Mercado De La Raza

They only place we’ve found so far that sells some of our Mexican food necessities! I gave them a 4 because I wish they were bigger and had more things

This little shop is great when you miss the mainland Mexican food and you want to make your own. The customer service can be hit not missed but the store carries many produce that are hard
to find here

So, this is the only place in town I am aware of where you can get authentic Mexican items. And it is fairly well-​stocked.
I go here because I like the selection but the lady who owns the place is… interesting. She will insult you for not knowing what the f&*%$ you are doing with the ingredients, or for not knowing Mexican cuisine better, but if you can put up with the insults and general grouchy mood, you will find a person with a lot of knowledge about Mexican food willing to help you create something real. She takes her food seriously. Keep that in mind. Try to approach the experience with some humor and you will not be offended. I don’t think her intention is to be insulting, she is just perhaps frustrated with the lack of knowledge most non-​Mexicans have of her delicious cuisine. Let her guide you, however brusque she may be.
I have purchased everything from pre-​made salsas (do NOT make the mistake of thinking the runny orange salsa goes on tortilla chips! Only idiots would do that (LOL). Those go on potato chips, dummy!) to tortillas, to dried chilis, to jalapeños and Jarritos! Prices are probably right for the fact that all items have to come by boat and she runs a small shop.
Each time I go in the store I prepare for a fun interaction and am now disappointed if she is not there. I LOVE good, authentic Mexican food so am happy to deal with a little spunk and grump.

Just a few tips before you visit.
1. The people that work here are kind of rude, but not always. So just in case, be prepared.
2. Check the expiration dates on everything.
3. Get to know the store so next time you go, it’s a quick in and out visit.
I agree with the other person that said the only reason they’re still in business is because they have no competition.
But overall, they carry items that I miss from home so I don’t mind going every few months to pick up what I need.

Love this place! Not sure what the other reviewers were saying, but I have received great service here by both a lady and a man. Excellent place to find groceries not sold anywhere else on island!

I was very happy to find a Mexican grocery store here in Hawaii. We just returned from the mainland and we had the best Mexican food ever in California. I have been having super hard feelings towards Mexican street corn since coming back.
After some hard drooling and reminiscing through my photos from Anaheim, I looked up recipes for the Mexican corn. Ok, there are ingredients I have never heard of in my life. Mexican mayonnaise? Queso fresco? Cojita? I was feeling bummed out until I googled Mexican groceries in Hawaii. I saw a link for this place and was happy to see it’s in town near Keeaumoku St.
This place has all the ingredients I needed and more. I don’t know the names or pronunciations of the food sold here, but they are the same items sold in California. Even the fried wheat things you eat with chile sauce. There are a lot of candies and even frozen meats. I even saw frozen churros but I held back.
The lady who works here who seems to be the owner was very friendly and helpful. She showed me where all the ingredients I needed were.
After I got home, I read some of the Unilocal reviews and regret not buying the frozen twinkles and Mexican sodas.
Next time I need Mexican groceries I will most definitely stop here!

This was the only place I knew of where I could find premade masa for tamales. Placing an order over the phone was easy and painless. However, when I went to pick it up, my name on the list was overlooked and the masa they had was for another customer. The owner said it wasn’t a problem and she would just make more for the customer, allowing me to take the masa on hand since it was their mistake.
While there, I also purchased ojas (corn husks) and chile ancho powder. I thought the ojas were overpriced, but I bought them anyway because I knew they would be hard to find during Christmas time. There was also a good variety of other Latino products.
If you stop by, be sure to pick up some homemade salsa! It was sooo good and definitely worth the $ 5.

Excelente lugar para conseguir productos latinos que quizás no consigas en la comisaría. Tienen de casi todo y el servicio es de maravilla. Lo recomiendo!

This store has expired produce. Bought peanut candy Pacoquinha this week and it was already expired. Expiration date: September 2015 (21. SEP. 15). Please check for expiration dates before you buy.

I wish I could give them less than 1 star. They are SO RUDE!!! I called to see about ordering tamales for Christmas eve. Apparently if you want to plan ahead and have a order ready you have to order 5 dozen! If not then you have to come stand in line on Christmas eve to get them. They are VERY hard to understand over the phone. When I asked for clarification on what day to pick up (thinking they wouldn’t be open on Christmas eve & I couldn’t understand them), I was told «Christmas Eve, the same day since the beginning of time.» How rude!!! If this is how they treat customers then I’ll take my money elsewhere.

