Mercado Central de Santiago
San Pablo 967 Ismael Valdés Vergara 95, Santiago 8320009 Chile.
Mercado Central de Santiago means Central Market of Santiago.
It is located I the Santa Lucia neighborhood in Santiago. Get to it on the metro by taking the yellow line to the Puente Cal y Canto station. It is just a short walk from either Plaza del Armas or Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes.
This area felt fine during the day, but maybe not a great place to walk around after dark. It is a tourist location, so I would expect pickpockets. It felt like it was on the edge between a fairly safe tourist area, and some places that could have more crime. I received warnings from locals to take care when walking around here.
I really enjoyed visiting this market, and wish I had spent longer there. The market is fairly touristy, especially the restaurants inside.
I had a great time and everyone there was so friendly and welcoming, and spent a lot of time sharing their culture with me. The market does also have souvenirs and other things marketed at tourists.
I was expecting it to be a vegetable market, or even more of a mix of things. Instead it is predominately a fish market. The stalls feature an abundance of seafood. The seafood in Chile is extraordinary.
It’s good to go at lunch time, so you can stop and get lunch. I ate at Donde Agusto, and I would go back. The staff was very friendly and the food was good.
If you spend any time in the market at all, you will be approached by waiters trying to get you to eat at the different restaurants inside. There are stalls that sell food like seafood empanadas, but there are also full sit-down restaurants inside the market. It is a good place to go to try Chilean food.
The market opened in 1872, replacing an even older market called Plaza del Abasto that burned down in 1864. The market is an enormous hall, with stalls of fish around the perimeter. On the inside is a giant open area, with a soaring wrought iron ceiling. The decorative ironwork lets sunlight filter through. The inside has streetlamp and sculptures.