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El Merkury

4.3 (216 reviews)
Special Hours • Closed
Updated 2 months ago

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El Merkury.
John M.

Having worked with Central Americans over the past 20+ years, I've grown quite fond of their food, especially pupusas. Luckily, I've got El Merkury right nearby to satisfy the occasional hankering for one. This review comprises several visits to El Merkury. I've been there several times, as most recently as a couple of days ago and I think it's a great place for a nice lunch or some great takeout anytime. The restaurant is clean, modern, and stylish, and on a nice day, the open front windows give the place a nice airy feel. Admittedly, a couple of servers don't know English very well, but the automated self-ordering removes any potential miscommunication for customers. That being said, the young ladies who fulfill the orders always give you service with a smile. Nice place, good, authentic grub! Inexpensive, too!

Jeongmin H.

Their pupusas were solid. Great combination of flavors and pretty good amount of food. It was easy to share as we were trying out lots of different vendors within the market.

Josie

Stopped by for lunch and had a great meal. You order on the computer and the food is ready quite quickly. I got the nachos with guac + black bean jalapeño pupusa. I was very satisfied with the nachos. Pupusa was alright. I was super full. I enjoyed the Latin playlist and open windows. Next time I want to try one of their drinks + churros!

Pupusas
Alicia J.

Had been craving pupusas for a while and this seemed like the best (and perhaps only) spot in Center City. Unlike the homier spots where I've had pupusas in the past, El Merkury is a spacious and modern fast-casual restaurant with touchscreens to order from, which may make it more approachable to newcomers but somewhat less cozy than a more longtime family-owned kind of place. Though you don't talk to anyone to order, someone serves your food to your table and even waits to serve your dessert until after you've finished your meal which makes it feel a touch more personal than your usual counter-serve spot. I got an order of two pupusas, one with loroco (an edible flower used as a vegetable) and cheese and one with pork. I liked that they were topped with some pickled onions and salsa to give some crunch and bright flavors. Of the two, I preferred the loroco and cheese as the cheese imparted some moisture and tasty fattiness, though I would have liked more loroco. The pork one was somewhat one-note and I think I'd get another filling with cheese next time, either the bean and cheese or pork and cheese. A surprisingly filling and satisfying meal for not too much money though. For dessert I split the "South Philly," a churro sundae with vanilla ice cream, Nutella and caramel sauce, and cannoli chips. It was a visual treat and the churro itself was perfectly crispy! Would be happy to come back to try another churro sundae flavor, and maybe one of the combo meals.

Monica T.

Had a delicious lunch at El Merkury! Conveniently located in Center City a couple blocks from Rittenhouse Square. They have screens to place your order but the friendly staff is on hand in case you have questions. For ease in meal ordering, they offer a couple Combos. I enjoyed the Pupusa (Chicharron Pork) and Tostada (Pork Mechada), and 2 Sides (Cheese Baked Rice w/ jalapenos & corn, Guacamole). I have zero complaints about any of it - it was all delicious. There's plenty of seating to sit at as you enjoy your meal and fun music. Can't wait to return. PS. Don't miss out on the insane churros -- some offered with ice cream and toppings!

pupusa and taquito meal deal with a tamarind water
Jackie M.

What a delight to eat here! I love that they have screens to order on, it's really nice to have a fast casual place like this. I ordered around 5pm and sat by the window. The food came out really quickly and they brought it right over to me. I ordered a beans and cheese pupusa, a roasted squash taquito, banana chips, and avocado salsa (they call in guacamole but it's not a traditional american guac). This was part of their meal deal for $13.99. I thought that was a fair price for the amount of food. I also ordered the tamarind water, which was very refreshing. The food was very flavorful and just different that what I usually eat. I can't decide if the pupusa or the taquito was my favorite. They also add some pickled veggie accoutrements. Very delicious. I will definitely be back - but maybe I will check out their location at Reading Terminal next.

Samira A.

