La Estrella

Excellent beans. Juevos con chorizo was good as well. Would definitely come back.

Whenever I use the Unilocal app, and select nearby (when at my house), La Estrella pops up. I must say I don’t know of many places with as high of an average on Unilocal as La Estrella. Friday night my wife and I decided to give it a try. Side note: So, unlike my wife (and most everyone I know) I’m not a huge fan of what we here in the South call Mexican food. In my opinion, it is always greasy, poor quality, gut busting cheese covered blah I just don’t enjoy.
La Estrella is not like the Monterey’s, San Joses, Sr. Tequilas, etc. of the world. La Estrella is fresh, lite, and delicious. The chips are house made. Not my favorite, but that was actually a plus since I din’t fill up on chips & salsa before our meal came.
Pretty authentic, if we spoke Spanish the ordering may have been easier, but I’m not sure it was my pronunciation or my southern accent they didn’t understand. My wife got a burrito, I HAD to try their choriozo, so I got one Chorizo taco and a chicken Torta.
First off the taco was amazing. Served on two small soft corn tortillas with chorizo on them. On the side was finely diced onion, pico„ lime and cilantro. The chorizo was not greasy at all. It was amazing… I was new to the torta world (Mexican sandwich), but man it was AWESOME. Big enough for two people. It came with beans, guac, tomato, lettuce, jalapeño, and thinly sliced perfectly seasoned and cooked chicken breast. All very fresh and lite. SO GOOD. Love the assortment of Mexican hot sauces on the table.
My wife’s burrito was amazing. Again, lite and fresh. Not covered in some sauce. So good. The table next o us got a shrimp dish that looked great, and the whole scored fried fish. It also looked great. I wanted to go back yesterday… IT WAS THAT GOOD.
Also there is a Mexican Grocery complete with a meat counter. Seasoned meats that you just have to cook, chorizo that looked amazing, fish, etc. This place is great. I can’t wait to go back!

Enchiladas de pollo were YUM. I got it to go; not sure I could dine in since it is the front part of a market.

The tacos are slamming!!! The service is crap. Felt like I was inconveniencing the waitress/​cashier.

Stopped in while on a business trip… one of the absolute best places I’ve eaten Mexican food. This is the real deal and done right. Combined within a Mexican grocery store, tables sit to the right with an open window to the kitchen. Extremely friendly and attentive staff serving the best tortas I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating! Perfect salsa and chips to start as well, but take it easy, the portions are large!

Very good food. Not the cookie cutter Mexican chain. Really tasty and fast. Would definitely reccomend.

«La Estrella» is definitely a bright star near the Columbia Metropolitan Airport. I didn’t think there would be an authentic Mexican taqueria or restaurant in a town like Columbia, but I now take that statement back.
This place is consisted of taqueria, carniceria, and panaderia. The owner lady was surprised that we spoke decent colloquial Spanish. Well, I really just know how to order food. Hubby’s understanding of Spanish is way more in depth.
I wish I could try their menudo or pozole (fines de semana – Saturday and Sunday only). Caldo de pollo was delicious. I was glad that the chicken was shredded since I’m don’t typically enjoy bone-​collecting or bone-​spitting. The flavor had an emphasis of lime, which I liked. I squeezed more extra lime as I was finishing up the soup at the end to «refresh up.»
The owner lady refilled hubby’s horchata! I’ve never seen that in Chicago where Mexican food scenes are more than abundant. She did the same on my brother-in-law’s limonada.
For two (2) orders of tortas de carne asada, two (2) order of horchata, one (1) order of limonada, and one (1) order of caldo de pollo, the total was under $ 30 (pre-​tip). Taqueria «La Estrella» didn’t have an extensive menu, but most Mexican desayunos, tacos, tortas, fajitas, and sopas are certainly covered.
There’s a tiny supermarket attached to the taqueria if you ever want to get some Hispanic sodas, spices, snacks, meat, and bread.

Stopped on the way to Fl. Really good food and great service.

Delicious authentic Mexican food! I’ve been to every Mexican restaurant in Columbia and this is the best one. If you’re looking for white quest dip covered burritos you WILL NOT find them here. Thank goodness. Great prices and great service.

Visiting from Phoenix, AZ. Was looking for Mexican food & found this place. Which felt very familiar being from AZ. The food is Awesome & authentic! The real thing! We were very happy to have found this place! We ate there 2 times on our visit. For breakfast & Lunch! Mmmmm Good!!!

