Submitted by [deleted] t3_105tgzl in newhampshire
I’m relatively new to NH, moved from the South. I’ve been pretty let down by the Mexican/Tex-Mex food in the Nashua area. What’s my best option? I’d even drive to Manchester, because I’ve heard they have better ethnic food. Thanks!
Don Ramon or Los Primos in Merrimack are our favorites.
The El Loco Taco truck is very good. Dumb name but legit Mexican style tacos burritos pozole and such.
La Santa is some of the best Mexican I've ever had. Seriously, if you haven't been there please go. California Burrito is a notable mention for when you want a quick chipotle-esque burrito with great meat.
Rincon in Manchester.
In Nashua the Mexican food is a lot better than it was 30 years ago, but it's pretty standard fare. La Carreta is representative of the "good" Mexican food around here. Tapatio is about the same, Mi Jalisco is a bit better I think.
You might have some luck in one of the bodegas downtown, a couple of them sell a few things like tacos and they are pretty good.
For tacos I like California burrito overall, but Baja Taco has tasty birria tacos too.
Avoid La Hacienda at all costs, and Tortilla Flat in Merrimack is another "old" Mexican restaurant that never got better. Those places earn their living from townies drinking margaritas. Margaritas is also not good food.
Monarquia in Amherst is amazing. Moved from Los Angeles where the Mexican food was baller and this place does it right.
Where is this located?
I cansecond this having lived in the Southwest many years.
La Michoacana in Nashua used to be awesome, but haven’t been in 10 years or so.
El Rincon is the best in Manchester by far.
Casa vieja
La Caretta we found underwhelming. I thought it was hilarious when I looked on their website and they said “we have an authentic yet mild flavor”. Yeah, that’s how I would sum it up. No flavor. I’ll check the others out, thanks!
Thanks, I’ll check them out
I’ll check out La Santa. We already love California Burrito!
It’s sad that La Caretta is “good” Mexican food, because I found that really underwhelming. But I’ve heard multiple good things about La Rincon in Manchester so I’ll check that out!
Ooh thanks sounds good!
Tequilas Mexican Cantina in North Chelmsford has great food. I was pleasantly surprised when I tried it. Great tableside quacamole.
El Rincon is excellent. We haven't found anything else in NH that's even close.
Agreed - La Caretta has terrible food and even worse service.
Casa Vieja on Main Street in Nashua is pretty good
Usually on Pine St across the street NW from Jake's ice cream.
Second vote for El Rincon.
If you want authentic, this is where to go
We like El Rincon as well.
Awesome thanks
I moved here from San Diego.
Just give up now and save yourself.
I am beginning to feel this way. And pizza too
I’ve passed this a hundred times and never stopped in. I’ll have to try it. Thanks!
Thanks. I just had some sad guacamole last night that prompted this question. How can you mess guacamole up so badly?
I love Los Primos. Don Ramon not so much.
Eh, La Caretta: awful. El Tapatio: almost as awful.
It always looked more like a bar than a restaurant, so I've never tried their food, or drinks either.
One side is a bar, the other is full on restaurant
There’s unfortunately not much “great” pizza or Mexican food in NH. Seafood, Italian, and New American is our best bets.
Yeah, I’m loving the seafood here. I’m a chowder convert.
If you can spend a little, Surf in Nashua is best seafood in the state most likely.
Oooh thanks! I’ve mostly been sticking to The Lobster Boat in Merrimack, and it’s good, but basic.
Lobster Boat is totally fine and enjoyable, no shade, just is what it is.
Surf is a very legit restaurant.
They have a great lobster roll.
Authentic? Manchester el rincon
I mean, NJ / NY / CT have better pizza, but the south!? That's probably just more of a regional preference thing.
Bigger city. Better food.
Some of the local mom and pop shops in Manchester are okay for South American stuff. Some Good Jamaican places downtown though
I used to live in Southern CA, and there is no great Mexican food in New England. Maybe loco cocos in Kittery maine, is the best I have found, but it's not like the really stuff.
La Santa in Tyngsboro MA. Just over the border...Massachusetts border
If you make your way up to Derry, there’s La Herradura and Los Reyes.
Don’t mind the drive at all, in fact I just had pretty good pizza in Derry at Blue House. I’ll have to check these out.
The closest you'll get is Los Cocos in Kittery. That dude grew up in Los Angeles and markets to the nuclear sub workers who transit both coasts.
Los Primos is fantastic! My understanding is that they opened as a new business right about the time Covid lockdowns started and still managed to survive— and if that isn’t a strong recommendation I don’t know what is.
