CAUTION: I was super excited because I heard great things about the Cardenas Store in Merced, so I decided to try out their carnicería. I bought taco meat the day before around $50 worth and they bagged the meat in separate bags which nice since it was more manageable than one large bag. The next day when I was cooking, I found large pieces of orange plastic in the carne asada taco meat! At first I thought it was carrots but as I looked closer it was orange plastic!!! I then opened and found plastic in all 3 of the meat bags! When returning the meat the supervisor wasn't sincerely apologetic and seemed uninterested that the meat contained plastic pieces! When asked if they wanted to look at it they said no and just returned our money like it was no big deal. It's very negligent on their part to serve this to their customers and I will not be returning here. Please be careful when purchasing their meat or anything here. read more

Cardenas Markets - Plastic in meat - Meat Shops Near Me - Merced, California

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Great looking store with all kinds of hard to get products. Tortillas are made in house from ground corn not from premade mix. You can taste the quality. Meat always looks fresh and clean. Cocina has great options from fresh made Carnitas to homemade Menudo! They have great sales on Wednesday for produce and on weekends too. read more

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I am in disbelief with the experience my parents have experienced. When my parents had asked a question to an employee they claimed to only know English but when my father spoke English the employee flawlessly was able to speak Spanish. Not only was this a terrible customer service experience as well as a representation of the workers "Cardenas" hires. read more

This is the second time I purchase tamales and they are not cooked all the way! Upon opening the tamale, the masa is soft and not done. What a waste of money! read more

I went to the food court to get some food and the employee were very rude and I was waiting for service and they were helping people other people that just arrived and I been there waiting for a while and they got service before I did. Will never go there again to buy groceries or food there ever again. Tried to talk to manager she didn't want nothing to do with it. Will never go there again. read more

Check your receipts when you go to this store, when you buy an item on sale they always charge you regular price, you have to be watching the register as they scan your groceries for the prices. They get one star because I do like the bakery but not the rest of the store. read more

Went for 1$ taco tuesdays they took forever to give me my order and when I did receive it they got the order wrong and missing tacos. Once I did receive my correct order I noticed a hair and when I went to show and receive new order they were rude about it . Food was cold and disgusting never going again. read more

best market in town! friendly people and great produce. love the ambiance. never felt more comfortable in a grocery store.

My first time ever in this store and I was excited because I love Mexican food along with the culture. So I go in with my husband, after 5 mins I start to realize folks staring at us like what are we doing there, I kind of brushed it off, but when we get to the check out stand and asked the women how long the fresh tortillas last usually because I knew they were made fresh without GMOs etc. The security guard got involved and rudely asked me what do I mean and got all defensive with me. Made me really uncomfortable. I won't be going back to a racist place. So sad the world is like this. read more

Ordered a birthday cake for my 4 year old the day before the party so I can get a fresh cake with the colors I wanted. I had the party next door so it was pretty convenient until we sang happy birthday and the kids tasted the cupcakes. The frosting had such a bad sour taste. It must have been really old for it to get such a bad taste. I went and traded it in for another cake they had there which was ok but the bread tasted old....NEVER again will I order a cake from there! read more

I always come here on Tuesday to do my shopping and get tacos. The past couple times have been a joke when it comes to your kitchen. I just stood in a line that wasn't even that long for over 30 minutes to get to the front of the lone to be told it's going to be another 20-30 minutes to get the next order done. That's insane, I'm sorry, but I'm a cook. You need more people in there and you need some people that move faster than a drunk slug. Never again. I don't care if you fix it or not, I won't be back. You can keep your dollar tacos and kiss a customer good bye. I will be sure to share this experience with anyone I know. My time as well as anyone else's time is important and for some of us who are motivated, time is money. I'd rather go to el sope, pay a little more and be out in less than 10 and that's with a line out the door. No organization, no communication, zero team work. My suggestion, as some one who has lived in Mexico and have seen the speed of which tacos can be served and I've been a cook for most of my life, would be to get some one in there with a food amount of experience to train your staff. I'd use Uber eats or any of the delivery services you offer except you do not offer the taco Tuesday special on there. I'd recommend you fix that too. Well my kids are eating late now and your kitchen completely threw off my schedule. Sad just sad. Won't ever even shop here again after this. I'm very angry over this. If you can't keep up with the demand close the kitchen, its better to get rid of something that isn't efficient and effects your ratings as this post is going to. read more

I being at this store couple times and the products are not fresh. Specially, the tres leches cakes, taste and look like being there for so long, and I don't want to talk about their prices...are expensive. The staff looks like they are on their day because you don't know how are react, I have been ignored like two times. read more

