MERCADO CENTRAL SETTING: City Center
# OF VENDORS: ~ 250
FORM: Indoor
WAYFINDING: Yes
LAYOUT: Radial
GOODS CATEGORY: Vegetables, Meat/Seafood
FREQUENCY: Daily
Santiago’s Mercado Central is located in a large, beautifully restored building. The front of the market faces the busy street of Ismael Valdes Vergara, but a small plaza at the entrance provides a buffer from the traffic and allows plenty of space for pedestrians to step back and admire the building. And, the wide roadway makes the market easy to access for public buses, taxis, and tour buses alike.
Vendors at this market primarily sell fresh fish and shellfish. (Photo by Jake Izenberg)
The market opens to the surrounding street grid with street-facing stalls. These stalls create a moderate degree of pedestrian activity in the sidewalks around the market, but there are few mobile vendors to be found. On the three smaller streets surrounding the market, car traffic moves slowly and pedestrians stroll tranquilly down the wide, open sidewalks. At the middle of each block, ornate arched doorways provide entranceways into the building. Weather you enter from the grand front entrance or a side street, it is clear that the Mercado Central is a culinary destination. A significant portion of the market is devoted to restaurants, and it is a popular lunchtime spot for tourists and locals alike. Non-restaurant vendors primarily sell fresh fish and shellfish, with a handful of meat, vegetable and dry goods vendors interspersed. But, the prepared-food eateries seem to be the heart of the market.
Meat, cheese, vegetable and dry goods vendors round out the market’s offerings. (Photo by Jake Izenberg)
Lower-priced and more informal restaurants encircle the market from the inside. The central atrium is dominated by fine-dining establishments, with rustic wooden chairs and white linen tablecloths. Most restaurants specialize in seafood dishes, and all have at least one staff-person beaconing customers inside; the market is abuzz with conversations about how each restaurant’s chef has prepared the catch of the day. The historic market building features a grand dining area where tourists and locals enjoy prepared meals. (Photo by Jake Izenberg) PAGE 73 | SANTIAGO, CHILE