Don Quijote in Manchester on Union St buts it’s kinda Caribbean and Mexican
Taqueria y pastelitos in Manchester on Valley is great for tacos and papusas
Edit: spelling
Come here from Arizona and yeah. I would start working on your chef skills.
HerraDerra Vieja in Chelmsford
Los Primos and El Rincon are hands down your best bets.
You know it is bullshit when the "authentic" cuisine has rice and beans as the first ingredients in a burrito, or at all.
Uugh.
At least I know how to make tamales now. 🫠
I have been wanting to try this place. It is only 10 minutes from me. But Los primos is 3..... 8(
I had Los Primos once and I did enjoy it quite a bit. I got some tacos and the steak in them was juicy and very flavorful.
Can I asked why you moved from San Diego? I lived in the Bay Area for awhile and been in Nashua for a bit now. Was thinking of San Diego as my next move. Was it cost of living?
Yeah La Caretta definitely sucks, but you don’t like El Tap? What’s your go-to? Always looking for something new to try.
It's a bit of a haul but I love La Corona in Rochester, NH followed by Mi Jalisco in Manchester.
Best Mexican around
I really love Baja Tacos.
That place is excellent
If you like Greek pizza new England is the only place in the country that gets it right.
20 years in Oakland and I have my eye on Los Reyes.
Variety of reasons. Everything I wanted to do was or was quickly becoming illegal. Cost of living nuts. High taxes that were used against me. High business costs. Filing sales tax crap 4x a year was enough to cause cancer.
San Diego is the crown jewel of CA. Leaving the armpit where you are at will be a modest improvement.
Me too. I crave the Birria tacos weekly!
Moved here from Colorado about five months ago -- we ate at our favorite Mexican restaurants every other night for a month in preparation! The food scene is pretty bleak here, there aren't even any proper Mexican grocery stores.
I've been trying to up my game around the kitchen though, studying a lot of recipes and techniques online to bring back some of our favorites. Making your own tortillas is half the battle. Once you've mastered those, any dish you prepare that incorporates them is instantly elevated.
Before La Carreta was around, we had Shorty's. Before that it was la hacienda. Things used to be really bad!
la carreta and California burritos.
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You’re in Nashua, just go to Lynn, Everett, or East Boston if you want legit Mexican/Latin food. New Hampshire doesn’t have to population to support authentic Mexican/Brazilian/Latin fare.
Consuelos in Manchester has some truly delicious burritos. Try the chile verde.
I can confirm that Rincon in Manchester has good food.
Michoacana Market in Nashua has great tacos. It's a bodega, so don't plan on sitting down. Supposedly the tortas are very good there, but I haven't tried them.
Also came here to chime in with El Rincon. It's a gem!
El Rincon as others have mentioned is an awesome sit-down restaurant - their margaritas are top notch. Consuelos is solid as well. Taqueria Y Pastelitos and El Tenampa are more bodega-like spots that mostly do takeout, you can get some really great authentic tacos and other items from these places. Rita Supermarket and Restaurants #2 is another bodega specializing in Dominican food, highly recommend. Dulces Bakery has some of the best empanadas i’ve ever had, they also make all different flavors of tres leches and other baked goods. Right around the corner from there is Antojitos Colombianos, a small restaurant serving up authentic Colombian food. All of the above mentioned are in Manchester and some are in seedy spots, but there is a lot of great food here if you know where to look!
el tenampa in manchester* my work ordered like 80 tacos from there and they are so amazing. soft tortillas and def authentic.
*i am almost 95% sure that was the name of it.
I’ve personally only made it over there once, but the birria I had was excellent.
Our go to:
La Santa and La Carreta are the best I’ve had in New Hampshire. If you travel down to MA, you can go to The Painted Burro which blows everything else I’ve had out of the water, other than San Diego. It’s the closest I’ve had to San Diego. They do bottomless brunch on Sunday’s at at least one of their locations.
Vintage Pizza in Manch is absolute fire
Seriously. I live outside Tucson and am going to miss the Mexican food once I'm finally out of this hell.
We moved here from Texas and use Central and South Texas as our measuring stick for Mexican food. Finding good red sauce for enchiladas and decent tamales up this way is difficult. We really like Nuevo Vallarta in Manchester, though. It’s the closest we have found to what we had in Texas. It’s a 50 minute drive for us, but well worth it.
I tried the enchiladas at La Carreta in Nashua and was so sad. Just unseasoned tomato sauce.
And avoid Mi Jalisco. We’ve been to several of their locations. It’s not good Mexican food for anyone who knows real authentic Mexican food.
