Plaza del Mercado de Rio Piedras

what a cool little market!
it predominantly had produce and tons of it!
there were other little shops inside…
–my friend got a pair of flip flops for $ 2 (we were leaving for a cruise the next day and he forgot flip flops)
they had a hot food «kiosk»
–we bought empanadas… they were yummy (not as good as the one’s from Vagon)…
–they sold clothing
–they sold cigars
–they had a window that sold adult beverages
–they had a band playing out front…
totally loved this place! i wish i had bought a giant papaya

Historical and traditional. Plenty of a variety of prepared foods stands. All types of local vegetable and fruits and stands. In addition to medicinal and memoriblia products. A real portrait of cultural puertorican ambience.

This review is for the night life in Rio Piedras.
This is a fun plaza to go bar and dance hopping all around the square! There are so many places to just walk into, get crazy for a bit and then walk out to another location with your drink on hand and fear of no cover chargers or «sorry you can’t come back in»! There are locals here and tourists which makes it more fun. Drink prices here are amazing! The close really late so no worries and just have fun!

WARNING: PLEASE READ! The photos attached to this location are WRONG. Every town has a «plaza de Mercado» if you drive to this location you will end up on Paseo de Diego street. A street with local merchants selling cheap clothing and knockoff perfumes & jewelry in the area of Rio Piedras. The photos posted here are for a DIFFERENT location. If you want to go to the «Plaza de Mercado» in the photos you really want to go to: La placita in Santurce: GO TO: Calle Roberts street in San Juan. It is walking distance to Condado Beach. If you need an accurate gps location use the San Juan Smokehouse resturant. It is located in the center of the market. I hope this will spare someone the frustration of ending up in the wrong place… I have been to both locations. Both have a very different feel.
With all of that being said, this is a review for Plaza de Mercado in Rio Piedras. It is one long street with stores and road side carts selling very cheap clothing and wares. Similar to what you would find on side streets in NYC but cheaper. You can walk the length of the entire street in 10 minutes. This is not a tourist area so you will stick out like a sore thumb. I really don’t see a reason for going here unless you really want to buy a pair of sexy stretchy latin jeans for $ 11 or a mass produced cotton tshirt for $ 3. Basically, its just an expensive taxi ride.
This is a MAJOR Unilocal & TripAdvisor Fail. Tourists keep uploading pictures of a different market to this Rio Piedras location. I attached photos of the right location for La Placita Santurce on the map. Hope this was helpful.p.

Not bad. Lots of locals here and not too many tourists. I was hoping to find local produce here and there are quite a few stands but as another reviewer pointed out there isn’t much variety. You can go here to shop for everyday stuff you might need. I also saw meat markets, clothing, groceries and a hardware store.

Meh… I guess I came with too high expectations… I saw this on Bizarre foods and thought it would be interesting… There were not many different tropical fruits that you can’t find in NYC. And every stand basically had the same stuff. The one thing that was somewhat interesting was the good court which had premade options — its more of a run down local spot (I didn’t see many tourists)
This is good if you are trying to get off the tourist trail… but don’t expect anything amazing, surprising, or life altering… in fact not really worth going out of your way to see…

La Plaza del Mercado. Where you can find anything and everything. If you’ve never been, please go for lunch and just order a little bit of everything: some pernil (roasted pork shoulder), arroz con gandules (rice and pigeon peas), mondongo (tripe stew), cuajitos (hog maws) with guineitos en escabeche (boiled green bananas in escabeche), batata (sweet potato, the green variety), tostones (fried plantains) and amarillos (fried sweet plantains). Wash it down with some mavi (tree bark-​based drink) and fresh, cold coconut water. Heaven!

Leaving the Rio Piedras train station, go straight one block to De Diego street, turn left, and go about 10 blocks. Mercado del Rio Piedras will be in your left.
Occupying a full block, the market has fruit, vegetables, food stalls, clothing and sundry shops. Mostly locals, it’s a good place to escape tourists and get a cheap lunch!
Strictly locals, this market has a little of everything either inside the large mercado or in the surrounding shopping zone. Inexpensive food stalls, fruit and vegetables, clothing, toys, souvenirs, and a friendly, vibrant vibe await you in Mercado del Rio Piedras! If you want to escape tourists and find some great bargains, THIS IS A MUST SEE in San Juan!
CombatCritic Gives Mercado del Rio Piedras 9 Bombs Out of 10 … BOMBAS ARE BUENAS!

Best experience in PR by far. you won’t believe you almost didn’t make it here. CHEAP delicious authentic food. Chicken, oxtail and rice n beans under 10 bucks.