A staple Mexican eatery near the Airport that I somehow missed out on for seven years. Glad I finally made it.
The restaurant side is very casual with friendly staff. My girlfriend and I seated ourselves and were helped immediately. The chips are unique — thick and crunchy, definitely fresh and house made — and the salsa is great. Do yourself a favor and ask for the salsa verde and spicy red as well, they’re excellent.
The tacos and tortas we ordered were good. Authentic style, not Americanized like many of the other local restaurants, featuring crumbled Oaxacan cheese and fresh avocado. The torta Cubana I had was massive — piled high with ham, two melted cheeses, refried beans, egg, chorizo, tomato and avocado on a soft, buttery roll. It was delicious and I was full after eating half of it.
The grocery store side is where you’ll find incredible deals on produce and Mexican staple items. The carniceria in the back is the gem here, offering house made chorizo and al pastor (among other meats) at great prices.
Overall, this is definitely a five star establishment. I’d give the restaurant a 4 (not the best I’ve had, but quite good) and the tienda a clear 5. Long live La Estrella!

I love this place. This is my go 2 spot for tacos in the columbia area. Super fast service, and friendly staff. Seems to be a local spot for the Hispanic community which is nice to see. Pick up some groceries on your way out!

Genuine Mexican food! For example, my nachos were made with delicious queso, not the weird shredded cheese one often receives. Friendly and fast service. Plus I really like the Superhero piñatas hanging over the grocery section. They also sell fresh vegetables and giant cooking pots. So glad to find this place – next time will i have to try something from the bakery which I have heard is delicious.

Excellent and authentic Mexican food! I had the chicken tacos and churros for dessert. It was delicioso! After living in New Mexico for seven years and moving back east I was longing for good Mexican food. I found it in this place. The tacos were flavorful and the churros were fresh and crispy. Don’t miss out on this treasure!

By far the most authentic food I have found in the Columbia area. True Mexican food by true Mexicans. And there’s a little store to pick up some essentials.

As a vegetarian, ethnic food is my best choice out. I’ve heard great things about this place so I stopped in hungry. Unfortunately the menu had no vegetarian section so I hunted around till I found something that listed beans and did not list meat, a burrito actually so I ordered it. I asked the waiter about other vegetarian options and there was some unclear communication.
It came and the burrito was absolutely filled with beef.
This wouldn’t have been a problem but the cook/​manager would not take it back. If I wanted a plain bean burrito I would have to pay for both. The waiter apologized several times and said there was nothing he could do.
I felt like the management is vegetarian hostile. This is the first time I have ever experienced this at an ethic restaurant. I obviously won’t be back, even for the delicious inexpensive fresh baked items in the grocery area.

Photos of the outside of the building will not help you find it because it is turned sideways to the street so you only see the side. We passed it even with a GPS because we were looking for the storefront photos.
Once served, we were glad we came. There was a table with 4 firemen, so we knew the food must be good. There was a fire engine in the parking lot even. When a lot of firemen and policemen eat at a place the food is good and the price is right, bet on it.
There were 4 of us and everyone enjoyed their meals, no complaints and we are, generally, a hard group to please. I had the Carne Asada (beef) platter. I ate everything except the rice trying to cut out a few carbohydrates. (lame logic). I chowed down on the beans and the other sides. Friend #2, had the Camarones A LA Vallarta (shrimp/​cheesy sauce) platter. She was glad she finally found a place where she could order something besides tacos. Friend #3, had the Fajita Mixtas (chicken & beef) which is 2 plates of food. One platter had the sides and Fajita toppings. The other platter was the meat with onions and peppers. That was delicious, she said. Friend #4 had Fahita De Pollo (chicken) which was also 2 plates of food.
With drinks (1 margarita, 1 beer and 2 teas) and taxes the bill was $ 63. The menu is in Spanish & English.

I’m from Texas, and I’ve lived in California and New Mexico, so I’m very particular when it comes to my Mexican food. LaEstrella is not the best Mexican food I’ve had, but It was authentic. Something I’ve had difficulty finding of the East coast. I’d had no expectations of finding at all in South Carolina. I had a nice plate of carne asada taco (street style). They satisfied my need for real Mexican food.

What a fabulous spot. We stopped purely by chance as we couldn’t face having Burger King (next door). Staff were friendly and welcoming even tho we were quite obviously the only non-​Mexicans there! We tried a variety of dishes: quesadillas, tacos, the lot. It was all delicious and fresh. I’m not the biggest re-​fried beans fan, so I skipped those. But everything else was good. Stop here! So worthwhile.
Browse the supermarket too while you’re at it :)

He said: second visit. I can see how gringos might have a little trepidation about stepping into this place, it is autentico restaurant for the Latin crowd. However, you will feel welcomed. The people are friendly and the place is clean. The chow is really worth it too. Try the Carne Asada tacos.
She said: This is hands-​down «still» the best Latino food I’ve found in all of South Carolina. This is our second review of this wonderful restaurant, and it still rates 5-​stars!!!