Recent work at La Laguna in Central Mexico provides an excellent illustration of the way in which information from architecture, food remains, ceramic vessels and chemical signatures can be brought together to demonstrate communal feasting associated with specific structures and public spaces. Structure 12M-3 contained a range of evidence indicative of food preparation and consumption. Ritual effigy vessels depicted deities connected with food and fertility, and fire and the hearth. Taken together, the several lines of evidence indicate that Structure 12M-3 was a special building, located directly behind the main temple and devoted to the preparation and production of communal feasts that were held in the adjacent plaza. This provides new insights into community life in the urban centres of early Mesoamerica.