10 things to know about the Vallarta now open in Clovis. A look inside the new store
After more than a year of anticipation, the new Vallarta in Clovis is open.
This store is adored by its fans and was flooded by more than 500 people at its opening, the first lining up at midnight for its 9 a.m. Wednesday opening.
The Latino supermarket is near Harbor Freight at 170 W. Shaw Avenue, near Villa Avenue.
The retailer, based in Santa Clarita, offers a bit of a different shopping experience, so we thought we’d point out some things to know about the supermarket.
1. The tortillas are fresh made. They are made on site daily. Many are so fresh you can see the steam forming inside the plastic bags.
And you can watch them being made. The tortillas roll out of the oven puffed up and deflate as they move along a conveyor belt, with an employee weighing and packaging them by hand.
There are several kinds of them too. Not just corn and flour, but blue corn tortillas and pinkish red chile flour tortillas.
2. There’s a guacamole station. You can have guacamole made just the way you like it. Pick your ingredients from a list and an employee will make you guacamole while you watch.
Don’t like spicy serrano peppers or cilantro in your guac? Leave them out. Or just pick up a pre-made container of it on ice to go.
3. There’s a lot more than Mexican food here. You don’t even have to be Latino.
The store strives to be a one-stop shop with all the basics, from laundry detergent to spaghetti, even bottles of Starbucks Frappuccinos on the shelves. You can also get a tuna salad sandwich or warm Buffalo wings.
But director of marketing Lizette Gomez would like to encourage you to try something the store is known for: “We want someone who has never come in here before to come in and try a tamale.”
The store also carries products from Central and South America. They include Toña beer from Nicaragua, Inca Kola from Peru and banana leaves used in cooking from Central America.
4. You can eat dinner here. There is so much hot (and cold) prepared food here you can take the whole family and sit down in the dining area to eat together.
The menu is huge. A sampling: tacos, warm tamales, fried chicken, tortas, sandwiches and menudo and other soups.
There are drinks, too. Fresh-squeezed juices are made daily. They include orange juice, and “vampiro” juice made with carrots, apples and beets.
There are also several aguas frescas (the refreshing Mexican drink), in hibiscus and creamy horchata flavors.
You’ll also soon be able to order food for pickup and delivery from Vallarta’s website and DoorDash.
5. There’s sushi. The Fujsan Sushi Cantina has sushi chefs making fresh sushi inside Vallarta. None of the Fresno Vallarta locations have sushi stations (though Visalia and Madera do).
The sushi options include traditional dragon, tiger and California rolls, tempura shrimp and more. There’s no Mexican sushi, but there is Hispanic-inspired sushi, including the Vallarta rolls with habanero and serrano peppers.
Options include $5 sushi trays on Wednesdays and a 20-piece variety combo pack for $15.79.
6. The produce section is huge. In addition to potatoes and honeycrisp apples, the fruit and vegetable section has all kinds of other options.
There are lots of chile peppers: habaneros, serranos, jalapenos, some of them pre-cut and packaged. There’s also a large selection of dried chiles.
There are giant Mexican papayas, fresh green garbanzo beans, chunks of sugar cane, green striped heirloom tomatoes, plantains, and fresh squash blossoms.
A machine will cut and package a whole pineapple for customers in 15 seconds.
7. There’s so much to look at in the meat department. Seriously, take a number from the dispenser and then a tour.
From beef jerky meat for drying at home to rib-eye steaks for barbecuing.
There’s pre-marinated meats, such as the carne asada for tacos or the marinated chicken for fajitas.
The the most popular seller? Beef flap meat for barbecuing, according to the Bakersfield meat supervisor Manuel Mendez. It’s marinated with onions and all sorts of other ingredients — just what those are is a secret, he said.
There are four kinds of tripe (beef stomach lining). But also beef tongue, beef oxtails, beef cheeks, pork skins, pork snout, pork ears, pork neckbones and more.
8. There’s a ceviche bar. A hot weather favorite, there are multiple styles of fresh ceviche here. You can request free sample of it, too.
There are pre-packaged 16-ounce containers with spoons attached ready to grab and go.
Or you can choose your own size of container from eight bulk trays. Options this week included spicy fish ceviche, spicy shrimp, butterfly shrimp, mixed seafood and more.
Shrimp cocktails are also available.
9. The bakery has all kinds of sweets. There are cakes, from little ones for $4.99 to large, Minnie Mouse and other themed cakes. They also do custom-ordered cakes and tres leches cakes.
And there’s a literal wall of pan dulce, the Mexican sweet bread. Conchas. Empanadas. Strawberry niño envueltos. Chocolate chip cookies, even.
10. It’s the first big brand-name Latino grocery store in Clovis. Although the city has few small markets that sell Hispanic ingredients and meat, it doesn’t have an El Super or El Toro Loco.
Vallarta has three locations in Fresno — and about 50 in California — though this is its first in Clovis.
The new Vallarta is a 51,204 square feet and employs 218 people.
This story was originally published November 21, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
