mercadito

ave B b/t 11th & 12th sts

this block of ave B is just a diner’s paradise. mercadito is almost directly across from barbone, which i loved, and next to that is rue B, which has a tasty and economical brunch. like any other good, authentic mexican restaurant, mercadito has an extensive tequila list. perhaps because i’ve only had cheap, bad tequila shots, i had no interest in partaking in it. i opted for the classic sangria. joining me at mercadito were my old 57 friend L and her old college friend M. even mid-week around 7 pm, mercadito, because of it’s tiny space, was packed. i would recommend making reservations, which they take.

L, M & i split a mango guacamole (really good! in fact, i tested it out tonight, and found it an easy pairing to make), and then each got a different type of taco. their tacos come in homemade corn tortillas, four tiny (really, tiny – about 3″ diameter) tacos per $14 order of really interesting combos. L didn’t like mine, but fortunatelyI did – tilapia with some sort of cheese and huitlacoche (N – is this the corn fungus you were describing last time at cafe el portal?). possibly something else on top too. interesting toppings, i told you. i really appreciated the fact that while you could get the “baja cali” style of fried fish tacos, they also had 2-3 other non-fried fish options, which seem more authentic to me based on my santa cruz taco experience. L got the mole chicken tacos which were delicious as well.

overall, it wasn’t a very cost-effective dinner – not quite enough food for the amount of money we spent, in my opinion. however, if you don’t mind overspending, and want some pretty neat mexican food, i would recommend mercadito. they also serve other things besides tacos, but their platos principales are definitely more expensive.