Carniceria La Vaca Chonda

This place phrases their salsa verde, and twice I bought it and it tasted spoiled sometimes it's too salty. I bought a bakery item, when I got home it was very hard on the inside which concerned me. So I brought it back to see if I could exchange for a fresh item and they told me no I had to have my receipt knowing that I purchased it from them the night before. I don't recommend this place for one they're not friendly + 2 they have their doors open so flies are all over the Chiccaron that is not covered.

With the closure of the fabulous Liborio Market I've been hard-pressed to find another latino grocery stocked with everything I need to make fresh sofrito, arroz con gandules y puerco, cactus salad, etc.! I struck gold last weekend when I decided to follow-up on a lead I got during a book club meeting. Carniceria La Vaca Chonda has nearly everything you need to make the most beloved staples known to the Puerto Rican or Mexican palate. This is a very clean, organized market. It isn't huge but it sure does do a great job of offering an acceptable selection of fresh meat (I didn't see any seafood), a respectable selection of fresh, colorful vegetables, and a very nice collection (walls/shelves) of seasonings, canned goods, cookies, and frozen items. The folks who work here are quite friendly and I happily tipped the butcher to cut my large pork roast into tiny pieces better suited for my arroz con puerco. Another plus: canned gandules (pigeon peas)!! I haven't been able to find these green nuggets of goodness anywhere but back East until now! Finally, if you enjoy fresh, oily, crunchy pork rinds, you'll be in heaven because they make them fresh here. Ask to use the restroom and you're likely to see someone back in the back of the store stirring a massive vat of bubbling, frying goodness: pork rinds! Yeah! My only regret is not taking a picture of it while I was there. Check them out, give them your business and enjoy!

A few blocks down south academy there is a much better Mexican Meat market. Just take a right on to Pikes Peak street and its right there. In our search for this location we stopped at Carniceria La Vaca Chonda. The Meat wasn't the best looking. Like it was maybe approaching the end of its shelf life. We thought we wouldn't find another market. We had wandered around, gathered items, and asked about making a purchase of some meat. The guy working said okay give him a minute. While he did what he needed to do I went around the store picking up things we needed to go with dinner. Ten minutes later we checked at the counter to see if we could get the meat. He informed us he still did not open for 5 minutes. We put all our items back and left. I am really glad we did as the meat market was way cleaner, with a lot more options and the meat looked super fresh. We Will not be going back here.