This is about basic local grocery shopping here in town. Without getting into your car or onto the bus, where do you go when you want foodstuffs? Not gifts, souvenirs, masks, artworks, carpets, or surfboards, but fruit, vegetables, meat, chicken, fish, cheese, bread, tortillas, milk, beer, booze, even reasonable selections of wine. Comestibles. Healthy or otherwise. There are probably a hundred restaurants here in town this season, and you no doubt will have some memorable meals at several of them–but sometimes you just want to prepare your own food and serve it yourself. Most of the rental houses in town have fully or partially equipped kitchens, so why not put yours to use for something more than Mr. Coffee or a blender full of margaritas?
So we took a few walks about town, photographing and contemplating many of the food stores–some fancy, some just basic–that we use on a regular basis. There are, of course, huge supermarkets not too far away—Mega lies just south of Bucerias on Highway 200, about half an hour away by car, maybe 40 minutes by bus, and Walmart can be found another 15 minutes farther down Highway 200, just past Mezcales. These markets offer a much larger selection of just about everything, and for the most part, they also offer lower prices. They are Mexican versions of American big box stores. Walmart is still Walmart, there or here, and they offer everything under the Mexican sun. And they are still Walmart, small business killer, so when you spend money there, you are shipping it off to Arkansas instead of keeping it in the local economy.
And they are far away from Sayulita, as the parrot flies, and they don’t sell local eggs, local chicken, local meat, or local vegetables, and there are not local Sayulita people standing behind the counters.
What we are showing you here are places you can walk to, bike to, or drive to in a golf cart. Local shopping has its advantages. These stores may not have local suppliers–some of them do and some of them don’t–but they are all run by Sayulita people, mostly local, some ex-pat, so shopping at these markets keeps the money in town and keeps you in town, and in tune with the local economy.
The first store you’ll see here is Alas Blancas, a block off the beach in the heart of town. They stock plenty of basic groceries, some organic and health food products, and also have a wide selection of coffees and alcoholic beverages, including perhaps the best wine list in town. These people have been here for a long time, and they understand, fairly well, what visitors are looking for. Hence the shiny bottles full of quality booze and pretty good wine.
Then we’ll move on to Anna Rosa’s Market, which is the fruit and vegetable market up on the high sidewalk just over the bridge, coming into town, on the right. They’re kind of shoehorned into their location, but they still manage to offer a great selection of fruit and vegetables, and sometimes this is the only place in town you can get stuff like kale or romaine lettuce.
For fresh pastries and French bread you can’t beach the Casa Gourmet on Jose Mariscal, on Taco Row on the street behind the plaza. Great for coffee and pastry in the morning, great for bread to take home.
If you want to cook meat or chicken, best to buy it the day you plan to cook it, from one of the several carnicerias we’re showing you here. The animal products are fresh, and I would suggest that you buy stuff out of a refrigerated case. The pink striped one, Carniceria El Tapatio, is south of the plaza about one block on Revolucion. Our favorite, however, is Carniceria Trancos, on Revolucion on the right a little ways south of the bridge. They have a great selection of meat and poultry products, lots of gourmet sauces and condiments, and, as you can see, also serve as backdrop for the ever-popular Tacos Ivan every night.
Conveniently located across from Trancos on the left where the road splits, Don Rodolfo is a good spot to pick up everything you need in one swoop, should you be in a rush. Wine, vegetables and fruits, basic grocery selections, what have you, they usually have it.
The fish market with the pretty tiled fish display cases that are usually empty is also on the street just past the bridge on the left as you come into town. These display cases are empty, but the store has plenty of fish. They just keep it in freezers and refrigerators—hey, it’s hot around here—but as you can see from the list, there are plenty of choices here. These are not always all available, but many of them are, and the prices are reasonable. The other fish market shown here is on the north side of the bridge under the palm fronds, and while it’s a little less formal of a market, Chayote’s also offers a fine selection of fresh and frozen fish.
Turn left just after crossing the bridge into town, and you’ll find Jorge’s Market on your right. Great for fresh vegetables, some organic, all refrigerated, which is wonderful since stuff gets stale fast in this warm climate. He has a good selection of health foods as well, seeds and grains and such, and frequently stocks fresh farm eggs.
Super Mi Tiendita is on the southwest corner of the plaza, and has been getting smaller and smaller in size of late. However, they still have most of the basic stuff you might want, and are extremely convenient in terms of location.
Orangy Smoothy, which we have written up previously, has begun stocking a range of super-healthy products in a couple of refrigerator cases in the back of the store, so if you stop in for a smoothy, you can shop for organic goodies while they whip up your drink.
This little produce market on the south side of town, on Revolucion as you are headed towards Punta Mita, offers an excellent selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, so if you are staying on that side of town, this is a great place to get your bananas, oranges, cucumbers, tomatoes, and all the rest of the fresh fruits and vegetables on your menu.
On the north side, there is an equally well-stocked fruit and vegetable grocer on Revolucion, in the middle of the block north of the bridge. This spot provides easy local shopping for north side visitors.
The recently opened Sayulita Market, at the foot of Miramar near the beach on the north side, is a new deli with a great selection of prepared and packaged foods as well as breads and pastries. This place aspires to a level of gourmet shopping that is new to Sayulita, so we hope they do well. They have a couple of big blue umbrellas with chairs and tables outside, so you can stop for a coffee before you do your shopping.
Terrenal Health Foods recently moved to the south side, just past the plaza on Revolucion, and still offer the same range of organic and healthy products of all kinds. For those devoted to the organic life, this place will be a godsend.
Back on the north side, Minisuper Alondra is our north side tortilleria, where hundreds of tortillas are made fresh daily. They also sell really great fresh organic coffee, whole beans or ground, from a coffee roasting shop in La Penita. Ask for the Café La Penita. It’s a wonderfully flavorful coffee.
Finally, one more north side convenience store. Abarrotes Y Perfumeria Guadalajara is a surprisingly well-stocked grocery store as well as the place to go for cleaning products of all kinds. You’ll find this store just off Revolucion, up the street from Paraiso Yoga.
Attention all visitors: trust us on this. You can fully stock your refrigerator, freezer, and booze shelf without setting foot outside of town. We hope this guide to local food shopping helps you find the way.
