Mexican Restaurants in the Tampa Bay Area?

Rie T. wrote:
>
>Hi everybody!
>
>I'm looking for **cheap** Mexican restaurants in the Tampa Bay Area,
>preferably in north St. Petersburg or South Tampa. When I lived in Chicago,
>I used to go to places like Maravillas and Viva Zapata, where they serve
>these gigantic burritos. They are usually a small, family-run operation,
>and not fancy at all--more like a step up from your fast food chains.
>Typical menu items include tacos (chicken, steak, pork...), burritos, beans
>and rice, horchata, flan, various soft drinks in bottles (with Spanish
>labels). Very hot salsa sauces also seem to be a staple at these joints.
>More often than not, the menus (up on the wall behind the counter) will be
>bilingual. One can usually have a filling lunch for less than $5.
>
>I've looked for these places up and down 4th Street in St. Petersburg, as
>well as in the yellow pages, but can't seem to find a single one! If you
>know of any, please let me know.
>
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Rie Takagi
>[email removed]

Try Las Mariachis (sp?).  One location on Ulmerton, just west of Starkey and one in Clwr. (Cleveland St if my memory is accurate).  The food here is home made and excellent.  You have to specify the hot salsa and dont miss the black bean soup, its to die for.

A realy cheap altenrative to Taco Bell is Mexico Grande, one location on Highland in Clwr, one somewhere in Tampa.  Food quality is a step up from Taco Bell and they put out a nice condiment bar (chiles, salsas etc) so you can dress up your order.

Enjoy,
Bill Gibson

PS  The Red Mesa (I think I have that name right) on 4th St in St Pete has gotten excellent reviews, but its not in the budget category.

There are plenty of "Tex-Mex" restaurants in the Tampa Bay area. I have tried many of them and they are basicly all the same. For genuine MEXICAN food in Tampa try Casa Vallarta on North Dale Mabry. This is a chain that originated in Atlanta, GA. Virtually all of the staff (in Tampa) is Mexican (and they barely speak English) but the food is very authentic and the prices are unbelievably low.

On Mon, 27 Jan 1997, Rie T. wrote:

>
> Hi everybody!
>
> I'm looking for **cheap** Mexican restaurants in the Tampa Bay Area,
> preferably in north St. Petersburg or South Tampa. When I lived in Chicago,
> I used to go to places like Maravillas and Viva Zapata, where they serve
> these gigantic burritos. They are usually a small, family-run operation,
> and not fancy at all--more like a step up from your fast food chains.
> Typical menu items include tacos (chicken, steak, pork...), burritos, beans
> and rice, horchata, flan, various soft drinks in bottles (with Spanish
> labels). Very hot salsa sauces also seem to be a staple at these joints.
> More often than not, the menus (up on the wall behind the counter) will be
> bilingual. One can usually have a filling lunch for less than $5.
>
> I've looked for these places up and down 4th Street in St. Petersburg, as
> well as in the yellow pages, but can't seem to find a single one! If you
> know of any, please let me know.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Rie Takagi
> [email removed]
>
>