Friday I’m In Love: Mexican Grocery Stores With Taco Counters In The Back

You can have ¿Por Que No?, I’m going to Hillsboro.

Let’s make this one brief. The best Mexican food is always on the outskirts of town and it’s always found in a truck or in the back of a grocery store where piñatas hang from the ceiling. If you can’t buy a bag of pan dulce on the way out, you’re probably not getting the genuine article.

Sure, I like Portland’s hipster Mexican joints as much as the next member of the Creative Class (loosely defined as people who don’t want to admit they work for corporations and who are generally cool with spending $14 on three street tacos). But let’s not kid ourselves, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who speaks Spanish at Guero or ¿Por Que No?. And you definitely won’t hear ranchera music wailing through the speakers, unless maybe they’re playing it ironically. And if they are playing it ironically, they can die a slow and painful death. Ranchera rules. ¡Grupo Bronco! ¡Los Tigres Del Norte! .

Here are three places you need to visit:

Tienda Santa Cruz (St Johns)

Super Mercado Mexico (Hillsboro or Deep SE)

Super Mercado La Montaña (Hillsboro)

I was going to give you links and reviews, but if you’re not willing to google them and figure it out yourself, then you don’t deserve anything that awaits in these holy houses.

Every Friday I share something I love. Usually, it’s a new infatuation. Occasionally, it’s something else. We’ll see how it goes. Thanks for the theme song, Phoebe Bridgers!