This is authentic as it gets and it's just awesome food. Great tasting food and comes out hot, fresh and cooked perfectly. Chicken isn't over cooked and dry. And my shrimp was juicy and flavorful. Service is great. Servers all work together and are always checking on us. Friendly and always smiling. The Eating area is off the side of a grocery store area. When busy, there might be a wait. But it's worth it!! Can get loud but not obnoxiously do, just boisterous sounding. If you're in the area and want Mexican food. This is a must stop. You will not be disappointed. read more

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If you like spicy, get the red sauce. Make sure you are hungry, the burritos are large. There was a long line at the food truck but it went quick. If you pay cash, you get a discount. The food was delicious. read more

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My favorite Mexican place in Columbia. The service is always exceptional and very sweet people. The ambience is cute, the mural is sooo cool!! Now the best part is the food. I got 5 tacos, al pastor, chorizo, barbocoa, and carne asada. These are the best tacos I have ever had in my life!! read more

La Estrella - Outside - Mexican Near Me - Cayce, South Carolina

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I've been coming here since I was a student at USC and I came back to visit and had to come here. The same people work here still which was wholesome to see and the ambiance was still the same homey feeling. I got my usual 3 shrimp tacos and it hit the spot just as it did a couple years ago. Looking forward to coming to the area again! read more

La Estrella - Shrimp Tacos - Mexican Near Me - Cayce, South Carolina

Burritos are bomb! If you're looking for authentic Mexican food this is your spot. Prices are fair. Staff and service are always top notch. A must visit when I'm near the airport. read more

I have reviewed this jewel several times I am sure, but I just wanted to remind everyone how amazing this place is. First things first. This is a Mexican grocery store that sells everything from fresh vegetables to cook ware, laundry soap, inexpensive dried herbs and spices to pre-marinated meats. But it is also a restaurant, so you can't get much fresher than that! The food is amazing and fresh. Stop in on Tuesdays, when they have taco Tuesday! All Mexican street tacos are $1.50 each. (Most are $2.75 regular price). Trust me, you NEED to try the Lengua tacos. (Cow tongue) it's super tender and flavorful. But one of the things I love best about this place is that they serve their ENTIRE menu all day! So you can come get tacos or fajitas or a Torta at 9am. And no, they won't judge you if order a dos equis with your lunch food at 9 am. (Don't judge me I work night shift this is my "night cap" lol. read more

La Estrella - Torta Cubana: Breaded steak, sausage, ham, Mexican sausage, egg, oaxaca cheese & fresh cheese. $12.99 - Mexican Near Me - Cayce, South Carolina

Coming from someone who knows the amazing taste of Mexican dishes, this is by far the best in Columbia. Their chips are also delicious and crisp. Everything is made fresh and they take pride in their food- it's authentic and amazing!!! read more

Good authentic Mexican food. Good portions, fast service Easy off of I-26 in Cayce on our way back to Greenville from Charleston, SC.

actually the best Mexican food I have ever had. Everything tasted amazing and made me happy.

Nice spot right off freeway. Good Mexican food and grocery store. Friendly service. Would definitely return when in the area

muy bien servicio y todos muy amable y la comida muy deliciosa y el servicio Me encantan

Review is for store only, not the restaurant. The staff were very friendly. The fresh corn tortillas are delicious. The fresh salsa is delicious. Selection in the store is limited but at least they have a deli. The prices seemed average. If this store was in an area with good mercados then i would have rated it a three due to their small selection, but for this area where real mercados aren't a thing, they get five stars. I will be back for more tortillas and salsa and to try their homemade carnitas or other deli items. read more