Most we have tried it’s just tomato sauce and straight chili powder. Occasionally, we find it with cinnamon which is a bit weird. No cumin or garlic powder.
I’m personally a fan of La Hacienda Del Rio on Daniel Webster.
Just moved here from San Diego & feel your pain. If its a burrito you want, good luck. Best sit down i’ve had so far is tapatio on Amherst & continental.
The food truck on pine st in nashua is the only Authenticate one i know of
Juanita's, Rt 13 in Brookline
Recently moved back to NH.
I lived in Texas for 10 years. Grew up in Louisiana.
Jalisco is the only place I have liked since.
Jalisco Family Restaurant & Cantina.
It is in Kingston NH
Puerto Vallarta in Manchester. My family is Mexican and it's really the only place we like.
Expect to be let down quite a bit here regarding restaurants. After living overseas and in and around DC for many years, NH is not the best when it comes to culinary experiences.
I gave up on pizza and now make my own. Not as good as a real NY slice but it’s better than anything around.
I frequent California Burrito because I work nearby. It’s not the best I’ve ever had but it’s good.
I saw you mentioned pizza as well. Stones Social does a pretty good pizza on Sundays. But the best around by far, is a truck called Buxtons which is usually in Derry, not open during winter though.
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Moved up from Dallas but am originally from here... Nothing you find here will come close. Jalisco is good but it's bland as is most the food in this area. If you go get the carnitas, the rice is gonna suck but the meat is absolutely A1.
Vida Cantina out in Portsmouth is great if you do not mind the drive.
Pablos Tacos and Burritos is great food truck in Lawrence, Ma,
There are multiple authentic hispanic food spots in Manchester: Taqueria y Pastelitos, El Tenampa, Antojitos Colombianos, Rita Supermarket and Restaurant #2, El Rincon, Begy’s Taqueria, Dulces Bakery.
Do yourself a favor and go to El Tenampa in Manchester. No bullshit, delicious, authentic tacos. Meat, tortilla, cilantro, onion, lime, a side of salsa verde and maybe a negra modelo if you’re into that.
Caribbean Market on Lake Ave in Manch is a tiny little place but I think it qualifies as a proper Mexican grocery store
I second La Santa! Best Mexican food in the area by far!
Really? Not as good as a real NY slice? You should probably move to NY then
I moved to NH from Southern California. Tacos Lupita in Lawrence, MA is where I go when I have a craving for authentic Mexican food. When I'm down there, I also visit Tripoli Bakery and get some lemon tarts. Not Mexican, I know, but they're good for dessert!
Taqueria y Pastelitos To Go in Manchester, NH also has pretty good tacos.
When you buy store made crap guacamole
Espresso in Nashua for good NY style pizza.
California burrito for fish tacos and fresh burritos! 👌
Romano's Pizza in Salem NH is pretty much the only good place around.
El tipico in Nashua is okay Dominican food. The El tipico in Lawrence is the cats pajamas
1st, go back down south. NH isn't bad. I would rather be in TX, TN or NM. Down on pearl off main st., are 2 restaurants. Lacaretta isn't bad. I've been to 3 off them. Never a bad dish. Never trust yelp for a review.
TJ'S on Pittsburgh or Bob's. I'm from a NY. I know pizza.
This. And most of the corner stores in manch have empanadas and such, homemade. Add iguanas. Best birria tacos in the state
True that. Tilton House of Pizza has won best pizza in NH for, like, a zillion years. Well deserved.
Pizza by George in Raymond. NY style and perfect!
Pizza by George in Raymond. You're welcome.
Mike’s Pie in Hudson for pizza.
Pretty pricey - and whatever you do, don’t order the enchiladas there. You’ve been warned.
Their shrimp ceviche is great.
Nj in the hood has great Mexican food. There are a few great places in nyc. I think there’s one decent place in Boston and a few hole in the wall Spots in providence. For pizza….there’s great pizza everywhere in the northeast…it’s where all the Italians are. I’d just avoid Boston for the most part. No nothing about NH but assuming there’s nothing going on there lol
There is very little diversity with food up here. I’m a southerner originally as well. I cook most of my own food because it’s a bunch of fast food, pizza, and steak houses around here (and not even good one).
Owned by the same people as Nuevo Vallarta. Same menu, Nuevo Vallarta is just their more family dining version of Puerto Vallarta. Puerto Vallarta has a much better parking situation, though.
Oh yea - El Rincon is the spot for sure.
