Mercado Restaurant Manhattan Beach

We thought this was just another boring Mexican restaurant — WRONG!! We thought the food was going to be average, or worse, underwhelming… once again WRONG.

I might need to raise my criteria for 5 stars, because this place checked all the boxes and then some.

Our waitress was attentive, bubbly, and very knowledgeable, which makes an average meal way more appealing… but in this case, the food needed no help. The items we selected were exquisite, tantalizing, and just downright 🔥!

Simple Breakdown of Meal:
• Chips and guac with the mushroom choriqueso, that's a 5-star treat in itself.
• Pulpo al Pastor (octopus)… my wife said it's 🔥🔥… I wasn't brave enough to try it, but it looked amazing for the 'gram.
• Tacos de Pescado: exquisite and magnifique (I'm sure I butchered that word… but you get the drift).

And to wrap it up and put a bow on it, the atmosphere and artwork bring the whole experience together beautifully.

I've never been so excited to be wrong about a Mexican restaurant.

We recently hosted a large group dinner for a birthday and had a great experience. Andrew and the team were really wonderful to work with to help make a memorable event. And the food and drinks were delicious!

The Baseline: For a Mexican restaurant the flavors of the food must make use of the prime Mexican ingredients (corn, beans, chiles, rice, cheese, and meats), preparation of sauces/salsas, the meal portion size must make me feel full, and feeling of the restaurant must give me the feeling of a Mexican restaurant.

Food: The food at Mercado is amazingly good and I have been here several times. This visit we had the Mercado Surf and Turf Tablita which was full of meat, shrimp, chilis, and veggies. The carnitas was prolly my favorite protein on the plate but everything was grilled and cooked to the amazing flavors you will get at Mercado. For drinks we had the house michelada and the watermelon basil margarita.

Service: You will have great service at Mercado and the wait staff works as a team. If someone notices a need they try to fulfill it. My water glass and bottle was always full.

Ambiance: This is an upscale Mexican dining experience and the decor displays that feeling. Bathrooms were clean and serviced. There is a nice outdoor dining space that overlooks the Manhattan Village common lawn area.

Came here for taco Tuesday, it was a bit underwhelming. Not once did they come back to check on me after I got my food.

I didn’t see a waiter or waitress until the place was closing. I just saw wanted to pay and leave.

Best Restaurant in the South Bay....period! There Brunch & Happy Hour are phenomenal. Best Guacamole you'll ever eat. Andrew, the GM really gets customer service. Super genuine and friendly. Definitely have the Flan & Churros dessert!!!!

My favorite happy hour and Mexican food in the South Bay. Love the gringo, shrimp, and carnitas tacos and the carnitas plate is awesome. Highly recommmend

The Guac was really good, everything else wasn’t bad but also not amazing. Drinks were pretty good. Not a bad spot but most likely won’t come back.

Good Mexican restaurant nested in Manhattan Village. They do offer a patio sitting area as well as indoor, with both a room and a bar area. The menu is classic however, kuddos on having a vegetarian-veggie section. I personally enjoyed the cauliflower al pastor, really good, paired with the classic black beans.
I definitely recommend to stop by in case you are hungry after a day of shopping at the village.

Great food! Horrible service.

Our waiter was so neglectful of our table. I think he stopped by a total of 3 times, and one of those was to bring the check. We had to constantly ask other waiters for help after not seeing ours for 20+ mins. This happened multiple times. One time I asked for a to-go box and after 20 mins another server finally stopped by as she could tell we were not being taken care of. We were there for 2 hours, and the food came quick so that was not part of it. The horrible server ruined my experience, to what otherwise would have been a great dinner.

The guac was good and flavorful

This place was delicious. I'm always skeptical about having mexican food outside of my house but wow this place exceeded my expectations. The dos gringas were delicious alpastor with bits of pineapple...yumm.... the ceviche tostada 🤤🤤🤤 and the carnitas nachos wow... highly recommend this place. The service was definitely great. Can't wait to go back.

Today, my family and I tried Mercado for the first time! This place was amazing! After having a bad experience at a restaurant earlier in the day, we found ourselves over at Mercado. The staff was amazing. The food was even better. The Dip Duo was spectacular and the Ceviche Tropical was great! The waiter taking care of us was Nick. He was knowledgeable and very down to earth. He made some wonderful food recommendations! The owner, Jesse, was right there assisting his staff. He was pleasant and very professional. This is what great leadership is all about!! Please visit Mercado, you will not be disappointed!!

Decent quality food and drinks

I love Mercado. Been a fan for years, from Yxta in DTLA to the Santa Monica outpost. Chef Jose and Jesse know how the operate a great restaurant. The management of folks like Caesar to the staff makes the difference. I enjoy all the salsas especially the habanero, the dip duo is great too. The Mole enchiladas are rich and a real taste of Oaxaca. The winning order for me is the carne asada plate. The bar at this location in MB is well thought out as well as it’s both indoors and out. And don’t sleep on the happy hour.

We were staying nearby at a hotel and our original dinner plans had fallen through. We were kind of left scrambling at 6pm on a Friday night and Mercado delivered on every aspect!! Days later I’m still thinking about the delicious food. The two dishes that stood out were the shrimp tacos on jicama- amazing flavor explosion. And the grilled octopus. And they have some of the best guacamole I’ve ever had. Service was 10/10, our waitress was super helpful and intuitive with our needs - while dinning with two toddlers. Food and drinks came out promptly. I wish they had a location for us in San Diego but I would absolutely ,100% come back here when visiting.

OMG MY FAVORITE 😍 RESTAURANT IN LA MY FAR! HAPPY HOUR IS AMAZING! THE FOOD IS TO LIVE FOR!! SURPRISED it's NOT PACKED 7 DAYS A WEEK! ITS THE BEST RESTAURANT IN LA HANDS DOWN💯💯