New meat market in Wichita has everything needed to whip up a quick Mexican meal
A bright new Mexican meat market has just opened on West Central in Wichita, and it carries everything you need to make a quick dinner.
How do I know? Tuesday night, I went to check out Colmex Meat Market at 2920 W. Central — which is less than 2 miles from my house — and within 30 minutes of returning home, I was enjoying a Taco Tuesday feast.
The market, which is owned by Ingrid Pardo and Jesús Navarrete, opened three weeks ago in the space that was previously home to Carniceria El Guero, which still has three stores operating in Wichita.
The owners of Colmex Meat Market redid the interior and exterior of the building, and the inside is bright, white and smells faintly of bleach (in a good way.) Pardo and Navarrete said that they decided to open the market because they felt Wichita needed a store that excelled in quality, cleanliness and service. They came up with the name by combining the names of their two separate home countries: Colombia and Mexico.
Colmex is not a giant supermercado, but the small space is well organized. The shelves are full of Mexican grocery products including soft drinks, canned goods, coffee, tea, packaged desserts, spices and sauces. There’s also a section that has fresh produce, including things like avocados, cilantro, tomatoes, cabbage, tomatillos, horned cactus leaves, raw garbanzo beans and fresh peppers galore. The special on limes was 15 for $1.
Refrigerated display cases offer Mexican cheeses, containers of prepared guacamole, various fresh-made salsas, sliced fruits and pickled onions. There’s a small case of Mexican pastries at the front of the store, and there’s also a shelf filled with fresh-made flour and corn tortillas from local tortillerias.
Shoppers also can find necessities like milk, eggs and bread, and in the center of the store is a heated display cart that on the weekends is stocked with fresh tamales and ready-to-eat carnitas, chicharrones and barbacoa.
The back of Colmex Meat Market, though, is where customers will find the main event: a display counter filled with certified Angus beef plus ready-to-cook chicken, seafood and pork. Like many Mexican meat markets, some of the meats are already sliced, seasoned and ready to prepare.
I took a couple of laps around the store and found many signs promoting specials. One of them was marinated fajita chicken for $2.99 a pound. I asked for three pounds, and the butcher scooped it into in a red plastic bag. I also picked up a bag of fresh corn tortillas and a container of prepared guacamole. My bill was less than $20.
When I got home, I threw the chicken in a skillet then chopped up some peppers and onions I already had and put them in a separate skillet with some olive oil. While those were cooking, I got some cheese and sour cream from my refrigerator, then heated a few of the corn tortillas over one of my gas burners.
When the chicken was cooked through and the veggies were soft, I piled the ingredients on a corn tortilla and enjoyed an exceptionally delicious taco.
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Colmex Meat Market is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. For more information, visit colmexmeatmarket.com
This story was originally published October 15, 2025 at 5:19 PM.
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