Mercado del Puerto: Montevideo's Port Market and Grill Hall

The Parrillada

The city tourism office names the parrillada, the mixed grill, as the leading dish of the Mercado del Puerto. Meat arrives from iron grills set over wood embers, in full view along the counters. The market's own listing points to cuts such as vacío, asado de tira, costillas, colita de cuadril and mollejas, plus chorizo and morcilla, the blood sausage.

The practical move is to order by the cut and share across the table, so everyone tries more of the grill. Read the cuts before you go in our guide to Uruguayan food, which covers the cuts and the asado tradition.

Fish, Seafood and Empanadas

The tourism office also lists fish and seafood among the market's offerings, and empanadas everywhere in the hall. If you do not want a full grill at midday, empanadas with a beer make a lighter lunch, and fish is a change from red meat. The chivito, Uruguay's national sandwich of thin beef, ham, cheese, egg, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise, appears on the market's own list too, and it is easier to finish than a platter of ribs.

Vegetarians have the hardest time here, since the hall is built around meat, so plan on empanadas, cheese and sides. Our Uruguayan food page covers the chivito and the empanada in detail.

Medio y Medio

The market's own drink is medio y medio, a half-and-half mix of sweet sparkling wine and dry white wine, created at a bar inside the market that opened in 1888. Order it with the grill as the market's own toast. The hall also pours Uruguayan craft beers, and Tannat, the country's signature red, is on offer if you want something heavier with the beef.

If wine interests you beyond lunch, our Uruguay wine page covers Tannat and the wineries you can visit on a day trip from the city.

Pay by Foreign Card

Paying restaurants, bars and cafés electronically takes 9 percentage points off VAT until 30 April 2027, under Decreto 235/026. It applies when you pay as a final consumer with a foreign-issued credit card, debit card or e-money, and the cut is applied to the bill when you pay. Small providers on the 'IVA Mínimo' scheme give a 7.38% discount on the total instead.

Bring a card that charges no foreign transaction fee, or the saving leaks away in bank charges. Old advice circulating online about showing a passport at the table for a 22% VAT refund is out of date, so ignore it and simply pay by card. Cards, cash and exchange are covered in our Uruguay currency guide.

Reading the Board

There is no single price list for the market. Each grill sets its own prices, so two stalls facing each other can charge different amounts for the same cut. Entry is free, so walk the whole hall before you sit down and compare boards, then pick your counter.

Ask what comes with the grill before ordering. Prices are written in pesos, and the boards can look cryptic if you are new to the country, so convert against our Uruguay currency page before you order rather than after.

What the card rule means for a lunch bill, by how you pay. The cut comes from the rule itself, not from any one grill.

There is no market opening hour. Each grill keeps its own schedule so lunch is the safe call, when every counter is lit and the embers are fresh. Saturdays are liveliest, because the Ciudad Vieja cultural walk passes through and musicians play in the hall, which also means queues at the popular grills.

Sunday works well as a market day: the hall is busy while three old-town museums, the Cabildo, the Gurvich and the Andes 1972, are closed, so you lose nothing by eating instead. New Year's Eve at midday is a street party outside, with crowds spraying cider. Carnival runs for about forty days from late January, and our Uruguay carnival page explains the season.

Built for the Ships

The story starts in 1865, when a share company led by the Spanish merchant Pedro Sáenz de Zumarán formed to build a market by the port. The iron parts were cast at the Union Foundry in Liverpool under the English engineer R. H. Mesures, shipped across the Atlantic and assembled on the Montevideo waterfront. The building took three years.

It was inaugurated on 10 October 1868 with President Lorenzo Batlle present. Its first life was unglamorous: a wholesale market for fruit, vegetables and meat, supplying both the ships in the harbour and the town behind it. Produce filled the hall for about a century before the grills replaced it.

The Clock and the Grills

A circular iron fountain stood at the centre of the hall until 1897, when it was replaced by a four-faced clock that also came from Liverpool. Look up as you walk in and you will see it still keeping time over the counters. The change that made the market famous came in the 1970s, when produce stalls gave way to restaurants and the grills moved in.

The building was declared a National Historic Monument in 1976, while the grills were still settling in. Carlos Gardel and Enrico Caruso are both said to have walked its lanes in the port-era years, and the painter Pedro Figari drew scenes from the market's daily life. The ironwork, the clock and the smoke together are what make a meal here different from any restaurant in the new town.

Pérez Castellano and the Crafts Market

The pedestrian street Peatonal Pérez Castellano runs from Peatonal Sarandí straight to the front of the market, and it is the nicest approach on foot. At the market end sits the Mercado de Artesanos, a crafts market of Uruguayan work made by Uruguayan makers. Combine the two for an hour of browsing before or after lunch.

The walk from Sarandí crosses the heart of Ciudad Vieja, so you can start at Plaza Matriz and arrive at the market along the pedestrian street. More retail across the city, from malls to market stalls, is in our Montevideo shopping guide.

Museo del Carnaval

Next door to the market, in a century-old building facing the port, the Museo del Carnaval is one of the city's identity museums, given over to Uruguay's carnival. It pairs naturally with lunch at the market, since the two sit metres apart, and our Museo del Carnaval page has the detail. The drum tradition itself is covered on our candombe page.

Its open-air Plaza del Carnaval sits inside the museum grounds at the corner of Piedras and Maciel, a few steps from the market door.

Getting There

The address is Rambla 25 de Agosto de 1825 No. 228, on the block bounded by Pérez Castellanos, Piedras and Maciel, directly opposite the Port of Montevideo. The city tourist office stands at Piedras 257 on the corner of Yacaré, open every day 9:00-17:00, with a touch screen for information that works 24 hours. City buses cost $1.29 (UYU 52) for a one-hour ticket with an STM card or $1.59 (UYU 64) in cash, a rare case where paying by card saves money on the bus too.

The hop-on hop-off bus stops on Rambla 25 de Agosto de 1825, so you can ride in from the beach neighbourhoods and step off near the market. After dark, take a taxi back rather than walking alone through the port area, advice the UK foreign office gives for this part of the city. Read more in our guide to whether Montevideo is safe.

The simplest plan is to end a morning walk of Ciudad Vieja at the market for lunch. Start at Plaza Independencia or the Puerta de la Ciudadela, walk down Sarandí past the Cathedral and the Cabildo, turn onto Pérez Castellano and arrive as the grills are at their busiest. After lunch, walk off the parrillada along the Rambla by the water.

On a cruise call, make the market your last stop before the ship, since it sits closest to the terminal. If you would rather have a guide stitch it together, our Montevideo tours page compares the options, and our Montevideo restaurants guide covers what to eat across the rest of the city.