St. Pete’s newest spot for Mexican eats is now open in downtown. El Meson, located at 364 1st Avenue North next to Williams Park and The Galley, has taken over the spot formerly occupied by Sab Sushi and is open daily for lunch and dinner.

The restaurant’s menu features authentic Mexican street food prepared fresh to-order, including tacos, flautas, sope, nachos, fajitas and massive plates of huarache. El Meson’s stars are the warm corn tortillas made fresh every morning in-house alongside the tasty house-made hot sauces. The restaurant also serves Jarritos, Horchata, margaritas, sangria and Mexican beer.

Table and bar seating are both available in the cozy restaurant, while all dishes are available for dine-in or to-go. As a fun twist, rather than serving Tex-Mex mashup dishes, El Meson’s menu offers separate Mexican and American versions of classic dishes. The Mexican tacos, as the menu lists them, are more typical of street tacos, served on soft, warm corn tortillas with chicken, barbacoa or roast beef. The barbacoa has been an early favorite among new guests, the staff says.

Meanwhile, the menu also offers American-style crunchy tacos in a hard corn tortilla with chicken or ground beef. The quesadillas also come in either Mexican or American variety, with the primary difference being a corn or flour tortilla, respectively.

Great street food on the go

While we have yet to sample the entire menu, the barbacoa Mexican tacos lived up to their early hype, and the gigantic basket of nachos piled high with toppings was more than enough for two (or more) to enjoy. Classics like those are likely to remain headliners, alongside burritos and quesadillas, but it’s the huarache that’s a hidden gem on El Meson’s menu.

The fluffy and fried corn tortilla is freshly made every day in the kitchen and topped with beans, lettuce, onion, cilantro, pico de gallo, cotija cheese and a choice of pulled chicken, roast beef or barbacoa. We tried the pulled chicken and came away more than impressed.

El Meson list its hours as 11 am – 9 pm daily. Follow them on facebook for more information and specials, or check out the full menu on their website.

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