Marcellas Restaurant

Wow la verdad este lugar os recomiendo… Yo vivo en tampa y llego los fines de semana a comer allá Por la deliciosa comida que tienen.
I highly recommend this place.

Don’t bother to go here. Food was terrible. Carne Asada was super thin and tough as the bottom of my shoes. Chimichanga was dry and had fillers of rice, peas, beans and no Queso Blanca. The waitress was too busy on her cell phone to even bother with us and we couldn’t hear her or her hear us when we tried to place our order because there were 2 TV’s that were so loud it hurts our ears. Would never consider going back EVER.

NOTE: Closed on Tuesdays and cash only!
Marcela’s motto is «The flavor of Mexico at your table.»
And they definitely deliver it!
Marcela’s occupies two storefronts in a small strip plaza at the intersection of Gulf to Bay and Yelvington across from Advance Auto Parts. That puts it on the south side of Gulf to Bay about halfway between Highland and Keene. If you see Plateroti Italian Gourmet grocery (which you should definitely check out while you’re there) at that intersection, it’s just a few doors down.
The interior is plain but very clean with about ~25 seats in the main area, and a another storefront to the left with ~20 seats and a large open floor which from a hand written sign appears to be used for music and karaōke from 10pm to 3am on the weekends (I’d call them to make sure if you’re stopping by for a late night visit). There are two flat screens tuned to Spanish tv channels.
When I stopped by about 2pm on a weekday the interior suggested a very simple taqueria menu, but when the smiling woman at the counter handed me a beautiful full color glossy menu with an extensive list of dishes it suggested more upscale choices, a number of which are very authentic Mex dishes I’ve never seen in other local restaurants.
For breakfast they offer 5 options of mostly eggs ~$ 6 – 7. Eight sandwich options run from $ 6.50−8. There are ~15 entrees ranging from pork chops/​steak/​chicken (in either guajillo, pasilla or mora sauce with potatoes or prickly pear cactus), chile reyenos, fajitas (chicken/​steak/​shrimp), 7 other beef/​chicken/​pork chop dishes, chicken salad, and enchiladas, all priced from $ 9 – 13.
In addition, they also offer antijitos/​appetizer choices of pambazos, chalupas, and tacos dorados, as well as specialty dishes including 9 gorditas choices, plus huaraches & quesadillas. They also have another quesadilla-​type dish called sincronizada where ham, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, avocado, and chipotle pepper is placed between two flour tortillas, then grilled until the cheese melts and the tortillas become crispy. Other options include enchiladas in mole poblano, burritos, taco salad, 7 taco choices ($ 2), and soup. For the kids there are a half-​dozen or so options like chicken nuggets, quesadillas, enchiladas, tacos dorados and sopes. Rounding out the menu are 4 desserts and beverages of Mexican sodas, aquas frescas, fruit juices, Modelo and Corona beer, coffee, and on the weekends atole de galleta, a specialty Mexican hot drink I’ve never seen in this area.
While most everything on the menu sounded mouth watering, I was hoping to just grab two tacos. But the taco choices of pastor, steak/​bistec (available with nopales/​prickly pear cactus), chicken, chicharron (pork rind), longaniza (pork sausage) and alambre (beef sauteed with ham, cheese, green peppers and onions… think the flavors of fajitas) convinced me I needed to check out the range offered… not for myself, of course, but just for Unilocal readers.
;-)
So I ordered up pastor, alambre and longaniza.
One thing I’ve noticed as a rule of thumb at many local taquerias, the longer it takes to prepare the food, the more fresh and flavorful it is, presumably because the cooks are taking the necessary time to prepare most everything from scratch. And at Marcela’s it certainly turned out that way. The 10+ minutes for just a few tacos to be delivered to the table (while no other orders were being prepared) turned out to be a good thing.
These tacos were universally great, served on freshly made corn tortillas with the standard cilantro, onion, and lime wedges joined by an avocado slice. The avocado was a cool contrast to the blazing hot salsa roja. I like hot salsas, but I had to use this sparingly at first to get used to it. Once I warmed up to it, the chile flavors really came through over the heat. The pastor had excellent flavor, and the alambre and longaniza were fantastic… all of three with moist meat. The ice cold flavor of Modelo was a great contrast to the spice, and by the time I polished the three tacos off I was hungry for more. Another alambre and bistek/​steak were delivered with a second Modelo, and I found the solo bistek was moist with excellent flavor as well. Overall, while the bistek, pastor, and longazniza were as good as any I’ve tasted in the area, the alambre really delivered and was my favorite.
At $ 2 each, the tacos were average price for the area, but on based on flavor alone they were worth more. And the friendly conversation I had with the women running the kitchen and delivering the food was a solid service experience. I’m anxious to get back and check out the rest of the menu.
It’s not often I find one more great Mexican place in North Pinellas that rocks my world with fresh/​great authentic Mexican flavors (see my list below). Marcela’s definitely rocked, and joins the other five star choices at the top of the heap.
Atmosphere: 3
Service: 4
Food: 5
Value: 5