Taqueria El Mercadito — Restaurant in Gainesville

I love this place! If you're looking for simple food that is consistently good, well priced and made by people who care about each item- this is it. I've been three times and had a burrito, taco and torta- all carne asada- and they were great. The owner mistakenly hit a wrong button or something and a burrito I ordered was put in the register as three tacos. It was for my son so I asked them to change it. No problem, no attitude, no hurt feelings- just professional and courteous "Sorry we'll fix it." I was completely surprised when they brought out the burrito AND the $1.22 price difference in cash. The owner said they have another location or they had another location and this is an upgrade. I recommend this restaurant but also want to keep this as one of my "off the radar" spots. So, just keep this between us.... :-) also- PRICE: this place has good prices. The burrito for five dollars is a bargain. The torta for five dollars is a bargain. The owner below defending his prices is being courteous but unnecessarily so. There is room for you to charge more and anyone who wants taco bell prices can find them...

Our dog had just been put under for surgery, and we needed to snag a little something, and this restaurant is just a stones through from the Vet Hospital. The restaurant decor was what you would expect. Although very clean, the lighting was way to dim for my liking during the day. I got excited seeing a salsa bar, but could hardly see any of the sauces due to the non existent lighting and nothing was labeled. I tried 4 of the salsa, some had good heat but the flavor profile tasted like dirt to me. The server was very happy, always smiled and did her best to take our order. Although both my hubby and I got meals that weren't what we thought but we made it work. I feel the language barrier and poor designed menu descriptions caused this snafu. The food took longer than we are accustomed to at tex mex restaurants, but still was able to make it all work. All in all decent place but would probably only go...

Weve been coming here for more than 6 years even before it was at this location. The food is always great.We bring friends and family here when they visit gainesville. But this time that we went the owner wasnt very polite. The way she responded made me very upset. We ordered and when she gave us the ticket she noticed we were missing tacos on the order. We had already paid so I said oh I guess the 3 tacos will be free. She said in spanish "that would be good but I dont like to work for free" She was serious! She then ordered the other 3 tacos and my husband paid. She made the mistake and im not upset that we paid I just hated the way she answered. Thats the only thing this place misses. Is friendly, smiling faces. I wont be going there anymore or taking new customers. El antojito is closer to me and they greet me a lot...