AWESOME place for all of your mexican needs/​fix
Little hole in the wall shop.
Wow this place is awesome. Best fresh tamales I’ve tasted just make sure you go early when they open at 10am every second and last Saturdays of the month. Best family kept secret! The cheese and pork are the best paired with their homemade salsa. Everything here is authentic and delicious, your one stop shop for everything from salsa, drinks, lickies and chewies, cooking ingredients, fresh and authentic Mexican food.
Simple and cozy store set up. All of the staff was very helpful and informative, since I almost walked out without picking up a container of salsa. That would have been detrimental since the salsa is zomg unbelievably good! The parking sucks but isn’t too bad if you get lucky right in front otherwise I’d park across the street and walk (near the Times supermarket).

It’s okay not what I was expecting but for an island this place has most if not all I needed from a Latin market.

I was so excited for go and maybe find something that remember me home, but it was the most awful experience, the woman that help me was the most rude person I haven’t ever meet, I won’t want come back there I prefer pay more and buy online. No recommended at all.

Such a cute little shop off the side of busy Beretania! Now I know where to find all my favorite mexican candies!!! They have a lot of yummy treats and novelties! Even the little boxing gloves for your car! Cute store! Great prices!

everyone is super nice, good product selection, and the tamales are great!
seriously get the tamales!

Update– has it been four years already since I last reviewed Mercado de la Raza?
Now, I come here for the salsa, and also chiles. Martha’s salsa is beyond delicious!
This is a small family business that gives excellent quality and freshness. If we have Martha’s Mexicana salsa or chipotle salsa in the house, all is well in my world.
She makes salsa once a week, I think on Thursdays. If you come in the morning, they will be out, but in the afternoon– happiness!
Mahalo Martha and family.

They the variety of flavors and products from different countries

Love this Market !! I go all the time :)
It really takes me back to my countrie and I can find the products to cook my favorite Chilean foods.

I come here to buy plantains and achiote to make my pastele stew. It’s kind of a cluttered store with tons of bottles from decades ago that are part of the décor. I once grabbed one and tried to buy it, only to be informed that it wasn’t for sale, lol! It was kind of confusing because the bottles are like, on the same shelf the products for sale are on. But hey, it’s part of the charm.
I basically only buy plantains here, and my husband sometimes buys mexican coke, which has no high fructose corn syrup (he feels less guilty drinking it!)
Plantains are good. Nice and firm usually. The guy who works there is always friendly.

I wish I could give zero stars. I wish I could give this place NEGATIVE stars.
My husband, little girl, and I walked into the door on a mission to pick up several items. Hoping they would have fresh tortillas my husband approaches the woman at the front and begins to very politely say this:
«You don’t happen to have fresh tortillas that need to be cooked, do you?»
Is that the proper phrasing of a question? Not necessarily. Would it have been better to say «Do you have…»? Yes. Do people in real life often phrase questions in that manner? Yes. Yes they do. Should store owners be NICE or at least civil to new customers? YES. YES THEY SHOULD!
All my husband managed to get out was «You don’t happen to have-​» when she glared at him and snapped «ARE YOU TELLING ME, OR ASKING ME SOMETHING?!!»
My poor husband was momentarily confused then rephrased his question to her liking to which she snapped «No!»
And by this time I was LIVID.
Then my husband noticed my twitching eye and stiff stance and quickly escorted me from the premises before I could THROW IT DOWN.
My husband is Caucasian.
If he’s coming off as offensive or arrogant or rude (he typically isn’t but we all have our moments) you can say whatever you want to him. Go ahead, school him so he doesn’t offend anyone in the future.
However. If my husband is being his normal, friendly, kind-​hearted, awesome self and you yell at him for no reason in front of my 4 year old? YOU WILL FACE MY WRATH.
She totally faced my wrath.
In my head.
Which is darn lucky for her.
There were definitely lots of bad feelings being loudly expressed with vigorous hand gestures as we drove away.
For all the people claiming there’s something wrong with the reviewers who mention a run-​in with the incredibly rude woman — This side of her is real. And it’s terrible. And perhaps she is a victim of violent mood swings or simply harbors a severe hatred for medium sized Caucasians with glasses, but I believe the story of every single person who was offended (I think there are currently 18 of them — several have been filtered).
My husband, on the other hand, says that maybe she just had a very hard life or perhaps she just needs kindness and friends or perhaps she is stuck in some sort of really nasty menopausal limbo.
Sometimes he’s a better person than I am…
A lot of the time, actually. But shhhh, don’t tell him I said that.

