Carniceria Guadalajara

this is the only place i go for fajita meat and its amazing with really fresh produce

Went here today and had the most delicious, healthy chicken tacos ever! Everything is prepared freshly and comes with cucumbers, radishes and limes. Not only was the food lovely, the store is packed with a variety of Latin American foods that are often hard to find in chain grocery stores here. The staff were nice and spoke English (made this Gringo happy with my lack of espanol skills) and all in all made my day!

Lots of great things here. In no particular order here are the things we love.
1. The tacos. Amazing and tasty, but if you’re on a budget you can buy the meat and then make them at home yourself. Even tastier if you can eat them in your own bed. Err… table.
2. The tortas. A delicious sandwich the size of you head. Delicious. Try the carnitas torta.
3. The flan (in the refrigerator in front order counter), looks a bit like sketchy-​custard, but try it anyway. It will be the most delicious thing you’ve ever eaten, Trust me.
4. The bootleg CDs for sale on the sidewalk outside. Seriously. CDs for sale.
5. The Mexican brooms. Need I say more?
6. The Mexican Chips (try the Churitos)
7. The Mexican Bread (as for an esponja de chocolate).
8. The decent fresh fruit and vegetable selections.
9. The liter and a half of Mexican coke. That’s right, they have liter and a half bottles of real sugar Mexican coke.
10. The friendly service. All the employees are always happy to see me. Try and throw in some Spanish words, you’ll be a local favorite in no time.

I tried their tamales today. They were chicken tamales. The flavor was bland and they were super greasy. I can deal with that. What I don’t want to deal with is chicken bones in a tamal. Seriously? You go through the arduous task of making a tamal and can’t even take the bones out of the meat? Next time I will go to tamales morenos for my tamales.

We have returned many times for quick meals of tacos but last night we were driving by after an errand and decided to stop in and buy some of their pre-​cooked meat to make our own tacos at home since we had tortillas and accoutrements already. Barbacoa has been our hands down favorite on previous trips so I ordered a pound at $ 8.99. It looked so good when it was piled into the container and being weighed that I asked for another half pound to be added. This is easily enough for two big dinners of good-​sized, overstuffed tacos. The super saucy shredded barbacoa is so tender, juicy and delicious that we didn’t even sit down — we ate standing up at our kitchen counter and I stained my brand new white pants from the dripping juices splattering off my unused plate and onto me which didn’t even slow me down. They gave me a few lidded cups of salsa too and I loooove their spicy red salsa (only added to my messy dinner but well worth it). My next step is to buy the meat here raw and try to cook it myself, but until then, I’m quite happy with how they do it. Yum!

First and foremost, I would like to extend my thank you, to Kate G., who organized this event for us.
Westside Taco Tour UYE, Round Two! Sunday August 4^th 2013, 1^st STOP
I arrived early before 13:00hrs. Entered this Hispanic Supermarket and wondering where are the rest of the Unilocalers. To my surprise, in this Hispanic Supermarket that also cook Hispanic Food and among those things were TACOssssss and other Mexican food. Luckily they have some seating areas to fit everyone for the Tour. Do NOT be fooled by the outside, there are many more things to explore in this Carniceria!
Hispanic Supermarket CHECK!
Hispanic Food CHECK CHECK!
LOTS & LOTS OF Fresh Meat Galore on the left side of this establishment in the refrigeratored section CHECK CHECK CHECK!
Lots to see LOTS to choose… I whispered to myself.
After waiting for abit, one of the staffs will send your order to the table. Portions are huge for the amount you pay for the Taco you order.
I opt for Lengua Taco and Tripa Taco. Oooh by now, those are my kind of «measurement» when I opt to have Tacos. The problem is, since there aren’t any price point of which taco is how much, but in the receipt it was stated as $ 1.99, and $ 2.25.
When you order the Taco or your food, the «ordering counter» is all the way back on the Left Wing of this establishment. It was a «back-​log» when we were there. But thankfully everyone is kind enough to wait and queue.
I like my order of Tripa better than my order of Lengua. On my plate, they also provide their pre-​made salsa, cut cucumbers, and slices of radish with lime. Nevertheless, I like what I had especially the «portions» part aka ALOT OF MEAT! I paid at the front counter and indicate to the lovely person behind the counter what I had.
I would like to return with Hubs and perhaps my review might differ and also would love to explore the «Market» side of this establishment.
3.5 Stars!
Carniceria La Guadalaraja
5185 W 1^st Ave
Denver, CO 80 219
Tel: (303) 937‑7132
@168/2013

This was stop #1 on the UYE West Side Taco Tour organized by Kate G. last weekend. This place had my least favorite tacos of the day. This is not to say that they were bad, but they just were not (to me) as good as what I have had elsewhere. The tacos here do have some redeeming features. Firstly, they are very generous with the meat. Also, they throw in cucumber and radish garnishes. Finally, they offer grilled onions (which I like quite a bit, but these could have cooked longer).
The space is limited. This is a Mexican Grocery Store /​Carniceria first and foremost. The line to place your order is quite narrow and is in a high traffic area for employees. There are four tables, in pairs, where four people can sit at each table (arranged best for groups of up to 8). Accommodations are rather cramped. There were quite a few flies buzzing about the store on the day we were there. You have to ask for salsa with your order, and they seemed to not be overly generous with it. I understand they used to have a salsa and condiment bar, and it would be nice if they still did. I found the meat on my tacos to be somewhat overcooked and under-​seasoned. Prices on the tacos were good.

