Hispanic grocery stores offer great prices on meat

HOUSTON If you haven't set foot in a Hispanic grocery store, you may be missing out on big savings because these stores are geared to the value customer; it's a no-frills place, but you can save big.

It's a Monday afternoon in Pasadena at the grocery store called Mi Tienda, and the place is busy. Meat manager Joaquin Loera says it's normally that way.

"We have very competitive prices," Loera said.

Mi Tienda is owned and operated by H-E-B and caters to the Hispanic community. For customers, the carniceria, or meat market, is the show stopper.

"We have unique, authentic Hispanic items, but we also carry the rest of the varieties; we carry the rib-eyes, your T-bones, anything you can find in any other supermarket, we carry here," Loera said.

Customers like Maria Garcia come here to stock up on beef. She says the prices can't be beat. Because most customers like Garcia fix dinner almost every night of the week, they usually purchase a two to four week supply of beef so the price has to be right.

"Price is at the top of their list, and they're always wanting to see how much they can get for less," Loera said.

So how do those prices compare to a traditional grocery store? We checked out Randalls and Kroger to price compare.

At Mi Tienda, we found boneless rib-eye steak for $3.49 a pound; at Randalls on Weslayan, boneless rib-eye is priced at $10.99 a pound, a difference of $6.50.

At Mi Tienda, ground beef is priced at $1.89 a pound; at Kroger on Buffalo Speedway the price is also $1.89 a pound.

At Mi Tienda, T-bone steaks are $4.29 a pound. At Randalls, T-bone steaks are $9.99 a pound. That's a difference of $5.70.

Mi Tienda's top sirloin with its bone is on sale for $1.99 a pound, but at Kroger, the store carries boneless sirloin, and it's on sale right now for $3.49 a pound.

Shopper Maria Ramirez says she has price compared and finds traditional stores are too pricey.

Mi Tienda is not the only Hispanic grocery store; La Michoacana Meat Market and Fiesta also cater to the Hispanic community.