SHOP + DINE
The Best of Mexico
"Escape to Mexico for a meal...
...and stay for the shopping!"
“I felt transported! What an afternoon... shopping in the Mexican Artisan Market and then authentic Mexican food with delicious Margaritas!”
No Mas!®, truly “The Best of Mexico”, feels like a trip to Mexico with both Shopping + Dining; a destination experience in downtown Atlanta. Originally founded in 1996 as No Mas!® Productions in West Midtown, the business is true to its name, which literally means “no mass productions”. All of our works are original, unique, and created by the hand of talented Mexican craftsmen.
No Mas!® Cantina & Artisan Market opened in Castleberry Hill the summer of 2006. Seating 350+, with a large covered patio, No Mas!® Cantina serves authentic Mexican favorites and innovative specialties for groups large and small, starting with breakfast daily in ADios Café.
Discover Our
ARTISAN MARKET
...inspiration from Mexico
A trip to No Mas! is a true adventure…
Under the same roof, you can shop at the Artisan Market, where you will find handcrafted products from over 500 talented Mexican craftsmen. Shop for sterling silver jewelry, hand forged wrought iron, wood carving, blown glass, pottery, and cantera stone.
For more than 20 years, we’ve built our reputation by importing the highest quality, handcrafted, unique items for your home, office, restaurant, and garden.
If you are looking for a unique gift ….say no more! No Mas!
Artisan Feature
OAXACAN POTTERY
TRADITIONAL BLACK CLAY POTTERY
Barro negro, “black clay”, pottery originated centuries ago, mostly as utilitarian vessels, and has been found at archaeological sites. The original form was matte and grayish and very strong, impervious to being hit.
In the 1950s, Doña Rosa (Rosa Real Mateo de Nieto) was a Mexican ceramics artisan from San Bartolo Coyotepec, Oaxaca, Mexico, who invented the technique to make the local pottery type, barro negro, black and shiny after firing. This popularized the barro negro with tourists and collectors. It has since become one of the most popular styles of pottery in Mexico.
Before the formed clay piece is completely dry, the barro negro is burnished with a quartz stone, which compresses and polishes the surface. Then, it is fired at a slightly lower temperature than traditional pieces, emerging with a shiny black finish, without glazing. This version is a little more fragile, but it has made the pottery far more popular with Mexican folk art collectors, which included Nelson Rockefeller, who promoted it in the United States. Many types of items, from vessels to whistles, are now made with this shiny version, often with ornate cutwork. Though she died in 1980, Doña Rosa’s tradition of making the barro negro pottery is still being carried on by her daughter and grandchildren at the family home, who also stage demonstrations for tourists.
The clay that gives barro negro its color is found in San Bartolo Coyotepec, just south of Oaxaca. About 600 families in the area are dedicated to the craft. The Museo Estatal de Arte Popular de Oaxaca (State Museum of Popular Art) was opened there in 2005, dedicating one of its three halls to barro negro, with pieces from the Monte Alban era to the present day. In 2009, San Bartolo Coyotepec held its first Feria Artesanal de Barro Negro (Crafts Fair of Barro Negro) with the participation of over 150 artisans.
Come see the works of 500+ artisans of Mexico in the No Mas! Artisan Market, just across the patio from No Mas! Cantina.
MAJOLICA COLLECTION
HAND PAINTED CERAMIC ART
Related to the classic Talavera pottery, Majolica glaze is applied in a more painterly style, often depicting fruits, flowers, or birds. Vivid colors and figurative motifs add a rich Mediterranean feel displayed on a wall or dressing a surface. Another example of "functional works of art".
Majolica is an illustratively painted glazed ceramic ware, with origins in Italy, that was extensively made during the Renaissance. It was originally from Majolica, the island in the Balearics now known as Majorca, named so as it is the largest of the islands.
The No Mas! Majolica Collection, in our Artisan Market, features several different styles. Available for purchase. Come see it now, just across the patio from No Mas! Cantina.
The Catrina
Originating as a work of José Guadalupe Posada Aguilar (1852 – 1913), an influential Mexican political cartoonist whose work used skulls, calaveras, and bones to convey political and cultural critiques. One of his most enduring works is the zinc etching, La Calavera Catrina, which appeared in a newspaper. La Catrina has become an icon of the Mexican Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead.
La Catrina became popular because of a work by artist Diego Rivera, his 1947 completed mural Sueño de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda Central (Dream of a Sunday afternoon along Central Alameda). Painted between the years 1946 and 1947, it is the principal work of the "Museo Mural Diego Rivera" adjacent to the Alameda in the historic center of Mexico City and measures 15 meters long. The mural illustrates the tradition of welcoming and comfort the Mexicans have with death and especially the identity of a Lady of the Dead, harking back to the heritage of the Aztec goddess Mictecacihuatl. "Death brings this neutralizing force; everyone is equal in the end. Sometimes people have to be reminded of that."
For the Aztecs, Lady of the Dead, Mictecacihuatl, was keeper of the bones in the underworld and presided over the ancient month-long Aztec festivals honoring the dead. Since the pre-Columbian era, Mexican culture has maintained a certain reverence towards death, which can be seen in the widespread commemoration of the Day of the Dead. With Christian beliefs superimposed on the ancient rituals, those celebrations have evolved into today's Day of the Dead. Mexican culture has a complex relationship with death, including the macabre humor that ties to the cycle of life, death, and ceremony that the Aztecs had. Few countries pay homage to death the way Mexico does, with the offerings, songs, respect, and humor expressed, most significantly on Day of the Dead.
Catrinas and Catrines (male) are now often made to in replica of famous figures, and in materials from ceramic, to paper mache, or Talavera.