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It’s hard not to fall in love with Cardenas Market the moment you walk into the joint.
To begin with, it’s filled with Mexicans.
Secondly, it’s filled with all sorts of spicy, Mexican food.
Thirdly, you can spend an hour walking around the joint just looking at all that lip-smacking goodness from south of the border.
Fourthly, it has some of the best, and best priced, produce in the city.
Fifthly, it also has sheets and sheets of beach blanket-sized chicharrons for those of you who just can’t get enough pork skin.
Sixthly, it’s like a ethnic Whole Foods without all the yuppie/foodie pretension.
Seventhly, you won’t find many giant, gleaming SUVs in the parking lot, being aggressively driven by skinny jean/jeggings-wearing, clock-ticking fashionistas with more sense of entitlement than a South Carolina plantation owner.
But we digress.
You will, however, see more than a few pickup trucks.
Eighthly, Mexicans perfected the fruit smoothie hundreds of years before white people knew what an agua fresca was.
Ninthly, the al pastor tacos are smokin’!
Tenthly, the shrimp mariscos are loaded with shrimps actually marinated in lime juice (unlike some Mexicali joints that pre-cook them).
Put it all together and you have a fun, fascinating and spicy slice of Mexican culture right in our own back yard, at prices almost too good to be true.
Our lunch para dos came to $20.
CARDENAS MARKET
4700 Meadows Lane
Las Vegas, NV
702.835.8800
It’s a great place to buy produce! The parking lot is not so great, but once you get inside, it’s like a Disneyland for geeks like me who love to grocery shop. Haven’t tried their on-site taco stand, but their guacamole salsa was incredible.
swolfla, you are one funny Anglo joto! Hate shopping at Whole Foods as well, too many soccer moms and posers. I’m happy to drive around our small city and hit our various ethnic markets.