As noted by at least one other reviewer, the restaurant/ store is perpendicular to the road, so look for the white sign and not the store front. There is ample parking and it's all pretty close to the entrance. We were there on a Saturday evening and there were customers but not quite half full. Go left to eat when you walk in. We were greeted as soon as we turned left and were told to sit wherever we wanted. We were doing takeout, so he told us to go to the back by the cashier to order. A waitress meet us halfway and escorted us back. We grabbed menus and made our selections to a third person. We were told it would be about 15 minutes. We walked around the grocery part while waiting. There is a good selection of commercial items, many probably not available in the "ethnic" sections of other grocery stores. They also have interesting items like dried papaya with chili. The meat counter is real interesting with some gorgeous cuts of meat, along with things like chicken feet. We made it back to the restaurant part just as our food was being bagged up. We paid and went home while the wonderful aromas filled the car. The first thing we noticed was each of our orders was packaged and labeled separately. This was greatly appreciated since we ordered an assortment of tacos. We also were given a good supply of red and green sauces. The tacos are authentic, with the protein, diced onion, and cilantro on corn tortillas. Each order had radish slices, lime quarters, and grilled onions on the side. The carnitas was a little dry, but it tasted good. The tripa was slightly crispy just like I like it. The suadero was moist and very nice. The barbacoa was not as strongly flavored as I have had, but it still had good flavor. The pollo and pastor were gone before I had a chance to try them, but was told they were excellent. We also had the excellent Cubano, which is a large and thick sandwich. The big eater in our group did finish it, but did not attempt the extra taco we left. The steak nachos were good. The meat was a little chewy, but flavorful. The home made chips are thicker than normal and held their crispiness until the end. The addition of lettuce and tomato made this a filling meal. The red sauce starts with a strong tomato flavor which quickly gives way to a decent heat. The heat lingers a bit as it settles into a pleasant reminder. The green sauce had avocado as well, which gives it a smooth flavor. It had essentially no heat. The only complaint was we did not get any chips and salsa with our takeout order like we typically get from other places. read more

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So friendly and the meat market is amazing. Barbacoa Carnitas. So so good. And such a fun selection of candy.

"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. read more

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BEST TACOS IN COLUMBIA. i go every week for their taco tuesday deal, i can get 3 tacos for under $5 and it's a great deal. the corn tortillas are to die for and the meat is always so tender and juicy and delicious i can't stress to you enough how much i love this place. LIVE LAUGH LOVE LA ESTRELLA read more

Great Mexican market with a little restaurant that serves authentic Mexican food. The carne asada is 100% worth this trip!!

We were just passing through Columbia and needed to find a place for dinner. Lucky us, the first place we picked was closed on Monday, so we selected La Estrella instead because it was nearby and Mexican sounded good for dinner. What a little treasure! The young man manning the restaurant was pleasant and quick and made a couple of recommendations that we thoroughly enjoyed. Reasonable, tasty and friendly service - how can you go wrong? I wish this place was in my town. read more

Wonderful, authentic food with good portions and friendly staff. We just moved to the area and will be back frequently.

So good. Home made chips and salsa are amazing. Everything was so fresh. Staff was friendly and welcoming. Interesting grocery also. Recommend. read more

This place was amazing. The street tacos holy cow.... probably the best I've ever had. I love that it's a restaurant plus a grocery store. Stop in for some sweet serves and some awesome tacos!!!! I'll be back by if we happen to be over in that area again. AUTHENTIC read more

La Estrella - Real strawberry Fanta - Mexican Near Me - Cayce, South Carolina

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Whenever I use the yelp 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 Yelp 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, jalapeno, 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! read more

La Estrella - Pollo mini tacos and a Chorizo Taco - Mexican Near Me - Cayce, South Carolina

Do you ever have one of those days that starts out wonderfully and productive, but then you get side tracked and your whole day is shot to shit? Today was one of those days for me. My morning was going well. I was making visits to customers with alacrity. I checked a couple emails. Then the wheels fell off. Somehow I got tangled up in a complex, interwoven, rabbit-hole type web of LinkedIn, YouTube, and lord help me, twitter and Facebook. Dazed and hypnotized by the ease of which information obtained on everything from the peculiarities of the life cycle of earthworms to the latest singer in the death metal band Whitechapel is available online, I peeled my crossed eyes away from my phone screen and realize the lunching hour is upon me. Still reeling and unable to think, I utilized my phone, yet again, to seek the assistance of Yelp. Mexican was currently sparking my mood, and La Estrella was in the vicinity. I have never been to Mexico, but I imagine the food they serve there is very comparable to the food served at this authentic establishment. I was a bit peeved that nobody came to my table to take my order for a solid 10 minutes. I was finally able to order a chicken burrito and it was damn tasty. The chicken was almost a ground chicken but very flavorful and tender. The chips were fried flour tortillas instead of corn, a distinction that may seem trivial but one that I appreciate. Take my long wait at the outset of dining out of the equation and this is five star territory. However, with the debacle at the beginning, I am downgrading to four stars. Great food! read more

La Estrella - Chicken burrito and flour chips - Mexican Near Me - Cayce, South Carolina

Taco Tuesday meal was a great success. They made us 60 tacos for our crew. Fixings on the side. Highly recommended.

