At noon on Sunday (Oct. 13), all of the picnic tables at Delicias de Jamo, a restaurant-stall inside the Dix Jazz Market in Algiers – that boasts 100% Hondureño cuisine – were full of customers leaned over piping hot dishes, like sopa de res – a hearty beef and vegetable soup, seasoned with achiote that leaves an oily orange residue on the edges of bright white bowls – and pollo con tajadas – fried chicken strips covered in spiced mayo and pickled vegetables and served on top of crispy plantain chips.
“Tenemos … todo la comida rica.” We have … all the delicious food, said owner Xiomara Osorno as she listed the most popular dishes on her menu.
Osorno said she has been cooking up Honduran food at the market, colloquially called “La Pulga” or the flea, for 18 years, starting at a tiny stall with one table and eventually expanding to a large cooking space with two seating areas.
On Sunday, guests at Osorno’s restaurant were a captive audience for a live sermon conducted in Spanish across a dusty, un-paved pathway, amplified by a loudspeaker. Behind the preacher, cars whizzed by on Behrman Highway.

The Algiers flea market has been around since the 1970s, but it only began to take on its Latin flavor in the years after Hurricane Katrina, when the Hispanic population in the New Orleans metro region soared as Central American workers flocked to the area seeking work, particularly in the construction industry. According to a recent analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Data Center, the Hispanic population in the metro area more than doubled between 2000 and 2023.
In 2007, after Katrina destroyed her family’s Uptown restaurant, Angela Dix’s father bought part of the market, but died just months after. Dix named her section the Jazz Market for her father’s love of the musical genre. It soon became a draw for Hispanic vendors.
“It became about people other than us,” said Dix, who said she plans to change the name to Dix International Market.
Dix Jazz Market is one of three markets that line Marr Avenue. Together, they form a sprawling maze of colorful discount goods for sale: bright green house plants, plush toys zip-tied to a wooden pole, chirping canaries, neon yellow and orange construction vests and used power tools.
Then of course, there’s the food – Salvadoran pupusas, Mexican gorditas, Honduran baleadas – all different ways to stuff tortillas with savory meats, refried beans, vegetables and cheese.
“It brings me back to my land,” said Jose Hernandez, one of the vendors at the market.

Hernandez left Honduras 12 years ago, working in Matamoros, Mexico and Houston before settling in New Orleans. “I see my people, my countrymen. I see people from other countries I’ve been in. I like interacting with people, talking with them.”
Hernandez works in construction during the week. On the weekends he sets up a table along Marr Street, just outside of the market and sells thrifted objects, including commemorative coins and guitars from around the world.
“I have no competition for that, which is good,” Hernandez said of his offerings.
Hernandez said he likes the camaraderie among the different Latin American buyers and sellers he’s found at the flea market.
“We exchange things among each other,” he said, adding that if he can’t help a customer, he’ll refer them to a friend in the market who can.
William Ahmed, another vendor, is a pharmacy student and a son of Palestinian immigrants. He sells cell phones and tablets for the telecommunications store where he works during the week. Ahmed, who speaks English, Arabic and Spanish, said customers at the store encouraged him to sell at La Pulga. He said he came by his strong work ethic growing up around immigrants, who are often supporting family both in the United States and abroad.
“Lots of ‘em are just on the street trying to sell something to get any sort of dollar to be able to support their families,” he said. “Seeing them also taught me to do something instead of just staying home.”
For Imelda Perez, who runs the largest restaurant space in the Market, Gorditas Zapotecanas, La Pulga is a family affair. Her son, her two daughters and her husband all work with her.

Juan Perez, Imelda’s son, said first the family would come to La Pulga to shop when he was a child. But eventually they met Dix and started to sell food from one table that has expanded to an entire section of the market with ample seating surrounding two counters – one for hot food and another to sell fruit juices, smoothies, horchata – a spiced rice milk – and aguas frescas – Mexican beverages made from blends of fruit juices, water and sweeteners.
Imelda Perez said that people from as far away as Baton Rouge have made Gorditas Zapotecanas a destination. On Sunday, she warmly greeted frequent customers, taking their orders tableside. She said although people come for the gorditas – corn cakes stuffed with savory fillings – other crowd-pleasers at the restaurant include chicken smothered in rich mole on homemade tortillas and menudo rojo, a spicy soup made with beef tripe – all dishes she learned to prepare as child helping her mother in the kitchen.
“She is so sweet,” customer and community activist Leticia Casildo said of Perez. “She tells me to eat everything she has in the store.”

Casildo is from Honduras. She moved to the New Orleans area in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina and could not find spaces for the growing Latin American community to gather. Then, Casildo’s brother set up a barber shop inside of the market, and Perez started her restaurant and she watched the community grow.
“It is like trying to recreate spaces like those in our countries … where people feel comfortable to come and look for what they miss about their country,” Casildo said.
Casildo, who advocates against wage theft for day laborers, said she’s disheartened by the negative attention that immigrants have received recently due to false claims made in the presidential race. She said La Pulga reveals the true spirit of immigrants in the United States.
“With hard work and dedication one can show the beautiful things about immigrant communities,” Casildo said. “Because immigrants are not the bad things they make us out to be. We are a blessing for this nation and we will continue to be a blessing for this nation.”
Sebastian Gonzalez de León contributed reporting and Spanish-to-English interview translation for this article.