Hidden gem! Literally. Located in the very large red building across from Rosauers supermarket in…read morethe Heights, there is no signage anywhere. You either know or miss out on some delicious hot Mexican food, pan dulce, and pantry staples.
A friend told me about the freshly made carnitas, and his description had my mouth watering. I went the very next day! Upon entering, I was pleasantly surprised with how large this market is, including the aisles. There's plenty of room to walk up and down each to check out the various Mexican sodas, treats, chips, salsas, piñatas, pan dulce, fruit, and produce.
I grabbed a few mangoes for 79 cents, then fresh limes and cilantro, a pack of street size corn tortillas, then quickly realized I needed a cart! With cart in tow, I headed back to the deli counter where they have lots of marinated meat, cotja cheese, shrimp, huge trays of chicharron, roasted quarter, half and full chickens, three different kinds of tamales, and carnitas.
When ordering a pound of carnitas, which will make our taco dinner so much easier since they did the work, the young man behind the counter even asked if I wanted to include the fat. While many of the local farm workers favor those sections, I opted to go without it, and I was very appreciative that he accommodated.
The other foods looked and smelled so delicious that I couldn't resist getting a quarter of the white meat chicken and two jalapeño & cheese tamales, one pork, and one chicken.
As I left the deli area, the smell of fresh bread was everywhere, the trays placed adjacent to entice customers! I selected two pieces of various pan dulce. Admittedly, I had a piece of one as soon as I got into my car! The rest is for breakfast, perfect with morning coffee.
Makevsurevto check out the bakery and the beautifully decorated cakes. Also the rack of seasoning packs and the bags of dried chile.
In spite of what other reviewers stated, everyone working there was very friendly, greeting me with a hello and a smile, offering assistance, showing genuine kindness. Same with the other shoppers. I was using a cane due to an injury, and people moved their carts out of the way and even asked if I needed them to grab items off the shelves.
I'm so glad a friend turned me onto Mercado Guadalajara. Our dinner was fabulous and I'm already looking forward to more carnitas, tamales and roasted chicken.