What to eat near Mexico City: markets, mole and fairs

Near Mexico City you eat by town, not by trend. Each place has a dish people from the region drive out for, and several give it a fair once a year. This guide splits what you can eat any Saturday from the fairs, which do have dates. Confirmed events in these towns appear below.

Bring cash. At a town market, a stall or a parking lot, cards are still the exception.

Any weekend

Barbacoa in Tlalmanalco: 1 h 10

Tlalmanalco is a pit-barbacoa stop on the way to the volcanoes. Eat at the market, early: arrive mid-morning if you want a choice. The 16th-century open chapel of the former convent is a few blocks away and takes only a few minutes.

Mole in Milpa Alta, inside the city

San Pedro Atocpan, in Milpa Alta, smells like mole from the edge of town. There are moles made with different chiles, in a taco, on a plate and as paste to take home. It is inside the city, so you are not depending on a highway. In October the town holds the Feria Nacional del Mole; the rest of the year the stalls stay open.

The market in Amecameca and the bread in Ozumba

Amecameca, about 1 h 15 away, has an honest town market: quesadillas, cecina and antojitos, and from there you walk up the Sacromonte. Ozumba, about twenty minutes farther, is known for its bread, especially the holiday loaves. In December the bread and the poinsettia share a fair.

Trout in Malinalco: 2 h 10

In Malinalco trout is raised nearby and served in town restaurants, next to the archaeological site and the convent. It is a long day trip, or a night away. The trout fair is in mid-October.

Cecina in Tenango del Aire: about 1 h

Tenango del Aire is on the volcano corridor, before Amecameca. Cecina and cheese are the reason to stop, and in October they have a fair. It is a pause more than a town for the whole day: it combines well with Tlalmanalco or Amecameca.

The Tepoztlán market: 1 h 30

The weekend market in Tepoztlán is part of the walk: quesadillas, unusual ice cream flavors and stalls set up on the square. It is not one dish. It is a town for grazing, then the convent or the Tepozteco. The climb is in hiking near Mexico City.

Fairs, by month

These festivals repeat every year. The exact day of the current edition, once there is a flyer, shows up in the event list above.

• October: Feria Nacional del Mole in Milpa Alta, the trout fair in Malinalco, and the cecina and cheese fair in Tenango del Aire.
• December: the poinsettia and bread fair in Ozumba, from the 15th, and the Nochebuena fair in Cuautla. Details are in Christmas near Mexico City.
• February: the tamal fair in Tepoztlán, on the 2nd, Candlemas, and the flower fair in Tenancingo.
• March: the pulque and barbacoa fair in Tlalmanalco.
• July: the plum and peach fair in Tetela del Volcán, in the orchards on the slopes of Popocatépetl.
• August: the walnut fair in Amecameca.
• September: the corn and pulque fair in Ayapango, next to Amecameca.

How to shape the day

One meal is enough for a Saturday if you pick the closest town and head back early. If you want two stops, these sit on the same road:

• Volcanoes: Tenango del Aire, Tlalmanalco, Amecameca and Ozumba, in that order as you leave the city.
• Morelos: Tepoztlán. The 16th-century convents nearby are a separate day; that guide is in Spanish, conventos del siglo XVI.

On Sunday, between 4 and 8 pm is the worst time to drive back into the city. Eat early and leave before that window, or stay for dinner and come in after dark.