Carniceria Aurora's New Location Includes an In-Store Restaurant

Over a decade ago, former Westword food editor Mark Antonation began his food-writing career by eating his way up Federal Boulevard. Now, we’re turning our attention to another vibrant culinary corridor.

The four-plus-mile stretch of Havana Street between Dartmouth and Sixth Avenue in Aurora is home to the most diverse array of international cuisine available in the metro area. From restaurants and markets to take-and-go shops and stands, food lovers of nearly any ethnicity or interest can find a place that will remind them of home or open new culinary doors. In Eat Up Havana, Antony Bruno will visit them all, one by one, week by week. Check out his previous stops.

This week, Bruno visits his final stop, Carniceria Aurora.

a market storefront — Carniceria Aurora at its new location. It’s just down the block, but nearly triple in size.

Antony Bruno

They say you should never go grocery shopping hungry. Perhaps that’s why Carniceria Aurora placed a counter service restaurant right at the entrance of its new location along Havana Street, giving shoppers the chance to fill their stomach before filling their grocery bags at this traditional Mexican market.

A carniceria is technically a butcher, but today carnicerias expand far beyond offering just meat to include a broad range of canned goods, vegetables, snacks and more. However few offer a food court, which is what sets Carniceria Aurora apart from the others.

Originally founded in 2015 by sisters Maricela and Blanca Carillo, the market had operated for years out of a 3,000-square-foot space just across the street, within throwing distance of its current location. In December, it made the move, nearly tripling its footprint and expanding the in-house food operation.

The food counter is the first thing you see when you enter — a long, glass-covered food bar housing a line of hotel pans filled with meats, stews and vegetables. The menu is displayed above, with customers craning their necks upwards, mouths agape, trying to decide which of the many options to choose from.

a mural over a counter — Carniceria Aurora’s counter-service restaurant is the first thing that greets visitors.

Antony Bruno

Yes, there are tacos and burritos. Tacos come in sets of four ($9 for a plate), with al pastor, barbacoa, asada, and carnitas, along with tripe or chorizo. Burritos hover around $7 each, depending on type, with the same options as the tacos as well as chicken, beans and cheese, chicharron, or one filled with a meat stew. And of course, there are breakfast burritos.

The tortas, $11 each, come with your choice of meat, along with avocado, jalapeno, cheese, and refried beans as a spread. One that’s worth checking out is the Cubana, a mix of breaded and fried steak with ham, sausage, chorizo, and cheese.

But this is a grocery store, so it’s perhaps fitting that the restaurant also offers to-go platters.

A per-pound selection of barbacoa, carnitas and stews are available at beyond reasonable prices ($13 for a pound of carnitas, less than a pulled pork sandwich at nearly any barbecue spot), or you can go big and get the “family package,” which includes three pounds of your meat of choice, with rice, beans, tortillas, salsa, and a 2-liter of Coca Cola for $45.

Looking for something smaller? There’s a wide range of snacks, including gorditas, pupusas, sopes, huaraches and chile fries with asada steak. Rounding it out are smoked pork chops (chuleta ahumada), fried fish, chile rellanos, huevos rancheros, and quesadillas with steak. On weekends, it also serves pork tamales with your choice of red or green sauce for $2.50 each.

a foil wrapped sandwich — The torta at Carniceria Aurora is big, messy, and full of flavor. The foil wrap is a welcome aide.

Antony Bruno

Order a torta, and you’ll get to watch the staff pull large chunks of cooked meat from deep hotel pans and cut it up with a big knife right in front of you. The meat is then scooped up and placed on a freshly toasted bun, smeared with refried beans, then covered in lettuce, tomato, roasted jalapeno, and cheese.

Thankfully, it’s served wrapped in tin foil, which helps keep it all together. This is a two-hander to be sure, and the extra support is welcome, especially when you need to remove a hand to drizzle the super-hot green sauce it comes with from bite to bite.

Each bite brings it all together — the tender meaty savoriness of the braised pork, the fatty richness of the cheese, and the buttery burnt crunch of a bun toasted fresh on a well-seasoned griddle. It’s a big plate, but one that’s really hard to put down.

If you order the stew, which just begs for attention amid the surrounding piles of meat, be warned: it comes in a 2-quart Styrofoam container and is designed as a takeout item. Within are huge chunks of simmered beef that easily fall apart with a spoon while eating.

a container of stew — Try eating that corn on the cob with a spoon! The stews here take a little extra work.

Antony Bruno

Slightly more challenging are the quarter-cob hunks of corn, which require hands to consume. But the equally large sections of Mexican zucchini are thankfully soft enough to nearly disintegrate under the slightest manipulation. It also comes with an optional garnish of red onion, cilantro, lime, and a dangerously hot red sauce (a little goes a very long way).

All of this can either be taken to-go, or enjoyed at the communal tables located just inside the market’s entrance. It’s fun to sit and enjoy your meal as you watch the shoppers enter and exit, arms full of large bags stuffed with supplies ranging from staple canned goods to bags and bags of the store’s namesake product: meat.

Take a stroll either before or after your meal to browse the butcher offerings, and it’s nearly impossible to walk away without something to cook at home as well. The glass-encased cooler features enticingly high piles of marinated flesh: chicken or beef fajitas, pineapple-topped diced pork for al pastor, glistening pork chops covered in sauce.

Like your proteins plain? There’s plenty more of that to choose from. Multiple pig primals from chops, to shoulder, to loin, along with neckbone and even rolled up sections of skin. On the beef side of the aisle, you’ve got short ribs (both English and flanken cut), flapsteaks, beef feet and tripe, and chuck, along with the standard steak cuts.

Add the many seafood and chicken options (yes, they have chicken feet too!) and the packaged accoutrement (hello chicharron and lard!), and this place is a go-to option for one serious party. There are even long stalks of sugar cane available in the produce section if that’s your jam.

So in this particular case, maybe you should shop hungry at Carniceria Aurora. Because one way or another, you certainly won’t leave that way.

Carniceria Aurora is located at 465 Havana Street in Aurora and is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, closing at 6 p.m. on Sunday and Wednesday. It has no website or social media presence.

All the previous Eat Up Havana stops:

Eat Up Havana: Carniceria Aurora Has New Digs, and an In-Store Restaurant

Editor's Picks

Related

Related

Related

Related

Related

GET MORE COVERAGE LIKE THIS

Thanks for Joining!

THANK YOU!