Mercadito

I had a casino comp for Mercadito that had to be used before the end of December. I came here last night to use the comp and see the place before it closes and is reopened under the Clique Hospitality Group in February. Hence, this review will make no difference in the Unilocal world as the place will be closing as it is soon. I was at Mercadito for a Unilocal event when it first opened, but it was a small tasting of tacos and guacamole.
Service was excellent! Tyler was on the ball and was very good at making suggestions or answering questions. Given that I generally don’t get tacos in a restaurant like this, I looked on the menu for other items. I got the tortilla soup for a starter followed by Pollo a las brasas – Peruvian in origin – for the main course. The tortilla coup was quite good with lots of chicken, some tortilla strips but not overwhelmed with them like some other places. I ordered a half order of the chicken which ended up being four pieces of chicken – bone in – with a wonderful spicy coating. It’s appearance is why they refer to it as blackened chicken. The chicken was served with rice and a side of black beans with cotija cheese.
When it came to dessert, Tyler showed me the three item menu and said that the torrejas de bolillo was his favorite and he described it as a kind of Mexican bread pudding. That’s what I ordered and I was glad I did. Rough cubes of Mexican bread soaked in crème anglaise with cajeta sauce and a scoop of ice cream. The bread was baked in a cast iron round container. It was a good way to end the meal.
A good meal but definitely over-​priced if you’re spending your own coin. The room is pleasant enough but it’s a bit narrow in the area I was seated.

We arrived in time for for happy hour with my wife ordering what purportedly was one of the 10 best margaritas in the country though it likely would not be in the top 10 in Summerlin. We received a bowl of housemade tortilla chips with 2 salsas that were very good. Between us we ordered a total of 5 street tacos:
carnitas — braised pork, chili, de arbol coleslaw and toasted peanuts
pastor — chile ancho rubbed pork, grilled pineapple, chile de arbol salsa
carne asada — epazote & oregano marinated skirt steak, watercrest-​jicama slaw, serrano-​roasted,
garlic aioli, and crispy shallots
espada — blackened swordfish, spicy aioli, cabbage-​jalapeño slaw
costillita — wine and chipolte braised short ribs, tomatillo avocado salsa, chipolte siracha aioli and crispy potatoes.
If only these tacos tasted were nearly as good as they sounded, though the clear winner was the costillita. Subsequent to our visit, it was announced learned that the restaurant will be closing sometime in early 2016.

Really enjoyed this place!
Came here for a date night with my boyfriend and loved the atmosphere!
Had the Espada (blackened swordfish) and Carne Asada tacos! Tacos were a 10. Chips and Guacamole were a 10. Margaritas are a 10. Great recommendation for the Guava Maragarita!
I’ll be back again!

Brunch review!
Decided to try brunch here after rave reviews from coworkers and was not disappointed! We all chose the brunch special that was $ 25 for bottomless mimosas and one dish of your choice. What a great deal! We had the opportunity to pick anything off the menu which was awesome and all of our dishes were great. Flavorful and well-​sized for the price. The mimosas were good too, and we had 5 – 6 flavor options which was fun for us to try them all.
Aside from the menu itself– the service was excellent. Our waiter was very attentive and constantly checked on us as well as refilled both our alcoholic beverages and water on a regular basis. Atmosphere was cute and clean, they also played some fun brunch jams that we all enjoyed humming along to as we ate. My entire group will definitely be back!

Been here a couple times just for the margaritas and chips/​salsa in the bar area. The margaritas are pretty good, I usually prefer the classic margarita, rocks.salt. This menu had an add smoke option as well as the add heat and/​or add fruit option. This time I went with the guava margarita add heat and my boyfriend had the classic margarita add smoke. Both were really good, i think we ordered another round after that to go with our chips and salsa. We usually get the tasting of 3 salsas with chipotle/​chile de arbol and the roja. The salsa is good, usually the best thing to snack on while we drink. Still haven’t eaten there but most likely will go there when we just want to have some margaritas and chips especially because of the smoke/​heat option they have.

