Los Gemelos Restaurante and Store WEST — Restaurant in Madison

The price was a very strong point. I got lunch there -a taco and gordita- for only $3.75! I walked out with two sweet pastries for a grand total of $5.65. That blew my mind.

The food was very good too. The shredded chicken was bursting with flavor. The soft corn tortillas tasted fresh and delicious. The mild, white cheese added to the taco had a nice rich, creamy flavor with a slight saltiness. I personally didn't care much for the chorizo gordita (crunchier than I prefer), but it was tasty nonetheless. I stole some of my lunch companions' rice and that was very tasty as well. The chips and salsa were popular amongst my group. The red and green salsas had a nice kick to them.

The building exterior had me feeling a little wary at first, but the inside looks better than the outside. The restaurant is small and dark, but I felt it gave it a cozy atmosphere. It feels like it started as a grocery store and the restaurant was added later as an afterthought. There was soccer playing on two large screen TVs although you need to get the right seats to properly see them.

The one critique I have is that the server we got didn't seem very attentive. My dining companions and I were unsure of how to order our drinks and we ended up being late to work because the server didn't come with the bill. I'm not sure if we were supposed to go up to the counter and ask for it which is what we eventually did. For future diners, we went up to the restaurant counter to get our bill then they directed us to the grocery store counter to pay our bill. I guess they only have a cash register in the grocery section. The employees seemed nice...

It may not be apparent when you walk through the front door, there is a substantial restaurant and dining area in the back of the store.

The complimentary chips, guac and salsa were OK, the chips were a bit under seasoned, I the freshly made salsa verde hit the spot.

About five minutes after I was seated, I received my dinner entrees. The steak taco was as good as advertised. The steak was crispy and well seasoned and the corn tortillas were off the press fresh. Topped with finely diced onions and cilantro, this was quintessential Mexican street food.

The other two entrees were good, but did not reach the exalted heights of the steak taco. The pork in the pastor gordita was under seasoned. It needed a healthy dose of the salsa verde and fresh lime juice to bring out the flavors. The masa harina shell of the gordita was seriously good.

The $3 cheese quesadilla at Tienda Los Gemelos was a vast improvement over what you normally find at most Americanized Mexican eateries. Rather than your standard thin layer of shredded jack cheese (or mozzarella - horrors!) pressed between a pair of corn tortillas, this baby featured a crispy masa harina pocket crammed full of melted Oaxaca cheese. Like the gordita, this dish benefited from a healthy dose of the salsa verde.

Just a head's up that your server will not leave the check at your table once you finish your meal. You''ll need to go to the cashier and they will retrieve your bill.

I left Tienda Los Gemelos with a smile, a full stomach and a relatively full wallet, since my Mexican feast only set me back a...

This Mexican store has an attached restaurant that offers authentic Mexican food!.

The store offers many items that are difficult to find elsewhere, such as fresh and peeled cactus leaves, molcajetes, piñatas, menudo, tamales and more.

The restaurant is conveniently located next to the store, which allows one to buy in the store after having a good meal. The food is great and truly authentic, portions are generous and the menu is typical of what you'd find in a 'fondita' in Mexico. You can find alcoholic and traditional beverages too, such as 'cantaritos' and 'aguas frescas'.

Some things they could do to improve:

As a regular customer, I wish the tables for 4 were a bit larger, since the dishes are too large and it is difficult to accommodate all things in the table.

Offer a greater selection of sauces, maybe in small molcajetes.

Hand made tortillas could be an optional value addition, which I'd be willing to pay some extra cost for.

For non Mexican customers, offer a piece of history of the dishes in the menus, for example, mention the origin of the dish or the state where it comes from, as well as hotness level indicators next to each dish.

Although the menus are reminiscent of what people in Mexico does (crossed out prices) it feels a bit unprofessional. I'd suggest replacing the menus when the prices change, or just offer a QR code next to each dish that the customers could use to check the prices, pay online and...