Montana Charlie’s

This was my first time here and I LOVE it! I was looking for Mexican cookware that was lead free. Beautiful art pieces people were very friendly.

Do not get caught in the wrong lane when trying to get in this place. You will not be able to get in the correct lane. Also, the people who won’t let you in view what you are doing as trying to cut in line. You will get sworn at both in English and Spanish. After pleading my case to a dude in a Yukon loaded with kids, not a one in a seat belt, he did let me in after yelling at me that he shouldn’t and I should be in the back of the line. Really??? I could have sworn I was entering the flea market version of Mecca or sonething. This was very serious business, this entering the parking lot of Montana Charlie’s flea market. Once we were inside, I picked up a very nice knock off bag for $ 28 bucks, a deal. But after that I wasn’t impressed with anything. Many Hispanic items from clothing to cookware. Some big vendors with fresh fruits and and vegetables, along with beans, dried chiles and snacks. Lots of the same old sunglasses, socks, tshirts and car stereo stuff. I waited for 30 minutes for two bland asada tacos. I am not coming back anytime soon.

Ahhhh ok? I haven’t been to this flea market for about 10 years? And for me who can buy something at a gas station it was weird that there was not one thing worth buying?! Booth after booth of highly ethnic things! We went later (around noon) and waited nearly an hour to approach the door to get in! Not ONE thing was bought! I was looking for vintage toys– in good condition but there were none!

check out the taco truck in the back of the lot. Great food clean and cheap. Great Tortas. No pork chop sandwiches or polish sausages. that would make this place a great food experience. This place is also know as El Gallito or the Rooster. Spanish speakers don’t know what you mean by Montana Charlie. Ask for direction to «El Gallito»

Montana Charlie’s is a «meets expections» kind of flea market. You can expect to find a predictable variety of items including knockoff handbags, jewelry, Mexican candy, produce, perfume and cologne, t-​shirts, belts and belt buckles, tools, VHS and DVDs, to the less predictable: pregnancy tests, mattresses, and turtles.
I brought home some Mexican candy (50 cents), a bottle of perfume ($ 20), a necklace ($ 10), a pair of earrings ($ 1), and 2 beer coozies ($ 1). I spent nearly 2 hours here and got my first sunburn of the summer. Even if you don’t find anything here, you’ll get a tan, sweat in the blistering sun, and do some people watching.
While the perfume and cologne is most likely stolen (how else can they offer such a discount?) I’ve purchased Dior and DKNY perfumes for $ 20, while in department stores these cost $ 60 – 80. My suspicion for stolen goods comes from both the price they offer, and the loosely re-​shrink wrapped packages. If you like a deal, you’re not going to care. It’s their ass on the line, not yours.
The knockoff handbags are nothing special, and for $ 30 I could get something better quality at Kohl’s. The ladies who run these spaces don’t negotiate much either.
Go for the people watching. A lot of the vendors, surprisingly, didn’t carry change. Parking on Saturdays is $ 2, and $ 3 on Sunday. I don’t know what the difference is, but since there were 3 of us in one car, $ 1 per head isn’t bad.
Hungry? There’s tons of fresh produce and bagged Mexican snacks like duros and chicharrones. There’s also a shack in the middle of the grounds selling popsicles (paletas) for $ 1.50 in a variety of flavors from chocolate and vanilla to coconut and «el lote.»
Avoid this place if you’ve got a stick up your ass and like complain when people don’t speak fluent English. Most of the vendors are Hispanic, some speak fluently and others do not. Some vendors will barter with you, and others won’t. My dad wanted a skillet frying pan, and the guy claimed, «the stuff isn’t mine,» when he tried to barter with him. Unless you’re buying a big item, most of the stuff is so cheap you’ll feel like a jerk bartering anyway.
Oh, and don’t buy the MAC cosmetics here. They sit out on the table in the blistering sun, and they aren’t real MAC products. So you’re paying top dollar for cheap cosmetics. There are a lot of vendors with $ 1 nail polish in funky colors, so I’d suggest that for your make-​up fix instead.

Stolen bicyles… check!
Knockoff purses… check!
Fresh tacos… check!
Amazing procude. check!
I love the flea market. It makes for some sweet deals and even better people watching. Everything you could possibly need is just a stall away. Aside from maybe Cosco where else can you buy toothpaste, groceries, mattresses and then ride a camel?
The best part is the fresh fruits and vegetables though. Green peppers 3 for a dollar and everything else a dollar a pound. It was all great quality too and super fresh. It is quite tempting to do all my grocery shopping here, for produce at least.

We LOVED THIS PLACE!!! Tons of vendors, everyone was friendly and looking to barter. We were looking for specific items, so we did a quick run through the market first, and found that prices did vary from vendor to vendor. In the end, we got what we wanted for about $ 15 less than another vendor, woo hoo!
Lame that they charge for parking, but oh well. We still thought the $ 3 on a Sunday was all right. Make sure you bring plenty oh cash and get there early, the parking can get out of control if you are a late riser.
ALSO, check out the fruit stands, I got a great price on limes and cherries… mmmm…cherry limeade!

Best flea market i have ever been to… I used to go to a lot of different ones until i discovered this one. They have a ton of vendor’s. This is where I go for all my fitted caps and they sell a lot of Hispanic snack food and just about anything you may need u can find there, I even got my Chicago bears jersey there. only compliant i have is that there parking keeps going up every year, over the course of 3 years there parking has nearly tripled from one dollar to three dollars. except for this… I love it!

This is a pretty awesome flea market. The food is awesome, and there’s vendors of just about any kind