Thank you Martha for the best Mexican street food tour ever! - I’ve been to mercados in Guadalajara and Mexico City, but nothing had prepared me for Oaxaca’s Abastos Market. I accidentally wandered into Abastos one day by myself and was instantly overwhelmed by the colors, textures, smells, and chaos. I got lost immediately, but when I found my way back to my Airbnb, I immediately started googling for a local expert who could guide me through this massive foodie heaven. I got lucky and found Lembranza Mexico who hooked me up with Martha, a local foodie and tour guide extraordinaire. In her 3-hour walking tour, Martha took our group of 6 people deep into Abastos and I had the best street food experience of my life. It’s obvious that Martha was a passionate foodie herself and has developed deep relationships with some of the best vendors in the market. At every stop, we were welcomed with friendly smiles, offered priority seating, treated like VIPs and served immediately. We were in good hands as Martha always she did the ordering, handled all the cash transactions, and carefully explained the ingredients and history of each dish. She also told us stories and shared cultural trivia that deepened our experience. And there was so much food! But Martha offered even more. On the way to the juice vendor, she bought a bottle of bubbly seltzer water. When we arrived at the juice vendor, she handled the seltzer to the juicemaster and he blended up a batch of th days’s freshest fruit selections and made it extra special by also making it bubbly. While visiting the grasshopper vendor, Martha bought some fried ants and later crushed them and mixed them into a special salsa for us to try. She did this by going behind the counter at a friend’s food stand who let her play chef du jour as she divided and garnished small bites of each dish for us to try. That’s the kind of special relationship she had with her market vendor pals. We all felt that what we got on this day was a unique once-in-a-lifetime experience that can not be repeated. Oh, and the finale was a “secret” mezcal vendor hidden deep inside the furniture section of the market who offered unlimited tastings served in hand-carved “jicaras” gourd cups. If you like a particular mezcal, they’ll gladly bottle one up on the spot and slap on a label for you to take with. This Abastos experience was so much better than wandering through the Mercado 20 de Noviembre in central Oaxaca where all the other tourist go. Thank you Martha for making my street food fantasy a reality.