Shop and eat at the famous City Market of Juarez, Mexico and you will probably be entertained and ingrigued. Just walk south on Avenida Juarez until you come to Avenida 16 de Septiembre and turn left (east). In just a few blocks you will come to Mercado Juarez on the north side of 16 de Septiembre.The market is a popular spot for both locals and tourists.

The City Market is run by the Juarez Municipal Government and has a beautiful selection of goods. Whether you are looking specifically for leather goods, art work, pottery, blankets, curios, silver or turquoise jewelry or just looking to see some interesting merchandise this market should definitely be on your list of places to go in Ciudad Juárez.

On weekend days, the restaurants along the front of the market are usually busy. The lively mariachi music, great food, and a beer or two always seems to put everyone in an exceptionally good mood.

At the time of my visit there were four restaurants to choose from. For no particular reason I choose the Apollo, and was not disappointed. The taco plate you see was very tasty and only about four US dollars with iced tea excluding the tip, of course.

Let’s go inside and see some of the fine arts and crafts available. If it is your first experience in Mexico, you will soon discover that Mexican crafts are a beautiful mixture of Spanish, indigenous, and modern influences. Only a very few of them are pictured here.

Sculpture. These Alebrijes wood carvings were made in Oaxaca. Alebrijes is a Mexican Spanish word which means, basically, “a difficult tangled thing, shaped in confusing or fantastic figures”. Almost all of them are made from copal wood which grows only in the mountains of Southern Mexico. The subjects are nearly always animals. In this photo you see a coyote, a dragon, an armadillo, and several cats.

These ironwood sculptures are made by the Seri tribe of the Sonora desert in Northern Mexico. The Seri artists have a way of capturing both the appearance and spirit of the animals they choose to portray in a very simple, eye pleasing style. You can learn more about ironwood sculpture and the Seri on the page about Mexican Art.

Apparel. These Mexican dresses are a pretty incredible bargain at $15 each the last time I checked. They are one size fits all dresses with elastic bust and waist lines. The color patterns along the shoulders and body of the dress are much more striking and beatiful than even this photo suggests.

You will find no shortage of quality hats, ranging from snappy, like the white one in the foreground, to fancy sombreros and cowboy hats. You can find one made of felt, leather, or straw.

Pottery. Mexican pottery will beautify any home. It seems to fit in with about any style, and it is reasonably priced.

Jewelry. Of all the items in the market, jewelry is the most difficult to photograph for an amateur shooter such as myself, but you can get silver-plated jewelry with semi-precious stones such as those pictured here, or, if you wish to spend more, high quality silver jewelry. On the low end, many of these items sell for $5-10.

Glassware.. If you like fine glassware, you will find many merchants in the market that sell hand blown, hand painted glasses and pitchers such as the ones pictured here. Many of them have even more striking designs and come in a large rack so they can also serve as a display item in your home.

As you exit the market, of course, the festivity outside will still be going on. These two couples from Las Cruces consented to have their picture taken for the guide. They were obviously having a great time visiting Juarez.

Hours: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Mon. – Sat.; 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Sun.