| Go shopping in Quito with recommendations, reviews, tips and photos posted by real travelers and locals. Quito Map |
 | Quito Shopping | Tips 1 - 10 of 37 |  |
I went to the Mercado Artesanal at the corner or calle Juan Leon Mera and George Washington looking for the last 3 Christmas gifts on my list: a Christmas ornament for Mama, some cigars for my friend Mike who was serving in Iraq at that time, and a belt for my friend Nick. This is a nice urban artisan market, but it still did not have all the atmosphere, not to mention the aromas of the Otavalo market the previous Saturday. I saw some belts in the first corridor, but held out to see if I could find some better ones. I bought Mike's cigars first and I found some better looking belts in the last corridor for Nick. The ironic thing is, all the world-famous Panama hats are made in Ecuador. I finished my Christmas shopping for 2007 here on 15 November when I finally found the Christmas ornament I wanted to find for Mama. Leave a Comment Theme: Local CraftAddress: c/ Juan Leon Mera and George Washington
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 Mercado Artesanal Mariscal by tejanasueca
Local articrafts, t-shirts, and anything else you can think off.
Expect to pay a little bit more than you would in Otavalo. Leave a Comment Theme: Local CraftAddress: Southern Part of MariscalDirections: Just north of the park El Ejido between the streets Juan León Mera and Reina Victoría.
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Quito’s Mercado Central is a great example of the style of market that thrives in South American cities. They are always bustling and full of locals shopping and eating. Quito’s is no exception though it is much cleaner than many with white tile walls in most stalls. It’s a great place to not only grab something cheap and authentic to eat but also to people watch though don’t be surprised if the locals enjoy watching you especially if you are taking a photo of your food!
This is a food market and not a place to go looking for crafts. You can buy fresh produce and fruits as well as meats such as the coveted cow hoof, a key ingredient of its namesake soup. There are also lots of food stalls in which to grab breakfast, lunch or an early dinner. Just walk around and point. You’ll have no problem getting served even if your Spanish is meager.
$1.50 for meals. Never inquired about the cow hooves. Leave a Comment Theme: Food and DrinkDirections: Avenue Pinchincha between Esmeralda & Manabi.
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Super and Mega Maxi is a chain of grocery stores across Ecuador. They used to be known as La Favorita until round about 1980. The name changed to Super Maxi. Round about the turn of the century, Super Maxi opened up huge hypermarkets called Mega Maxis as well as the standard Super Maxi. They are equivalent to our Wal-Mart Super Centres where you have everything under one roof. Normally, grocery stores, even hypermarkets like this, display types of food that are foreign to the American traveller. I was disappointed to see so many familiar brand names on the shelves of this grocery store. I did find chimichurri here and they did have local fruits, but otherwise it was like Wal-Mart Super Centre under a different name. What disturbed me about this place is our bag boy, Fernando, is only 14 years old and they pay him a pittance even by local standards.
There is a bank, a gardening department, a hair salon, and even a Radio Shack. When Sergio, Christina, and I did our shopping there, it was already decked out for Christmas by mid-November. They got the normal week's worth of groceries and I got some chimichurri for steaks, some Ecuadorian coffee, and, believe it or not, I found the soaps my grandma wanted for Christmas here. Where there is a Super or a Mega Maxi, a Juguetón is not likely to be far away. This toy super store, rather like the American Toys 'r Us, is owned by the same folks who run the Maxis. Leave a Comment Theme: Food and Drink
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In my opinion, Quito is not the best city in Ecuador for shopping, especially if this is your first stp in Ecuador (to travel happy, travel light). There are incredible markets and areas in the small cities where you can find chip and beautiful souvenirs. Leave a Comment Theme: Other
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 Cyrano by b1bobLeave a Comment Theme: Food and Drink
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 Esquina Cumbayá by b1bob
Some things are very upmarket, but I managed to find bargains there. Leave a Comment Theme: Other
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El Centro Comercio de Condado is a tall, but not very wide (as compared with suburban American malls) shopping centre in urban Quito. It is built more like Part Dieu in Lyon. Like Part Dieu, it has many multinational stores (like Benetton) and some local stores like Cotopaxi clothing store, in this case. This is not my idea of a good place to shop. The only reason I went here is because Sergio recommended I try the food court, including McDonald's (yuck!), many restaurants of other nationalities, but I ate lunch at Motes la Magdalena which offers nothing but fine Ecuadorian cuisine and I had some tres leches for dessert at the Hansel & Gretel bakery. It was a great culinary experience, but when I took the indoor photo (second shot), some mall rent-a-cop tried to give me trouble. There were no signs prohibiting photography and I wasn't just going to give into a spur-of-the moment whim on some law enforcement wannabe who must have failed the police academy. I asked him in plain Spanish when he failed the academy. Needless to say, that idiot never got my camera or my memory card!
It's too upmarket for my tastes and when they decide to hire rent-a-cops with better things to do, I'll go back! Leave a Comment Theme: Other
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Libri Mundi is an upmarket bookstore at the Esquina Shopping Centre. The folks helped me find the book I needed and gift wrapped it free of charge.
I bought a book of Ecuadorian recipes written in English as part of a Christmas present for Mama. A few days later, I came back to buy a tourist map of downtown for me as a souvenir and a calendar for a friend's Christmas present.
It has an upmarket air, but I got by paying only $11.75 for the cookbook and only $8 for a tourism book on Quito just to have as a souvenir and about $7 for the calendar. Leave a Comment Theme: Books
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 by tejanasueca
Essentially, this is a place to go to look for really nice clothes or to buy a new camera....etc...not a tourist place per say...but you can find a lot of things you might need. Leave a Comment Theme: Department StoreAddress: Naciones Unidas between Los Shyris and 6 de DiciemDirections: Just northeast of the Carolina Park.
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