Mercado Pino Suarez - The Central Market in the Mazatlan Centro Historico

Mercado Pino Suárez
Fresh food and local flavor at the Mazatlan Central Market

Centro Historico | Plaza Machado | Angela Peralta Theater | Museo de Arte

Museo Arqueologico | Pedro Infante Museum | Pino Suarez Mercado Centro

Central Mazatlan Cathedral / Basilica | Malecon | Mazatlan Cliff Divers

Carpa Olivera Pool | Acuario Mazatlan Aquarium | El Faro Lighthouse

Bosque de la Ciudad | Estero del Yugo Nature Preserve

Download a free Centro Historico walking tour map with descriptions

Download a free self-guided Centro Historico Walking Tour map with descriptions!

Outside the Mercado Central Market Mazatlan Mexico

Imagine a market being listed as one of the Mazatlan City Guide most highly recommended Mazatlan tourist attractions? Well it is, and we cannot too highly recommend a visit to our central market, the Mercado Pino Suarez.

Produce for sale at the Mercado Pino Suarez in Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico

Located at Aquiles Serdan and Melchor Ocampo in the Centro Historico since 1900 (the central market was originally located in Plaza Republica), Mazatlan's Mercado José María Pino Suárez market is a great shopping experience that has been a recommended tourist attraction for many years!

Our central market sprawls onto the streets: it is surrounded by a variety of small shops, food vendors and juice bars where you can enjoy fresh fruit and vegetable juices and iced Agua Frescas.

The Pino Suarez Market is divided in sections by food types. You'll find aisles with fresh seafood; chickens; beef; and pork -- and miles of aisles of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Fish for sale at Mercado Pino Suarez in Mazatlan, Sinoloa, Mexico

The Central Mercado also has cheese vendors -- featuring some delicious locally produced farmers cheeses -- as well as herb and spice shops.

Beyond groceries, the Mazatlan Mercado has numerous shops and vendors of tourist items, like t-shirts, hats, and all sorts of souvenirs of your day of sightseeing in Centro.

Often overlooked, stairs at the Mazatlan Mercado Pino Suarez lead to an upper level that has numerous small restaurants, many with a balcony view over the delightfully active street scene surrounding the outer stores and street carts. Mercado restaurants make for a wonderful -- and inexpensive -- place to take a break from sightseeing and have some fresh seafood, delicious carne asada or a refreshing liquado!

The history of the Pino Suarez Market is fascinating, and a perfect reflection of the growing prosperity of Mazatlan in the late 1800s.

Video about Mazatlan's Mercado Pino Suarez market

Prior to the construction of the market you see today there were a number of largely open-air markets, notably in Plaza Zaragoza and Plaza de la Republica. In the 1890s is was decided that for both aesthetic and sanitary reasons Mazatlan needed a modern central market, and the location between Benito Juarez and Aquiles Serdan was chosen.

That era is often referred to as "Porfirian" after Porfirio Diaz, a Mexican soldier who rose to be President of Mexico three times -- in total nearly three decades -- including the period from 1884 until his overthrow in 1911.

Mercado Pino Suarez under construction in 1899

Porfirio Diaz had a great affinity for France and all things French -- he chose France when he went into exile and died there in 1915 -- and the design of the Mercado Pino Suarez is heavily influenced by the late 19th century French open ironwork aesthetic that was used in the Eiffel Tower and other important public structures in France during that period.

The building was fabricated by Loubet y Compañía -- the largest foundry in Sinaloa -- and rapidly became known as the Iron Palace by locals, despite being officially named Mercado Romero Rubio when opened in 1900. In 1915 the market was re-named Mercado José María Pino Suárez in honor of the Vice President of Mexico who was killed in 1913 during the darkest days of the Mexican Revolution.

There are numerous breathtaking statistics about the amount of iron that went into the structure (estimated to be over 300,000 pounds) but simply consider this: each of the twenty-nine single-casting columns that the roof rests on are over thirty feet tall!

Now home to over 250 tenants and employing nearly 1000, the Mercado Pino Suarez is a vibrant part of the Mazatlan shopping scene even in the era of supermarkets and big-box malls. Do not miss the central market on your next visit to The Pearl of The Pacific!

Location Aquiles Serdan and Melchor Ocampo / Centro Historico

Hours 6am to 6pm Monday through Saturday, 6am to 2pm Sundays

Admission Free

Map to Mercado Pino Suarez Mazatlan Sinaloa
from Google Maps