Straight from the state of Michoacán?

La Michoacana Meat Market is the largest independently owned, Hispanic grocery store in the US. Although it was started in Houston in 1986, the stores generously dot the city of Austin. My interest was first piqued because I noticed no matter what time of the day or night I passed one, it seemed to be flanked by tons of loiters.

On a Sunday exploration, between thrift store shopping and wildflower hunting, we decided to stop in for some fuel. We landed at one of the smaller locations, near Manchaca and Stassney, that was adequately crowded considering its square footage. After passing the bling corner where they ‘compramos oro’, we headed straight for the deli counter off to one side. All the signs and menus are written in that type of Spanish that uses reflectives and odd verb endings and obviously isn’t intended for college-level gringos. After trying to order at the counter, being waved off to the checkout line, finding the correct lane in which you could buy deli foods and returning to the ready-made food counter, we got a little nervous, fearing we wouldn’t be able to communicate what kind of carne we wanted; it appeared they didn’t have time to play language games. As I tentatively tried to request specific fillings, one cook took pity on us and called us to the end of the counter where we were able to talk meat.

For a whopping $5.50 we ended up with enough food to easily feed us both a hearty, might have to delay your actual dinner sort of snack.



The barbacoa gordita was stacked and sauced nicely. the tortilla halves were complementary bookends; the top thin and fried crisp, the bottom thicker with a bit of toothiness and grain to it. The barbacoa was plentiful, tender and not too fatty but lacked any salty highlights. the crema and key lime juice did their part to wet the mound of goodness. it was the kind of sandwich that leaves a small side salad on your plate to be devoured as a second course.

The carnitas taco was so excellent that we had eaten it all before realizing that neither of us had photographed it. The meat was flavorful and juicy, and accented well by green and red peppers that had been simmered along with the pork. With its sprinkling of onions and cilantro, it stole the show.

The Mexican drinks left something to be desired. Be sure to choose the ones that say ‘natural flavors’ to avoid that battery acid after taste.

La Michoacana also provided after lunch entertainment; weaving through the aisles we found tons of reasonably priced and well organized goodies. Although, we would go to a larger location next time for more real estate to explore. The meat counter revealed all sorts of cuts and bits that aren’t normally displayed in grocery stores. It’s stacked in lexan containers behind glass. In an attempt to order some loose chorizo I requested a half hour of book, but eventually got around to a decipherable medio libro.

The whole place is quite an adventure and the delicious food was a fitting reward for navigating some confusing protocol.


Ps. We found the wildflowers post-meal.
Pps. We didn't demolish the entire field by traipsing through it.