When I think back on the second part of my childhood growing up in the United States, and the early years of my adulthood, life involved visiting our favorite Mexican restaurants once every few weeks. After ten years of living in Japan and Germany, perhaps it’s understandable that easy access to delicious Mexican food is easily one of the things I miss the most about living in the US. That, and slushies from Sonic Burger, but I digress.
Lucky for me, my favorite camera store is located in Fellbach, so whenever I need to purchase, rent, or fix my equipment, I always aim to arrive just around dinner time so that we can also visit our favorite Mexican restaurant: El Mero.
Here’s why El Mero is worth the drive for those of us who don’t live downtown or north of downtown Stuttgart: it is one of the best Mexican restaurants we’ve been to in the area. The bright, festive decorations immediately put you at ease, and I love that on occasions you can catch live music and dance performances.
Strawberry margaritas with fresh strawberries? Yes please!
We’ve tried different starters, and so far the first one on the menu (chips with cheese and guacamole) is my favorite.
The chicken enchilada with salsa verde (pictured above) is one of my favorite items on their menu.
Fun fact: my family has ZERO patience when it comes to food photography, so by the time the entree arrives you can guarantee that my food photography skills start to go downhill pretty fast. Hungry people apparently do not appreciate having to wait to eat—or having to move things out of the way. So, if you ever think “interesting crop, Hyla” just know that it was probably the result of me having to move around an arm or someone’s partially eaten plate. Bless my family—I love them, but they usually give me 1-2 minutes, at most, with plenty of eye rolls and teasing.
On our last visit, we were accompanied by our friends’ son, Lucian, so we had a chance to check out the kid’s menu.
The serving sizes for children are surprisingly big and should keep little ones well satisfied. We normally just feed our toddler what we eat but, on that particular day, I was really hungry and didn’t feel like sharing (sorry/not sorry).
For those visiting with little ones, here are some helpful tips. The restaurant does have booster seats (2, I counted) and a small area with toys and books. What you do need to be aware of, especially for little ones, is that the restaurant is only open for dinner, at 6 PM, and on popular nights when the restaurant is very busy, your meal may last about 2 hours. On our last visit, our game plan was to go there right when they open at six PM and order as soon as possible because it was so close to our little friend’s bedtime. Our meal with Lucian clocked in at about 1 hour, which is fairly quick for a meal out in Germany, and it was just about the right amount of time for a toddler who is ready to go-go-go. Definitely go right when they open—because by 6:30 PM the restaurant started to fill up and was at near max capacity by 7:30 PM.
Our meal for two adults and a toddler (1 strawberry margarita, 1 beer, 2 entrees, 1 kids plate, and 1 appetizer) came to about €55, which we found to be reasonable compared to the DC/Metro area prices but a little high if you were to compare it to, say, the suburbs of smaller cities in the US. For me, it was well worth it because in my opinion, getting to eat delicious Mexican food all the way here in Germany is definitely a rare treat!
After your meal, there are two places nearby that I recommend you visit.
1) The Turkish market across the street at the intersection. Great selection of fresh vegetables and fruit (and the vegetable area is nice and cold…perfect on a hot day). They have a variety of marinaded chicken, beef, and lamb at the deli you can buy to grill at home- we bought 1.5 kilo of marinaded meat for just a little more than €10.
2) The ice-cream shop on the same block, in the opposite direction of the Turkish market. You can’t miss it, there’s usually a crowd in the summer and there’s a giant ice-cream cone trash can in the front. (https://www.vanaeis.de/) Their ice-cream is so fresh and delicious. They even have gluten-free ice-cream cones as an option for those who cannot eat gluten.
El Mero is a popular hang out, so I highly recommend making a reservation especially if you’re going on a weekend or a holiday. Have you been? Let me know what else I should try on my next visit and I’ll add it to the blog post.
USEFUL INFORMATION
Official Website: http://www.der-echte-mexikaner.de/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ElMeroMexicano/
Address: Cannstatter Straße 117 Fellbach 70734
Parking: Street parking (make sure you have your parking placard for the dashboard)
Public Transportation: 5 blocks, give or take, from the Fellbach U1 stop.
Languages: Spanish, German, and English
Credit Card: Yes
Stroller and Wheelchair accessible: Yes but space is tight. I would recommend bringing a smaller, folding stroller.