Tienda y Carniceria Latina Los Paisas, the little red-roofed grocery on North Prospect, serves takeout Mexican cuisine in the back of the store from a menu completely in Spanish.
Each day, the store makes two hot dishes plus rice and beans. I visited on Wednesday, looking to try the Miercoles especial of pozole de puero con cebolla ye lechuga (pork soup with onions and lettuce). As I ordered the pozole in my muy pequeña Spanish, I learned that there was no pozole that day, and the options were chiles rellenos (stuffed peppers) or pollo. I love chicken, so I went for the pollo.
Served to go, the pollo ($12) came with a side of black beans, rice, and warm corn tortillas. The chicken was so, so flavorful. The red, peppery sauce was just the right amount of spicy, with a lingering, delicious heat balanced by the rice and beans. The skin-on, bone-in chicken was tender and pulled away from the bones easily. What I thought were carrots were soft potatoes that absorbed the chile sauce. The black beans were a perfect texture and had a few softened onions and red bell pepper slices.
Tienda y Carniceria Latina Los Paisas also has pork rind and pork belly chicharrones. When I asked for chicharrones, the guy took out a monstrously large piece from the warmer and cracked it into pieces so it could to fit inside a bag.
This grocery bag stuffed full of huge hunks of crunchy, salty deep-fried pig skin cost $3, and it was yummy. If you like chicharrones, you have to try Los Paisas’ chicharrones.
There is a language barrier for those who don’t speak Spanish, so be kind, smile, and point if you’re not sure. Order at the back of the store, and take the food to the front registers to pay.
Learn more about the grocery store on their website.
Tienda y Carniceria Latina Los Paisas
1102 N Prospect Ave
Champaign
8 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily
