El Mexico Grocery Store

El Mexico is good in a pinch if you have forgotten cilantro or tortillas and need to make a last minute stop, but the produce is consistently of poor quality. The Mexican baked goods are also sospechoso… On the positive side, the store offers calling cards for Mexico and Latin America. Not a bad little store for Mexican dry goods and drinks but best to do your produce shopping somewhere else.

The elotes are always good! I always come back for it. My cousins loved it too..

Great butcher, cheap prices on everything, the only con here is that they have a limited selection of foods since the place is pretty small.
But moving past that, there is one reason I am writing this review and it is because of their salsa. It is by far the best salsa I have ever had. It is extremely fresh, with a great amount of heat, and it is not too chunky, which means the salsa blend really comes out. If you don’t like hot salsa (I don’t really understand why you eat salsa anyway) then this is not the salsa for you. But for salsa purists, you will love it. And the kicker is, a jar of it is only $ 1.50!
The salsa is made fresh on the weekends, so you can really only get it on weekends and up until about Tuesday when they run out. Come to think of it, I really shouldn’t even be telling you this because now you are going to buy this salsa and I might not be able to stop in for my weekly fix. So you should actually probably ignore this review and move on. Stick to your normal, terrible, mass-​produced salsa and stay away from this stuff, it’s all mine!

«El Mexico» aka «La Mexicana» as my family calls it. We’ve been going here for years. This is the only place we get our meat because it’s always fresh. I like the feel of the place, it’s a very hustle and bustle urban type of feel of a convenient grocery store. The place has a lot of regulars that have been going here for years as well. Occasionally I like to stop here for some arrachera, corn in cup, or Topo-​Chico. If I ever tag along with my mother she almost always runs into someone familiar to chat with for whether it be the customers or the owners of the shop. Great place.

When I crave elote, I come to El Mexico, conveniently located in downtown Des Plaines. I have to agree with Brittany S. the elotes here are great. The service here is quick. When you enter the store, walk directly to the back of the store near the butcher. You’ll find a sign that says «elote» and one of the workers will make your elote as you like. In addition to the $ 1.25 cob/​$ 1.50 cup, you can always add on more cheese, more chili powder, for an additional fee. The portions are more than satisfying.
Tip: Head to Las Asadas a few blocks down and pair your elote with some carne asada tacos and horchata… and you’ll have the perfect meal.

I only come here for their Elotes. Cheap and delicious! This place was referred to me and my friend when we went to a local Mexican restaurant and asked for elote– which they didn’t carry.
What I like is that it is cheap ($ 1.25 on the cob, $ 1.50 en vaso – in the cup; I learned some Spanish reading their order sign haha).
Anyways, they pull out a cob from their boiling water pot and prepare the elotes fresh in front of you. The «cooks» are nice and they ask if you want to bag it or not.
I should also let you know, that since they do come cheap, I think this stand only accepts cash (I’m not sure about the grocery itself).
I still have yet to try other things at the meat stand or buy some grocery items, but I’m just reviewing the corn =)
I don’t think I’d go anywhere else for cheap and freshly made elotes!

Great selection of all foods Mexican. I go there for spices and cheese too. One of the few places that has Chihuahua cheese grated — and at a comparable price to the small wheels. Reasonable prices.
There’s a butcher too, and while I have never purchased meat there, a lot of people are often waiting at the counter to order there. Friendly service.