The BEST Mexican Grocery store

[KatieLoeb]

Hey all:

Wandering about in South Philly recently I stumbled across La Jaroncita (I think that's right) at Wolf & Swanson streets, down by the Forman Mills, etc. Great little store that has all manner of inexpensive Mexican groceries and packaged goods. A boatload of hot sauces, canned chiles en adobo sauce in about six or eight types, fresh chiles of several varieties, plantains, fresh avocados, fresh nopales, tomatillos, several fresh Mexican cheeses and small packaged drinkable yogurts in tropical flavors. Full line of Mexican juices and sodas. Great household goods too, including at least six varieties of Fabuloso cleanser (the lavender smells heavenly) and a few others to boot. All is inexplicably inexpensive. And the first time I was there, the guy behind the counter gave me one of his tamales for lunch! They were awesome but I couldn't get him to tell me where they came from. Definitely a find.

[rockhopper]

Hey all:

Wandering about in South Philly recently I stumbled across La Jaroncita (I think that's right) at Wolf & Swanson streets, down by the Forman Mills, etc.  Great little store that has all manner of inexpensive Mexican groceries and packaged goods.  A boatload of hot sauces, canned chiles en adobo sauce in about six or eight types, fresh chiles of several varieties, plantains, fresh avocados, fresh nopales, tomatillos, several fresh Mexican cheeses and small packaged drinkable yogurts in tropical flavors.  Full line of Mexican juices and sodas.  Great household goods too, including at least six varieties of Fabuloso cleanser (the lavender smells heavenly) and a few others to boot.  All is inexplicably inexpensive.  And the first time I was there, the guy behind the counter gave me one of his tamales for lunch!  They were awesome but I couldn't get him to tell me where they came from.  Definitely a find.

←

Would they have a variety of dried chiles? New Mexican, Guajillo, Ancho, Mulatto etc?I need to find a good source in Philly or SJ since I don't travel as much to california anymore.

[mrbigjas]

the store associated with taqueria la veracruzana has several varieties of dried peppers. ancho, arbol, mulatto, pasilla, pequin, costeno to name a few. it's just up from 9th & washington.

[Andrew Fenton]

the store associated with taqueria la veracruzana has several varieties of dried peppers.  ancho, arbol, mulatto, pasilla, pequin, costeno to name a few.  it's just up from 9th & washington.

←

Yup, and they sell them in bulk: cheap! The only problem is that you bring your own labeling tools... I have a cabinet with like five kinds of dried chiles and have no idea which one is which.

[KatieLoeb]

Hey all:

Wandering about in South Philly recently I stumbled across La Jaroncita (I think that's right) at Wolf & Swanson streets, down by the Forman Mills, etc.  Great little store that has all manner of inexpensive Mexican groceries and packaged goods.  A boatload of hot sauces, canned chiles en adobo sauce in about six or eight types, fresh chiles of several varieties, plantains, fresh avocados, fresh nopales, tomatillos, several fresh Mexican cheeses and small packaged drinkable yogurts in tropical flavors.  Full line of Mexican juices and sodas.  Great household goods too, including at least six varieties of Fabuloso cleanser (the lavender smells heavenly) and a few others to boot.  All is inexplicably inexpensive.  And the first time I was there, the guy behind the counter gave me one of his tamales for lunch!  They were awesome but I couldn't get him to tell me where they came from.  Definitely a find.

←

Would they have a variety of dried chiles? New Mexican, Guajillo, Ancho, Mulatto etc?I need to find a good source in Philly or SJ since I don't travel as much to california anymore.

←

Yes they did. Several kinds dried and three or four fresh as well. Definitely had fresh jalapenos, chile de arbol, serranos and poblanos (I'm thinking chiles rellenos soon!). Fresh tomatillos, nopales, RIPE avocados, limes, etc. Great canned stuff and good seasonings and such. I bought this delicious Pico seasoning that is sort of a Mrs. Dash type blend with dried lime/lemon juice. It's delicious on cooked vegetables. I can't wait to try it on buttered corn on the cob.

[shacke]

Might as well ask here. Does anyone know any good tex-mex joints in the city? I am sure they exist somewhere among the latino populations. I lived on that stuff from the Mission district in San Francisco but havent found anything remotely similar since I moved back in '97.

evan

[mrbigjas]

the store associated with taqueria la veracruzana has several varieties of dried peppers.  ancho, arbol, mulatto, pasilla, pequin, costeno to name a few.  it's just up from 9th & washington.

←

Yup, and they sell them in bulk: cheap! The only problem is that you bring your own labeling tools... I have a cabinet with like five kinds of dried chiles and have no idea which one is which.

←

ok i feel better knowing that i'm not the only one who has this problem. every time i go and buy more, i think hey, no problem, i can remember, they're all very different. and now... sigh.

[mrbigjas]

Yes they did.  Several kinds dried and three or four fresh as well.  Definitely had fresh jalapenos, chile de arbol, serranos and poblanos (I'm thinking chiles rellenos soon!). 

awesome--i don't see fresh chiles de arbol very often. we drove by this place yesterday and i said to my wife, 'that's the place katie was talking about!' but we didn't go in.

[mrbigjas]

Might as well ask here.  Does anyone know any good tex-mex joints in the city?  I am sure they exist somewhere among the latino populations.  I lived on that stuff from the Mission district in San Francisco but havent found anything remotely similar since I moved back in '97.

evan

←

as far as i'm concerned there aren't any. they have decent not-too-expensive burritos similar to those you get in san francisco at el fuego, 7th & walnut, but as far as tex-mex goes, there ain't much.

[Buckethead]

Does anyone know at which Mexican grocery I may be able to find epazote? The nearest one to me is La Fortuna, Tasker and 13th (I think), but I don't recall ever seeing any fresh herbs there.

[KatieLoeb]

Buckethead:

The Cantina in RTM might have it. They have some fresh items as well as prepared foods.

Try calling Tequilas or Paloma and ask the chefs where they get theirs.

[orion]

Buckethead:

The Cantina in RTM might have it.  They have some fresh items as well as prepared foods.

Try calling Tequilas or Paloma and ask the chefs where they get theirs.

←

I once went to a bunch of the South Philly tiendas looking for fresh epazote and never found any. However, the produce tables on 9th St that are run by Mexicans sometimes have it. One time one of them told me they only had it on weekends, but even then it's not always there.

Of course, most if not all of the tiendas have dried epazote, although I've never tried using it.

[Buckethead]

I actually found some at Mi Pueblito (I think that's the spelling), on Passyunk just south of Washington Ave. It made a delicious tortilla soup! Rick Nichols also mentioned in an article a place at 8th and Tasker called La Acapulquena that has fresh epazote.

[TarteTatin]

We got it at the Mexican place in Reading Terminal a few months back.

Also, I would think Penzey's...