Vendors of the Week 07/14/2023

Name of owner(s): Melinda Vargas

When was business created: 2023

When did you start with Mercado: 2023

Why was the business created:

The business was created as a hobby, and to help provide for my children.

Favorite item to sell or most popular item to sell:

Most popular item I sell are my tumblers, 20 ounces and I enjoy making T-shirts for birthdays, memorials, or any special occasion.

Name of owner(s): Raul Gutiérrez 

When was business created: 2002

When did you start with Mercado: 2021

Favorite item to sell or most popular item to sell:

My item or food that I offer are tacos, I have a variety of asada, adobada, cabeza de res, lengua, pollo, barbacoa de res, carnitas, chorizo, tripas de res!

Name of owner(s): Marcos and Mana

When was business created: 2022

When did you start with Mercado: We started in 2017

Why was the business created:

Our families have been in the food industry for over 30 years, and we are happy to continue in providing a variety of delicious food!

Favorite item to sell or most popular item to sell:

CHURROS!

Vendors of the Week 07/07/2023

Name of owner(s): Lizbeth Verduzco y Jorge Briseño 

When was business created: Started from home in 2021 and and in 2023 opened a Cafe in Silvis

When did you start with Mercado: 2023

Why was the business created:

for the love of our profession, we are both graduates in gastronomy

Favorite item to sell or most popular item to sell:

cheesecake, poblano omelette, and strawberry matcha!

Name of owner(s): Erica Carranza & Denis & Sandra Carranza

When was business created: February 2023

When did you start with Mercado: 2023

Why was the business created:

It had always been a lifelong dream of my mom to have her own restaurant with her recipes , we moved to the quad cities and I took the opportunity and made it happen for her. my father also always wanted to open another business in specific related to our Honduran culture. We were really excited to bring the quad cities a taste of our culture ! 

Favorite item to sell or most popular item to sell:

We love our Pollo Con tajadas our typical dish from Honduras, our delicious pupusas are also a hit! 

Name of owner(s): Montserrat Martinez y Monica Bernal 

When was business created: April 2023

When did you start with Mercado: May 2023

Why was the business created:

We created Delicias because we want to be independent and be able to develop our talents and abilities in the food field and thus make ourselves known to people.

Favorite item to sell or most popular item to sell:

Cakes & Mangonadas

Vendors of the Week 06/30/2023

Name of owner(s): Shaylee (Snazzy) Smet and Rusty Smet

When was business created: 2017

When did you start with Mercado: 2022

Why was the business created:

We originally started Snazzy to fund Shaylee's 8th grade Washington DC trip.

Favorite item to sell or most popular item to sell:

Our original lemon shake-ups

Name of owner(s): Cynthia and Kyle Smith

When was business created: 2022

When did you start with Mercado: 2022

Why was the business created:

We love cooking and have always wanted to own our own business. What better way than sharing our passion with everyone in the community. We didn’t want to work for anyone but ourselves and be able to spend time with our daughter and decide when we wanted to work and when we wanted to take a vacation.

Favorite item to sell or most popular item to sell:

Birria and Steak in our Burritos!!!

Name of owner(s): Alfredo Castro and Virginia Castro. Our daughter Crystal Castro is soon to take over.

When was business created:

The food truck was created in 1990 and the restaurant was opened in 2002

When did you start with Mercado:

We have been with Mercado since it first started 7 years ago .

Why was the business created:

Alfredo Castro had a dream to be his own boss and open up a restaurant. Virginia Castro helped him make it happen and they worked together as a great team. We started with a food truck for 12 years saving up money to open up a restaurant. Now we have had the restaurant for 21 years. All together we have been in business for about 33 years.

Favorite item to sell or most popular item to sell:

The most popular item sold is the Nacho Supreme.