If you didn’t look outside and see Ashland Avenue, you would think this restaurant and mercado – which is full of products imported straight from Mexico – is on a side street straight out of Distrito Federal (or Mexico City, as the gringos call it). It carries all your grocery needs from fresh fruit, meats and tortillas to household beauty items. Full of knickknacks, keychains, toys, sweets and popular Mexican publications like TV Pasillo and Tu, everything here is just like it would be in Mexico.

Follow your nose to the small restaurant in the middle, the meat here is cooked on the spit rather than the flat grill for fresher, spicier taste that lingers long after you leave the store. Local favorites like Tacos Al Pastor is marinated in spices, then cooked on a spit with pineapple juices, and comes with a slice of pineapple to bring out the sweetness of the pork (all around $ 3).

Centerstage Reviewer: Beatrice Smigasiewicz