Review from right around the corner

So either I'm late to the party or none of my local friends are sharing their secret with me. This weekend, while out with a friend, we ventured into the Latinos Supermarket, right down the street. I stopped there once, years ago to buy a jicama for the cooking class that I once taught, but this store has changed dramatically and is quite an experience now. This store gives you a little taste of being somewhere exotic. It was a lot of fun.

The first thing that I noticed when I walked in the door is a beauty salon. A small one, with adorable ladies getting their weekly set. They also have an on site jewelry repair booth, which is somewhat open, so you can watch the jeweler at work. There was also large booth with cell phones for sale. Those were all unexpected in what I thought was just a Latin American Grocery store. The produce department was so striking and beautiful. There were fruit and vegetables that I had never heard of before with names like Panapen (bread fruit). They had a full service meat counter, and their meat was cut meticulously. They had cuts of meat that are a little more difficult to find cut properly, like beef short ribs. Watch for a recipe soon.

The aisles of the store were fun to walk, just to look at all the different products. I brought several home to try, just because they looked interesting. Coconut wafer cookies, Cilantro flavored bouillon cubes, Chipotle Mojo marinade (the chipotle part was different), and chocolate. The chocolate was really interesting, and from the Dominican Republic. It wasn't like the chocolate I was accustomed to, it crumbled when I chopped it. Because it had a steamy cup on the box, I figured it must be used to make hot chocolate. Half a chopped little bar went into my coffee instead. It didn't make it noticeably sweet ( I still added my usual creamer and sweetener) but it did give my coffee a lovely, warm chocolate flavor. That was a fun to try.

The biggest surprise at the Latinos Supermarket was their cafeteria. They have a large selection of beautiful food as well as a sandwich counter. There were lots and lots of roast meats, rice, vegetables and seafood. The entire place smelled like heaven. The workers could be seen in the area just behind the prepared food, chopping fresh fruit and vegetables as well as cooking the food.

My husband and I went back for our weekly lunch date to give their food a try. We split a pressed Cuban sandwich and the most fresh and lovely tomato and avocado salad. With two bottles of tea, that set us back less than 10.00. Honestly, this wasn't my favorite Cuban sandwich ever, but it was good and contained all the right ingredients. The salad was fabulous, in a light vinegar dressing with onions and spices. That was a find for sure and worth the trip all by itself. I also tried their homemade spicy garlicky hot sauce. Loved it.

We were there for a late lunch but there was a steady flow of customers both eating there and carrying their food out. Some of items in the cafeteria are sold by the pound, others by the plate.

Right before we left, we checked our the really good selection of kitchenware that they had in stock, right off the cafeteria. Kitchenware is my shopping weakness, and I could have spent a really long time checking it all out. Just another excuse to go back.

Latinos Supermarket is located at 131 S.Mt Carmel Rd., just off S.R. 60 in Brandon, FL. My local friends, you must visit soon. Go when you have a little time to wander. Bring your kids and explore a store full of interesting things from other countries. Please leave me a comment if you've visited a Latin American market before or if you have a favorite product that you think I should try.