Ostrich burgers. Shark jerky. Sweet potato pie.
These were some of the delicacies once served up at Old Spanish Day’s Mercado de la Guerra over the years.
Since 1949, De La Guerra Plaza has been the heart of Fiesta food and entertainment, presenting a selection of street food from different vendors paired with live musical and dance performances throughout the festivities.
I decided to take a look back at the News-Press archives to see what the Mercado looked like 10 to 70 years ago. What I found reveals how food at the Mercado has evolved over time, and how factors like social media trends, dietary preferences and regional cultures all play a role.
In the early days of the Mercado, around the 50s and 60s, traditional American carnival food was served in addition to Mexican dishes—think cotton candy, popcorn and pie. Up until recently, corn on the cob was a yearly favorite at the Mercado. In the 70s and 80s came hot dogs, corn dogs, BBQ ribs and tri-tip sandwiches.
These days, Mercado food is mostly, if not all, Mexican and Latin American.
But it wasn’t always that way. Over the years, booths have also served chicken kebab in the 2010s and bratwurst and sweet potato pies in the 1990s as culinary palettes have diversified over the years.
The Mercado has also adapted to the food crazes, diets and fads of the time.
In the 90s, diners once flocked to Cuyama and Santa Ynez restaurants for their ostrich burgers, presumably for its lean, high-protein content. By 1996, the bird burgers were sold at the Mercado, as the late News-Press reporter Sally Cappon observed. “Next thing you know, they’ll serve tofu with Dodger dogs at the ballpark,” Cappon wrote.
As plant-based alternatives entered the market around the same time, garden burgers, veggie burritos and shrimp salad appeared at the Mercado.
Shark jerky even had a moment of its own, thanks to the Santa Barbara Fish Market, who also used to serve fish tacos, calamari, seaweed salad and ahi tuna (this year, there’s no seafood at the Mercado).
A frozen-yogurt-on-a-stick booth popped up in 1978—a novelty for Mercado attendees, reported News-Press writer John Dell. “Who would have thought of yogurt at Fiesta?” one Fiesta-goer wondered.
This year, you’re just as likely to find pickle pizza, hot cheeto fries and birria ramen–all delicacies that found fanfare on social media in recent years—as you are traditional Mexican favorites.
Tacos, tamales, churros and funnel cake will always withstand the test of time at the Mercado, however.
