Our only Mexican restaurant we frequent Best flavor,…read moreservice, and quality Bring our friends when they are visiting They all agree

I discovered Mega Mercado, an amazing Mexican market and restaurant, on a trip to Lakeland, Florida…read moreand was extremely impressed with the food the restaurant was serving. Mega Mercado is located in a shopping plaza located in the shadow of the Publix corporate building. Walking in, the restaurant part is to the left. I was greeted warmly and quickly seated. They brought me salsa and chips and the salsa had a nice kick to it and was absolutely delicious. Looking over the menu, i went with three tacos, an asada taco, a chorizo taco and a cabeza (beef cheek) taco. I think it is worth noting that most of the tacos are $2.49 each, really a remarkable deal, especially at how amazing these tacos were. As I said, the tacos were amazing and deserve several mentions (once again, they were amazing). A tough choice, but if I had to pick my favorite out of the three,it would be the cabeza taco. If you are in Lakeland, this is an amazing place to try.

This restaurant is authentic style Mexican cuisine, not that Americanized slop. It seems like a…read more"mom and pop" business. Best Mexican food in town.

Thanks, Yelp! When I was hungry after antiquing, you led me here. Nice work!…read more I'm not overly familiar with the Lakeland dining scene (I probably owe it to myself to change that), so needed help satisfying my constant craving for Mexican. The Yelpiverse offered several options. The many mentions of kind service drew me here. And indeed, Yelp was right on. Alex was amazing. He was so friendly and helpful-never made me feel rushed. That was just the thing I needed, after a long work week. So, Tapatio's is on Memorial, not far from Lakeland High School. It's a cute, golden yellow building with several beautiful flower planters and crepe myrtle trees out front. It's eye-catching and yes, there's a big private parking lot. Inside, it's big but cozy. There are two separate dining areas: one up front, facing Memorial. The other is along the side. I was seated in the front area. It's colorful, comfy and homey. There's a wholesome vibe here that makes me wonder if this a family operation. I felt very welcomed. And I absolutely loved the complimentary chips and salsa. The fresh, light chips were served warm and came with two salsas: regular-and a side of spicy, that you can mix in with the regular to your ideal heat level. The menu is large... and it took me a long time to decide. Alex was so patient. I had a margarita, which wasn't too sweet (yay). I also ordered a small side of queso blanco dip and a side of flour tortillas. Frankly, I was stuffed after that, but I didn't want to miss out on anything-so I ordered the lunch "pick two" and went with two tacos: one hard taco with beef and one soft taco with chicken. It came with one side-I went with rice. What a great value for money this was: a huge helping for $11.95! The tacos were stuffed full of meat, that was cooked well. I really enjoyed all the little extra touches here, the attention to detail. There was a paper doily under the cheese dip cup, on the little plate. I liked the engraved logo on the wooden salt and paper shakers on each table and all of the wall art and decor objects. You can tell the owners/staff care about the business and the customers. I wish them all good things and huge success.

Worst "Mexican" food I've ever had…read more I grew up on the west coast and this is not Mexican. I would rather eat Taco Bell. And that is saying something. I'm writing this from the toilet. I've been sick all night after eating there

Wow these tacos are absolutely yummy and super reasonable. We have just started coming here in the…read morelast few months and love their food. Tacos are $1.25 and they are full and delicious. My favorite is the sweet pork, it's tender and moist. There's a little bite at the end. My husband loves the ground beef. We also have had the stuffed peppers. At 2 for $8 it's an amazing deal, plus it's very delicious. I'm sure there is plenty of delicious food that's also available at this little old trailer food truck. Seems to have a great variety. There's only outside seating and a walk up window. If you want a beer stroll across the street to the gas station...

We came here after a festival at Sanchez Farms which had tons of Mexican food. We refused to stand…read morein line. We found this place and it did not disappoint. Excellent service with a smile. Comfy table and chair with wonderful AC. We ordered two sopes and Quesabirria tacos. They were both very tasty. We both had Agua frescas to wash down our lunch - Pina(Pineapple) and Horchata. They were so good and big. The restroom is in the back outside around the corner but it is fine and clean. Def a good spot to stop at while in the Plant City Area. Service with a smile and dine in and dine out options. They also have inside and outside seating and are very welcoming with tasty great Mexican food.

The steak tacos were great love the salsa bar and extra toppings. The salsa were on point. The…read morechicken tacos needed sauce for flavor, though the price was reasonable. I will come back.

Very good food I highly recommend this place you guys should diff go by this spot and try itread more

Cheap tacos!! Fresh horchata, the best I've ever tasted. The service was speedy and there's some…read moreseating in the shade to sit and enjoy your lunch:) Best tacos in winter haven

We were greeted, after a few minutes, at the table and placed both are drink and food order. My…read morebrother, ordered the chicken fajitas, and enjoyed them thoroughly. I ordered the Shrimp Quesadilla and they changed it and made it a bigger portion for about the same price. The menu was brand new, since our last visit, and it was quite nice. Lots of options, but I seem to always get the same thing. I really love the Shrimp Quesadilla! Our server, was quick to bring our refills on our drinks and she was very pleasant. We had a wonderful experience!

