Taqueria Merlo

Excellent, fresh, authentic Mexican food that is a phenomenal value. I’m visiting from out of town and tried Merlos on a whim. I got mixed (chicken, steak, and shrimp) Fajitas for $ 10! The food rivals anything I’ve seen in a «proper» restaurant, is made to order right in the kitchen and open for view.
As others have said the store and restaurant are spotless. I will be back the next time I come down to FL to visit.

I have this place on speed dial. I can’t tell you enough how much my family loves the food at Merlots. Do yourself a favor and go eat if you are a fan of Mexican food.

Nice little restaurant and supermarket. It has Mexican bakery items also.

Stopped here while on a trip to lake Wales. Glad I did, it’s a hidden little gem in a small town and food is delicious. It’s far from where I live but I when am around that area I will definitely stop there. Food is fresh and one of the most authentic places i have been to.

Be forewarned that the restaurant is connected to a grocery store. It is certainly a dive, but the food was quite good.
Also, the menu board is in all Spanish, so do yourself a favor and grab a menu on the counter. It contains explanations of all the dishes.
I would recommend trying it out, but certainly not somewhere to spend date night.

I had the carne arachera and it was. Was also surprised that I didn’t have to give much for my. I will be back again

Authentic delicious food. Driving down from Legoland and found this taqueria on Unilocal.The quesadilla was amazing.

We were driving to Orlando and needed to stop for a somewhat quick dinner that wasn’t fast food and this ended up being the perfect choice. I ordered my go-​to quesadilla, and this one did not disappoint: filled with steak and cheese in a very fresh tortilla. My fiancé ordered the carne asada, which was a TON of food for the price, and very good. Meat was very tender and the beans and rice we very flavorful. If we lived in the area I’m sure we’d come here regularly, but we’ll have to settle for stopping on road trips!

Who would have thunk you could find a superb super casual Mexican restaurant in Avon Park! Well a five star average got my attention and I’m glad it did.
I stopped in for lunch around 1 am on a Sunday and the sizable parking lot was packed. When you walk in the first thing you notice is the open kitchen. There must have been eight or ten cooks working their butts off making great food. Wait a minute, ten cooks working together in Avon Park! How popular can this place be? Yup, it’s that popular.
The second thing you notice here is the cleanliness. Everywhere you look is spotless and that open kitchen is immaculate.
The third thing to notice is the clientele. I’m guessing about two thirds Spanish speaking and the remainder gringos like me. You order your food at a counter here and the friendly young lady switched seamlessly between English and Spanish. I’m about as gringo as it gets and I was completely comfortable.
So I grabbed a can of soda from the cooler and ordered a Carne Asada platter. My total was $ 9.93. I waited about three minutes and out came this amazing platter of delicious food. See my pic. Everything was the correct temperature and layers upon layers of flavor kept exploding in my mouth. This was simple casual food at its very best.
These folks are about fifteen seconds off Route 27. Combine quick, casual, delicious and inexpensive into one place and you have a winner!

BEST Mexican food in Avon Park! Seriously, this is my go-​to place for fresh, fast food!
This place is connected with a grocery store that has everything you’ll need to make that perfect Mexican meal ;) Lots of fresh produce, fresh cut meats, pre-​made marinated meats (which are great, because it comes directly off the menu) and they even have a small bakery, which I’ve tried and are good. They have a little bit of everything, from phone cards to piñata’s. No joking here!
The place is well kept and very clean. Service is great, and if you dine in, they take your plate and clean the tables fast.
You really can’t beat the prices in here, it’s so inexpensive and your food literally comes out less than 10 minutes. PROMISE! The menu is placed on top of the counter and also a menu by the cashier. It’s cool seeing the kitchen and all the chefs cooking, there’s even a lady in a back who you can see making tortilla’s by hand. Freshness at its finest! The only tricky thing here is once your meal is done they call out your order, and it can be hard to hear or know if your food is done. I would suggest that you stand in the back where the drinks are, just to make sure you get your order. Or, do what I do and just order take out :)
Food, the food! It’s really hard just to pick one because I have a lot of favorites. So here are some of my recommendations:
–Sopes: Chicken sopes to be exact! It’s a thick tortilla that looks like a little plate that gets topped with beans, whatever meat you prefer, lettuce, tomato, avocado, and cojita cheese. Man, now I’m hungry. hah. :P
–Fajitas: Honestly, do yourself a favor and just order the mixed combo, which consists of chicken, beef, and shrimp. It gets served with rice, re-​fried beans, and freshly made tortilla’s (your choice of flour or corn)
–Flautas: Crispy, deep-​fried tortilla’s that are rolled with meat and get topped with lettuce, tomato, cotija cheese, and that good ol’ sour cream.
–Carne Asada: Marinated beef in some goodness that gets sauteed with onions and served with rice and re-​fried beans. Soooooo good!
Honestly, these are just a «few of my favorite things» and to down everything, get a nice large drink of Horchata! It’s a rice milk drink, don’t let that fool you or make you question if you should get it. Just do it, I promise it’s good!

Awesome Restaurant. Great Food. Friendly People.
Great as a Lunch Spot or Anytime. Regular People.
Not Fancy, But Good Food and CLEAN Dining Room !!!