Gourmet Mexican Shop Opens in Del Ray

The shop sells high quality and authentic Mexican food and other goods.

Jun. 30, 2022

7:36 a.m.

Photo by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine

Carla Mantecon explains products inside her new store, Cocolita.

Your Taco Tuesday is about to get much tastier thanks to Del Ray’s newest shop, Cocolita.

When you step into Cocolita, at 3802 Mount Vernon Ave. (right next to RT’s Restaurant), you’ll notice that there is a lot of flavor, color and heart packed inside the small space. Carla Mantecon opened her shop last week to share a taste of her native Mexico with the Alexandria community.

Mantecon moved to the area nine years ago. A friend of her husband who worked for the State Department tried her signature dish, Chiles en Nogada. Next thing she knew she was contacted by the Mexican Embassy to cook the dish for all of their employees. After that experience, she decided to start a catering business five years ago.

During the pandemic she pivoted to selling food at local farmers markets, first at John Carlyle Square, then at the Old Town North Farmer’s market. When she started thinking about a brick-and-mortar store, she first considered Old Town, but when she drove by her current spot on Mount Vernon Avenue, she knew it was the right place.

“I realized that it’s very important to not only show people my food, but also supporting products from Mexico that are very hard to find in the United States and showing them how to eat it,” Mantecon explained.

In her new store, Mantecon offers a variety of freshly made Mexican foods for sale like pork carnitas and chicken tinga to put in tacos and sides like black beans and refried beans as well as a variety of salsas, guacamole, and dressings. She also sells chips, tostadas, cookies, chocolate and tea like Marina fruit tisane teas, which are made by her brother-in-law’s family in Mexico (and make an excellent Margarita mixer, according to Mantecon).

The shop also has options for plant-based diets who want to enjoy authentic Mexican food without meat. “Something that I noticed when I moved here to Alexandria, I noticed that there were a lot of vegetarian and vegan people and they needed something for them. I started and was like ‘oh wow’ most Mexican dishes you can make a vegetarian version,” explained Mantecon. She will use plant-based meat substitutes like in her papas con chorizo. One of her popular taco fillings is rajas con queso made with pablano peppers, corn, mushrooms, cream cheese and salsa.

Her options will rotate every so often and she will add in seasonal dishes like Pan de Muertos (Mexican Day of the Dead bread). Anything not available in the store when customers come by can be ordered freshly made the for the next day.

The name of her catering business and the store is Mantecon’s nickname. Like in many Mexican families, her mother shaved her head when she was a baby (tradition says it will grow back thicker). A family member observed that she looked like “Cocoliso,” the baby boy of cartoon character Popeye in Spanish. They started calling her Cocolita and it stuck. It is the perfect name for her business because she adds a little personal touch to every dish she cooks.

Mantecon says that many of her loyal customers have asked her if she will open a restaurant someday but she says that’s not part of her plan. She wants to have time for her two children and she enjoys the face-to-face experience she has with people in the store and helping them bring the taste of Mexico into their own homes. She would love to open two other stores someday but wants to keep them in the DMV so they maintain her personal touch and high quality standards.

“The point of the store is bringing good and high quality products. It’s not just bringing in Mexican products, no – I want to bring products that have quality but also supporting small businesses,” said Mantecon. She carries items such as dolls, soaps and pottery made from both local makers as well as Mexican artisans.

Stop by the Cocolita shop at 3802 Mount Vernon Ave. Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The shop is closed on Sundays and Mondays. You can follow store updates on Instagram @cocolitamexicanstore and check out the catering business @cocolita.food.

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