El Mercado Latino

This place is very expensive and with a side of attitude. I felt like I was an inconvenient for them. The Café Rico that you can buy in aWalgreens in Puerto Rico like for 2.00 was here for 12.95. They don’t have Malta India but rather the Malta Goya that I can buy in QFC in Klahanie. Blah. I am glad I don’t need anything from here as my mother can easily Fedex me a box of goodies from the Isla del Ecanto. No thanks!

Great shop with a good selection of Latin ingredients for sale. They also sell snacks like empanadas and chicharron. The empanadas are on the small side but very satisfying. The empanada filling is based on the Argentine empanada.

Hot sauce capitol of Seattle. They had every flavor of every sauce, things I cant even get here in AZ. The peppers are drying all along the walls and ceilings, its a place of color and beauty and heat for us chili heads. All your Latin treats were here and some hot food as well. The lady at the counter was very helpful. I stocked up on some items I have a hard time finding. More to fit in my suitcase for the ride home and the drug sniffing dogs at the airport.

I was lured in by the fragrant beef and chicken empanadas i bought and devoured. I coincidentally saw my all-​time favorite Peruvian drink «inca cola» and purchased a 6 pack. I dont recall the individual prices, but the steep price (upwards of $ 23) i had to pay, quickly gave me gastritis. Though the empanadas and inca cola satisfied my insatiable cravings, It does y warrant the price they charge – hence only 2 stars.

Thank goodness this place is small because it takes you forever to look at every single thing that this mercado offers.
My recommendation? Take one side-​step throughout the entire store.
One step to the right, look up and down the shelves full of tomatoes, pickled stuffs, masa, tortillas, plantain chips, sodas… another step to the right, and you’re at hot sauce heaven. This has to be the biggest selection of hot sauces I have ever seen! You could make a righteous gift basket for the pepper head friend or family member.
Side-step…whoops, you’re at the cashier. Hi lady! Can I have a chicken empanada? A perfect bite to continue my strange line dance. Around the sodas, and now you’ve hit the jackpot: The spice and salt wall.
The salts range from $ 1.25 per $ 1.75 per package and there’s a bunch to choose from!
And the spices aren’t limited to Spanish influence. The leg up on getting spices here versus my other favorite spice place in the market is that everything is already packaged in small baggies for you.
Be mindful that tasting multiple baggies of white powdery salt saying things like, «Oh yeah, that’s the stuff!» or rubbing the salt in your gums may look a little… sketchy.

What appeared to be a grocery store with a very specific selection of Latin products also had empanadas for sale. Right in Pike Place Market, I was skeptical, but I couldn’t help but be swayed by how good they looked. Only tried the chicken and discovered one of the best empanadas I have ever had! I’ll probably try them all before we leave.

As an returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Paraguay, not only was I thrilled to see that there was an entire wall in the store dedicated to Yerba maté, but they had tons of brands and varieties. I was able to find exactly what I was looking for!
The staff was friendly and the store was clean and organized. Great market!

This place is incredible. Has a HUGE selection of Yerba maté. I walked in and felt like I was back in Argentina. Rosamonte, Cruz de Malta, Taragui, Union, CBeSé, Pajarito, Campesino, you name it and they got it. One stop shop. Prices very reasonable.

Tienen Aji Amarillo, Rocoto, y Aji Panca. Tienen mazamorra morada en 3 tipos. Hasta tienen mate de coca, pero esta bien caro; y no hay cuy conjelado que yo sepa.

Lime spiced warm, fresh chicharonnes! Wow my husband was impressed. So many authentic and excellent snacks here, including empanadas (sweet and savory) and some sweets I’ve only seen in Mexico and in the depths of Fruitvale, Oakland.

Only giving this store 1star cause I can’t give 0.
This retail store should be embarrassed for the prices they charge. 3x more for what you can get at HT market on Aurora. To top it off the mother/​daughter owners are unfriendly and could care less. Example: purchased empanada dough at HT market for $ 1.99 and same here wanted $ 4.59 for exactly the same. Many Asian stores in Seattle offer large selections of Latino foods for a fraction of what this place charges. GRACIAS! NOT!
Don’t pay these crazy prices unless you have money to burn and want to keep these Ladronas in business.

Wanna know how to get me excited?
Chilies.
Lots of them.
Chillies that I cannot find in Vancouver. The Mexican population is almost like the tundra tree line once you hit the 49^th parallel in North America. — sparce.
So I got a little excited when I found this shop in Pike Place of all places.
This has got to be the biggest plethora of Mexican/​Spanish groceries that I have come across in the Pacific Northwest. I looked through this shop for at least 15 to 20 minutes, and it’s small! There is so much stuff in here that you cannot get in Vancouver, or at least difficult.
Yeah I bought some dried ancho chillies. I did, really, I did.

