Do you like Mexican vanilla beans? Because if you haven't tried them before I wouldn't invest heavily in them. Yes, they are cheap as is Mexican vanilla extract but it is a different product and flavor than the beans grown in say, Madagascar.

If you like their specific flavor than great.

Definitely jamaica and chocolate! Add cajeta to that list, as well.

1. Be careful coming through customs bringing back spices and foods. Sometimes they will confiscate them, I have seen it happen :-(

2. The silver platters and service that you can get in the Mexico City area, and especially Taxco is amazing. I have a leaf platter and a set of salad/serving spoons from there and they look amazing when you're preparing a big meal.

3. Even though I know you can get it by mail in the US I love Mexican molcajetes! Check out this one from Williams and Sonoma http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/molcajete-lava-stone-mortar-and-pestle/

They are essentially a mortar and pestle made from volcanic rock. When I lived in Mexico the mama that I stayed with would actually heat the rock on the stove and cook thinly sliced meat, cactus, and other fajita-like ingredients inside of it. Delicious!

Have a great trip!

The puffed amaranth candies that each street kiosk sells are amazing. The ones labeled "chocolate" don't look dark enough to have real chocolate flavors, so I only bought one - but eating it at home was amazing. I've been scouring my local hispanic markets trying to find it here, but with no luck.

Mexico city was amazing - you'll have a great time. We spent one week in April and totally loved it. Next time, I'm including Taxco!

You could pick up one or more molinillos.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molinillo_(whisk)

They're pretty cool looking, don't take up too much space or weight, and would make a killer gift combined with some Mexican drinking chocolate tablets.

Hi, like a lover of soups I highly recommend you to try our very own hoja santa, this herb really adds a unique flavor to any dish. I once tried goat cheese tacos made of hoja santa served in a green sauce and let me tell you, they were amazing. And yeap, amaranth candies we call "alegrías" are a must. Hope you have fun here!

Oh, and I forgot one more thing, try to get your hands on a "molinillo", they are quite useful and a look lovely in the kitchen.

you can get dirt cheap comals at the markets, and they're super flat and easy to pack. Also, if you're planning on going up to Puebla you can pick up some beautiful talavera pottery, although I'm not sure if you can get it in Mexico City.

Of the things you listed, most can be found here. The big exception for me is the chocolate -- the homemade chocolate pods you can find there are superior to the commercial brands (like Abuelita, which can be found in the US). I like to bring back jars of Chile de Arbol -- great for quesidillas; and bottles of Sangrita (tequila chaser) which are hard to find in the US. I suggest hitting a supermercado and perusing bottled and canned products for interesting finds -- there will be many interesting finds and they are not a problem at the border. And definitely a molimillo, which my friend from Mexico calls a "shookah shookah" -- a childhood name. Use one and you'll understand why!

All around the city you'll find trucks selling products from Oaxaca, they sell Oaxacan chocolate, mole paste, grasshoppers, cheese, etc. Some you may be able to import to the U.S. others you may not.

Artesanal candies! (yes, the amaranth candies others have mentioned) but there's many others.

I also always bring back cans of zuchinni blossoms (flor de calabaza) and cans of Corn smut (huitlacoche) that I use for tons of recipes

Oh, yeah, and a kilo of coffee!

Things we brought back from Oaxaca City:
- pottery
- hand-embroidered clothes
- those carved wooden animals
- some vintage ex votos
- jarred molé from the grocery store
- chocolate
- mescal + tequila

Man, that duffel bag was a pain to lug around! :)

I brought back lots of Mexican vanilla extract with me.

Nice metal citrus squeezers in lime and lemon size. I use mine practically every day.

I second @CHRISGO7, definetely a metal lime squeezer!

I second the comal, although (at least in Chicago) you can get them pretty inexpensively here. I've never had trouble bringing dried/packaged spices and food through.

Whenever it comes to pottery from a foreign country, I always think of a story in my chemistry book about a couple that got really sick after their trip to Italy. No one could figure out what was wrong with them. It turned out that the dishes they bought in Italy had lead. So just be careful with what you buy.

Pretty cabinet handles and drawer pulls.

Two notes of caution: any pottery or silver serving dishes should be tested for lead before you use them for food service. Lead contamination is wide-spread and levels are high, even for dishes marked "lead free." They can obviously used for decorative purposes. http://www.fda.gov/food/foodsafety/foodcontaminantsadulteration/metals/lead/ucm233281.htm

A great deal of Mexcian candy it contaminated with lead or other heavy metals. They are routinely confiscated in the US. Stick to chocolate. http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips/candy.htm

http://www.cdph.ca.gov/data/Documents/fdbLiCLiC07.pdf

Vanilla. The vanilla there is the best for baking

Wow, great advice everyone, thank you. I'm pleased to say that I got nearly everything on my list and that was suggested here. Thanks too for the advice on buying pottery - I decided to pass on the chocolate olla and got some decorative pottery instead. Thanks again!

you should definately search in the downtown area or centro , there is a street called 16 de septiembre and there are many stores that are cheaper and had lots of things, aside from the other things you should buy obleas with cajeta,flavored mezcal (like baileys) but with lots of variations and also there are some marmalades and jams with flavors like hibiscus and chili, or mango with pasilla .

Mango forks. Essential for the blissful - and proper - consumption of mangos. You can buy them in most of the big supermarkets.