El Manantial

Tarboro’s Hidden Gem

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At least once a week, you’ll find me enjoying lunch at El Manantial in Tarboro. To get to the food, you have to walk through the Hispanic convenience store. At the back of the store, you go through a doorway and find yourself inside a legit restaurant. If someone didn’t tell you it was there, you would have no idea looking from the outside. See photo below:

Once you make it to the restaurant, you will find yourself greeted by a smiling face. When I first started going to El Manantial, you had to be able to speak Spanish to order. This may have been a hindrance for some. But, the current owners/operators speak very good English and we communicate without any problem. The problems come in when I get cocky and try to rattle of some poorly executed Spanish.

The menu and decor have evolved to a pretty good point now. You will feel like you are in one of the bigger Mexican restaurants. But here, you will be getting authentic food, not tailored to the tastes of gringos. I have eaten everything on the menu except for tongue. I just can’t force myself to do that. All of it has been top notch, delicious food. I can’t pick favorites because all of it has been great. But, my current go to is carne asada quesadillas. I like to pour a bunch of salsa verde on my plate and dip each bite of quesadilla in it.

To give you an idea of the caliber of people running this restaurant, on several occasions, they have thrown in different food items so that we could taste them. This Friday, they gave us each a bowl of posole to try. It’s hominy corn with pork in a delicious broth. They are always very friendly and like to laugh and joke with us. Though some of the patrons seem a little nervous around law enforcement officers, I have never once gotten that vibe from the people who work in the restaurant. We have truly enjoyed the welcoming environment that this restaurant has shown us.

If you want some good, authentic Mexican food at a reasonable price, seek this restaurant out and enjoy yourself. Get it to go or sit inside. Stop in the store up front and get you a Jarritos soda to go with your meal. I recommend the mandarin or lime. Check out some of the Mexican chips or snacks as well. I like the salsa verde chips distributed by Tostitos Mexico. The restaurant takes cash or card, while the grocery store section only accepts cash (to my knowledge).