Mi Pueblo Food Center

I used to like this place and shop on a daily basis until one day I was asked to go buy a regular burrito on top of other items. I saw a line of 15 people waiting at the food counter. So I decided to go to the restaurant section where they make tacos, tortas and burritos where there was nobody waiting and asked the employee who was just standing there if he could start making my burrito so by the time I got to the register I just had to pay and go. To my surprise he said no. He said I had to wait in line just like everybody else and pay for it first. Really!!! They can’t make u a $ 4 burrito until u pay for it. I left did my shopping and came back to pay for it then they started to make it. They took forever even though I was the only one there. I waited to talk to a manager and I was told that is the procedure. That is stupid and ridiculous just like the management in this place. I still shop here on a daily basis because there is no other place close by. I don’t really like the place some employees are nice but some others are rude.

This place is amazing. The meat selection really exceptional, the prices sometimes verge on the absurd ($ 0.99 for 5lbs of oranges? Si, por favor!) The workers are almost always super nice. Highly recommended.

The food is great but the service set up is ass backwards, spend a half an hour to get fast food. Please fix the process, it is beyond broken. Nice people but management broken system

I come in here every day to get either some lunch from the prepared foods counter or from the cheese department. I know who usually works these counters and they have come to know me as well, so I have never had any issues in the past.
How the system works in the prepared foods department is it is first come, first served, and once you are given your food, you are directed to the register at the end of the counter to pay for your food and a sticker is placed on your food container to indicate that you have paid for the food in case you have any additional shopping to do
Came in today and at the prepared foods counter there was a new woman named Sandra. There were a couple of people ahead of me, so I stood in my usual place in front of what I was looking at — the soup, and waited. Cashier handled 2 customers with speed and care. She then stood at the register. I looked at her, she looked at me. She took another couple of customers that had just strolled up and then proceeded to once again stare at me from the register. I walked over and asked her if she is the person who handles this section. She said yes and continued to stand there. I asked her if I could buy some soup, she rolled her eyes at me, and walked over with a huff. Poured my soup into a container. She put one piece of meat into a 32oz container of beef soup. I asked her if I could get another piece, just 1 more as my soups usually contain 2 – 3 pieces and she told me that if she put another piece of meat into my soup that she would have to charge me for it. I asked her what exactly she would be charging me for and she told me that it would be an extra item charge. I asked her to double check and she told me that she didn’t need to double check, that she knew.
I told her that I didn’t want potatoes, and behold, it’s potatoe town in my container. Told her that I cannot stomach tortillas and I end up with some in my bag.
She rang me up, didn’t give me a receipt, didn’t give me a sticker.
I asked her if she could call a manager over and she directed me to the customer service booth. I’ve now been here around… 15 – 20 minutes. The management doesn’t come when paged and was apparently too busy to speak to me when they were here.
Wow, Mi Pueblo. I, as a loyal customer who patronizes your establishment on a daily basis don’t command enough attention for you to take a minute or 2 to speak to me so that I can bring to your attention your lack of customer service in your prepared foods department. I spend countless amounts of money here and apparently I don’t matter.
Thanks for that, I won’t be back.

My experience at this particular Mi Pueblo store was superb! I can only speak on their customer service, for I did not eat at the café/​taqueria.
Right as I walked through the doors, the store was big, but very clean and organized. The staff was very friendly and approached me many times to see if I need help. They were able to help me find my items and even walked me to the item, rather than just pointing. Everyone was friendly and prices are decent.
The food I bought was fresh and delicious, especially the avocados.
I’ll be back!

I live in Palo Alto and come here every so often because the produce is reasonably priced and tamales are decent. I don’t get much of anything else here, and based on the tamales and produce I would have given three stars.
However, today when I want into the store they had a table set up with a computer and a help wanted sign. A young lady came up to me as I walked in and asked if I would go on the computer and write what I like about Mi Pueblo. Puzzled, I asked what it was for. She said, «it’s for our Unilocal reviews». So in between job applicants they’re asking customers to go on their computer and write reviews for them!
Wow.

Not impressed!
I’ve eaten lunch twice and both times the food was soupy and looked too greasy. The meat quality is not good and the eating area is not clean.
Chavez supermarkets is much, much better in all respects.

My 100^th review I will gladly give to Mi Pueblo Food Center in Palo Alto, perhaps the best combination Mexican market/​restaurant in the bay, located just a few minutes north of Stanford (or as we know it in Berkeley, «$tanfuurd»).
Their deli has the freshest guacamole and chips, all made on location. For the more daring, have yourselves some Cueritos (pickled pork skins). Also lots of fresh and cheap produce.
Their restaurant boasts two dozen or so different dishes, all of them making you wish you had an abuelita (a Mexican grandmother with centuries worth of culinary history). My favorites are the al pastor and carne asada (in tacos, burritos, or tortas).
Such a wonderful place. This one’s a winner.

Slow slow service. I only have less than an hour for lunch. Almost took that long to get 4 pastor tacos.

Really bad service, second time I go in to send money to a family member and they are closed
One of the employees told me (now we are closed we open at 5 pm)
The quality of the food is not the same as before

I can’t do negative reviews so it gets one star. By far the worst service ever experienced. The clerk that takes your orders was rude and they had two cooks working on one meal at a time. The SLOWEST I’ve ever seen someone do something. It took 45 mins to get my burrito. Something so basic and uncomplicated to make. Was not even busy just slow

Went here when I was craving for tacos. Had them and was so disappointed I even bothered. It’s so salty and gross. I also bought some cooked meat from the deli (tilapia and some carnitas) it was so disgusting. I heated it up when I got home and I ended up throwing 99% of it, the 1% being me putting it in my mouth and spitting it out. My daughter loves the Mexican candy that you can buy here and that may be the only redeeming thing about this place.