Update 2015-​12-​10: Looks like a bunch of other people were annoyed with them too. This place has been sold to the people who own the wildly-​overpriced Hearthstone restaurant next door. It will have a new name and a new menu coming in 2016.
Update 2015-​10-​01: They’ve been making menu changes and portioning changes. Tacos now come one at a time, minimum 2. Makes it way easier to mix-​and-​match so that’s a welcome change. However they added pineapple to a previously-​delicious guacamole that included bacon, and it completely ruined it. They also no longer have the BLTA taco, which was BY FAR the best taco I’ve ever had. On the up-​side, they added the short rib taco to the menu permanently.
The nachos from the «small plates» menu, while extremely delicious, are much larger than I expected for my same $ 10. In fact, they are large enough that I could have easily made an entrée meal out of the nachos alone (and I would have been happy to, because they are delicious). The tacos come four to a plate and are very well executed, and seem to be priced just slightly high but portioned very well.
Salsas are also not free. Even then hole-​in-​the-​wall places can afford this, I know it isn’t going to break the bank. Chips and salsa is a Mexican food expectation. Period.
So we’re all over the map already.
The décor seems to try to be upscale, trendy, high class, with fancy plate settings (at the expense of usability, see the guacamole plate); at the same time there are TVs on the walls showing football games both in the bar and outside of it in the main seating area and my tortilla chips came in one of those bent-​metal-​wire things you typically get french fries or pretzels or mozzarella sticks in wrapped up in butcher paper at some crappy sports bar.
Expanding on the guacamole coming out on such a small and annoying plate, the same could be said for the entrée plates. The flautas we ordered — which are actually not flautas, they’re toquitos, but they’re delicious so who cares? — are too large to fit on the plates provided except diagonally, and that makes it a pain in the ass to try to eat politely. The wife and I ended up eating them with our hands. But then… Is that what the owner intends? Is this an eat-​with-​your-​hands kind of place? Because if so I think your waiters are overdressed, and we should talk about the ritzy place settings…
Adding even more confusion to what this place is really about.
Over the course of 20 minutes the music went from a 70s rock ballad to some bass-​dropping dubstep to a Coldplay song that almost put me to sleep to the Gorillaz. None of this particularly related to the delicious food in strange portion sizes, or the upscale dive bar décor, or the Mexican cuisine.
I’m completely perplexed by this place. Primarily, the star-​loss is for price/​portion/​plating issues. I felt nickle-​and-​dimed by the guac and chips/​salsa, and the way most of the food was presented was needlessly irritating.

Tried a few margaritas, and a ton of tacos.
Chicken tacos — a bit of gristle, and bland
Al pastor — pretty damn delicious
Pork belly — good, but would be better without the salad on top.
Mac & cheese — tasted like creamed corn with macaroni noodles
Regular margarita — decent
Spicy margarita (no clue what the actual name is) really delicious!
Overall, it was ok. Nothing amazing, but not horrible. I don’t live near the Red Rock, so I wouldn’t make the trip out there, but if I was in the area with friends that wanted Mexican food I would probably go.

Great tacos & margs combined with a decent Happy Hour make this place a top pick at Red Rock!
Awesome patio too.
I really enjoyed doing the All You Can Eat Tacos twice. Not sure if they still do that as their specials and happy hour change often. Most of the taocs I tried were very good and a few such as the pork belly and the shrimp stood out. The guava margarita was awesome and the red sangria is so tasty too!
Brunch is relatively new and last I saw they included all you can drink mimosas.

I tried this place for the first time today and I can definitely recommend the Happy Hour menu!
When restaurants overcharge for traditional Mexican food, I generally order several appetizers anyway to create a small plate experience, providing a plentiful variety of food at a relatively low cost.
Mercadito has an extensive menu, and from what I’ve tried so far, I’m sure I’ll be back at some point to try some full entrees. But if I only go for the appetizers next time, I wouldn’t be surprised. We of course ordered the chips and salsa sampler, a trio of mostly good salsas and house made corn chips. They were on the thick side and a little greasy but they got the job done. The guacamole was a little simple, but they brought the flavor out nicely.
We ordered the nachos, which at $ 7 isn’t a bad deal, but that was the happy hour price. The portion was a little small and light on toppings for anything more than that. I appreciate the approach mercadito takes with their nachos. I’m a bit of a nacho enthusiast, so I’m always open to something different. These offer nothing particularly special, just black beans, cheese, crema, tomatoes and diced avocado. You can order meat, but in keeping with the simple theme, I chose to leave it off. I enjoyed the pairing of traditional ingredients, which offered a somewhat refreshing take on the bar food favorite.
My wife loved the elote, roasted corn cob dusted with chile and cotija cheese. Again, much pricier than the man who sells it from a cart on the street, but just as delicious.
Probably the biggest deal at happy hour was the cold draft beer. I got a pint of Ballast Point Sculpin IPA for $ 4. Haven’t found a price like that anywhere.
Mercadito offers flavorful Mexican food, great drinks, and a modern atmosphere. If I’m ever at Red Rock with friends, I’d definitely suggest this place for a few drinks and a bite to eat.

