Taqueria Mercado Cincinnati — Restaurant in Cincinnati

Big let down, honestly. I'm a frequent Mexican foodie, and this place was weird. It was located on a corner with a ton of construction, so they didn't even have a restaurant name or street address out front. Weird vibes from the start. It felt like a family restaurant with cooks and management who know authentic Mexican food, with local college kid(?) servers. No biggie.

So I ordered a classic lime margarita, blended, with sugar on the rim. I got a very poorly blended marg (with huge ice chunks) and salt instead. Alright, no problem.

Then I got the food. 2 enchiladas that came out looking like flattened tacos with some sauce. One chicken (delicious) and one barbacoa (a little on the fatty side). They were pretty good. The rice was excellent.

And then I found a fairly large PEBBLE in my re-fried beans, maybe half the size of a pencil eraser. I bit down while eating and it broke in half. Honestly, I'm just so glad I didn't crack a tooth.

The waitress (Katie) was very sweet and apologetic. Immediately called over the manager, Victor. Instead of just discounting the food or doing literally anything else to make it better, he went on a 2 minute long rant about how stones can be found in beans and it's human error when they get missed, "but it happens." And that if it would have cracked my tooth, they have insurance for that. It was honestly the weirdest (and also most awful) customer service I have probably ever had. I won't return (even though Katie was so sweet and said she hopes I'll give them another try--what a great employee!!)

PS definitely not a $ in terms of cost. More like $$. Chips and salsa is $2.50. Lunch plates are around $10. Margaritas $8. TLDR; bit down on a literal pebble in my beans and the manager (Victor) said "it happens" and they have insurance if it would've...

Extremely bad customer service and rude management. Went in a Saturday afternoon around 12:30. Once seated it took our server almost 10 minutes to make his way to our table. He told us to wait to place our order until he came back with waters. When he returned about 5 minutes later we started to order. We ordered drinks and chips and guacamole and attempted to order out food. Again we were told to wait. When he finally came with the drinks we were allowed to place our food order. As we chatted and waited for our food we realized it had been almost an hour and people who were seated 30 minutes after us had received their food but we hadn’t. We attempted to get our servers attention only for him to wave us away. We then watched him go to the ordering system and put in our order and tell the window he forgot to enter the order. He then came over to the table and said the food will be out in 10 minutes. No apology. No acknowledgment of the error. After 15 minutes a different server dropped our food off with saying a word. My friend then asked to speak to a manager. The manger was rude and condescending. His words were “you had to wait for your food. It’s not cause you’re black. What do you want me to do about it? I’m wasting time talking to you and not making customers drinks”. We left immediately after. We paid for the drinks we had but did not pay for the food or eat the food. We simply left it on the table untouched. Worst experience ever. Would not recommend.

In reviewing the lowest rated reviews after the fact, I notice black customers all have the same experience of...

Arrived at 11:30a on what would be a busy Tuesday afternoon. Sign said 'seat yourself' and although I know at least 2 waitresses saw me, no one greeted or acknowledged me...Blonde waitress went ahead and waited on 2 other tables who sat after me. Still no acknowledgement. Finally, the waitress I had smiled at when coming inside from washing the outside windows came over and took my order. This waitress, Jamie, was wonderful but as soon as I gave her my order, she, through no fault other own,was pulled in a million directions. Food came, was mediocre. My pop is about to run out. Blonde waitress walks by and smiles, makes eye contact, says nothing, makes no offer about pop. Luckily, there is Jamie to get my pop. While away, tall slender man come over takes plate, leaves bill. No 'hello'. 'thank you', 'how was your food?. Jamie returns with pop...oh. and a bill...the exact same bill silent man had. I'm over it. I want out. No instructions given to me. Do I pay at table? I take bill up to front where I've seen take-away being processed. Nobody at register. Oh, there is blonde waitress. Will she at least take my money? No, ignores me. Finally, a small busy unpleasant woman barking something in Spanglish to the cooks, snatches the bill. shouts some # and I try and get out as quickly as possible. Summary: Jamie A-, remainder of staff, cleanliness, atmosphere, management, food and overall? All F's and I'm being generous....