This is a cute spot with plenty of seating and a clean bathroom. They offer self service computers to place your order, which is convenient. Since I was in a hurry, I only ordered a build your own salad, which was fresh and tasty. I chose spinach, pinto beans, zucchini, and carrots, and they provided a generous amount of cilantro dressing, perfect for coating all the veggies. The flavors here are great, and the prices are very reasonable. I look forward to coming back to try more items.

Pupusas

Waited about 15 minutes for my order. The pupusas looked great and were nicely presented, and the price--2 for $14--is a solid deal. Unfortunately, they were a bit lacking in flavor. That said, the staff was super kind and which I really appreciated.

Outside
Manta K.

El Merkury is a vibrant casual restaurant which serves Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras food. The menu has items like pupusas, tostadas, taquitos, and churros. It's an easy process to order off of a touchscreen and your food is prepared quickly and when ready your name is called. We appreciated that dietary restrictions are clearly labeled. Most of what we ordered was very tasty however not sure if we ordered the wrong pupusas as the bean ones were a bit bland. The tostada and taquito were delicious though. We loved the bright cheerful interior and were sad we were too full for a churro. Docking one star for the bland pupusas but will definitely be back and will try a different one and will adjust my rating. Please give this place a try it is very unique!

Sharvani M.

Good food! I've had taquitos from their Reading Terminal Market location before and they were quite tasty and crisp, and same experience this time except tried a few more items. The butternut squash taquitos were probably still my fave for how crispy on the outside, savory on the inside they were. I also really enjoyed the beet tostada, but didn't love the black bean pupusas. The toppings ar generally the same on each item (pickled onions, lettuce, salsa) so the real flavor comes from the filling or stuffing itself and the toppings add to it. Plenty of vegetarian options - I would come back here for a little snack but probably not a whole meal.

Got the churro on the side
Angela B.

Just go to your neighborhood churro man lol =========== I was excited for the churro, but even fresh it wasn't that good :( vanilla soft serve with nut brittle, goat milk caramel sounded better on paper. The churro was pretty hard on the outside and wasn't really moist on the inside. For $7, you get a sizeable amount, but I didn't even enjoy eating the churro by itself. Even Jack in the box churros are better. When I called them on the phone, they didn't pick up and I let it ring forever. As I entered, they were serving one customer so I'm not sure what occurred here.

Churro w ice cream

Pork and cheese pupusas were delicious! The churro with ice cream dessert was yummy. Service was great. Definitely recommend.

Pupusa & Taquito Combo
Cookie W.

Fast food, quick service, friendly staff. Self seeting area Taquito (5/5) - One of the best taquitos in philly, fried perfectly. Thicker than traditional Pupusa (4/5) - Soft, flavorful, we got vegetarian Tostada (3/5) - Average

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2 months ago

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2 years ago

Great place for lunch! We had nachos with pork and a churro. It was busy and the food came fast. We will be back

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Food is great. Service is very dependent on the day. If you can order online, that's ideal.

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Mamajuana

3.0(113 reviews)
2.3 mi•Northern Liberties, Fishtown

Tuve una experiencia increíble en Mama Juana celebrando el cumpleaños de una amiga muy especial…read more Desde que llegamos, el ambiente fue espectacular, la comida deliciosa y la energía del lugar simplemente perfecta para celebrar. Pero lo que realmente hizo la diferencia fue el servicio EXCEPCIONAL de Darío y Vanessa Ambos fueron súper atentos, amables y pendientes de cada detalle. Nos hicieron sentir especiales toda la noche y se aseguraron de que la celebración fuera inolvidable. Ese tipo de servicio no se encuentra en cualquier lugar Definitivamente volveré y lo recomiendo 100%. Si quieren pasar un momento especial con excelente comida y atención de primera, este es el lugar

Staff overlooked me when doing rounds for celebrations. I arrived early, checked in early, yet when…read morestaff were doing their rounds to since congratulations to everyone, I was somehow overlooked and had to wait until the top of the next hour to hear Happy Birthday sung to me. I felt very excluded from the celebrations even though there was absolutely no reason for me to be. Front-desk staff even asked if today was en event and I clearly stated to them that ,yes. Today is my birthday. I wait five minutes to be seated. Order my food. And begin eating when staff begin their celebration rounds. I was somehow overlooked which felt horrible. The food is great. The vibes are great. The service is lacking. However, the food was delivered to my table expeditiously. I was surprised at how quickly my food was delivered to my table. The service was simply lacking in attention to an important detail on my birthday.