Love this place! I’ve been to the Chicago location, now the Vegas location, and am anxiously awaiting the Philly location. I had the hongo tacos which as a vegetarian I loved. My boyfriend had the swordfish and mahi mahi tacos and said both were good. The margaritas were strong and hit the spot. I recommend the hongo tacos and margaritas! Now hurry up and open up the Philly location please!

It took several months, but I finally popped in for HH as suggested by the management response to my original review. The Red Rock parking lot was packed but here we were only one of two tables, which should have been enough of a clue. Frankly, I should have just stuck with the original visit. Went in with a few coworkers and no one was impressed.
Food was just lackluster. HH tacos are $ 3, with a few additional options for $ 4. They’re small and for the most part, bland. The much-​hyped carnitas were missing any sort of wow factor, while the swordfish contained a decent portion but no discernible seasonings. The nachos ($ 7, + $ 3.5 to add shrimp) were covered in various sauces but had no spice whatsoever, and the shrimp were small and cold. Plantains were just fine, but heads up that gluten-​free folks should steer clear of the dipping sauce.
Service was embarrassingly slow. I don’t know if our server was new (didn’t seem to be) or just generally scatterbrained, but she seemed to frequently forget that she had a table. We had to ask a busser to let her know we were ready to order, then when we had a question about whether a dish contained gluten, she disappeared for 15 minutes. We actually got an answer from another employee before she came back (and still didn’t have an answer). I don’t mind how the dishes come out as they’re ready, but when three people order several tacos that aren’t separated into individual plates or orders, it gets unnecessarily complicated for both the food runners (who are clueless as to who ordered what) and the diners (who then have to touch one another’s finger-​food).

This is not your mom and pop Mexican place so unlike some other reviewers, don’t expect to be full for 5 bucks.
That being said, Mercadito seems to be new school Mexican with creative dishes and fun flavors that you won’t find in traditional places. From the small plates we ordered the Camaroncitos al Chipotle and the Queso Fundido with the short ribs add on. They were served at the same time and our server Lanie recommended us to mix and match the sides and sauces from both dishes and have fun with it. What a genius!
Other friends enjoyed the langosta (lobster) tacos special but I thought the special steak tacos with some sort of jalapeño dressing really stood out.
The Pollo a la Brasas is the dish for you if you enjoy amplified flavors of garlic and lime. This is the one dish that I tried in their New York location many moons ago and still dreamed about until I finally tasted it again at Red Rock. Also, PLANTAIN RICE. YES.
OMFG this dessert… the baked bread pudding or something. Even being gluten conscious I couldn’t stop eating.
Definitely recommend family style. We ordered a lot less than we thought we need to because the portions are actually not that small.

Been here twice now… once when they were relatively new, and once about a week ago with my friend for their «chicas night» evening (with reported special giveaways, etc).
The first time, I assumed it’s because they were so new — which is the reason our waiter didn’t know anything. When I came in last week — had a normal course of chit chat with the hostess «how’s your day?», she replied «it sucks, I can’t wait until it’s over» (something like that). As a hostess, you’re the face of the business… and even if your day sucks super bad, the customer shouldn’t really know that.
Once my friend came, we sat down to order. I ordered the vegan fish tacos (which are substituted with zucchini, although last time it was squash). My friend was going to order the burger, but then they told her it would take 20+ minutes and basically we wouldn’t get our food at the same time. She then ordered the lobster tacos (4 of them, since our waitress said you could only order 4 minimum on lobster). About 15 minutes later, the waitress came back to tell my friend, «oh yea, you can order less than 4 if you want… how many did you want?» So we had to wait even longer since her order I guess was never placed for the 4?
In addition to this our waitress «forgot» it was Thursday, and that there were specials. Plus she forgot the «chicas night» until we ask her.
Oh, and the «manager» came by to check on our meal, his hands were in his pockets the entire time? Awkward and weird :/​
Food is decent, but service is lackluster.

