Stars: 4.99 out of 5
Pros: Secretiveness, Service, Price, Fresh Quality, Portions
Cons: Secretiveness
I will begin this post by making sure I give all credit to the one person that deserves it, MC. Now, on with the post. It was a Saturday much like any other Saturday, I was hungry as were BN and MC. We were torn with indecision. Where to go? What to eat? So many questions... And then MC had answers. "How about Mexican? I know a place in the back of a store that is the shit." A secret restaurant? Count us IN!!
When you first pull up to Latino Village you realize that you have driven by this place 1000's of times with out giving it a second glance. It doesn't have anything special to it and there is no mention of a restaurant anywhere. When BN and I got there we were almost certain we were in the wrong place. MC arrived and set our fears to rest. She assured us that some of the best Mexican food in Richmond could be found behind those glass door. A hidden gem among the chili peppers and plantains. The suspense alone made this meal worth it. I will also note here that the .01 of a star I took off is because had MC not told us about it, I would never had found this wonderful gem. Shame on you Latino Village. Advertise your wonderful self.
At the back of the store you find yourself at a counter with a small seating area. The menu is posted above the counter with a little description to help us confused white folk. The selection isn't vast, but that was fine. I think more choices here would have made this way too hard. We were greeted in a very friendly manner by a lovely middle-aged Hispanic woman. She spoke Spanish to us and you could see the glint of hope that we would understand. We quickly extinguished that glint, but she remained pleasant none the less. She took our order (MC and BN went with tacos while I went with zopas) and told us we pay at the end. She pointed out where drinks were, showed us the salsa bar and told us to sit anywhere.
Each of our meals cost the exact same wonderful price, $7.99. That comes with no sides and no drink, but it does get you 3 tacos or 3 zopas (handmade thick tortillas). I can't argue with fresh, handmade food for just $7.99. And we could see the women in the back cooking. They pressed out my zopas and they freshly flattened the tacos. The meat was diced up and thrown on the flat-top grill. All of the toppings were chopped fresh. It was the real deal for $7.99. Kudos to Latino Village.
Our plates came out LOADED to the maximum. The three tacos lay propped against each other across the entire plate. Both BN and MC went with a different meat on each of their tacos. They were topped with cilantro, sour cream and a massive hunk of avocado. They looked pretty amazing. My zopas were huge discs covered in meat, sour cream, lettuce and cotija cheese. I went with 3 different meats because variety is the spice of life. There was no way I could manage these beasts without a fork and knife. The first bite caused my eyes to roll back in my head as a feeling of utter happiness washed over me. Not only can you taste the freshness, but the meat juices mix with the cold sour cream and soak into the tortilla. The lettuce is nice and crunchy. The cheese does what any good cheese does: makes everything even better. It is the perfect mouthful every single time. That is all I can say really...
Latino Village is a hidden gem that I was very hesitant to even share with you, my loyal readers. It is like a secret that you know you should keep all to yourself, but just can't stop your mouth from blabbing about. I truly hope that the next time you seek good Mexican food you drive yourself down to the West End and visit Latino Village. There is no way you could be sorry with your decision.
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