Mercado de Sabaneta is a relatively new gastronomic market in the Medellín metro area, which will ultimately have a collection of 19 restaurants and bars in a building located near Parque Sabaneta in Sabaneta.
This food market opened on July 5, 2019. And Mercado de Sabaneta has several small format restaurants with a variety of cuisines available.
At Mercado de Sabaneta, food is purchased at the small format restaurants. And food is eaten at several bar-height and several lower tables, which are cleaned quickly and efficiently by the staff.
In addition, this food market has two floors with a nice atmosphere and a decent variety of food and drinks available.
Also, this new gastronomic market is pet friendly with Wi-fi available. And valet parking is available plus domicilio (delivery) service is available.
Food Options at Mercado de Sabaneta
On opening day on July 5, 2019, there was a total of 11 food and drink places open at this new food market in Sabaneta. But there is space for several more locations. And by July 19, 2019, 14 places were open and a Mexican restaurant is opening soon..
This gastronomic market in Sabaneta will ultimately have a total of 19 food and drink places when all the places are open.
Food options include arepas, burgers, Colombian, gourmet hot dogs, pizza, steaks, sushi and more. Also, there are a couple of bars.
Gastronomic Market Competition in Medellín and the Aburrá Valley
There are now nine gastronomic markets in Medellín and the Aburrá Valley, each with collections of many restaurants in one location:
- Contenedores Food Place – reportedly opened in January 2014.
- Mercado Del Rio – opened in October 2016 and is the largest gastronomic market in Medellín with about 50 restaurants.
- Mercado Del Tranvía – reportedly opened in October 2017.
- Mercado Del Parque – opened in September 2018.
- Mercado Del Norte in Bello – opened in January 2019.
- Mercadillo de Aranjuez – opened in February 2019.
- Mercade de Sabaneta – opened in July 2019.
- Mercado La Colonia – opened in October 2019.
- Mercado De La Playa – opened in December 2019.
Mercado De La Playa in El Centro is the newest gastronomic market in the Medellín metro area that opened in December 2019. We also have a guide to the gastronomic markets in Medellín with all nine markets.
Some expats I have talked to thought the first gastronomic market in Medellín was Mercado Del Rio. But actually, the first gastronomic market was Contenedores Food Place in Envigado, which opened in 2014.
But Contenedores is a somewhat different format with several sit-down restaurants located in containers and not a big open warehouse space. In addition, Contenedores is smaller, as it has less than 10 restaurants. However, these are larger restaurants with separate sitting areas.
In addition, Medellín used to have another food market that is now closed. Manila Food Market opened in April 2017 in the Manila barrio of El Poblado in the Los Patios Hostel. But Manila Food Market was small with less than 10 restaurants. Also, it reportedly failed due to a lack of customers in this location and closed in less than a year.
Also, Mercado Del Tranvía Envigado opened in November 2018 in Envigado but reported closed in September 2019. So, it was open less than a year. And Mercado Del Rio La Strada opened in July 2018 but reportedly closed in October 2019.
How to Get to Mercado de Sabaneta
The easiest way to get to this gastronomic market in Sabaneta is using the Medellín Metro. To get there take the Line A metro to the Sabaneta metro station.
Mercado de Sabaneta is located about a block and half from Parque Sabaneta. And Parque Sabaneta is located about a 10-minute walk east from the Sabaneta station. In addition, there are many people walking on the streets to/from the metro station. So, it’s relatively safe during the day and even after dark – but not too late.
Also, there are frequent and inexpensive metro buses that use Civica cards that currently cost only 2,200 pesos, which run from the Sabaneta metro station to and from the park. Most noteworthy, these buses don’t drop you at the park, they drop you about a block from the park. And the integrated fare including both the metro train and Sabaneta metro bus is only 2,925 pesos.
In addition, there is a taxi stand at the Sabaneta metro station, which normally has taxis available. Furthermore, any taxi in Medellín will know where Parque Sabaneta is located. It’s also normally pretty easy to catch a taxi at the park.
To get to Mercado de Sabaneta from the park go to the right of the Igelsia de Santa Ana church at the park. Walk to the right of the church and go east a block and half and Mercado de Sabaneta will be located on the right.
Address: Calle 70Sur # 43A-47, Sabaneta.
Website: https://www.facebook.com/mercadodesabaneta/
Hours: Sunday to Thursday: 12:30 pm to 10:00 pm; Friday and Saturday: 12:30 pm to 11:00 pm.
The Bottom Line – Mercado de Sabaneta
Mercado de Sabaneta just opened and since it’s located close to popular Parque Sabaneta this new gastronomic market is expected to be popular. It was popular the first night it opened with many people checking out this new place that had just opened.
This food market has space for over 200 people and is larger than Mercado del Parque in Laureles. I live only a five-minute walk from the new Mercado de Sabaneta. So, I expect that I will eventually check out all the restaurants in this new market.
Medellín and the Aburrá Valley now has nine gastronomic markets with a total of over 175 small format restaurants. Two are located in El Centro, one is in El Poblado, one in Envigado, one in Laureles, one in Sabaneta, one in Bello, one in Aranjuez and one in Buenos Aires. The eight Mercado markets are similar and Contenedores is a different format.
Furthermore, these gastronomic markets in the Medellín metro area are pretty popular. So, it is surprising to me that I haven’t yet found a similar gastronomic market in any other cities in Colombia I have been to.
Finally, Parque Sabaneta is arguably the nicest park in the Medellín metro area and is worth visiting. In addition, we have looked at 14 of the best restaurants in Sabaneta.
Sign up for the Free Medellin Guru Newsletter – You can see all of the previous Medellin Guru weekly email newsletters and sign up here.
Editors note: updated on July 19, 2019 to show that 14 of the restaurants and bars are now open in Mercado de Sabaneta.
Editors note: updated on October 8, 2019 with information that Mercado Del Tranvía Envigado in Envigado is closed.
Editors note: updated on November 14, 2019 with information that Mercado Del Rio La Strada is closed.
Editors note: update on December 5, 2019 to add Mercado La Colonia in El Centro, which opened in October 2019.
Editors note: updated on January 3, 2019 to add Mercado De La Playa in El Centro, which opened in December 2019.
2 thoughts on “Mercado de Sabaneta: A New Gastronomic Market in Sabaneta”
Thanks for posting about this new place. I let my friend who lives in Sabaneta know this place opened. These gastronomic markets are popular so now 8 of these gastronomic markets in the Medellin area.
Yes, I often pop into the one in my neighborhood. The one in Ciudad del Rio is much larger than ours but we found it too difficult to carry on a conversation because of the noise.