Brazil’s traffic clogged city of 20 million is one of the best restaurant cities in Latin America and it also has one of the best public markets. The 135,000-square-foot Mercado Municipal Paulistano near estación São Bento, was built in the 1930’s and recently renovated, is my number one choice for a meal downtown.

The markets of Oaxaca, Mexico draw tourists from across the world who come to shop for the unique and wide array of traditional Mexican crafts, foods, and to soak in the enchanting atmosphere.

Not far from the Señor Frog’s restaurant and jewelry shops where the more than one ginormous cruise ship docks each day in Cozumel’s main town of San Miguel, there’s a small market serving the local population. Few tourists venture past Avenida 10, so the market sits several blocks beyond the border of where real Cozumel begins.

Amazonian markets tend to be either great or terrible. Some rely heavily on local produce and gather fruits and vegetables from the surrounding rivers, while others seem to be just drop off points for processed and packaged food. Pucallpa’s Mercado Numero 2, just a few blocks from the Plaza de Armas, is great.

The foodie set in Lima, particularly Gaston Acurio, has been pushing for special status of this market in Surquillo, a few blocks from Parque Kennedy in Miraflores. Products from around the country can be found here: fruits from the Amazon, chiles and potatoes and buckets of quinoa from the Andes, fresh seafood from the coast. You can buy kitchen utensils. I spent the equivalent of $10 a year ago on wooden spoons and other handmade tools. If I picked up the same items in the States, I would have spent $100 easily. Other things I’ve found here include a beautiful 2kg octopus for a backyard grilling, a bottle of cumari peppers from the jungle, and Andean potatoes that are far too rare for the Supermarkets.

Huancayo is the capital of Peru’s Junín region and one of the most tourist friendly Andean towns in Peru. It is best known for the Maté Burrilado, a hand carved gourd found sold all across Peru, and for the spicy potato dish, Papas a la Huancaina.

A historic biscuit factory turned sleek foodie hangout with high priced epicurean treats, big name eateries, and tasteful shops and cafes. It’s a convenient Westside stop for the gourmand, but not a must see New York attraction by any means.

In attraction-starved San Pedro Sula, Honduras, you have better luck finding an air-conditioned mall and an Applebee’s then anything of real culinary interest. That is if you don’t know where to look.

In downtown Santiago, Chile there sits an always crowded market known as Mercado Central. On tours of downtown its a standard tourist stop, though it has yet to lose it’s authenticity as this photo reveals. Seafood is the draw, either from the overpriced eateries in the center where old school yellers lure you to a [...]