Just wanted to make a clrification. This is the Plaza del Mercado in RIO PIEDRAS. This is a VERY DIFFERENT locale from the Plaza del Mercado in SAN JUAN. Unlike the Plaza del Mercado in San Juan, this venue is not aimed at tourists; it caters to the locals. That is precisely what makes it so much better… and a true adventure. The reviews from Sue, Jenny and Darcy are correct and describe this place very well.
However, please be aware of the difference in locations. Unlike the Plaza del Mercado in San Juan, which caters to the tourist traffic, the Plaza del Mercado in Rio Piedras DOES NOT have a nightlife, and safety in the area after dark could become a serious issue.
For a true local experience of some of the best that the Puertorican culture has to offer in terms of food and local customs, along with some really affordable shopping options, go to RIO PIEDRAS. If what you want instead is to enjoy the caribbean, relaxed social nightlife of the island from a touristic standpoint, you may want to go to SAN JUAN. Rio Piedras at night is probably not the best proposition, especially if you don’t know your way around, plus there is no real nightlife there, other than what the resdients of that area do at night.

Thank you Unilocal for putting the Plaza del Mercado de Rio Piedras on our list!
It was quite by accident actually – we were going to go to the Plaza in the Santurce district and this one popped up when I Unilocaled «Plaza del Mercado». After reading the reviews, we knew we had to come here instead.
Finding the Plaza was half the fun. We didn’t use the Unilocal directions so I don’t know if those are accurate – although following the map should get you close enough to where you can ask locals for directions. I enjoyed brushing off my high school Spanish skills to get us there. We had to ask three different people but each time we knew we were getting closer.
We parked near the Burger King by the University of PR (metered street parking), and headed away and to the left of the main street. Once you see the pedestrian shopping area, keep walking and asking for directions – you’re almost there.
And once inside, you definitely know you’re amongst the locals. As two Asians, we stuck out like sore thumbs, but everyone was friendly and curious. We bought some cute little pineapples and giant avocados to take back home.
The food court area was a nice change after all the lechon we’d had on the trip. I eventually got beef stew over white rice and chased it down with a chicken pastelilo and fresh coconut drink.
The beef stew was bought at one of the corner stalls that took credit cards. It was cooked very tender, and the potatoes and olives were great additions to the stew. I really enjoyed it (more than the chicken stew that my friend got – that was a little dry). The chicken in the pastelilo was very flavorful and moist.
Would I come here again? Yes, the prices were great, and we didn’t have enough time to explore the shops around the Plaza. Next time I’m in PR, I’ll be back!

Our visit to Plaza del Mercado de Rio Piedras was one of the highlights of our trip to Puerto Rico. We had a delicious lunch from the vendors in the cafeteria — both of us with beverages for $ 10. We weren’t 100% sure what we were eating, but it sure was good! We also came home with a bag of fresh vegetables as well.
My husband bought 3 different guayaberas (Cuban-​style shirts) in the clothing stores outside the market for less than half of what he would have paid for them at home. Also, if you are looking for linen pants, the only place we found them was in the dress shop at the end of the pedestrianized street closest to the train station. The owner there speaks very good English and he even walked us across the street to arrange for the pants to be hemmed by the tailor in the back of the fabric store across the street.
If you’re an American on a visit to PR, PLEASE leave the tourist bubble of Condado at least once for a more authentic experience such as the Mercado de Rio Piedras. You won’t regret it!

THE place to buy a variety of ripe fruit in August; I’ve always had good experiences here. On my last visit a week ago I chatted up the vendor (Rodolfo?) who seemed to have the most variety and better looking produce; first fruit stand as you enter from the cafeteria side. He helped me to select mangos to eat right away and to ripen over the course of the week; same for beautiful huge avocados and papayas. In addition, he had the perfect qenepas, and overall — a nice, chatty attitude. While I was picking my mangos, another man started asking questions about how I like PR, then he brought some soup from his cousins food stand for me and my girlfriends to try. Other stands had pretty decent passionfruit and starfruit. American-​style veggies: i.e. tomatoes, lettuce, salad — looked sad. By the way, the old man who used to sell mavi and other odds and ends (featured on «Bizzare food with Andrew Zimmerman») is no longer there.

