A fire destroyed the Eastern Market of Washington DC in 2007, but today nothing can be noticed. And the market hall still has a nice old fashioned charm. Outside there is an open market for stands on Tuesday afternoons and weekends. This outdoor market has just a nice roof structure and the trucks of the producers drive up to their stalls. When I visited the market the outdoor stands were just being set up. And I guess it was the first time that I saw Amish vendors.

The structure inside is simple. Fans do the cooling of the two rows for the vendors and the one aisle in the middle large enough to stroll around comfortably. Most of the stands seem to sell meat and sausages and the choices are very large. I found the loose home made sausage very appealing. It is even possible to see the artisan sausage production live at the stands. And it is nice to find also all kinds of bones with marrow, pig feet, etc.

But of course there are also baking goods, cheese (incl. French ones), artisan butter, fresh fish, vegetables, fruit etc., all the produce for basic needs. And there is also a place to get breakfast or lunch which is being appreciated by tourists as well as business folks.

The owners of the stands do not necessarily operate them, still the market hall definitely has an artisan appearance. And to a certain degree there are adaptations to modern taste: nice colorful pasta, cut fruit in cups to go etc.

All in all: Nice ambiance, serves all the basic needs with a large selection of meats and sausages. Pleasant place to have lunch.

A little link list:

• The official website
• On Wikipedia
• On facebook
• Nice blog post from inmediasrecipe.com with lots of pictures from the outdoor market, …
• … and here another good one from beyondmyfrontdoor.com
• On tripadvisor with many reviews
• Many reviews as well on Yelp

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