Jul 27, 2021 - Food and Drink
Palmetto Beach's La Fiesta serves up some of Tampa Bay's best Mexican food

Photo: Ben Montgomery/Axios
This is going to sound nuts, but the best Mexican food I’ve had in 16 years of living here is served out of the back of a small grocery store called La Fiesta in Palmetto Beach.
- Yes, Palmetto Beach — the little working-class neighborhood south of the IKEA on Adamo Drive and east of South 20th Street, in the shadow of downtown Tampa.
What to expect: The Guanajuato-style food is delightfully simple. Tacos come with charred corn tortillas, choice of meat, some cilantro, chopped white onion and a lime wedge. That’s it. And yet somehow they make you want to write your mama.
- I’ve eaten around the menu and my favorite dishes are the chile Colorado de puerco (pork in red sauce with cactus) and the pollo en mole poblano (shredded chicken in a killer mole sauce).
- But you can’t go wrong with the tacos.

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