I was recently introduced to this hidden gem on a recent taco tour and am happy to have been acquainted.
The tacos were surprisingly really tasty and were filled to the max with fresh fillings of your choosing. I split four tacos with my partner: Barbacoa (Beef), Pastor (Pork with Pineapple), Pollo (Chicken), and Lachuga (Tounge — very adventurous for me!). The plate that they brought out to us was literally so full from the four tacos and from a variety of various additions such as cucumbers, limes, and onions.
The barbacoa was probably my favorite of the tacos I tried here. The meat was perfectly seasoned and paired really well with the diced onions and salsa that accompanied. I’ll admit that the Lachuga was also pretty tasty. The texture was very similar to the barbacoa and the pastor, and if I had not known it was tounge, I would have never had any idea. The pollo was seasoned really nicely and was pretty juicy. The pastor wasn’t my favorite, but that is more because I am not a fan of pineapple than anything else. If you don’t mind the fruit, I could see how it would be pretty good.
In addition to tacos, this place serves up fresh cuts of meat, as well as a variety of other grocer items you would expect to find at a mexican market.
If you find yourself on this side of town, or wanting a little adventure in your day, I would recommend giving Carniceria Guadalajara some of your time!

They seem to have changed owners, salsas were overpriced. One of the salsas was bad as in bubbling once it had been on the table for no more than 15 minutes. The other was pure chile and inedible. Did not seem as clean as before. I had been going here for the last couple of years –

Food is great. Meats are great, produce is great.
Haven’t been back since I (a white boy) waited at the counter for five minutes to order, with no luck. The guy looked right at me two or three times, I smiled and nodded and said, ‘yeah, could I…’ and he turned around and pretended like I wasn’t there. Then three Hispanic dudes approach the counter and he instantly takes their order.
Fuck that. Apparently they do enough business.

The best carniceria I have been to. Best meat counter I have found anywhere in Denver. Fantastic everything and extremely cheap. A+ for cleanliness.
All the cuts seem perfect and fresh. So many people pile through here, it’s hard to imagine that any cut is not fresh.
The prepared meats are also delicious, including roast pork, turkey, and beef. Awesome fatty chicharones, perfectly salted.
Decent selection of produce including hard to find cactus fruit, giant mangos, and more. Very cheap, ripe and high quality.
If you love great ingredients, you gotta try this place. Be sure to buy a bootlegged mariachi CD on the way out!

FACT: I’m Mexican
FACT: I’ve been cooking since I was a kid and I’m extremely picky when it comes to buying my ingredients.
FACT: I make the drive from Highlands Ranch to buy my meat from Carniceria Guadalajara… their meat cuts are spot-​on and it’s always fresh.

I’m almost beginning to think the best mexican food in Denver is being sold in Mexican grocery stores. Not quite, but there are some tasty carnicerias out there.
I’ve seen the parking lot filled enough times and read the previous reviews here so that my taco target fixation turned on. With a flimsy excuse in hand (looking for a bass for a friend) I headed down south, completed my cover and then took a detour by this little tent shaped building next to a Winchell’s. Target acquired. Overhead menu at back of store over the meat/​cocina counter. TACOS. The man behind the counter told me I should try the carnitas so I grabbed two of those and a couple al pastor. Tasty stuff up in here! The pork in the al pastor was in larger chunks rather than thin shavings and had big chunks of pineapple, good texture and a real nice flavor, the carnitas were moist and tender and also tasty but I wish I had had four of the al pastor. Not much in condiments and not really a salsa bar (a couple of salsas, a red and a pico, and a bin of some pickled onions, carrots and jalapeño) but the onions and cilantro I had added on top, some fresh lime and a little red and I was good to go. So make it around 3.75 stars for lack of a decent salsa bar.
I really don’t like tacos and I’m bad at lying.

Oh, Hell yeah. Don’t tell anyone about this place. I can get in big trouble telling you about this hole in the wall. Only in the know, true mexican meat market hounds frequent this place. One of my weekly stops for various meat cuts. Last time I was there they were cutting up head. A beef head ok. You should have seen it. A whole beef head. Getting cut up. Fun stuff.
Love this place because you can always point and choose. I usually just say dinner and let them go nuts. Not really. They do speak English you guys. Oh, don’t try the fresh cheeses made on premises. More for me. Queso as fresco as it gets. Oh, and try the fresh crema. Topping off a nice taco… Ummmm.

I have eaten take-​out tacos from here four times and they are great especially the carne asada. Good tortillas and high quality meats as you’d expect from a carniceria.
More people should give this place a try and write up reviews!