Mercadito Opening Counter-Service Deli

By Anthony Todd in Food on Oct 7, 2013 4:20PM

There's been a ton of news out of the Mercadito Hospitality group lately. Between the soon-to-open Tippling Hall and the continued success of Mercadito, Tavernita and Little Market Brasserie, they've kept busy. Now, the group has announced that they are opening a fast-casual location at 738 N. Clark Street this fall.

When it opens, the new Mercadito Counter will inevitably be compared with Xoco, Rick Bayless's fast-casual Mexican joint that is a few blocks away in River North. However, based on the initial release, the menus seem radically different.

Dish highlights include: the Mercadito Burger, a ribeye and short rib burger with a jalapeño butter, Manchego cheese, and grilled scallions; The Mexican Dog, a bacon-wrapped beef sausage with pico de gallo, jalapeño relish, mayo, mustard, ketchup and crispy bacon; The Mole-Q Dog, a smoked and fried sausage with mole bbq sauce, green tomato-jalapeño slaw, trio of mustards, and crispy onion strings; as well as Chicken a las Brasas, Mexican-style rotisserie chickens in a choice of adobo (red), Peruvian-style (white) or epazote marinade (green) served with tortillas, two sides and one salsa of choice.

Most of these are Mexican takes on typical American counter service dishes - hot dogs, burgers and rotisserie chicken. This fits with the Mercadito group's standard formula: make it exotic enough to be interesting, but not so exotic that it threatens the average downtown diner.

They will also have a full menu of "breakfast all day" items. There's no exact opening date, but Mercadito Counter will supposedly open before the end of the year.