Great food, clean store. Employees are very, very nice... Will definitely be returning

Went to get the carnitas special, bad choice, the meat was dry on the edges and it was greasy. The meat has always been good, don't know what happened. It will be awhile before I get food from there again. Waste of money read more

Second week in a row with Yoplait drinks on sale; this week 3/$1. It was beyond unlikely they would have it, but again I went in day after day. NOT ONE of any flavor any day. Finally found an employee who stated they get their truck on Fridays, so they rarely have sale stuff until then. Went in 4 times Friday, 3 times Saturday, and 2 times Sunday. None; no one knew if they would get it. It's the usual bait and switch game Cardenas plays. read more

What a find!! This traditional-feeling Mexican market has a wonderful selection of produce as well as products. It is organized and clean and almost feels like a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. The prices are reasonable and the staff was helpful. Definitely making it one of my favorites! read more

My wife and I came to the store to purchase some pan Dulce. We noticed that the majority of the employees including the ones in the bakery for not wearing mask or taking any safety precautions. In regard to the coronavirus situation we decided to go somewhere else. We love Cardenas, just wish they took the situation a little more seriously. read more

Really clean store. The tortillas they make there are really good quality!! #nixtamal

Give two stars for the good pastries, meat section and fully stocked isles. Minus 3 stars for whoever labeled the sour cream as central american, but also wrote Méxican style. Mexico is not part of central america. Cardenas, please don't promote ignorance on your food label. Learn goegraphy first before labeling your stuff. read more

The cajeta champurado is delicious. The popusas were gross. They were served cold. It had lettuce and pico de gayo which I have never ate one with that. It didn't have curtido and the inside of the popusa didn't have anything inside. It was just the dough. I also gave their menudo a try and it was decent. Not my favorite go to place. For the $1 taco Tuesday I would say to give yourself enough time to get tour food. The lines are really long but at least they are flavorable taking into consideration you only pay $1: read more

I recently went to Cardenas Market as they were having a grand opening sale. I went to the meat department to pick up some diezmillo (steak) for dinner. I asked if they would prepare the meat with seasoning and was told it takes too long. I won't be back. read more

Loved it i had the 1 tue taco they were delicious good customer service it was beautiful and clean w a great variety of stuff and they had all meats tacos all for 1$ i would definitely go back and recomend this place to anybody read more

Customer service is the worst. My parents went to shop for some groceries and when it came time for them to pay there were no staff available to assist them with checkout. So they had to use the self pay register. And my parents aren't that advanced with technology and all that so they needed help. They were told that they were sorry but their short staffed and theirs no one to assist them at the moment. My mom had her groceries thrown when the employees did decide angry by the way to help and their was some damage to a couple of items she bought. This makes me so angry at the fact that they were treated like this especially at a supposedly so called family friendly store. I just hope that this gets to Management because they need to step up on how they train these individuals and make sure they are very well aware of what their actions can lead to. I will be contacting the store corporate or main office to let them know myself what a horrible job they are doing with their customer service. read more

So I tried this place out for the first time today; ordered a burrito supreme of al pastor. BIG LET DOWN! So, the burrito was huge but the meat wasn't all that and the beans had a funky taste, it was just way to sloppy.....I think I'll stick with El Bajio just down 16th St. for burritos. Another + side for this spot was the salsa bar, the molcajete salsa is really good.....but probably won't visit this place again for the hot food. read more

The food at cardenas is not consistent, sometimes it's ok sometimes it's not. When you complain about it their apologies aren't sincere they are not interested in what you have to say. read more

I have lived in Merced, CA for over 23 years and during this period I have been a customer of all Markets in Merced over the years! A few months "That Changed" when I went to the opening of "Cardenas Market here in Merced! I found that this "Cardenas Market" was just "Fanatic, Merchandised Exceptionally, Has a Great Vegetable Department and The Meat, Poultry & Fish Department" and this Market is Exceptionally Clean at all times!" Just last night I stop Cardenas' to pick up a couple things and I was "Checked out by Zackary who Shocked Me" with his outstand service to me!" Zackary is an Outstanding Employee, He Motivated, Very Intelligent, Professional and is a Fantastic Over All Employee" who I hope "Cardenas Markets Promotes!" Zackary is "A Stair Waiting to Be Born!" Sincerely, Rod Flint read more

I grew up with this grocery store in Southern California, there's nothing similar to an authentic Mexican grocery store in Merced. It has quality produce, the bread is delicious. The hot foods is bettering everyday. The employees are super helpful and nice. read more

I went to the food court and their chilaquiles are complete crap! Bad customer service and very rude towards people, would not recommend anyone to eat there read more