4233 Shoppers Lane,
Columbus, OH 43228.
(Close to the intersection of Broad Street and Georgesville Road behind the Westland Mall)
614.276.2806
We’ve been remiss in not posting about La Plaza Tapatia. We actually thought we had written about this restaurant/market combo before, but as we can’t find the post we apologize for holding out on you.
First the market: Plaza Tapatia is one of the largest Mexican markets in Columbus. It’s also our favorite. Consistently clean and well stocked, it features an impressive fresh butcher’s counter, an in-store bakery, and a large produce section. Dried goods, a snack counter and a fascinating kitchen-ware section round it all out. Some of our favorite things to purchase include: freshly made chorizo, Koki’s tortillas (often freshly delivered and still-warm!), extremely cheap limes, avocados, freshly squeezed OJ, tres leches cake, paletas (Mexican popsicles) and pork rinds. More generally, though, we like that when we’re looking for a Mexican cuisine ingredient, no matter how obscure, we’re reasonably confident that we’ll find it here.
The adjoining restaurant is open 7 days a week and during the week (Monday-Friday) they offer a large buffet for both lunch and dinner (9am-9pm). The buffet is divided into three sections: the first consists of soups, entrees and hot sides. The second section is fruit and desserts. The third section is garnishes, salsas and tostadas. Warm corn tortillas are included with your meal and are brought to the table.
The buffet varies a lot from day to day and there’s a wide repertoire of dishes. Highlights have included posole, pork in green chili sauce, Oaxacan beef chili, pork chops with spinach, huevos with nopales and sopes. There is always a variety of proteins that may include pork, beef, chicken, fish, eggs and beans.
In addition to the buffet there is a large a la carte menu with lots of meat and seafood options as well as an all day breakfast menu. The most popular dishes, especially at weekends are the parrillada and molcajete.
The parrillada (pictured above) is a true meat feast. While the menu claims that it feeds 3 to 4 people, we hardly made a dent in it with a group of 3. It consists of grilled chicken, two different cuts of steak (carne asada and aguja nortena), house-made chorizo, head-on shrimp, fresh pork chops, smoked pork chops, nopales (cactus), onions and jalapenos and is served with rice and beans, salad, guacamole, salsa and a seemingly never ending supply of tortillas. All of this for the more-than-reasonable price of $40.99. Don’t fill up too much on the chips and salsa beforehand.
The molcajete ($20.99) is comprised of the same elements but designed to serve two.
If you’ve saved any room there are also desserts from the bakery including their exceptional freshly made churros.
We’ve thoroughly enjoyed the vast majority of what we’ve eaten here over the years, and the fact that we’ve returned with some frequency might serve to bolster your confidence in that assertion… especially when you consider all of the fantastic taco truck offerings in close proximity.
Which is not to say that the taco trucks aren’t still enjoyed – they most certainly are – but rather that their offerings are inherently limited by their format. Tapatia does a great job of expanding the wide variety of the flavors of Mexico that can be found in Columbus.
It should also be noted that the restaurant does have a liquor license and serves a good range of Mexican beers and tequilas. They also serve margaritas, micheladas, and other Mexican cocktails. On Sundays you’ll often find Norteno or Mariachi bands and the restaurant can get quite lively when there’s a big Mexican soccer game on. It’s a spacious restaurant that can easily accommodate larger groups.