We dined here for lunch/​brunch on a Saturday. I liked the vibe of the restaurant and I like the idea of upscale Mexican food.
I had the enchiladas with shrimp and green sauce. It came with three enchiladas and was relatively filling. I really liked the creamy green enchilada sauce and that avocado slices came on top. My husband went brunch and had huevos rancheros which was a very light dish. I sampled the red enchilada sauce and enjoyed that as well. We split chips with a trio of salsas. All of the salsas had great flavor and the hot salsa definitely packed some heat which I loved.
I really wanted to try the tacos, but you are limited to one type of taco with the taco entrée which was surprising since I’ve never seen this done before. I would have loved to be able to split between two types. We were told the dishes are meant to share so I’m guessing they do this to make you order more.

This review is for their 2015 Las Vegas Restaurant Week Menu.
«SEX MEX.»
I remember rolling my eyes when I first read about Mercadito serving «sexy» Mexican food — whatever that means. Sounds gross and unsanitary. Pitiful marketing ploys aside, surprisingly, though, their menu offerings are enticing.
My friend and I came here for brunch, which was $ 20.15 for three courses. In addition, we ordered a side of ceviche.
Appetizer — Camarón Ceviche: Delicious. This has a nice, fresh and clean taste. My one criticism is that I wanted to taste more of the lemon flavor.
First Course — Appetizer — Mango Guacamole: Loved this. The guacamole had a nice kick. Too bad there wasn’t a little more mango to balance the fatty flavor of avocado.
Second Course — Entrée — Carnitas Hash: By the time this arrived, I was nearly stuffed. But damn, this was GOOD! Braised pork, crispy potatoes, and a sunny side egg to top it off. I could have this for breakfast every week.
Third Course — Pastel de Chocolate: To me, this was just an ordinary chocolate cake. I should’ve ordered the Torrejas de Bolillo instead because it tasted like a churro.
Service — Good, though, we had an awkward moment when we were served our desserts immediately after having received our appetizers. *womp womp*
Overall — I would return if I was craving «sexy» Mexican food.

I didn’t get to go to the Elite Event at Mercadito, boo-​hoo, so this was my virgin visit. We came for Happy Hour straight from the wine tasting one restaurant over. We weren’t that hungry, and I was tipsy from the alcohol overload of the little bit of wine I’d just had, so I didn’t order a drink. But hubby ordered a Big Nose, and it was really tasty.
We both had the HH tacos — he had the chicken, and it was sooo good with all the crunchy stuff on top, which was probably the brussel sprouts slaw. I got the shrimp tacos, and I loved, loved, loved them! The downside is that I think two little street taco-​sized bites for $ 7.50 is a little overpriced. Really loved the chips here, which are thicker than most. That made them extra crunchy, and crunch is one of my basic food groups. I try to stay away from them at other places, usually taking one or two and breaking them into tiny pieces to make them last. But at this place I just couldn’t stop eating them. The old advertising line «Bet you can’t eat just one» takes on new meaning here.
What made our visit so much fun was our waiter, Xavier. Mercadito wasn’t crowded, so he spent a lot of time at our table, and we bantered back and forth endlessly, having a great time. Oh, and he was a terrific server, too. I hope he sticks around for a long time, because he will be my waiter of choice whenever I go, like probably a week from now!

The food deserves 5 star. Service maybe a 3 at most. We dined here yesterday after my friend highly recommended this restauraunt. I had a guava margarita which was GREAT and the shrimp tacos and the sweet potato guacamole which were both outstanding.
Now to the service.
Our server was Nicole. It was Cinco De Mayo so i’m sure they were busier than normal, however, upon taking our order she randomy walked away. She came back and after we had already told her our orders we had to repeat them. Upon bringing the drinks she couldnt remember who ordered what. Our receipts were mixed up and to top it off upon leaving the restaurant she approached us asking if this credit card she had in her hand was ours. Luckily for whoever the CC holder is we are good people and wouldn’t take a card that wasn’t ours but overall it was a very strange interaction. I will say though that I do drink a LOT of water and the men who fill up the water were on top of it which was fantastic.
I will definitely be back as the food was outstanding however I would hope the service would be better.

