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| - Went here on a Wednesday night to celebrate a friend's birthday. The lady of the night declared a hankering for mexican, do we decided to try Mercadito.
Service was great, and the food and drink were good, but the reason this one drops to 3 stars instead of 4 is that price point. The Guacamole, while totally and utterly delicious, was $8.50 for a small ice cream scoop that we demolished in about nine seconds. Salsa, while also very yummy, cost an extra $3. All the tacos were about $14, of which we tried 4 different ones (there were 4 of us, so one each) the Baja, pastor, carne and pork belly. They were all really quite good, my least favorite was the Mahi mahi, which came out a bit too sweet for my palette, and my favorite, which I could see myself going back for, was the Carne. The slaw that topped it, just a perfect accent to the smoky meat.
Our group also had 4 different margaritas, and I am firmly convinced that the one I tried, the "little market" (mercadito) was by far the best. I would buy the salt they rimmed that glass in by the bucket, tomorrow.
Our very very nice server also brought birthday girl a birthday flan on the house, which tickled her pink. Looked delicious; she did not let me try it. So I assume it was so.
So why only three stars? Because for literally less than half the price, I could get food that was just as delicious at Tacos el Gordo, Taco y Taco, or one of the other great "authentic" taco places in town. It's geared towards low key, date night drinkies and noshing, but the only items that are really priced to make that affordable are the drinks. You're very obviously paying for the trendy vibe and Red Rock Casino location. I can see myself coming back here for a "taco tuesday" or with a groupon; something that brings the price down, but otherwise, it's a little out of the price range to move from "rare occasion" to "regular haunt".
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