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Street foodEl Carmen
Cemitas El Gordo builds milanesa cemitas on 13 Oriente in El Carmen, Puebla, opening early at the weekend and running through to the evening.
Why locals goAn El Carmen cemita counter on 13 Oriente that most visitors walk past on their way to the market.
TipOpens earlier at weekends than the market stalls do, which makes it the better Saturday-morning cemita option.
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Food hallXonaca
Mercado Xonaca trades between 22 Norte and 28 Oriente in Puebla, a barrio market of produce, comedores and mole ingredients that opens daily.
Why locals goA barrio market between 22 Norte and 28 Oriente where the comedores cook for neighbours rather than visitors.
TipTake the 19 or 24 route out, and treat the comedor plates as the reason to come rather than the produce aisles.
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TaqueriaAnalco
Mi Puebla Antigua Tacos y Cemitas keeps a small Analco dining room in Puebla, building cemitas to order in three sizes for well under a hundred pesos.
Why locals goA small Analco dining room building cemitas to order in three sizes, on the wrong side of the river for tourists.
TipClosed on Mondays, and the largest size is genuinely large, so order down unless you are sharing.
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CafeCentro Historico
Black Cat, Black Rabbit roasts its own beans on 6 Oriente in Puebla and mixes coffee with mezcal in drinks you will not find elsewhere in the Centro.
Why locals goA 6 Oriente roaster that mixes its own coffee with mezcal, on a street everyone visits for sweets instead.
TipCome for the coffee-and-mezcal builds rather than a straight espresso, which is what the bar is actually built around.
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PueblanArboledas De Guadalupe
La Ververa cooks chalupas, memelas and mole poblano at neighbourhood prices in Arboledas de Guadalupe, Puebla, on Saturdays and Sundays only.
Why locals goA residential-street kitchen in Arboledas de Guadalupe serving chalupas at 35 pesos and mole poblano at 89, weekends only.
TipOpen Saturday and Sunday only and closed by six, so this works as a weekend lunch detour rather than a weekday one.
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Cocktail barCentro Historico
Destilado Urbano stocks over a hundred mezcal labels on 6 Sur in Puebla and runs guided flights of three with a chaser from around 250 pesos.
Why locals goA hundred-label mezcal room on 6 Sur that runs structured tastings instead of selling shots to tourists.
TipBook the guided flight of three with a chaser from around 250 pesos rather than ordering blind off the shelf.