Food was good service was excellent and drinks were strong. My go to for Mexican cuisine in the…read moreLakeland area. Always a good time.

It may look a little run down from the outside but the food is literally the best Mexican food I've…read morehad. The tostadas con todos were phenomenal and my boyfriend loved his chimichanga. Definitely recommend making the stop.

Absolutely Love this place!!! One of the best lunch spots to come to in all of Auburndale. Their…read moreGiant burrito is absolutely humongous! The waitresses there treat you like your generally there family! Always love coming to my Authentic Taco Joint!--------Spanish Me encanto este lugar!!! Es uno de los mejores sitios para almorzar en todo Auburndale. Su burrito gigante es absolutamente enorme! Las camareras te tratan como si fueras de la familia! Siempre disfruto venir a mi auténtico local de tacos!

Recently attended a Pilates event at La Piñata and had such a nice experience. For the Pilates…read moreclass, I had the hibiscus Agua Fresca, which was really refreshing and tasted so fresh. My friend had the cucumber-lime and really enjoyed hers too. Right after the class we both got the fresh fruit salad with Chamoy. Neither of us had tried Chamoy before, and we both ended up really liking it. For dinner, I had the steak tacos, and they were very delicious. Besides the delicious steak and seasonings the tortillas were probably my favorite part -- some of the best I've had. It was also fun watching them make the tortillas right outside. My friend had the carnitas tacos and said they were delicious as well. We also had the chips and salsa and enjoyed those with a cocktail. The chips and salsa were yum. A lot of Mexican restaurants give you basic salsa ,theirs was different and so good. (Btw we all agreed if you like the crunch of a potato chip, then you will love their homemade chips.) The restaurant was busy but our food came out surprisingly quickly and the staff was very nice. Overall, we had a great time and would definitely come back. The Pilates instructor Edie from LaBella Beach Pilates was really nice too the workout was fun under the lights at sunset. Overall beautiful restaurant with good food eating outdoors on the patio with live music too is a win for us. Sorry we were hungry and didn't get a chance to get pictures of our tacos, but our friend had the vegan mushroom and loved it so we have a picture of that. I hope they do this event again. Lakeland needs things to do like this during the week especially on a taco Tuesday because then we don't feel guilty eating so much tacos lol

I travel a lot for work and I always look for places like this but living here in the Tampa area, I…read moredon't do it often enough. As I told Vincent, one of the owners, I think, "You guys nailed it!". First, we just happened to go there on a random Tuesday night while there was an event going on but they were open to the public, I was so glad it worked out as they are typically only open on Saturday and Sunday for now. It was my wife's birthday and I wanted to go somewhere unique instead of the typical steakhouse or chain. I was looking for ambiance - beautiful Florida weather, out under the trees with lighting strung throughout...check. The service was unique in that (at least on a random Tuesday event) we ordered at the counter and paid first but we were very well attended to throughout our stay and the staff was so amazing. Even the cooks who were making fresh tortillas on the Blackstones on the porch were so friendly . Service...check. The food was the star of the show though. Chips and Salsa (priced well): housemade chips and housemade salsa, I'm almost certain there were some smoked ancho chilis in there because of the texture and color. It was just the right amount of heat for me without going overboard. The tacos just wowed me, I've been all over California, had amazing tacos from street vendors to hole-in-the-wall to established restaurants and these were just better. The blue and yellow maize mix fresh-made tortillas, just amazing. As a Texas raised Mexican, I'm a flour tortilla guy through and through...these would make me change teams. I had the carnitas tacos - fair warning - on the hot side so ask if you can get the salsa on the side and add at your liking but be sure to add it because it is goooood. The meat was so tender, not fatty, rendered so well and even the right amount of crisp in the right places. My wife had the steak tacos with the house salsa and that will be my choice to try next time because steak was so good too. TBH, I would like to have an option to mix and match like our local favorite Lolli's offers. I know these guys are just getting started so it is not a big deal at all. I'll end with something that I have never reviewed before because even as a Texican, I just don't like it...flan. Even the name kind of puts me off, I'm a big texture guy when I eat and the texture of flan just doesn't sit well with me and even can make me gag. Vincent offered it on the house as it was my wife's birthday and I reluctantly said yes, please. Let me tell you, I will order it again and again. A Cafe con Leche Flan with a rum coffee syrup - the texture was so smooth, and it didn't split and break all jelly-like which many flans do (makes me almost gag). It just rolled into your palate and had a beautiful coffee finish with the right amount of sweetness. Some desserts are just too much, I could have eaten two of these and not felt bad about it. I don't have pictures because I'm not that guy, but the google map pics are not AI or touched up...it looks as good as it tastes. Dios de bendiga to La Piñata - I'll be back. If you live in Tampa or Temple Terrace, it's worth the drive - you'll love it. Also, whoever this guy Gabriel is that gave a poor review and used foul language...it's ok to have a bad day just don't take it out on others. Come on over to the smiling side of life, it's much better and you'll always be welcome.