Plaza Mariachi food court on opening night
The centerpiece of Plaza Mariachi on Nolensville Road is now open with many of the restaurants and small businesses now operating inside the main building. Housed in a former Kroger at the intersection of Nolensville and Paragon Mills Roads, the building is essentially an indoor mall populated by restaurants, gift and clothing shops, service providers and other small businesses. It’s anchored by Maz Fresco, a full service grocery specializing in Mexican and Latin American products and featuring an in-house bakery with a dizzying array of sweets and fresh tortillas, seafood and meat departments, a hot food bar and other standard grocery fare with a Latin twist. Flanking the plaza are two additional buildings which house a variety of businesses, many of which have been operating throughout the shopping center’s transformation.
Inside the plaza is a large food court (with complimentary wi-fi) that is surrounded by walk-up food vendors as well as a Latin radio station studio and arcade. When there is not live entertainment on the large stage at the end of the food court, music from the radio station is broadcast throughout the mall.
But the real story here is the food, of course. Aside from the aforementioned Maz Fresco, Plaza Mariachi has an incredible selection of restaurants from the food court to full service restaurants both within the mall and in the other buildings.
In the food court, there is Las Tablas Bar de Tapas, which serves Spanish-Italian-Mediterranean style small bites such as pizzas, salads, tapas plates (manchego cheese, Iberian ham, olives), and seafood specialties such as shrimp cocktail, tuna tartare, and octopus. Nearby is Tres Gauchos, an Argentinian grill where you choose from a variety of meat and seafood to be grilled to order. A little further down the way is Kouzina Cafe, which serves Greek gyros and sub sandwiches (and a picky-eater-friendly kids’ menu).
Next up is Botanas Lokas, which serves a variety of street food favorites such as hot dogs (dressed Central American style), chicharronnes (pork rinds), nachos and a number of other snacks (botanas), both freshly made and packaged. El Ceviche Loco serves a variety of ceviches, Zumito is a juice bar and both Paletas Tocumbo and Nina’s Nieves de Garrafa serve frozen treats. Paletas Tocumbo offers a large variety of popsicles as well as house-made ice creams. Nieves de garrafa are sorbets for a dairy-free treat.
The plaza also has two full-service restaurants, the not-yet-open Mexican place Xenote and Madera Cafe, which is primarily Cuban. Madera Cafe is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and also has a walk-up coffee shop attached. In addition to Cuban, Madera's menu features a variety of Central and South American specialties as well (such as Venezuelan-style mini-arepas).
Outside the main plaza, you can find the restaurants that were already open, but are no doubt benefiting from the revitalization. They include Taj Indian Cuisine (a favorite in the area) and Chismes, a Mexican cafe (as in, pastries, coffee, and lunch items, primarily). There are also a Little Caesar’s and Baskin Robbins, just to remind you that you’re still in Nashville after all.
Once you’ve decided on what to eat (harder than I expected) you can sit in the food court or stroll through the mall to check out all the shops and businesses (check out the full business directory here).
3955 Nolensville Pike
Mon.- Thurs. 10 a.m.-9 p.m.
Fri.-Sat. 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Sun. 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