Great little shop with a huge variety of Latino goods. We always stop when in Seattle to stock up on Goya products that we cannot find locally and you can’t forget a couple 2 liters of Colombiana. Yumm.

Personally I shop at bodega my whole life, Iv been here for three years, and have gone to this store many times to get the products to create my culinary delicacy, I’m still looking for another store that may have the same, more, different goya products. If anyone knows of any please let me know.
But other then that I have been able to make traditional meals from my home using these ingredients, in this market

I really like the beef empanadas at this place: they’re pretty spicy and filling and only $ 4. Perfect for munching on while walking around Pike Place.
This store has a ludicrous selection of hot sauces, dried peppers, and spices. If you’re a firebug that loves to cook like I am, this is your one-​stop-​shop for spices. If you got any questions or need recommendations, the nice lady at the counter has got your back.

I was wandering at Pike Place and I saw a familiar logo. CAFE PILAO!!! I’ve been drinking Café Pilao (Brazilian coffee) since I was a toddler hahaha. I always order online thinking I can’t find it here in Seattle. For a limited time, Macy’s was selling Pilao (that was 5 months ago I think) and I bought 12 bricks to seal the deal. How’s that?
Now, I can wake up every morning happy because of Pilao. When I’m almost out of stock, El Latino Mercado will be always there. Cheesy I know :-)
And added extra — they are selling very cheap Pimenton de la vera (Smoked paprika) from Spain (ofcourse). This store is the best.
I just checked their website and they also sell Café do Ponto?! (my all time favorite coffee). It’s out of stock no wonder I didn’t see it there. I will always check that out like a hawk.

Good little store but it’s too over priced. I like hot sauces and there’s a particular Belizean hot sauce brand I like. I have not found them anywhere else, besides online. I paid just under eight dollars for bottle that cost $ 3.50 in Belize. I know I can’t compare the prices from Belize but I found an online site that sells them for slightly over four dollars including shipping.
For all my Mexican groceries I would rather wait and drive south to Beacon Hill or Burien once a month and do all my shopping down there since it’s close to, if not, half the price.
But if I take the price out of the equation I would rate it A-​OK since it’s a good place that carries many popular Latino products and it’s the only place in downtown that has that many products.

This is the only store in town where I have been able to find Argentine empanada shells. They are also the only ones I know who sell the incredibly tasty Costa Rican Lizano Sauce.
It’s a bit of a chore to find parking anywhere nearby. But it’s always fun to watch all the street musicians and tourists while you’re at the market.

Even if you don’t plan on buying anything, you have to stop in and look at the giant wall of hot sauces. The labels are hilarious and slightly X rated… but you have a good laugh!

This place is very Original!
3 Star’s because I know what this shop use to be like and there is always room for improving it to what it use to be like. Please see my photo. Enjoy!
Between 1985 — 2000, this shop was purchased by some very hardworking people who I had the privilege of knowing. The owners before them had no idea what they were doing. Although, the owners did not speak Spanish as their first language, they spoke Spanish as their 3^rd language. Actually, they spoke 3 languages. Wow! They brought and introduced to Seattle, many of the Caribbean, Central and South American Specialty Grocery items. Not to mention the many religious items they had. Ranging from candles to special oils.
THIS PLACE HAD IT ALL!
Back in the day, the front outside of the store was stocked with many exotic fruit and vegetables from their prospective regions of their specialty.
This is the first shop to carry and hang various chili strings, chili wreaths, and even stringed garlic in the Seattle area and may even be in the State of Seattle at the time.
The Store grew quickly in its early years, opening another location in Tacoma, near Pacific Highway South. That shop was also very successful.
After a great 15 years of business, the owners decided to sell their shop as they were at the retiring age.
I have not been back to this store since 1999 – 2000, but the photo’s do show the current owner’s are trying to keep up with what once was.

If you happen to be a displaced Argentinean (like I am), then you won’t think it’s a long way to drive from Vancouver to Seattle just to go to this store.
They have tapas saltenas (for making empanadas) imported from Argentina. They have Mate, they have alfajores, they have chimichurri, they have dulce de leche, they have so many little things that any Argie would miss.
I drove to seattle just to get the discos for making empanadas, since they are just so darn good. I bought 6 packs. I went to 4 other latin markets before arriving at this one, and this is the only one I could find in Seattle that had Argentinean food.