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Mi Tierra Colombia - Empanadas de carne y queso y piña colada  Beef and cheese empanadas

Mi Tierra Colombia

4.1(97 reviews)
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Very small restaurant with a lot of pretty wall decoration and a large take out service…read more I enjoy trying new places and experiencing food from different cultures. This is a great place with authentic cuisine. We started with the chicken Empanadas which were crispy on the outside and full of delicious flavors on the inside. I'm sorry we didn't try the beef and cheese ones...maybe next time. The seafood paella was full of shrimp, octopus, mussels and chorizo over seasoned rice with fried onions, red peppers and peas. The chorizo was so good I got a few to take home. The ropa vieja was beef which was slow cooked to the point of falling apart and melting in your mouth with potatoes and a side of rice. There were three in my party and we all had at least seconds and still had some leftovers. Very enjoyment meal and would recommend.

Took a little trip across the bridge from PA to Joisy to pick up some items order online. Thanks to…read moremy fellow yelpers, found this restaurant for lunch about a 3 minute drive away. Man, I could eat at this place every week and be a happy camper! The food was sooo flavorful and delicious. Every item on our plates was cooked well and seasoned to perfection. Despite not speaking the same language, we were able to communicate our needs and received good and friendly service from our waitress. The other diners all seem to be enjoying their meals. And, our portions were big enough to enjoy the deliciousness at another meal. Would return without hesitation!

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Aqimero - Tomahawk

Aqimero

3.8(220 reviews)
0.6 mi•Penn Center, Avenue of the Arts South, Rittenhouse Square
•$$$

Ambiance is amazing for sure! It's in the Ritz so yeah very ritzy. I've dined here twice. The first…read moreexperience was a dinner with my younger cousin. It was a girls' night and we had fun. They food was fair. We had the tomahawk steak, seared table side, and sat on a block of ?Himalayan salt. The cocktails were great and service was on point the first time. Paid valet parking, clean restrooms. Here's where I docked a star (let's be honest, this isn't a 5-star dining experience) I came back the second time because the first experience was great. We didn't have a kitchen around Thanksgiving due to renovations so decided to have our family thanksgiving dinner here. It was myself, husband, MIL, and 2 kids (3 and 4 year old). They had the thanksgiving brunch fixed menu and per the OpenTable website, it was $95 for adults, and $40-50 per child. When I tried to make a reservation online, it wouldn't allow me to make the reservation with the kids as it was charging a full price of $95 per child (so $500-$600 for 3 adults and 2 kids). I called aquimero and spoke with their representative who told me that I can go ahead and pay the full price online and they will make modifications to my final bill on the day of. So I did! The moment we sat down, I reminded our server about this bill and she seemed nonchalant about it, reassured me it can be fixed. So throughout dinner, a random person and a lady who introduced herself as the manager came by to let me know that it will be taken care of but just not that day because the bosses aren't working due to it being a holiday weekend. Ok, no biggie. I was told I would get a call the following Monday. No one called. I called for a follow up on a Tues, I was told someone would get back to me. No one did. Yes, it's $100, but it's $100 and however much your principle is worth. How can you charge little children adult price? Oh and I was asked over and over on the phone that "maybe" my kids are 10yrs and older. I get it, mistakes happen, but as I told the many people I spoke with on the phone, you have made zero attempt to rectify this. And what is going on with the Ritz trying to hold on to a measly hundred bucks? Are you struggling? Anyways, food was mid. The seafood tower was ok, but the crab legs and giant shrimp cocktail were super fishy. The steak I had was good though. Perfect temperature, at least they got this one right. Husband and I did have GI symptoms when we got home. Probably the seafood tower rather than the steak. What Aquimero lacks is consistency, integrity, and a sense of decency. You can keep my $100.

