{"id":732347,"date":"2026-04-16T15:02:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/732347\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T15:02:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:02:17","slug":"el-mercado-mexican-bowl-concept-to-open-in-san-antonio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/732347\/","title":{"rendered":"El Mercado Mexican bowl concept to open in San Antonio"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It may seem a bit like Chipotle. But the founders of <a href=\"https:\/\/elmercadotx.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">El Mercado<\/a> \u2014 a new restaurant opening in May in the multi-million-dollar <a href=\"https:\/\/sanantonio.culturemap.com\/news\/restaurants-bars\/new-restaurants-portico-shaenfield-ranch\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Portico at Shaenfield Ranch development<\/a> at 7807 W. Loop 1604 N. \u2014 are not looking to build a mere fast-casual clone.<\/p>\n<p>Although the concept will offer a variety of customizable bowls and burritos, El Mercado says its menu is rooted in time-honored Mexican flavors and inspired by the local palate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEl Mercado was born from our love for our country and its flavors, but it\u2019s San Antonio that truly shaped the concept,\u201d explains Rodrigo Orraca, cofounder of El Mercado, in a release. \u201cBy listening to what locals crave and adapting our menu, service, and experience, we created something that feels authentic, approachable, and made for this city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Guests can create their own bowl or choose from menu items like the carnitas combo (Mexican rice, charro beans, pickled onions) or birria (refried beans, roasted potatoes). Each is served with a choice of tortilla or chips and can be spiced up with either fresh salsa or house-made salsa macha. El Mercado also offers a few unconventional bowls like a loaded veggie bowl with rotini pasta, which can be further individualized at the crunch bar.<\/p>\n<p>The appetizer menu features bites such as loaded queso and potato-filled doraditos. The desserts cover familiar favorites like pastel de elote, Mexican chocolate cake, and piloncillo chocolate chip cookies.<\/p>\n<p>El Mercado\u2019s drink menu leans into Mexican traditions as well, shaking up cantaritos, aguas frescas, and a must for San Antonio \u2014 frozen margaritas.<\/p>\n<p>The founders of the concept say they eventually want to grow the brand into a chain that stays true to its Mexican and San Antonian roots. For now, the debut proof-of-concept will be open daily from 11 am-9 pm, <a href=\"https:\/\/sanantonio.culturemap.com\/news\/restaurants-bars\/new-restaurants-portico-shaenfield-ranch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">soon to be joined<\/a> in the booming shopping center by D\u2019 Fish House, Makirrito, Bitelo Brazilian Steakhouse, and new locations of local favorites Box St. All Day and Crepeccino.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It may seem a bit like Chipotle. But the founders of El Mercado \u2014 a new restaurant opening&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":732348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,66822,39672,43634,10084,7202,7203,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-732347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-america","tag-bowls","tag-far-west-side","tag-mexican-cuisine","tag-openings","tag-san-antonio","tag-sanantonio","tag-texas","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=732347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/732348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=732347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=732347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=732347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}