The first time I went to La Hacienda Taqueria in the early ’90s, I was in search of a particular type of salsa verde that I had tried in south Texas, while visiting my family. I had heard through the foodie grapevine of a tortilla factory and market that had opened on the northern end of Nolensville Road, and one Saturday afternoon went to check it out. At that time, the space was very small, the few aisles narrowly spaced, but the shelves were stacked with Mexican grocery products labeled in Spanish, including the salsa verde I was seeking, along with a tremendous variety of canned goods, dry beans, seasonings, rice, corn meal and even colorfully decorated novena candles. On one table were bags of fresh tortillas—small and large—and fried tortilla chips.

But what really got my attention was the intoxicating scent of meat, which was coming from the flat grill behind a small U-shaped counter in one corner of the store. There were about eight stools circling the counter, all of them occupied by Hispanic men. I squeezed in between two of them, and using a bit of fractured Spanish (and finger pointing), I ordered what they were having—little beef tacos that were quite unlike any of the tacos then being served in Nashville Mexican-American restaurants, but just like the ones I had eaten in Mexican border towns.

I reported back to some friends who had emigrated from Texas to Tennessee, and they made a beeline to the store, mingling easily with the Mexican immigrants, all of them looking for a taste of home. Over the years, as Nashville’s Hispanic population exploded, owner Carlos Yepez added a few tables, then more, then expanded the market, and finally, bought the building next door so that he could make separate spaces for the two booming enterprises. The large restaurant is very popular, but personally, I miss the cozy confines of the original.

Nolensville Road, Murfreesboro Road and Charlotte Pike are dotted with businesses like that, opened by Nashville’s growing and increasingly diverse immigrant population to serve and service their fellow countrymen. But the market/restaurant concept is certainly not unique to those populations or areas. Corner Market opened nearly 15 years ago as a gourmet specialty market, added some to-go items, installed some tables, expanded the kitchen and eating area, and today, the store remains a market on one side, a restaurant on the other.

When she was managing a cash-strapped, seven-member household, my mother adhered to the rule that one never did the grocery shopping on an empty stomach, lest it lead to an overloaded-and-over-budget cart. The following stores flip the script: Go hungry, eat your fill, then do a little shopping. True market value.

McCabe Market & Deli—4425 Murphy Road, 385-2201. The development of the curve of Murphy Road near McCabe Park into what entrepreneur and landlord Norma Crowe envisions as a friendly, walkable village-like retail center is right on target, with the sunny Red Rooster Café her newest restaurant tenant, joining Park Café and Caffe Nonna. In 2001, Crowe transformed the space next door to Nonna from a convenience store into a specialty market. In January 2002, Brian and Marne Duke purchased it from Crowe, maintaining the concept she created, while expanding the deli, menu and inventory of irresistible goodies. Seating is available in a small space in the rear, and a covered patio out back. There is a set menu of gourmet sandwiches and salads, and daily special soups, wraps and entrées, as well as Provence breads and pastries, Boar’s Head brand deli meat and cheeses and Portland Brew coffees.

City Market—120 4th Ave. S., Franklin, 794-2266. City Market in Franklin is less than a year old, but Nashvillians who drop by will find plenty that is familiar. Owners Stacy and Tim Fettroll were longtime patrons of Corner Market and felt Franklin could support something similar. City Market is stocked with gourmet, specialty and import items, as well as fresh coffees and Provence breads. They recruited veteran Nashville restaurateur, cookbook author and Southern food queen Daisy King to run the front of the store. In the dining area in the back, look beyond the counter into the kitchen and say hey to chef Ellen Rojak, who worked for many years with Steve Scalise at Corner Market. She has a set menu of salads and hot sandwiches, and also cooks up a daily soup special, including gumbo, plus hot entrées and side salads to go. One case has fresh meats and seafood, as well as cooked tenderloin and a fish special. Thursdays is her wildly popular crawfish étouffée, available ’til the pot is scraped clean. City Market is doing the box lunches this year for the Junior League Show House.

Belmont Grocery—3116 Belmont Blvd., 292-0253. Belmont Grocery—formerly Belmont Bi-Rite—is one of a sadly dwindling breed of small, independent grocery stores. It has been in business on Belmont Boulevard for decades, and was once an H.G. Hill store. Nearly five years ago, young Sid Osborne purchased the store, cleaned it up and upgraded the inventory. What he didn’t change was the take-out food counter in the back, which offers a daily (M-F) menu of meat-and-three standards. Cook Mary King starts preparing lunch at 3 a.m.; Faye Bridgeforth serves it up from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Donald Hooper mixes up the ham, chicken and pimento cheese salads to take home. No seating inside, but in warm weather, the concrete, umbrella-shaded tables fronting the store provide a place to settle and dig into the loaded Styrofoam to-go boxes.

J&J’s Market & Cafe—1912 Broadway, 327-9055. Long known as a spot to pick up a packet of Goody’s headache powder, a quart-bottle of beer and a pack of smokes—as long as you were tall enough to see over the counter—this little family-owned market underwent a generational sea change a few years ago when the vision for the business passed to 28-year-old son Won Choi. Though the shelves are still stocked with all the quintessential elements of a convenience store, young Mr. Choi transformed what had been storage space into a café furnished not only with tables for dining, but also desks, internet hookups, conversation nooks and game boards. The menu focuses on sandwiches; beverages include espresso, cappuccino and latte, smoothies, ice cream floats and, with the appropriate ID, over 300 beers from around the world.

The Nashville Farmers Market—The Nashville Farmers Market, adjacent to the Bicentennial Mall, is a lunch magnet for Capitol Hillians and downtown workers. An easy walk across James Robertson Parkway, it offers plenty of seating inside and out, and a wide variety of dining choices, among them a gyro stand, Joe’s BBQ & Fish (an outpost of the popular Clarksville Highway drive-through), a branch of North Nashville’s Swett’s, Burrito Mexicano, a Chinese buffet and, on weekends, goat curry and jerk chicken at the African-Caribbean Market. But savvy foodies flock to Parco Café, a six-seat counter run by Tsuo and Chun Fu. Annually, Mr. Fu spends a couple of months at Cordon Bleu pastry school, and the proof is in his astounding desserts displayed on a revolving-shelf case for optimum viewing pleasure. But everything at Parco is spectacularly special, from the jewel-colored individually brewed teas, to the basil-tuna sandwich, to what is reputed to be Nashville’s best veggie burger. Don’t ask. Just go, and try.