Within the Ritz Carlton you will find this restaurant with full bar. It is gorgeous inside. Open…read moreand festive for the holiday with a projector of Philly city scapes and cuteness. You feel special here for sure. Aqimero has a great menu for everyone. A few vegan options definitely heavy seafood and veggie choices. They have quite a few signature drinks however, you can't taste the liquor so cut that and go liquor neat/ice/mixer. Cheaper and you taste the liquor for real. The service. Just as everyone else commented-- slow and the place had maybe 30 people tops. And I'm counting those at the bar. Our server disappeared often. And when we would catch his eye, he then remembered what we asked. Whether drink, napkin, water... just eh en. The runners were more attentive and made up for our server's indifference for our table. Would i return? Maybe if I'm down there and i sat at the bar.

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Bolo - Panna cotta & cream cheese custard

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4.2(131 reviews)
0.1 mi•Rittenhouse Square, Penn Center

Food, service, and vibes were all great! I met a girlfriend for HH and sat at the bar. We got a to…read moretry a little of everything. The bartender was very friendly and the food came out quickly. We got the chicken and lamb skewers, chicken empanadas, 3 of the 5 ceviche shooters (tuna, salmon, and snapper), and the smashed plantains side. Definitely would recommend!

Im gonna start by saying I would absolutely give this place a second try. Yesterday must have been…read morean off day. So pull up a chair, lemme tell ya a story. While on my short hop over to Philly I was in the mood for a restaurant with character /flavor and ran across Bolo on Google. I read the article about how it came to be & I was sold immediately. I made the reservation within an hour and the check in was seamless. I love that you are transported into a cafe you would fall into on the island. Staff was all wecoming and friendly which is a great 1st impression. Yaay Bolo. I scan over the menu & realize they have a prefix menu which I wanted to opt for. However I also see that the skewers that I had my eye set on was not a part of the snack portion. However I ask the waitress can she ask the manager if I can have one of the $9 skewers instead of one of the $20 starters to accommodate that portion of the meal. Unfortunately she came bk with news that broke my heart. The answer was no. I respect that. Confused but respect. Now I opt to just do a la carte. I decided to order 2 skewers & the Imperial Chicken rice & my friend ordered the Vica Frita. The moment of truth arrived and the shrimp & chicken skewers were everything I hoped for! I was equally excited about my chicken & rice because I just know im gonna be blown away by a flavorful marinated chicken breast. Mmmmm. The food arrives & it looks phenomenal. Im going in fast for my 1st bite and womp womp womp, it was simply eye candy. The chicken portion was a bit dry & flavorless unfortunately. However the dish redeemed itself with the saffron rice. That was delicious although I only had a few bites. My friend's steak was EVERYTHING! Presentation, spice, juicy and simply gives you a foodgasm. Bunuelos dessert was on point and the puuuurfect size for sharing. Now that the meal is about over this is where confusion comes into play. The waitress comes over & asks "How is everything?". I look at her & say the chicken dish is very underwhelming, just wrap it up I will figure out what to do with it at home. She didn't even attempt to offer the manager to come over to smooth things over or ask would I like something else instead especially seeing that the entire chicken is still sitting pretty on my plate. Lol. She then asked did we like anything else, I said just the check. She then confirmed she is going to go wrap this dish to go & handed us the check. Lol I do not complain much & never do so to get anything free. I do however love feeling like my opinion matters & you will attempt to make my experience the best. So in closing I will come back for the live Thursday music & happy hour.

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El Merkury - latin - Updated May 2026

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