Comida Casera

Comida Casera has excellent Tacos al Pastor (pork) along with very delicious Spanish rice and pinto beans (although, the latest photos on Unilocal seem to show different beans and rice than they served previously — the rice not as «plump» and very few actual beans in a serving, that looks as though it is a bit «thin»). The corn tortillas have a lot of good corn flavor. The taco salad is good too, and you have a choice of meats or shrimp. It includes lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, Spanish rice, refried beans & sour cream, as well as sliced avocado (a great addition that is not often seen in other taco salads). The sauces they bring to the table, along with the tacos, are good. The green sauce (jalapeño and onion) is my favorite. The orange/​red one is quite good too, but is a bit too hot for me.
On Saturday and Sunday they serve Feijoada, which is a Brazilian traditional stew of black beans, pork hock, fried pork belly, dried beef and smoked sausage. This is served with white rice, orange slices, sautéed collard greens and cooked yuca flour.
I have heard great things about their Lomo Saltado, but have yet to try it.
The recipe for their Lomo Saltado is on the Channel 6 (WTVR) website:
Comida Casera is small, with only five tables, and is located in the back of El Jardin grocery, but has very good and reasonably priced food.
My favorite place for tacos al pastor!

Just moved in the area and saw the reviews so I tried it out. I got 3 shrimp tacos and they were amazing! It comes with only onion and cilantro and I usually get sour cream, tomato salsa, and cheese on my Tacos but after taking the first bite I did not need anything else. Put the green and the red cream looking sauce on it for optimal taste! Would deff recommend. The only reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5 is because it was a bit hard to find and they could do a little upgrading to the interior.

I have been wanting to try this place forever and finally did today, but just for pupusas. They weren’t that great — kinda doughy and not much flavor — and they don’t give you much sauce or cortido. El Rey down the street has better pupusas.
Prices are great, and I will definitely come back to try tacos.

I thought that the food was pretty good. I ordered the quesadilla which came with rice and beans.
I really liked the beans but the quesadilla was just okay and the rice was crunchy.
Also, the place wasn’t exactly the cleanest???
I think I would go back to see if my opinion changes.

This is for sure one of my new favorite spots. Its a small restaurant in the back of the grocery store, yiu can easly miss it. Seating is very limited so be prepared to wait or choose take out. English and Spanish menu options are available & they even have photos of the food.
I ordered the carne asada which was AMAZING. My order came with two sauces, rice, beans, corn tortillas, and salad. Prices are very reasonable and plenty of food to fill you up. I will definitely be back !!!

The restaurant sits on the back of the Latino market, very small inside seating of 16 people. It’s quaint yet simple. The service is great and the server was friendly. The food that they have on the menu is Salvadoran/​Brazilian entrée items.
The prices are fairly good and they have a nice mix of drinks, appetizers, and food items to welcome you to the flavors they have to explore a South American cuisine.
I ordered the Inca Kola, shrimp taco, & pollo a la plancha. The taco came with 2 sauce bottles both of which were spicy, but out of the 3 (the house sauce I believe is in the table already) the green one was my favorite.
The food came out hot and fresh and was pretty flavorful. It made me want to travel overseas right after my meal!
I really liked the food and would cone back to try a desert. If you want to see more food and grocery items walk through the store which is right there.

So glad we stopped in here!!! Delicious empanadas, pupusas, and plato de carnitas. We’re going to check out the market too.

OMG! This place was sooooo delicious! I never knew there was a little restaurant in this tienda. I had the Frango Acebolado. Sorry no pic because I couldn’t wait to dig in. Missed out on trying the Pastels as they were sold out. My coworkers even tried this place out and they don’t like to venture outside of your normal eats. The Alambre, Lomo Saltado, Bife Acebolado and the Coxinha were ordered and everything was a hit for all!!! Big portions too so I was not able to eat it all.

Excellent food! Lots of flavor… the place is not very inviting but the food makes it all good!

Such an excellent restaurant. Even for vegetarians! The pupusas are so delicious. The staff is so friendly. It’s a hole in a wall kind of place that I’m already craving again!

Amazing every time. Pozole is outrageous. On weekends they have a Brazilian stew that will forever change you.

