La Islena Market

I shop here all the time — great employees, awesome meat counter, fresh produce, tons of Hispanic cooking supplies, fresh juice, fresh salsas, fresh guacamole on the right days. I love their Al Pastor and different ceviches. Prices are low and they have more product stuffed in this little shop than would be thought possible. I’m definitely a regular now!

The only store I’ve found in Las Vegas so far where I can find all of my ingredients to make a bomb ass Green Pozole. They even have respado here. For any latin cooking needs, COME!

Not the fanciest place. Kind of a hole in the wall but the carne asada is great. Decent price with great flavor and the staff is always helpful.

Mom decided she wanted a Korean menu for Christmas dinner. The Mexican meat markets have a much better price for the Kalbi cut of meat (flanken cut ribs) ($ 5.99/lb vs Greenland’s $ 9.99/lb).
The meat service was prompt and somewhat friendly.
The cashier was a much different story and I nearly left the meat on the counter and walked out. There were 4 staff members behind the counter — not a single one of them greeted us or took any sort of action to ring us up. It took us 5 times longer just to pay for our ONE item as it did to park, walk in, get the meat and walk to the counter. The best part is, they weren’t even busy with other things, they were just talking!
Half price or not, I’ll find a different market to make my purchases at!

Let’s be clear, if you are looking for Whole Foods or some fancy large market or full grocery store… this ISN’T the place to go. It is small, cramped and in a out of the way almost difficult to get into little shopping strip. It is not well marked, signage is poor and the place does look a little run down from the outside. If you are somewhat claustrophobic this may not be the market for you. The place is packed from floor to ceiling and the isles are close.
Now this place is freaking awesome for making the most out of every inch they have. The cashier is tucked away in a little cubby hole to make more room for products. The meats are amazingly fresh, and a great selection of pre-​marinated and mixed dishes ready to just be cooked or grilled. The fruit is fresh and I am always finding something new to try there. Granted… I am a gringo who has no clue, but the fact I have yet to hear anyone else speak English in this place but me tells me I’m in the right place for authentic Latin American cuisine. The staff always goes out of their way to make sure to help and makes suggestions on what to try and how to prepare something if I ask. The icing on this cake is they are as cheap if not cheaper than the majority of the major chains I normally go to.
I’ve slowly become a regular and look forward to trying something new they suggest and now have my favorites I can go to when I want to just run in and grab it. Ok… maybe not run in, but squeeze in and wait a few minutes for the clerk… as there is always a line, but well worth it.

Run-​down market, interior looks more like a convenience store slash bodega than a grocery, but they have all manner of cooking supplies here, including fresh produce, a great meat counter, fresh juices, more Mexican candies than you can shake a stick at, and a surprisingly extensive cosmetics section.
Get the carne asada and grill at home, the chicken and beef fajitas plus some extra peppers and onions, chicken adobo legs are enormous (¹⁄₃ pound each, easily), fish ceviche is like $ 2/​lb– can’t beat that!
Might want to take cash to shop here– my card wouldn’t swipe at the register, my guy had to pay. Heads up, the Pollo Mobile truck is usually in the parking lot, grab groceries for later but grab dinner hot and ready from them.
Side note: Unilocal check in offers a dollar off rotisserie chicken, but I didn’t even see any?

I babe mixed emotions on how I should rate this place. Let me start of by saying this place has excellent customer service. The employees are super friendly and the guy behind the counter was patient enough to explain the seasoning on the meats I bout 4 different kids and only are 2 of them. This is where zero stars start. The meat was more color than flavor if that makes any since. At first glance you’d think it would be packing flavor since it had all the seasoning on it but no let me tell you how disappointed I was when I went home and cooked it. No flavor at all on the meats. I ended up adding my own seasonings to it which kind of defeats the purpose of paying a little extra for it.
I ended up dumping the other 2 cuts of meat due to no flavor and the meat was not tender at all.
If you want good cuts of meat with tons of flavor at a reasonable price then head over to Larry’s meat market

This market is cramped and small but on the plus side there’s a wide variety of economical meats at their meat counter. The employees are friendly and this is a convenient location for picking up meats for a backyard barbecue. Chicken abadata is fantastic as well as their taco meat which is pretty darn spicy. Fresh tortillas are cheap but made the same day and last a few days in my pantry.
They do have a small produce section with peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes. I’d steer clear of items like lotions, soaps, etc because this is strictly a meat market and convenience store. Large bottles of Mexican Coke in glass bottles will run you 2 for $ 3 which is a great price. Oh, and their house made pico is great.

It’s all about the meats. Fire up the grill and get ready for a full on Mexican fiesta in your backyard! They have an amazing selection of marinated meats at ridiculous prices. You name it, they’ve got it at prices lower than you can buy any regular, non-​marinated meat on sale at the grocery store. Meat prices are anywhere from $ 1.49 — 4.99/lb. Short ribs, steak, pollo, pork in a variety of marinades and cuts — fajita spice, adabada, you name it. They also offer salsa, guacamole, beans, rice in pre-​made packages. The green salsa is soo freaking yummay.
They’re kinda hidden at the Rainbow/​Smoke Ranch intersection. I’ve driven by dozens of times and never noticed the spot until I discovered it on Unilocal and actually hunted it out.
Our backyard smelled adabada-​rific, in fact we could overhear neighbors walking along the sidewalk commenting on the delicious grill aromas drifting over the walls. And before finishing his first fajita, bf proclaimed he we was giddy with the meat sweats.

If you’re looking for carne asada, ceviche, or any type of meat for a BBQ, this is the place. Best carne asada I ever had, very juicy and seasoned perfectly, all you need to do is put it on your grill.

Best Al Pastor in town. Best pre-​marinated meat period.

Great selection of meats and chicken with great deals. Very friendly and helpful staff.

Delicious meat!!! Best carne asada in town. I drove over 30 min to get here and it was well worth the drive.
The Marinated Chicken here is very delicious.
Very friendly staff.

This little market makes some killer salsas. I can get the mex fruit popsicles I like so much some of those popsicles are even flavored with salt and chili. Thats why the 3 stars.
I don’t recommend the meats, however.

This your one stop spot for any Mexican style grilling. Their marinaded meats can’t be beat by any store anywhere. I’ve been to both Cardenas and Mariannas and Islena puts them both to shame. They seriosly specialize in grilling and when I started buying from here people starting mistaking me for some Mexican grilling master. I’m not and you can be a fake Hispanic grilling master too. Simply shop here. Truly a hidden gem and great value for the price!

Great little mercado!
Anyone who misses the little neighborhood mercados in LA or San Gabriel will appreciate this place.
Awesome meat counter and ceviches. Good value!

This is a friend’s go to place for pollo and carne asada. I had it a while back and noted how tasty it was. The meats are nicely marinated and tender. More so than those I’ve had at Mariana’s. He grilled up both again for Super Bowl. Seriously, good! I made him give me the location so I can stop in for my own supply. Soon, I’ll have the husband fire up the grill and we’ll have ourselves a fiesta.