis include the Bazar de Sabado in Mexico City/San Angel and those in Chichicastenango, Guatemala and Otavalo, Ecuador.