EL Mercado Paseo Caribe Facebook
Location: Paseo Caribe. See map below
Type: marketplace restaurant
Parking: Paseo Caribe has valet and regular parking
Kids: yes, you can take your kids
Price: $20 per person, if order drinks it can be more
Service
El Mercado is a marketplace restaurant with really nice people. There are no waiters except in the bar area. The whole point to the place is that you have a variety of restaurants to choose from, you order and pick up the food. The staff at each place make great recommendations.
They have a really nice ambiance with music and comfortable seating. It’s an excellent place for parties and large groups.
Food
They have a lot of options of food from criollo, asian, mexican, italian, coffee and desserts. Here is a list of restaurants:
La Hacienda: great place to buy chips and dip
El Pescador: fresh seefood
Isla Bonita: classis criollo food
Yummy Goodies: cookies, brownies, cakes, etc.
México Lindo: mexican food and they also make margaritas
Coctel: the bar where you order drinks
Aroma Latino: criollo and south american food
Mediterranean Market: European/ International food
Napolitana Wood Fired Pizza: freshly made pizza
Señor Paleta: delicious popsicles
Himalaya: asian food
The Noodle Merchant: noodle bowls
Alto Grande Caffé Bar: coffee and more desserts
Experience
I went here with mom for a girls night out. We tried Isla Bonita because the majority of criollo food is gluten free and also we had heard from some friends that Isla Bonita was good restaurant.
We ordered pork with tostones (fried plantains) and guineitos (green bananas). The pork came with cuerito (crispy pork skin) which was delicious and the pork didn’t even need a knife. The tostones were super crispy, which is good because that means they are fresh! For dessert we ate some strawberry mojito popsicles, super refreshing!
We really had a great time and hope to return to try the other restaurants.