On the way to the Asian market next door, I happened to stop by this place and decided to take a look. They have a wide variety of Mexican snacks, canned products, chiles, tortillas, chorizo and weird knick knacks in the back. I decided on some beans to cook later at home. Service was fast and simple.
Later, while I was cutting vegetables and washing the beans, I noticed that there were little bugs swimming in the water of the submerged beans. Like A LOT of them. Had to rinse and strain out the pests. I personally don’t mind too much about the bugs, but this was really gross. I’m not going to put up the pictures of it. But It makes me think how long these beans have been sitting on those shelves to have been so heavily infested with these things. Yuck.
Great place to come get some latin American products. My advice is to make sure to check the bags carefully for any signs of pantry pests. And don’t forget to check expiration dates because who knows how long its been sitting in this store.

I found everything I wanted
Chorizo
Queso fresco
All types of chiles
Tortillas
And much much more
Latin store. Come check it out!
I’ll be back. Martha the owner was absolutely amazing and very helpful.

Five stars for the only Mercadito in Honolulu! They have products from all over latin America but I come in for their Mexican stuff! Fresh salsa, tamales (yes expensive I know but if you want them cheaper, buy the masa and make your own), Mexican candies, and aguas frescas mixes.
My favorite thing to buy here are Mexican sodas (the apple one is my fave) and gansitos. I first fell in love with gansitos in Los Angeles, and if you never had a gansito it’s like Mexico took the twinkie and one upped it. It has the twinkie yellow cake inside but the filling has the classic cream and strawberry jelly, plus the whole thing is dipped in chocolate. I love them popped in the freezer for a bit. If the Mercado has them in stock (not always), pick one up to try, you won’t regret it!
The Mercado always had some new stuff to explore and I have bought their non food products too. They have comales (for heating tortillas) and different novelty items featuring different Latin American flags on them — my hubby has the boxing gloves with the Mexican flag on it. The register is often run by the owner or her son, and they are super helpful and nice. My husband loves talking story to her but even if you’re not super fluent en espanol (como yo) it’s ok, you won’t feel left out. Seriously, stop by and broaden your cultural horizons, you won’t be disappointed!

There are no good Mexican restaurants on this island.
So I cook my own and get the ingredients here at Mercado. There prices are reasonable, and they have all ingredients I need that Safeway doesn’t carry.
I have tried their prepared foods like the tamales and was disappointed. Too dry and too little filling.
So I’ll stick to the groceries.

Colombiana: La nuestra
Manzana Postobon
Pony Malta; bebida de campeones
Chontaduro maduro
La masa para las arepas
Milo
Avena Alpina
Ay, mi tierra!

Friendly service great selection of spices and grocery items. Fresh tamales, salsa, sausages for sale. Bought tons and ready to create several Latin dishes with my baby…

From California and you want to make some carne asada fries or even want some homemade tamales? THIS is the place for you.
This lovely Latin American Grocery store is wonderful, I love it. They have fresh guacamole and salsa that WE love and crave from California. I mean of course you can make it yourself but we can get lazy.
I believe on Saturdays and Sundays, FRESH TAMALES! but it is first come basis. I DISLIKE that. It is like you have to be there right when they open to get some.
Parking can be SUCH a hassle though, and the location is far from me so it is difficult to reach this place on a daily basis as well. I don’t even think there is parking the back? only street parking. UGH.
There is a lot of your common latin, mexican, Puerto Rican foods that you might need if you plan on having a «Latin American» food night. They have a lot of the mexican candy that I have been wanting and craving for too! They do not have fresh horchata, they do have the powder to make it! We were trying to look for the seasoning to make Carne Asada, I dont remember if we found it but If I dont remember than I guess we didnt. Oh well.
This place is worth checking out!

I just came back in here today because i was driving down beretania and i noticed they had a sign up that says fresh made tamale’s last and first saturday of the month. My mind was just blown because i haven’t had a fresh made tamale in a while. I was super excited to get my hands on some and what better establishment to go to for some authentic mexican food than an authentic grocery store.
So i walk in and ask if there are any tamales left, and the mexican lady at the front counter says to me in her hard mexican accent «in the back behind the shelf» I actually had to ask to her to repeat that twice becuase i couldnt understand with her accent.
Low and behold i peek my mischievous tamale fiending head around the corner. BOOM jackpot! A whole bin of tamales center ground! There were several bags in the bin. Each bag has about 6 warm fresh tamales. The bags go for about $ 15 a pop. There was fresh made salsa in the fridge as i was walking out so being myself i had to grab one of those, as well as some whole dried chilis, and a chocolate covered marshmallow pop that was in the form of a clown.
First time i came here it was for some ingredients to make mexican corn. I am pretty sure i will be back more often. Sometime around the last and first saturdays of the month.