It's our first time here today and it wont be our last. i am Ecuadorian by birth and my husband was born in the USA. Every time we tried a new dish, he gave it a thumbs up and I was reminded of my mother's kitchen. we ordered: Llapingachos, Trio de Empanadas, Ceviche Ecuatoriano, Pulpo, Chaufa Mixto and finished with a Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. Everything was amazing. Our server, Josh was upbeat, efficient and checked in on us! The vibe was fun, and the staff all gracious and welcoming. Very authentic (from Peru and Ecuador) decor with a great blend of comfort, pleasant color tones and fun. What a terrific place! read more

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Went here for dinner last weekend! Great service, great food & drinks. The inside is beautiful, and they have outdoor seating as well. We will be back! read more

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This new Peruvian fusion spot has so much potential. The ambiance is beautiful, the servers are warm and welcoming, and the drinks were honestly one of the highlights of the night. Every cocktail we tried was well balanced, flavorful, and thoughtfully made. The seafood dishes were definitely the strongest part of the menu. The octopus was cooked perfectly, tender with a great char and texture. The jalea was fresh, crunchy, and delicious. You can tell the kitchen shines when it comes to seafood. The ceviche also had great flavor, though the fish pieces were cut a bit too large, which threw off the texture slightly. The Ecuadorian style ceviche was not our favorite. Where the restaurant struggled most was with the meat dishes. The skewers lacked depth and weren't cooked quite right, and unfortunately the flavor just wasn't there. The biggest disappointment was the steak and fries. At $40, the dish simply didn't match the quality or execution expected at that price point. Overall, this place has a strong foundation, especially with its atmosphere, service, drinks, and seafood offerings. With some refinement to the meat dishes and consistency in execution, it could easily become a standout spot. read more

Mercado Restaurant (formerly Flying Rhino) has opened in March 2026 on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester. This full service restaurant & bar serves up Peruvian and Ecuadorian cuisines with table seating in the main dining room and a full service bar area towards the back with TVs and high chair seating. At the time of this posting, Mercado is in their soft opening phase with a streamlined menu of small plates and entrees including empanadas, pescado a lo macho, churrasco, cerviche duo (mahi & shrimp), pulpo, pinchos anticucheros, just to name a few offerings. The prices are moderate, slightly high. The bar offers 12 draft beers, bottle beer, wine, and cocktails. I stopped by Mercado Restaurant for a late night dinner. The place was fairly busy, so I headed to the bar and found an open seat. The bartender gave me a menu and a glass of ice water. I decided on the Fetuccine a la Huancaina ($28 plus tax) which was served in 15 minutes. This pasta dish had soft cooked fettuccine noodles tossed in a creamy huancaina sauce with peppers, red onions, tomatoes, tenderloin beef strips (lomo saltado), cilantro. The flavors of this pasta dish were good, but the beef was very chewy and needed to cut into very small pieces. I also requested a box for some of the pasta to bring home. The check was presented shortly after which was $29.96 with tax and before tip. I would come back again for dinner to try some other choices with my local buddy who enjoys a good full dinner with cocktails. read more

Wow, we loved it all but the octopus is out of this world! Great atmosphere, service was top notch. Shared food style for our meal, up from Connecticut and well worth the drive! read more

Mercado Restaurant - Date night! - Peruvian Near Me - Worcester, Massachusetts

I feel like Worcester *needed* this restaurant!!! It's Peruvian and Ecuadorian food- and my oh my- what a welcomed change! We were a group of 6 so we tried and shared many dishes including the steak, octopus, ceviche, and more! The drinks, including the classic Pisco sour, were equally delicious! And our waitress Naomi was also very sweet and knowledgeable! I can't wait to go back to try the empanadas!!! By the way - this restaurant is where the Flying Rhino was, but everything has been renovated and it has a totally clean, warm, inviting, and happy vibe!!! Highly recommend! read more

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I was pleasantly surprised by our experience here . I only say this because the restaurant is fairly new, and I know it takes time to get into a groove. Everything was excellent though! Our server was fantastic, and knew a lot about the different dishes. The owner came out several times to check on us. The food was phenomenal! We were a group of six and we ended up getting several small and sharing throughout the evening. The Yuca Croquetas we're so good, we put in a second order. At the end we found out we should have ordered the empanadas! We did not have one thing that we did not like. I am so happy that Worcester has this restaurant. read more

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This restaurant is just down the road from me. Was glad to see flying rhino get replaced with something else so quickly. I was very pleasantly surprised how good the food and service here was. They've also redone the inside of the restaurant and it looks amazing. I highly recommend trying Mercado out! read more

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Delicious food. Tapas style and we enjoyed what we chose. Restaurant is very clean and modern.

We went there for a date night when it first opened. It completely exceeded expectations in every way. I felt like the server was my best friend, the food was new and different, the room was filled with interesting decor. We loved it and can't wait to go back. read more

Tried for the first time and everything was great! Sat at a high top so the bartender was our server. He was super attentive. The food was the star for sure. Got the octopus, ceviche, croquettes and empanadas. Everything was outstanding but we couldn't stop talking about the octopus. It had a delicious char on it but melted in your mouth. Best new restaurant in Worcester!!! read more

Unique food for Central mass and great staff and proprietors! It can get very busy on the weekends so make a reservation. For sure, try the Peruvian National drink, a Pisco Sour. read more

I'll be real, I could have drank the ceviche broth. Plus the service was amazing and everyone was so friendly. 10/10. You gotta go

whoooo hooo! 6 of us went, had 2 drinks each, ordered 7 plates and 3 desserts to share, every single bite was delicious!! lovely service, beautiful bright and light inside, looked like a fun scene at the bar. highly recommended, glad it's on the scene!! no pictures, too busy with blissed out eating!! read more

Beautiful restaurant. We started with the Ceviche Duo and Yuca Croquetas--unbelievably good. I was only sad that we knew that if we tried the Trio Empanadas we would be too full to order our main courses. We had the Chafa Mixto (beef) and La Tonga (chicken with peanut sauce). Wonderful entrees!! It was a very busy night but the staff were so friendly and willing to explain anything on the menu to us. So many things on the menu we want to try so we are looking forward to going back to Worcester and Mercado read more

I was really excited to try this restaurant after seeing the pictures and other reviews but was unfortunately let down. I went during dinner and the interior was nice, the staff and service were also very pleasant, and I have no complaints about either of those aspects. The food on the other hand didn't impress me, especially for the price. A lot of my dishes arrived at room temperature or outright cold. The fried Yuca Croquettes were cold inside and not hot at all, they were clearly premade way in advanced and left to sit. The pinchos steak skewers were not even room temp (although the flavor was good) and the cheesy scallops are just outright bad. There were a few highlights though, like the fettuccine a la huancaina and the chicharron which were enjoyable. Overall, it wasn't bad, but I have no desire of returning again anytime soon, especially considering that the prices are pretty high for the quantity and quality that you receive. They're still relatively new so maybe it'll improve with time. read more