Yes same owner. I often wonder why they placed both restaurants so close together. Puerto Vallarta always seems a bit busier but that could just be because parking is definitely better. I'll never forget eating dinner and the owner's kids walking in with popcorn lol. They had walked over from Nuevo Vallarta with their fresh popcorn to sell it to people already eating. It was cute.
That’s awesome! Yeah, I have the same question about the proximity of locations.
Our next challenge is to find someone/somewhere local to get bulk tamales for the holidays. This year, my FIL ended up shipping us like 10 dozen from the Rio Grande Valley where my wife is from.
I've been there .... Fair at best.
If you've found yourself in Raymond just go to Tuckaway, no pizza or Mexican, but the best burgers around
We discovered AMAZING seafood in Lowell; Captain John's on Westford Street. Just go straight on Drum Hill, pass the dealership on the right, and then at the light bear right onto Westford St. It's about a mile or so on the left. They get fresh caught seafood from Gloucester every day and it's better than what I've gotten at the seacoast. There is NO ambiance; it's very low key, but the seafood is banging. You won't be disappointed.
I think George's pizza is awesome. But I do agree with you about Tuckaway. Just set aside a few hours for the wait.
Mi Jalisco in Milford is pretty good for Mexican... Panchos Pizza in Peterborough is as close to NYC Pizza that I have found. The lack of good pizza in NH has brought me down the rabbit hole of making pizza myself... I cannot eat pizza out anymore without being disgusted, once you make your own.
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This looks like it's got some stuff -- thank you!!
Frontera is great. I’ve eaten lots of Mexican all over the country and frontera is one of my favorites in the NH area.
There’s a lobster boat in litchfield also. Surf is 10 times better. There are several surf locations. Price is definitely higher than lobster boats though.
Came to say this. Pizza by George is more than legit. They sell Stromboli, calzone, lattice, and other specialities right out of the case. I have friends who’ve moved all over nh but we grew up in southern Seacoast of nh and we still drive over an hour to pick up pies from George if we are meeting up or providing pies for a party etc.
“There’s nothing going on there” lol you really should try a few places and do research before you talk shit. I can think of 5 Greek HOPs that are good, two beach pizzas that are good at minimum, at least 3 good Neapolitan/Sicilian. Check out phantom gourmets episode on Granfanallys in Salem. That place is fire.
And by go to Tuckaway you mean “two hour wait”. That’s what we call it now. Place is fire but unless you’re a single at the bar at noon you are waiting two hours bud. Pizza by George will not be trash talked. Going a place one time isn’t a good barometer for a review.
So defensive … 1) I love NH 2) no, food really isn’t the best. Maybe for the seafood and some bar food but you’re not getting much authenticity. 3) it’s my opinion, calm down. You can think every other place I mentioned is terrible for whatever and I couldn’t care less
I'll give it another shot. We never sit at a table at Tuckaway. Bar is more fun, just be prepared to battle with the idiots that walk past the line
El rincon is good. Mi Jalisco as well. If I’m looking for a quick taco Tuesday deal you can walk out of puerto Vallarta in manch for under 30 for two with five tacos and a pint in your belly. Best cheap tacos I’ve had.
La Carreta has a few good dishes. I only ever get their chile autentico or carne asada.
Bar is where it’s at. Definitely a fight though. Their two for 1 lobster rolls on Tuesdays are good.
I didn’t disagree with any place you mentioned but this is a nh thread, so if you know nothing about nh just don’t assume there’s nothing going on. I’m just saying if you think there aren’t good pie options then try the place I mentioned sometime before forming the opinion.
El tapatio is a good one in the Pennichixk square shopping center as it is run by a great owner has some amazing food shortys by the home depot is also great and Frontera is also a great choice hope this helps! 😀
Try janie's in drum hill chelmsford. Nothing can match, but its better than most.
Moved here from CA last year. Don't even try Mexican food here! Making Mexican food at home is your best bet
I am from NJ. No way I am going back there hahaha
I've actually had surprisingly good NY style pizza at Amicci's in Keene.
El Rincon in Manchester. Tiny hole in the wall place. But it’s good.
Real helpful answer
It took me a while to truly admit it to myself.
>Los Primos in Merrimack
This is my new go-to
hopefully-a-good-buy t1_j3cod8x wrote
El Tapatio is really good, might technically be Merrimack though. It’s off 101a. Probably my favorite in the southern NH area.
Manchester has Mi Jalisco which i’ve heard good things, place is always packed.
Frontera has awesome margaritas but I don’t like their food as much as other places.
Have you tried La Caretta? That’s a popular one but more of a chain it feels like. Food is consistent but I wouldn’t say the best.