Carniceria El Mercadito

1 Reviews on “Carniceria El Mercadito”

• FredB

  As Good As It Gets. There are some outstanding food choices at this combination butcher shop/grocery store/bakery/mexican grill or taqueria. There is fresh meat(some cuts and varities a little off main stream) and cheeses, baked goods, canned goods, and at the back, the grill which offers some excellent items – sopas, stews, mexican shrimp cocktail, roasted chicken mexican style, gorditas, flautas, tortas (sandwiches), pig skins (out of sight good) and, of course – burritos, tacos, rice & beans – and even more – and all are authentic mexican dishes.The bakery items looked good (they were loading a truck full for delivery around the area), the meats and cheeses looked interesting, as did the shelves on canned and packaged goods, but I’ll explore them more fully another time – it was the grill and its offerings that brought me here today – more specifically the $1.50 soft tacos and the whole roasted chicken, mexican style, for $10.The tacos are simply outstanding, the best I’ve encountered in the Piedmont, and approaching the best available in the Raleigh/Durham’Chapel Hill area. The Chorizo and the Asada are the best of breed here, the very best of breed. The Al Pastor, Pollo, and Lengua are very good, just not quite as full of flavor as the other two. Didn’t try the Tripa – may not, either.These are small tortillas filled with a nice amount of meat, lettuce, tomato, cilantro, and topped with queso fresco. You also get grilled Jalapeno Peppers and small, grilled, white onions – cooked thru but still crunchy, and a nice salsa verde – not especially spicey. There is a red sauce that is very good, very hot – ask for some. These are loaded, moist, and are best eaten quickly – they don’t travel especially well.The tortillas are outstanding and fresh.The roasted chicken is great tasting, smokey, a little spicey, but not hot. It comes with a pint of rice (pale in comparison with most Mexican Rice, but among the best I’ve tasted), and a pint of beans, and these are whole pintos with nice flavor. You get a stack of fresh, hot, made in house tortillas in foil – super. And you receive a small container of both salas verde and their red, hot sauce. All this combines for an excellent meal for several people.There isw a very small – no, I man very small, amount of seating here – most order to go. It can get crowded at peak, and the kitchen speed is never going to be amazing, so a call in might be in order. Much more to try here, but so far, this is as good as it gets.

  August 2, 2012, 12:48 am

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