Lots to see and choose from. Only been there during the day so my experience includes fresh produce, cheap souvenirs (The same stuff you see in Old San Juan and Isla Verde for tons less!), religious items, herbs and candles, local candies, cigar shop (the guy hand rolls them right there!), local music CD’s and instruments, clothing and hats (guayaberas and pavas!). Awesome comfort food (must have rice, beans and tostones). You can get a whole meal for $ 5. It’s up to you if you want to share — so good you wanna keep eating, but portions are big enough for two. Outside the main building you’ll see plenty of discount shops offering clothes, jewelry, optical services, hardware stores, food stands (must try the tropical flavored sorbets from carts!)…
If you like public transportation, take the «tren urbano» to the Rio Piedras station and take the exit labeled «Salida a la Plaza». Upon emerging you’ll see a small park/​square with a pretty church. Walk one small block to your left and you’ll be right smack on the Paseo de Diego. Follow that up a few blocks through a swarm of shops and a pink church to the main market building which will be on your left. Train fare is $ 0.75 per ride and you can transfer onto bus lines that can take you all over the city. Fare cards just like the Metro cards in NYC.

Not much of a farmer’s market during the day… probably the tiniest i have seen, but cute. At night it’s completely crazy here. It’s where you go to bar hop and drink in the streets with the locals.

Yay!
This place is so two-​faced, but in a good way. In the day time, there are lots of grandpas sitting on benches, relaxing in the sun. The market is open and you can buy fresh produce and other goodies and walk around in the sunshine.
However, at night time, it gets crowded with tons of young people who are socializing in the streets, in bars, on the benches, all over. Outdoor drinking is allowed (with a curfew of 11pm) which always makes for a good time as well.
I definitely had lots of fun here, and there are tons of bars to choose from in both the main plaza area as well as smaller side streets.

Came here during the day to shop around and relax. The people here were pretty upbeat and friendly. We saw a lot of old Puerto Rican men just sitting around and talking in groups.
However, we came back at night (9pm) and the plaza was filled with people drinking in the streets and partying. There were numerous bars and lounges that people were pouring out of with drinks in hand (note: outdoor drinking is only allowed until 11pm. after, the bars close the doors and encourage people to stay indoors to drink).
This is definitely a great place to come for Puerto Rican nightlife.

Really great little plaza literally in the middle of nowhere.
We came here on recommendation for El Pescador restaurant, but loved all the sights, sounds, and smells of the Plaza.
During the day time (and closing at 6 pm) is a market where you can buy all sorts of great locally grown produce. (Apparently this is where all the non-​fried food is in San Juan…) Only wish it would be open later!
At dusk, the plaza is home to hopping restaurants and bars. It is a good looking and wealthy crowd that comes out to play in the evenings — valet parking services for the well-​to-​dos driving their Lexus and Mercedes.
Live music in the evenings — although, there doesn’t seem to be a very good understanding of band distribution. (Meaning, during our dinner we had the pleasure of hearing two competing sets of musicians — one was more rock, the other traditional salsa… sadly, the combination of the two incongruous sets became more cacophony than symphony.)
In all, a neat place to check out whilst in SJ.

Bar hangout on weekends — really fun! Lots of locals, live bands, salsa, hip hop, karaōke, you name it. Only thing is open bars = no airconditioning.

Mercado de Rio Piedras is the largest market on the island. An indoor building houses produce stands and a cafeteria. Outside, there’s a strip of discount clothing stores and other retail items. The market is on Paseo de Diego, which is the portion of Calle Jose de Diego closed off to cars.
I went here in search of authentic Puerto Rican cuisine and I got it. M. and I found the cafeteria. There were food stalls with criollo food, lechon, smoothies, sandwiches, empanadas and more.
I went eenie, meenie, miney, mo and picked the Cafeteria el Comida Criollo stand. I pointed at the shredded beef, rice and beans and plantains. The girl behind the counter became frustrated with me because she only spoke Spanish and I only spoke English, plus I don’t think I was ordering according to the menu.
Nonetheless, she put everything in a styrofoam container. Another woman ladled what I think was a tomato-​based bean sauce that I could pour over my rice.
The shredded beef tasted wonderful. I could drink that bean sauce all by itself. The girl had heaped so much into our container that both M. and I became full. Cost: $ 5.
After we were done with lunch, we walked around a bit. We kept hearing an electric current. We walked down a hallway and saw a guy trying to sell tasers. He kept setting it off.
Location: Paseo de Diego, a couple blocks south of the Universidad de Puerto Rico. The cafeteria is in a building between Ferrocarril and Vallejo streets.
Best way to get in: Make your way to 27 South/​Dr. Barbosa and turn right on Calle Jose de Diego. There are cheap parking lots right there. Don’t go too far because the rest of the street (Paseo de Diego) is closed off to cars.