This small place is located inside of the market, towards the back. There’s limited seating, so be careful of the lunch rush!
I’ve been here twice so far — the first time was for my first date with my boyfriend, and the second time was almost a year later accidentally for our anniversary. The food is just as good now as it was on our first date!
I definitely recommend the tacos — I’ve tried the chicken, steak, and carnitas, and I think the carnitas have been my favorite filling. They handmake the double corn tortillas, and it makes all the difference. Don’t skip on squeezing the lime on top!
I usually also order the yuca fries with my boyfriend, which are consistently fried evenly with a great texture.
On my most recent trip, we also sampled the coxinhas (fried chicken croquettes), the pupusas (filled corn tortillas), and the pastel (fried beef pastry). All three were good, though a little heavy on top of the fried yuca and the tacos — we definitely ordered too much food. I really liked the pastel (and there’s a check-​in offer for a free one with an entrée!) and the coxinhas.
There’s also daily specials available, and plenty of other stuff on the menu. You can read it online!
My boyfriend always gets the guarnana whenever we go, but I recently had the horchata and will probably keep ordering it — it’s super refreshing and really authentic.
Service is good and always polite, but be careful of slow wait times because of the small staff at times!
This is definitely a gem to check out while in the almost-​suburbs of Richmond.

Caveat: I’m a gringa and native New Englander. That said, the tacos here are ON POINT. My boyfriend and I both tried the tongue, al pastor, and carnitas, all excellent. We also decided to try a pupusa (yummy, with an addictive oregano-​scented cabbage slaw on the side) and a Brazilian pastel de queijo (huge, flaky, and gloriously cheesy). The damage to our wallets for two huge appetizers, six tacos, and two big glasses of agua de Jamaica? Less than $ 25 including tip. We will most certainly be back.
Hot tip: pick up some homemade alfajores at the grocery store register on your way out! Mmm.

The short: tacos here are SOLID. Texan approved, I’m jussayin’ yall.
The long: The price for 3 tacos is very reasonable given the size of the tacos. I get the chicken, carnitas, and steak. All are delish in my opinion, but if I haaad to pick a fave, I’d say probably the carnitas. All tacos are served on corn tortillas, with ample onions and cilantro on top. Now I haven’t tried any other food here, hence why I’m giving 4 instead of 5 stars, but given how tough it is to find good tacos in RVA, I don’t see myself leaving em behind anytime soon. Make sure you try both the green salsa that comes with by default and the red salsa you have to ask for! The red is a little spicier than the green, but I gotta have both to be happy. I’m all about the salsa. Tacos just don’t seem complete to me without some good spicy salsa ;)
The horchata here is pretty good too. It’s a little sweeter than how I usually like my horchata, but otherwise refreshingly tasty. I got a large the first time I stopped here (homesick, I suppose) and oh my that was not the best idea. Stick to the regular size drinks! Generous cup sizes for drinks here.
As others have mentioned, this is a little café/​restaurant area squared away in the corner of a convenience store. So look for the convenience store sign and park in that lot! Then just walk in to the back corner to find the little café + seating area. I have yet to dine-​in, but space is fairly limited so don’t show up with a large group. Take-​out is pretty fast, usually ready for pickup in 10 minutes.
I had a good feeling about this place the first time I stopped by and saw a guy with a UT longhorns cap leaving (hook em!).. Turns out I was right. Now I stop by on the way home from work nearly once a week to grab tacos for dinner. Such a rare, happy find in RVA!

The resturant consists of 6 tables in the back room of a Hispanic bodega, but don’t let that keep you away. They serve very good and authentic Mexican and Brazilian dishes. This is not a fast food ‘grab your taco and go’ place. The food is cooked to order and will take 10 – 15 minutes to come out (depending on how busy they are). Looking to try a typical Brazilian dish? — the Fechuada (black bean stew with pork hocks and sausage) is not to be missed — but it’s only served on the weekends. As a side dish, the collard greens marinated in salted pork belly and garlic is simply outstanding. I’ve eaten here several times and love it!

First class food. I had tongue tacos and the spicy shrimp tacos with fried yucca. My wife had a chicken dish. Service was excellent but we arrived at 1115 … a big group of hungry drywallers came in around 12 and packed the place (I’d expect that would dampen the speed).
I’ll return any time I’m in town. The store in the other side has excellent selection and prices.
Five big stars (my stomach is growling thinking about the tacos) …

I don’t even know how to explain how good this place is! It’s one of those places you want to keep secret (even from my husband) but you can’t help scream, «I found GOOD food!» I’m literally writing this so I will slow down eating… It’s that good! Don’t let the this gem disguised as a Latino market fool you. Get here now! On a side note, I ordered the refried bean and cheese pupusa and the Lomo saltado with steak.

