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10 Best Mexican Restaurants in St. Petersburg FL 2023

Chicken Taquitos
Must Eat Mexican Treats in St. Pete

If you search this site for “Mexican”, you may notice that I do all of the Mexican restaurant reviews. Why? It’s because I love Mexican food so much that I could literally eat it every day for a week straight. (I actually have done that before.) Two and a half decades ago when … Continue Reading

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Delectable Down Home Mexican Eats at Martha’s

Quesabirria Tacos (R) Chicken Tinga Empanada-(L)

There’s many times in our Facebook Restaurant Reviews Group when I see people requesting “Just regular Mexican food, and none of that darn fancy stuff!”

Martha’s is your ticket.

There’s nothing elegant, no fusion, or frilly plating. (We’ll talk about the décor later.) It’s just darn good Mexican food made and served by Mexicans. There’s Tex-Mex too as most diners … Continue Reading

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Nueva Cantina Reboots the Menu with Hileman Collab

Modelo Chicken

Remember Chef Jeffery Hileman? He ran the kitchen at FarmTable Cucina for most of their time open. Put him together with Nueva Cantina co-owner, Louie Spetrini, and you have the Mexican restaurant dream team.

This “new” menu has actually been out for two months now, but we just got to it last week.

Nueva Cantina has really upped their game … Continue Reading

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Red Mesa Restaurant – Still Rockin’ After All These Years

Brisket - Street Tacos

It seems like there are new restaurants opening in St. Pete every five minutes, and the new places get all of the hoopla, and attention. We certainly participate in it here at St. Petersburg Foodies, but we also love to remind you of the places that were here when there were not a lot of really good choices in St. … Continue Reading

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Nueva Cantina’s New Menu Items are Superb

Seafood Platter Ajillo

Nueva Cantina does it again with some really tasty, unique and fun items. The new menu came out yesterday, February 7th, and I made sure to stop by to try a couple of things. Don’t worry about your favorites. Much of the menu stayed and there are seven new items.

There are two that really caught my eye in the … Continue Reading

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El Huarache Veloz – Mexican Food for Mexican People
(Gringos are Allowed too)

A huarache is a Mexican sandal, and it is also a masa-based Mexican dish. It is the name of a great local Mexican restaurant as well. The first time I heard “Huarache sandal” was in the lyrics to The Beach Boys Surfin’ USA when I was a kid. The first time I heard a recommendation for El Huarache Veloz, I … Continue Reading

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Review: VIP Mexican Restaurant & Lounge

VIP Mexican Restaurant & Lounge

We finally went to VIP Mexican Restaurant & Lounge on Thursday, September 28. Months ago, we had crossed them off of our list when a chef friend of ours, whom we greatly respect, said some unflattering things about the place—I’ll leave the details out—and we believed him. As the months went by, we kept seeing more and more people recommending … Continue Reading

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¡Red Mesa Cantina’s New Menu Items are Sabroso y Delicioso!

Red Mesa Cantina New Menu Items – May 2017

I’ve been going to Red Mesa Cantina on a regular basis for over 8-years. Most of the time, when being handed a menu, I say, “No thank you, I don’t need it”, as I pretty much have it memorized and know what I want. Not anymore. There are several new (10 … Continue Reading

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Carmelita’s Uses Family Recipes for Authentic Mexican

34-Years of Mexican Tradition & Growing the Family

We have come to find that using the word “authentic” when it comes to Mexican food is the next worse thing to a political discussion these days. Suddenly, everybody and their chihuahua is an expert on what “real authentic” Mexican food is, and isn’t, and gets all in a tizzy.

Brace yourselves … Continue Reading

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Authentic Mexican Food: Agave St. Pete Beach

Some people are going to be offended by this, but that’s just the way it goes. It seems that most people have no clue whatsoever when it comes to knowing what authentic Mexican food is. I see so many places getting excellent reviews that are just average at best. Then I see awesome places getting bad reviews. Here we go … Continue Reading

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Red Mesa Cantina to Take Over Push Ultra Lounge Space

Red Mesa Cantina 128 3rd St. South St. Petersburg, FL 33701

UPDATE: Here’s the first look at the new spaces.

Push Ultra Lounge, one of Downtown St. Petersburg’s premiere upscale night club is ending its 10-year party at the end of this month.

Red Mesa Cantina, Push’s ground floor neighbor in the same building, will take over the two floor 12,000 square foot space at the end of March.

Located on … Continue Reading

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Party Time! Mexican Style!

Tacos - Baja Fish - Grilled fresh fish, salsa roja, Mexican slaw and lime crema. Pulled Pork - Shredded roast pork, guacamole, cilantro onion and radish. Duck - Orange braised duck confit, grilled pineapple, goat cheese, cilantro and red chile jelly
Red Mesa Cantina is the Wild Child in the Family

A couple of weeks ago, St. Petersburg Foodies, along with our photographer, Barry Lively, (and he lives up to his name, by the way) recently spent the day with Marketing Director Edgar Veytia, and Executive Chef Chris Fernandez exploring all three Red Mesa locations.

Our last stop was Red Mesa … Continue Reading

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Red Mesa Mercado is Takin’ it to the Streets

Red Mesa Mercado 1100 1st Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33705
Mexican Street Food: Tacos, Burritos, & Empanadas Oh My!

Mexican Street food, some are fried and many are hand held items, is what most Americans think of as Mexican food.

Street food in Mexico, called antojitos (literally “little cravings”), is prepared by street vendors and at small traditional markets in that country. Most of them include corn as an ingredient. … Continue Reading

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Red Mesa Restaurant Holding Their Own at 20-Years Old

Red Mesa Restaurant Pioneered Real Mexican Food in St. Pete

“When we first got here, all that people knew about Mexican food was Taco Bell™.” – Chris Fernandez, Executive Chef for all three Red Mesa locations.

With the foodie scene exploding in St. Pete and all of the new restaurants popping up, you might think that a 20-year old el … Continue Reading

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DON’T WAIT for the Official Name Change – El Gallo Grande’s Food is Already Nueva Cantina!!

Cuban Chimichanga at Nueva Cantina

On October 4th, I published breaking Foodies news regarding the changing of hands at El Gallo Grande to Louie Spetrini and his partners Erin & Rocco Rinaldi.  Officially the new name, happy hour and menu won’t change until November 1st, however, I am EXTREMELY happy to report that all of the new staff are currently in place including Chef Paul…and … Continue Reading

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