What's the food like in the markets in the Pedasi, Azuero, Panama area?

The choice of food one can find in the stores in Pedasi has improved greatly these past years. There is still a fairly limited choice of fresh vegetables and fruits offered in the local stores. But now there are trucks that come from the highland area of Chiriqui, which make the trip once a week to supply the local restaurants and hotels. They will also sell to individuals.  One just needs to know when and where.

Since there is no butcher shop in Pedasi, you...

The choice of food one can find in the stores in Pedasi has improved greatly these past years. There is still a fairly limited choice of fresh vegetables and fruits offered in the local stores. But now there are trucks that come from the highland area of Chiriqui, which make the trip once a week to supply the local restaurants and hotels. They will also sell to individuals.  One just needs to know when and where.

Since there is no butcher shop in Pedasi, you still will have to go to the supermarkets in Las Tablas and Chitre for a good selection of meat.  If you want to buy your meats in Pedasi, basically, your only choice will be frozen chicken, low quality beef and hotdogs!

Surprisingly, given that Pedasi is renowned for its fishing, you cannot buy fresh fish in the stores in Pedasi. You will have to go directly to the fishermen! Which means super fresh fish!

You would think that you could go to the store and buy seafood in Pedasi, but you can’t find it in the stores.  Instead, you'll most likely buy from one of several local Pedasi "fish guys" who come through once or twice a week.  One fish guy might sell tuna, while another fish guy might sell shrimp and lobsters.  You have to figure out what their schedule is as well.

In Pedasi, lots of people buy much of their food from carts, as opposed to from what in the States you would call a traditional food market.  I do it all the time; not only for myself, but also for the hotel here in Pedasi I help to manage, Pedasito.  Most of the produce that we use in the hotel we buy from the carts, which are like moving markets where you can buy everything, like onions, tomatoes, really fresh and really flavorful; not what you would find in a regular...

In Pedasi, lots of people buy much of their food from carts, as opposed to from what in the States you would call a traditional food market.  I do it all the time; not only for myself, but also for the hotel here in Pedasi I help to manage, Pedasito.  Most of the produce that we use in the hotel we buy from the carts, which are like moving markets where you can buy everything, like onions, tomatoes, really fresh and really flavorful; not what you would find in a regular supermarket in Panama City.

 

I’ll give you an example of tomatoes and onions, both of which I really like.  You can find onions and tomatoes in the supermarkets in Panama City, but they are not really tasty.  In comparison, the tomatoes and onions find in Pedasi in the moving trucks are not only really tasty, but you can see and feel and taste that they are really fresh.  Compared to the supermarket, the prices for the produce from the carts is much cheaper, perhaps about 40% less. 

 

 

The also have carts that bring freshly caught fish, some of which were caught as recently as an hour before.  When the tuna comes, they cut it for me, I take a piece, just put some soy sauce on it, and its ready to eat.  It’s really fresh.

 

If you want a porterhouse steak at a restaurant, I recommend you go to Smiley’s.  If you want it for yourself at home, I recommend going to the supermarket in Las Tablas, which is 40 minutes away by car.

 

We have two supermarkets in town, one at the entrance to the town, and one at the bakery.  Both are nice, and even though they are local and not as large as a traditional supermarket in the States or in other, more urban or populated areas in Panama, both are stocked well enough that you can find most of what you need on a daily basis.  If you want imported goods (for example, Tropicana orange juice, which I really like), you may have to go to a supermarket in Las Tablas, about 40 minutes away by car.

 

The entire Azuero Peninsula, which is where Pedasi, Las Tablas and Chitre are located, is known for cattle ranches.  Now, the Azuero Peninsula and Pedasi specifically is developing as a tourist destination because of the beauty and activities in the area, but 20 to 30 years ago, it was used almost exclusively for cattle.  In between Las Tablas and Pedasi is a large slaughter house.  80% of the beef that is produced there is for export, mostly to New Zealand and Japan.

 

 

 

 

You can go to a restaurant in Pedasi and spend around $4 for a main course. There is also what we call the “Comida Corriente” (“Common Food”) or “Menu Ejecutivo: (Executive Menu”) which you can get for $2.75 and consists of a full meal with rice, beans, meat and salad. You can find that every day and everywhere in Pedasi. A lobster meal is around $20.

 

Alternatively, if you want to buy your own food instead of going to a restaurant...

You can go to a restaurant in Pedasi and spend around $4 for a main course. There is also what we call the “Comida Corriente” (“Common Food”) or “Menu Ejecutivo: (Executive Menu”) which you can get for $2.75 and consists of a full meal with rice, beans, meat and salad. You can find that every day and everywhere in Pedasi. A lobster meal is around $20.

 

Alternatively, if you want to buy your own food instead of going to a restaurant in Pedasi, food is available for purchase from supermarkets (including Chinos), tiendas, and food carts.

 

Supermarkets

 

Supermarkets have more variety of food than tiendas. Meat and fresh produce are also available in the supermarket. They also sell other things like flip-flops, hats, sun block, and liquor. Tiendas, by the way, do not usually sell liquor.

 

The big stores in Pedasi are called supermarkets but they are not as big as the supermarkets in other cities like the one in Las Tablas, which is about 45 minutes away by car. Some people go to the bigger supermarkets in Las Tablas because they have more variety and the people can do other things on a shopping trip. But this is all optional. We don’t really have to go to Las Tablas to buy things since most of what people need is available in Pedasi. You might not get the specific brand you want, but you will still get the product.

 

Tiendas

 

Tiendas are stores that are smaller than a supermarket and they have less variety of goods. The prices of goods in tiendas are pretty much the same as they are in the big supermarkets. The benefit of buying from tiendas is that you can get what you want much quicker and you don’t have to get in line to pay the cashier. The tiendas are not self-service. The proprietor or the owner of the store would be standing behind the counter and the customer would come up and tell him or her what they want, and the proprietor gets it and hands it to them.

 

Tiendas are mostly owned and managed by local Panamanians, while the Chinese tend to own the supermarkets.  Everyone buys from tiendas, even expats. People would go to a tienda rather than to the supermarket because it is more convenient. It also depends on what you want to buy. For example, if you need to buy just one box of milk, you can just easily go to a tienda and get it right away rather than go to the supermarket and get in line to pay for this one item.

 

Food carts

 

Food carts are also available in Pedasi but they sell mostly fish. You wouldn’t’ buy fish from the tienda, unless it’s frozen and came from Canada. If you want fresh fish, you can go to El Arenal (one of the beaches here in Pedasi) in the morning or in the late afternoon and you may buy fish directly from the fishermen who just came in.

 

Some people in Pedasi also grow gardens and sell fresh produce in their own yard.