I’m from California, where latin food is taken very seriously. Even with my strong affinity for tacos, burritos and tamales, I give this place a very solid 4 stars despite it being in Richmond, VA.
I would definitely go back if I ever wind up in RVA again

This was my first time here, as I have passed this place many times on W. Broad St. I have been wanting to stop and try their food. The one thing, I like about many of the people who are from South of the Border… they set up a lot of «Mom & Pop» operations which I really enjoy. I feel personally the food is more authentic and often, MORE flavorable than a Chain which does not allow the Chef any latitude in how to cook good Mexican Food. This is NOT the case here…
Also, since I have seen many excellent reviews here on Unilocal for other Unilocalers, it also inspired me to stop by sooner than later, and I am glad I did. First of all, the sign you see says El Jardine on the Building. It is a small South of the Border Market, and the small restaurant is in the back… However, it is under a different name which is «Comida Casera». When, I first checked in, I thought I was checking into El Jardine which is NOT the case until I found out later.
I decided to order the Tacos as they were 3 for $ 6. I had the Charizo, Chicken and Carnitas. I asked for Extra Spicy and when the food came out, they bought 2 bottle of homemade Hot sauce. One is Green and the other is Red. So, I always try each before putting either on my food, as I want to know how it will taste. I grabbed a spoon and realized it has flavor, but it needed Salt… Once I put some Salt on the Sauce, the flavors popped out like Magic. I like the Red the best.
The Tacos were nice in size and each had LOTS of good flavor. I can see why their Tacos are a BIG hit there. I ordered 3 and I only could eat 2. The other came home with me for later. I am anxious to go back again soon, and try some interesting dishes which they has listed on the Menu. Also, too… if you check in with your Unilocal App on your phone, you will get a FREE side with your order… You have to show it to him. I saved mine for later or the next time.
They need to have a sign outside saying it is Comida Casera and not El Jardine. The sign they do have is small and the only way you can see it… YOU really have to look for it. Great food, and if you like Central America and South American Food… you will enjoy eating here… It is all Home Cooked!

If RVA has taught me one thing about tacos, it’s that really great ones start with meat, onions, and cilantro, all wrapped up in soft corn tortillas. On my never ending quest for tacos, I decided to check out Comida Casera, conveniently located down the road from where I live.
–Food: Their menu is fairly extensive and features many Brazilian and Hispanic items. The signs outside of the building say «Tacos» though, and that’s what I came for.
I decided to get what I almost always get for the first time at a new taqueria: 3 al pastor tacos. I realize that the exact style of al pastor can differ from place to place, but I more or less expect a marinated grilled pork in either small chunks or shreds, sometimes with pineapple and spices.
I immediately noticed that Comida Casera’s al pastor was in much larger chunks, which I didn’t expect, but wasn’t necessarily a turn off. Another thing that instantly stood out were the taco shells. They were still soft corn shells, but they were grilled or heated to a point where they were almost crisp and cracking a bit. Again, not a turn off, but a little different.
The good: The pork had a nice seasoning and was well complimented with traces of what tasted like pineapple. The salsa roja was spicy and caught me by surprise at first, but had a very nice flavor. The onion and cilantro weren’t overpowering but were bountiful.
The different: The shells, as mentioned above, were almost «crisp» soft shells. I didn’t hate the concept, but it also wasn’t the texture I was expecting. It was more one of those «Oh! This is different.» experiences.
The not-​so-​good: The thickness of the pork cubes didn’t really bother me, but the inedible fatty /​grisly chunks did. The first was small and I managed to suck it up and chew enough to swallow, but the second was large and I ended up with one of those graceful «put a napkin up to your mouth and empty the food into it and tuck it to the side of the plate». It’s about as graceful as that sentence was to write (not very), and I always feel bad /​rude doing that, but it was not chewable meat. There were a couple other chewier-​than-​normal pieces too =/​
–Cost: I will say this though, $ 6 for 3 filling tacos is a steal.
–Atmosphere: The actual restaurant is located in the same building as a Hispanic convenient store. There are about 6 or 7 two to four seat tables in there, and while it’s a bit cramped, it’s manageable. Honestly, it gives you that nice «this is where locals eat» feel. (Not sarcastic)
–Service: Both the server and woman running the cashier were nice! No qualms here!
–Overall: Believe me, I would love to love a taco place that’s within walking distance of my residence. I understand that Comida Casera isn’t just a taco place, but if they’re going to advertise the tacos with banners outside, it should be considered one of their main items. I did like the place overall and I’m sure I’ll return, but with so many really great taquerias in a 5 minute drive distance, it’s tough. Next time I’ll get a meat that isn’t pork or maybe try one of their other items.