I only tried out alcoholic drinks and the chips and salsa the first time I went to Mercadito. There were only 5 beers on draft — I tried the Tailwagger wheat ($ 6), which was a-​okay (but I’m no beer connoisseur). Next, I tried the Paloma Picosa ($ 11). The server noticed I wasn’t really drinking it, and offered to take it off the tab and find me a drink I liked better. I went with his recommendation and got the Auntie Ox ($ 10). Ugh. The drink looked exactly the same and I didn’t really like it either. Too strong and the rim was doused in whatever that Mexican Candy is called that looks like cayenne pepper. I gave up.
My husband tried the cabernet sauvignon ($ 9), chardonnay ($ 10), and sauvignon blanc ($ 9.50). He didn’t like ANY of them, but proceeded to drink the wine anyways lol. His statement was, «They all taste like shit and are low quality wines». Service was ⁵⁄₅ but drinks were ²⁄₅. Regardless, it was Industry Night and we got a whopping 50% off the bill. Yes, please.
The second time my husband and I went was before the Dirty Derby event, which happened to land on a Tuesday, Industry Night. We were disheartened to learn the discount had dropped to 30%, but hey, that’s still a pretty large discount. The prices at Mercadito are steep compared to most Mexican restaurants, so you’ll want to take that into consideration as well.
CHIPS AND SALSA ($ 3.50): The tray the salsa comes in is awkward, especially because they put mini spoons in it that just gets in the way. Salsas were pretty good, as were the chips. 3.5÷5
CHEESE ENCHILADAS ($ 18): I ordered them with the guatillo red sauce. I liked the extra kick of the sauce and appreciated that it looked homemade. The entrée came with a side of black beans and rice. The black beans tasted hideous, and the rice was completely bland with random chucks of avocado and carrots in it. ³⁄₅
NACHOS ($ 11.50): My husband ordered these with steak, which costs an extra $ 3. He said they were just okay and he wasn’t impressed at all. He said the meat tasted like it was low quality. He threw up later that night, so there’s that too. But I don’t know the inner workings of food poisoning, so who am I to say his violent vomiting could be attributed to Mercadito’s? ²⁄₅
SERVICE: I thought our server was above average. She was nice and refilled our chips without us having to ask. She delivered the check quickly too. ⁴⁄₅
ATMOSPHERE: I love the ambiance here. I like the bar area better though because it’s more open and I like that it opens up to an outdoor patio. ⁴⁄₅
TLDR; Great service, not cheap, mediocre food, blah drinks, Industry Tuesdays for 30% off your bill.
Worth a Return Visit?
My husband says nay but I still want to give this place one more chance. I’d like to come by for Happy Hour and try their vegetarian tacos.
Unilocal 100 CHALLENGE 2015: #66

I’ve been here three times. The first time to check it out since it’s new. My friends and I ordered chips and salsa to share. I remember they served a few tablespoons of salsa and a small amount of chips. It was barely enough for one person. Not only was it a child’s portion, they charge for it. I must have been spoiled by the other Mexican restaurants that I’ve been to where chips and salsa are unlimited.
For my meal, I ordered three lettuce wrapped carne asada tacos. (I was trying to be healthy). The tacos are small, more on the sweet side and not spicy, just OK. Also, sampled my friends’ shrimp, mushroom, & swordfish tacos. Not bad but not amazing either. I was still hungry after. Apparently, I didn’t order enough tacos.
The second time, I ordered two types of ceviche. I can make better ceviche at home. The crackers that accompanied the ceviche were awful. I made a mental note to never order this again.
I only agreed to come back a third time because my friend had a 50% off industry pass. I was too hungry to pick a place to eat. I ordered the cheese enchiladas and chips with three types of salsa. I enjoyed two of the salsas-​tomatillo and habanero. I liked the cheese enchiladas because it came with a lot of cheese and the green sauce was good.
I would only come back here with my friend on 50% off industry day. I think it’s overpriced and overhyped as I keep seeing this place mentioned in the Vegas magazines and newspapers.

