Rosales Market (South Bend, IN)

Today, I bring you a recap/review of Rosales Market in South Bend, IN. Each time I visit somewhere new, I try to find a great taco place to indulge in... this stop in the home of Notre Dame was no different! I was given the recommendation to try Rosales and when I was told it was in a Mexican supermarket, I was in. If you know me, you know that I'm a fan of places without pristine eating environments. Give me a BBQ restaurant with a floor that's sticky from the smoker and I'm in! When we arrived at Rosales, I knew that I was going to have some amazing tacos because it was clear that their focus was on the food and not the fanfare.

Their menu:

 

First and foremost, as you may have noticed, their menu was in Spanish and written on poster board. I actually loved this because I felt that it showed the authenticity of their product. As I said, I'm more concerned about a good "bite" than the festive decorations.

As you can imagine, the tacos at Rosales Market were traditional, served on corn tortillas. We also ordered a chicken quesadilla for comparison/because why not?

 

When I try new taco places, I try to order a variety of types of meat just because some places have their specialties and whatnot. I did the same at Rosales, ordered the following:
- Azada [steak]
- Pollo [chicken]
- Carnitas [pork]
I added cheese to all of the tacos because you guys know how I feel about having a "fat." I also ordered a Pineapple Fanta because I'd never seen one before and that was a nice treat.

 

 

I don't know if you know him, but lately I've been following the guy who goes around Manhattan trying different pizza places. He takes one bite of the pizza and then gives his rating [on video]. I love this concept, but obviously he has already adopted his slogan, "One bite everyone knows the rules." With that in mind, I have been more mindful lately of the "bite" and how the first bite tastes versus others, etc. Blah blah blah, here are my taco thoughts:

• Azada: this taco brought about not only food feelings, but a conversation with my friend Shelby about the correct spelling [Azada vs Asada]. Regardless of spelling, these were my favorite of the day. The meat was diced small, so the bites weren't a challenge to take. I also though the combination of onion, cilantro, and cheese gave for the perfect combination of tart from the onion, creaminess from the cheese, and green texture. I've said it before, but I've become kind of a judgmental lettuce eater, but these did not disappoint.
• Pollo: This is the very first chicken taco on this journey that didn't leave me disappointed. It was seasoned to PERFECTION. Plus, it was moist, but not overly juicy/soggy.
• Carnitas: Carnitas are shredded pork, and what I found with this particular taco was that the meat itself was a little dried out, but was so so so flavorful. You can tell they put a lot into the preparation of the proteins for their tacos!

Honorable mention for this visit was their salsa! I'm a sucker for a smokey sweet salsa and this was definitely that! I doused my tacos in this salsa after taking my first bites and probably would have stolen the bottle if it would have fit in my purse. YUM!

Rating (out of 5):