La Tapatia Grocery — Local services in Des Moines

La Tapatia has the most complete selection of Mexican/Latin American products available in the metro. I would like to see them eliminate the monopoly that Goya has on their shelves, at least offer comparable products from other brands like Badia so that customers have choices. I saw quite a few folks looking at the Goya products and leaving empty-handed. Having self-checkout is a plus on busy days here, but don’t rely on them being available, as they are closed more often than they are available for customers to use. This being said, I wish they would make their store easier to get around in. Aisles are cramped, some aren’t even wide enough for 2 people to pass in. Recent rearranging in the past year or so has made things even more cramped. This review is being written during the pandemic, so I am gauging some of my feedback based on the current climate. Social distancing is not even remotely possible in this store. While I understand that rearranging the entire store to accommodate social distancing guidelines is next to impossible, the store does not appear to be taking any meaningful measures to protect the health of customers other than mandating masks inside, and plexiglass shields at the registers, along with signage encouraging social distancing and hygiene. If your store is not physically encouraging social distancing (laying out clear pathways for entry and exit, along with clear designated queues for checkouts) and enabling customers to maintain 6ft distance, then your other measures are in vain. Shoutout to the lady behind the counter at the pan dulce area for eating from under the counter with her gloves on and going right back to serving customers with the same gloves directly touching their food items. The combination of the lack of proper social distancing and the clear disregard for basic food safety/hygiene by this store make it clear that while they may have the best selection in the metro, they have no desire to ensure your health and safety while you shop/consume...

Have never had a bad experience, until today. We were in Des Moines yesterday and stopped to buy some items, spent close to $100. We purchased pan dulce, the next day I was having coffee and a pan when I was about to take another piece I noticed something on top of it, taking a closer look, it seemed to be some type of metal fiber. Once I picked it off, sure enough, it was small thin metal strips, looks like it could be from a steel wool sponge. We called, asked to speak with a manager, he was not in. The lady said we can leave a message, we explained what we found, she said she will let them know to be more careful.... didn't ask for our name or phone number and hung up before we could say anything else. I see this is not the first time they have this issue with the metal, found a review from 11 months ago, bigger longer piece. Be careful when eating...

Their produce is to expensive and one man stocking yelled at me in Spanish when I mentioned how big the red onions are trying to be nice to him. Over all the store is clean and things are easy to find but over priced. They have a little fresh baked goods aisle so that's nice. The cashier wasn't friendly to me but I noticed she was to the person in front of me and behind me. Both were Hispanic as was she. I am white. It made me feel a little uncomfortable as did when the man raised his voice at me. I don't speak Spanish so I have no idea what he said to me and I'll be shopping for any South American food else where. Customer service and making your customers feel comfortable and welcome comes above anything else...