No bueno. No Flavor.
I was disappointed with Mercardito. The flavors offered here fell short and bland on my tastebuds. The ambiance and service were great, but in all honestly, I wouldn’t consider rushing my return. I was rather annoyed that the mediocre salsa and chips were not complimentary and had to be bought. Actually, the freshly made chips alone were fresh and the highlight of the evening — but that’s saying more than enough.
Here’s what we tried:
Queso fundido — baked chihuahua and oaxaca cheese, corn tortillas with short ribs $ 9.50. The cheese hardened immediately when it was brought to us, making the dish awkward to serve. They gave us a bare amount of short ribs; not to mention, the short ribs were bland and got lost in the hard cheese. Expensive, considering the amount of food they provide you with. Flavor rating ²⁄₅
Tacos estilo baja — beer battered mahi mahi, chipotle aioli, Mexican style slaw $ 14.50. A major letdown. The menu advertised «crispy» beer battered — yet the fish were all super soggy once we received it. Also, the flavor profile was extremely basic; There was nothing memorable or unique about these tacos. The chipotle aioli didn’t pop with flavor. It was flavorless, fell apart and nearly inedible. Also, the high price point, weak flavor, and small portion size of each taco didn’t make any sense to me. I felt extremely misled and ripped-​off. Flavor rating: ¹⁄₅
The Elote $ 4.50 (half an ear) oh man, was I deceived! The corn barely had any seasoning or cheese on it, super plain and even the corn kernels were tiny, not juicy and not very sweet. I would never recommend ordering this. Half of a corn for $ 4.50 has to be some cruel joke. Flavor rating: ⁰⁄₅
We also had the «salsa tasting» with chips for $ 3.50 — they bring out the tiniest little dishes ever imaginable, that barely held any salsa in it. I mean, really, 2 dips and that’s it? The tomatillo was our favorite as it was the most flavorful out of the bunch and then the habanero was our second favorite — I personally wished the habanero was spicy, but the flavor grew on me slowly as I continued to eat it. The chipotle and chile de arbol were too similar in taste for us to be able to distinguish between the two. The salsas were overall lacking a lot of flavor. Let’s just put it this way; I’ve definitely had much better (cough: El Dorado Cantina). Flavor rating ³⁄₅
When it’s all said and done, I wouldn’t recommend Mercardito for bright or authentic flavor. For flavorful Mexican cuisine, generous portions, with a great bang for your buck, I would highly recommend trying El Dorado Cantina — their salsa and chips are extremely fresh and flavorful (plus they’re complimentary!) Also their menu offerings are created with a lot of soul and ton of flavor. Mercardito? I’ll press the snooze button on that one.

My boss chose this spot to have our manager’s holiday dinner. I don’t know why she picked this spot since none of us live by Red Rock Casino, but whatever. I looked at pictures and read reviews before we arrived so I had my heart set on the guacamole and carne tacos. I’ll get to the food in a bit.
I’m glad the restaurant was right in front of the casino. You park in front and its right there as you enter. We had made reservations prior so it was easy to sit our party of 12. Not like we needed reservations anyway because the restaurant wasn’t even busy. Our server was quick to offer us drinks and appetizers while we all chatted and decided what to eat. Here comes the food…
Salsa trio-​3 salsas perfect for sharing with the table. Our server was nice enough to bring out all 5 of their salsas (which had unlimited refills). All were decent except for the chipotle salsa. It tasted like plastic to me for some reason. And the other salsas were decent. Nothing really stood out as wow.
Guacamole-​pretty average guacamole. I could have made better at home. And $ 10 for a small serving? Yeah no.
Carne tacos– carne asada tacos topped with a watercress-​jicama slaw. The meat was really tough and chewy. Another person at my table also said his carne tacos were tough. The watercress-​jicama slaw had no jicama and was very bland. I had to put salsa and guacamole in the taco to make it have some sort of flavor.
So, for my small plate of guacamole and my 4 tough and flavorless tacos, I ended up paying $ 28. The price would have been fine had I enjoyed my food. So many other taco spots in town that I’d rather go to and spend way less and be satisfied. Definitely do not recommend this place. Our server was nice and made sure our glasses were never empty, which is why it’s a 2 star review instead of 1.