I heart this place. We had a fiesta themed party w/​a taco bar and got everything from here. Didn’t need to spend all day in the kitchen and everyone raved about the taco bar.
They have marinated meats (or cooked meats if you prefer) and the salsa bar is wonderful. One tub of salsa was $ 2.20 and it’s made fresh daily. Fed 15 people for less than $ 200.
We also ate lunch here. It was great.
For people who reviewed the cleanliness, I say ignore their reviews. Probably just snobs who shouldn’t leave their house. It’s as clean and safe as any grocery store. They’d be shut down if it was going to kill you.
I wouldn’t shop for the week here. It’s not the Farmer’s Market. Shop for what you are going to need that day or within 2 days, like a party.

We bought another epic tacos here last night… We bought beef and tripas… those were my fave… but these tacos that we had were so SALTYY! this was not the same old mi pueblo tacos that we used to but… so salty we just threw out the rest that we couldnt take anymore…
ATTENTION Management!!! Are you aware thatbyour food has become more salty than before… Next time we’ll just drive somewhere else like El Grullense! NO GOOD at all

I love that they are open early in the morning. I’ll often stop by in the morning on the way to work when I’m craving some Mexican food for lunch. I love the wide variety of Mexican foods they have available and the freshness of it all — from different cheeses, cremas, and salsas, to breads, pastries, and cookies, all the way to the fresh hot food in the deli. I often like to pick up a tub of their refried beans and a little bit of Salvadorean crema with a bag of their fresh tortilla chips… WAY better than normal chips and salsa — make sure you eat it hot! I also like that they sell pre-​marinated meat so the non-​Mexicans (a.k.a. people-too-lazy-to-marinate-their-own-meat…a.k.a. me) can make deliciousness right in the comfort of their own homes! Prices are cheap, food is delicious — what more could you ask or?

This morning I was at the Taqueria bar within the supermarket and ordered a burrito. One of the ladies behind the counter opened the refrigerator behind the Taqueria bar and pulled out the 2 gallon container of sour cream from the bottom of the fridge. The attached photograph shows her placing it on the food preparation area. The bottom of the container (zoom in!) has what appears to be Muck or maybe even mold on it. Some of this fell into the salsa/​food next to the container… Ugh.
The manager happened to be walking by as the sour cream was being replaced into the fridge, which was also rather filthy. Another lady then wiped the food prep section with a re-​used dish towel. I pointed out the issue and he agreed it was gross and unsanitary.
But here’s the kicker: Even though I was refunded my money they kept serving the next guy even though they knew black muck fell into the salsas and was spread around the prep area with a dirty rag.
This place needs some serious safe food handling processes. Please help them, and us.

We usually order the tortas from the hot food section. As an asian person who grew up never eating tortas, I think theirs is really good. I always order the milanesa (breaded pork.)
The chicken salad is also good. I usually buy ½ lbs to make sandwiches for work.

When I park at IKEA, I can see this Mi Pueblo while walking to the entrance.
I’ve wanted to try the tacos for a long time. After all, a chain can prove reliable.
They have multiple lines for food orders. Someone was working at the location where they make tacos, burritos, and much more, but no one was taking orders.
We went to stand in the other line, and just then, some man said to go to the other register to order tacos. As we approached, that woman put up the Cerrado sign. Grrrr. I told her what was just said, and she went to the back, returned in a minute, and took our order. Being that it was Christmas Eve, she was probably frustrated. The place was mobbed.
It took quite a while, as people were getting a lot of trays. I kept thinking about driving to San Jose to my favorite spot. The food was finally ready and it was good, but not great. Since my buddy didn’t want onions, they only garnish was cilantro and the sauce. I would have almost killed for lettuce and tomatoes. The sauce was not salsa, so there wasn’t any in there, either.
This is a good option, as dropping in on a local place may not be reliable.

Not all Mi Pueblo’s are built the same. The closest one to me is probably twenty times smaller than this location, so I often make the drive over when I’m in relative proximity, as it offers a much wider selection of items.
Love how they are usually making and bagging fresh tortillas and chips. Think the man behind the counter told me they usually stop around 2 or 3pm on the weekends.
Grab a bag and head over and grab some of their ceviche. Like how they use the whole shrimp, albeit small ones. Great flavor throughout with good kick of heat. Last time I went, saw they they raised the price from $ 7.99/lb to $ 9.99/lb, which is complete horse crap, but so it goes.
On one of my lazier visits, ended up grabbing some of their guacamole too and that was fine, but obviously not worth the cost. Well, it never is worth the cost when it’s so easy to make, but sometimes it’s okay to spend when you want no part of the kitchen.
Employees are friendly, though some behind the counter will not stop what they are doing to help you unless you make it known you need some service. Not located in the most savory of areas, so I usually just make a beeline for their homemade tortilla chips and ceviche and get the eff out of Dodge.

Just moved back home and so glad to find this place unchanged and still awesome. Husband tried this place for the first time and cannot get enough of their tacos. Order at any cashier first and they write an order down for the taco people to fill out who then call out your number.
Love the carne asada tacos.
Lots of agua frescas choices — can’t really go wrong with any of them, but we particularly love the horchata (barely grainy! so smooth!) and mixed fruits (this last time was a nice mix of watermelon and some other melons).
Lots of parking. Takes card.