San José Central Market (Mercado Central): Visitor Guide

The San José Central Market has fed the capital since 1880. It’s loud, cramped and smells of coffee, fried plantains and fresh herbs, and it’s the best two hours you can spend downtown.

The San José Central Market (Mercado Central) is a block-long covered market on Avenida Central in downtown San José, packed with more than 200 stalls, small diners called sodas, produce sellers, butchers, herb vendors and souvenir shops. It’s open Monday through Saturday from early morning until about 5 or 6 p.m. and closed on Sundays. Go in the morning, bring small colón bills and plan to eat.

This guide covers when to go, what to eat and where, what to buy, how to stay safe and what else to see nearby.

San José Central Market	At a glance
Location	Avenida Central between Calles 6 and 8, about 250 meters northwest of Parque Central
Hours	Monday to Saturday, roughly 6 a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m.; many stalls open around 7 a.m.; closed Sundays
Entry	Free
Best time	8 to 10 a.m., before the lunch rush
How long	1 to 2 hours, longer if you eat
Payment	Mostly cash in colones; bring small bills
Getting there	Taxi or Uber, or walk from downtown hotels; don’t drive

History

A Short History of the Mercado Central

The Mercado Central opened in 1880 and has operated on the same block ever since. An earthquake in 1888 damaged the original brick building badly enough that its upper floor came down, and a section rebuilt in reinforced concrete in the 1940s still stands beside the older part. Costa Rica declared the market a historic and architectural heritage site in 1995.

Some of its businesses are nearly as old as the building. La Sorbetera de Lolo Mora has served ice cream here since 1901, and Soda San Martín dates to 1910. For a broader look at how the city grew, read our history of how San José became the capital.

Eat

What to Eat at the San José Central Market

Food is the main reason to come. The market’s sodas are counter-service diners with a handful of stools, plastic menus and cooks who have made the same dishes for decades. Our guide to Costa Rican sodas explains how they work.

Breakfast

Mornings are for gallo pinto, the rice-and-beans breakfast. Soda Tala is famous for the talapinto: gallo pinto on a thin omelet, wrapped in a banana leaf, with sides like plantains, cheese or meat. It costs a few dollars, and the line moves fast.

Lunch

• Casado: the classic lunch plate of rice, beans, salad, plantains and a choice of meat or fish. See our guide to the casado.
• Olla de carne: a beef and vegetable soup; Soda San Martín is known for it.
• Ceviche and caldosa: Marisquería and Soda Brigitte serves ceviche, plus caldosa, ceviche poured into a bag of chips and eaten with a spoon.

Drinks and dessert

Order a fresco, a fresh fruit drink made with water or milk; passion fruit (maracuyá) and tamarind are local favorites. Café del Mercado brews Costa Rican coffee and sells bags to take home. For dessert, La Sorbetera de Lolo Mora makes a single flavor, a cinnamon-spiced vanilla cream called crema, and has done so for more than a century. Several sodas also sell arroz con leche (rice pudding) and empanadas.

Shop

What to Buy at the Mercado Central

The market is still a working market for Ticos, so souvenir stalls sit next to butchers, fishmongers and stands selling medicinal herbs. That mix is the appeal.

• Coffee: whole-bean and ground Costa Rican coffee, sold by the bag at several stalls.
• Souvenirs: miniature painted oxcarts, wooden bowls and carvings, T-shirts and hammocks. See our list of the best Costa Rica souvenirs.
• Kitchen staples: bottles of Salsa Lizano, spices, dried beans and a cloth chorreador coffee filter.
• Herbs and remedies: some vendors have sold medicinal plants here for decades.
• Fruit: mangoes, papayas, pineapples and seasonal fruit like mamón chino (rambutan). Ask the vendor to cut one for you.
• Leather and saddlery: belts, boots and saddles aimed at local customers.

Food and produce prices are fixed. At souvenir stalls, polite haggling is acceptable, especially if you buy several items, but don’t expect big discounts.

For crafts made by Indigenous artisans, skip the generic stalls and visit Chietón Morén, a fair-trade shop and small museum near the National Museum, about a 15- to 20-minute walk east. For fresh produce from farmers rather than resellers, see our guide to Costa Rica’s farmers markets.

Before you go

Tips for Visiting the San José Central Market

Getting there

Don’t drive. Downtown traffic is slow and the market has no parking lot of its own; the nearest option is a paid public garage a few minutes’ walk away. Take a taxi or Uber, or walk from hotels near the center. The market is about 18 kilometers (11 miles) from Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO).

Money

Most stalls are cash-only, and they price in colones. You can sometimes pay in dollars, but you’ll get a worse rate and change in colones. Read our guide to the best currency to take to Costa Rica.

Finding your way

The market is a maze of narrow aisles with several entrances. Most signs are in Spanish only. If you’re hunting for a specific soda, ask any vendor; everyone knows where Soda Tala and Lolo Mora are.

Holidays

The market closes on Sundays, and many stalls close on major holidays, especially Holy Thursday and Good Friday. On Independence Day (Sept. 15), parades fill downtown streets, so expect crowds and closures.

Nearby

What to See Near the Mercado Central

The market sits at the west end of Avenida Central, the pedestrian boulevard through downtown, so it’s easy to pair with other sights on foot:

• Mercado Borbón: two blocks north, a produce, meat and fish market used mostly by locals.
• Plaza de la Cultura: about 10 minutes east, home to the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum and the National Theatre.
• Jade Museum: near Plaza de la Democracia; see our guide to the Costa Rica Jade Museum.
• Mercado Artesanal: a crafts market about a 10-minute walk away, with more stalls aimed at visitors.

For a full day downtown, see our first-timer’s guide to San José and our list of museums in San José.

Good to know

San José Central Market FAQ