UniMarket Latin Foods has opened near the intersection of Skillman Street and Walnut Hill Lane.

House-roasted coffee beans can be purchased for home brewing. Photo by Austin Wood.

While it was originally announced that Unimarket would open in Kingsley Square toward early fall, construction and permitting delays forced the Calgary-based concept to postpone its debut. 

That debut finally came Friday as brothers Richard and Esyneder Ospina premiered their first U.S. location with a soft opening attended by the public. The brothers also operate three locations in Canada.

The 2,000-square-foot space formerly housed a Palm Beach Tan. Inside, the Ospinas have created a one-stop-food-shop for all things Central and Southern American with a fully operational hot food counter, 500-item market and cafe complete with its own coffee roaster.

After a few hours of interacting with his new customers, Esnyder said the reaction has been largely positive.

“We’ve had a great reaction,” he said. “People are being extremely supportive, especially the community.”

Coffee and hot food can be ordered from the left-hand side of the store, while the market and seated dining area fall to the right. The market’s debut has been delayed by point-of-sale system issues, but Ospina expects them to be resolved by the beginning of next week.

Photo by Austin Wood.

From the coffee counter, there’s a selection of coffeehouse staples like drip coffee, espresso, cappuccinos, Americanos and cortados. Special seasonal drinks like the Navidad Latte, made with cane sugar syrup and cinnamon, are also available for order.

The coffee counter offers a selection of house-baked sweet and savory empanadas, a specialty for UniMarket. Alongside traditional fillings, customers can also order signature empanadas ($4.25) with options including Malbec beef, cuatro cheese and pulled pork mango bbq.

“We also have bread from Latin America,” Esnyder said, “One’s from Colombia, it’s called pandemono (Colombian cheese rolls).”

Breakfast runs until 11:30 a.m. UniMarket has “perfected” the bacon (or chorizo), egg and cheese sandwich, Esnyder says. Other a.m. choices include chilaquiles and the ‘El Criollo,” a breakfast plate loaded with two eggs, Salvadorean sausage, refritos, crema, plantains and corn tortillas.

“These are multiple businesses in one,” Esnyder said. “You have a full coffee shop with breakfast. Then a full market and here, it’s a restaurant.”

The cocina churns out a wide selection of made-to-order ‘artisan creations’. In addition to familiar items like grilled chicken ($16.50) and quesabirria tacos ($16.50), UniMarket also offers novelties from south of the Equator like lomo saltado ($16.50), a Peruvian-style stir fry of beef with red onions and tomatoes in a soy-based sauce.

The market, when open, will sell Latin American spices, sweets and other products. The Ospinas have also applied for a permit to sell beer and wine.

Photo by Austin Wood.
Photo by Austin Wood.
Photo by Austin Wood.


Photo by Austin Wood.


Esnyder says Unimarket will look to begin hosting monthly pre-fixe dinners in the future. For the time being, however, he’s just glad to finally open the concept to the community.

“We’re super excited. I’m blessed that we were able to make it. I wanted to open even though we’re not perfect, but I think people would appreciate that we’re making an effort”