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. read more

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!!! read more

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 :) read more

La Estrella - Them sauces - Mexican Near Me - Cayce, South Carolina

Nice butcher shop with great chorizo, fresh salsa, Al pastor and quest fresco. Restaurant is authentic and the staff is friendly. Good food! read more

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. read more

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This place is the best. The food is amazing and very affordable. I'm from Arizona and cherish good hot sauce. In my opinion this places salsa frita is the best I have ever had. So glad I found this place. read more

Where to go for lunch. Here! Or dinner for that matter. A great lunch of Chorizo Burrito, Grilled Fish, Rice, salad and a order of refried beans. Everything was fresh and cooked to perfection. Fish was flakey, but not dry with just the right amount of seasoning and spice. Burrito was perfect with very authentic filling and seasoning. Two (red and green) sauces came to the table with our order and both were fantastic and were a great accompaniment to our entire meal. I especially loved the refried beans, velvety and full of flavor. Service was especially warm and welcoming. When you first walk through the door the store is on the right and the restaurant is to the left. Someone will greet you and seat you unless you want to browse through all the isles of the authentic Mexican goods and groceries. They open at 9am and a have breakfast items as well. read more

Love their guacamole! They made it fresh for me today and I cannot stop eating it. This California girl is happy to find authentic Mexican cuisine in South Carolina! read more

Food was very good, however, the service left a lot to be desired. Never felt like we were welcomed there and more of an imposition than a customer. Would order takeout from there, but the only communication was by pointing to what we wanted to order because nothing was in English. read more

Really good, authentic Mexican food. If you're looking for a bee n' chee like San Jose or Taco Bell, this isn't the place for you. If you want real Mexican food and real tacos AND A REAL MARGARITA, then 10/10 this place is it. It's attached to a market too where you can get all kinds of things. I think they even make their own chorizo in there. read more

Hungry. Arrived to an amazing combo market and taqueria. Greeted with a smile, ordered a few tacos (tongue, tripe, and shrimp), Chiles Toreados, and a Modelo. Perfection! Full menu was tempting but settled for a Torta Cubana to go. Can't wait for snack time later tonight. read more

If your looking for REAL Mexican food this is the place! I ordered the beef Flautas and was amazed. Shredded beef that was to die for. Real re fried beans. The service was great. A must stop for anyone in the area! read more

La Estrella - Mexican Near Me - Cayce, South Carolina

First time here and it was very good. Had the five taco plate with carne asada and rice and beans. Green salsa is the bomb, with a little more heat from.the red. Oz was great server and took care of us. Coming back for sure. read more

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Wow wow very authentic and delicious food and the staff is soooo nice. This will be my favorite place to come when I come to Columbia. Great job cooks, and waitresses your hospitality and delicious food will always keep me coming back to try new food. read more

La Estrella - I ate all of my sopa so I couldn't show that meal.. lol - Mexican Near Me - Cayce, South Carolina

We moved to Columbia from Texas, so finding a spot with good Mexican food was a MUST! We keep going back to La Estrella. Their tacos remind me of the street tacos in Mexico City, so that's a plus. The chips are a little odd - prefer a lighter chip - but still just fine. The people are friendly and it's nice to hear Spanish. I can't really comment on the other dishes, because I keep getting tacos every time. I try different meats in them and everything has been delicious. We usually do a little shopping afterwards and pick up spices, big bunches of cilantro, and other items to cook with at home. Oh, and the coffee! It's so good - hint of cinnamon, true Mexico-style! read more

This review is for the taqueria rather than the market. This is my favorite place to stop immediately after I land at CAE. The food here is always good, fresh, and fast. There are many specialties, but I mostly like the mini tacos with raw and grilled onions, cilantro, and radishes. Five stars for sure. read more

La Estrella - Mini tacos. Note the raw and grilled onions. - Mexican Near Me - Cayce, South Carolina