Omonia
After dim sum (yes, waaaay back in November) we stopped by Omonia Mexican and Colombian Deli-Bakery. They’re on County Line, and as you can see by the hastily covered-up sign, they’ve taken over what used to be a Quizno’s location. I asked the gentleman serving us, and he said they had only been open for 3 weeks. Aha! So we weren’t exactly pioneers, but it felt like we were at least part of the first wave of people to discover this place.
Inside Omonia
It’s a small but tidy shop that sells… well, what else… Mexican and Colombian sandwiches, breads, etc. Sadly we were already full of delicious food, so the meaty tortas, tacos, and empanadas had to wait, but we did snag some bread products while we were there.
Breads
Cookies
I couldn’t identify everything I saw, but I’m guessing that most of their baked goods trend toward the sweet end of the bread spectrum, with the actual bread products (vs. cookies, etc.) being the same character as what we would call “dessert breads” around here. I don’t know how/when they consume these sweet breads in Central and South America, but in Indonesia we often had sweet breads for breakfast–individual portion sized loafs (pastries?) with sweet fillings such as chocolate, custard, fruit, etc. Maybe they do the same in Mexico and Colombia? Anyway, here’s what we got:
Sugar cookie
Coconut bread
Chocolate chip muffin
The cookie was Sofia’s, while Denise and I shared the other two. I can’t speak to the authenticity of these breads, but they were tasty. The coconut bread was sweet as expected–very reminiscent of Indonesian breakfast sweet bread. The muffin was good too, although a bit light on the chocolate chips for my taste. Next time we go we’ll try to look for items less immediately recognizable, since it seems we can trust them to do a good job with the tamer fare.
But more importantly I really want to try some of their entrees. I don’t know of any other places selling tortas in the Jackson Metro area (haven’t looked though, so could be wrong), so that would be my first choice for sure. They have some delicious-sounding offerings such as grilled chicken breast, grilled ham and pork loin, and beef brisket tortas. For the more daring they also have more unusual fare such as grilled ox tongue and grilled ox intestine tacos. Then there’s empanadas, quesadillas, and various other dishes. We’re definitely going back to eat some real food there.
Just like the Chinese food situation in Jackson, there’s a dearth of real Latin-American food here too, at least that I know of. We’ve got some excellent Tex-Mex, but that’s not exactly Latin-American, now is it. I love that the food scene in Jackson is continuing to expand in new directions that bring in cuisine from all over the world. On our income we’ll never be world travelers, but at this rate we can at least be culinary explorers in our own town.
Omonia Mexican and Colombian Deli-Bakery
1290 E. Country Line Rd.
Ridgeland, MS 39157
601-983-1253
“In front of North Park Mall next to Mattress Direct and Dog Spot”
I love Omonia and definitely recommend their empanadas (http://carpejackson.com/2009/11/03/omonia-deli-bakery/). I haven’t yet tried any of their baked goods but your photos make them look amazing. I’ve been meaning to go back for some desserts and some plantains.
As for tortas, I’ve had them at two places in Jackson. I tried one at Taqueria La Guadalupe (at Old Canton and County Line) and it wasn’t my favorite, but I loved the one at La Morena (just north of County Line on Old Canton) (http://carpejackson.com/2009/10/28/la-morena/). I have my hopes up that the new Omonia is a sign of an impending explosion of Jackson’s Latin American food scene. What we need next is a few taco trucks.
Ah, excellent. I had a feeling I was terribly uninformed as to the Latin-American food options in town. I noticed La Morena before, although I’ve always been on my way to or from somewhere else in a hurry and never even caught the name of the place. In fact, the day we went for dim sum at Ding How, we noticed there was a pretty good crowd at La Morena. Or was that Taqueria? Is Google Maps right? Is La Morena just north of Amerigo’s? What side of the street is it on? Thanks for the heads-up. Definitely adding it to our to-eat list.
Oh, taco trucks. If I had a 1000 things to do list, taco trucks would be on it. Somehow, it has (for me) totally escaped the connotation of probable food poisoning. And I would like to see how they’d be decorated.
Taco trucks, bulgogi stands, roti carts, etc. We need all of them. Heck, any of them would be a start.
I’m not sure where La Morena is in relation to Amerigo’s, but I know it is on the right if you’re heading north (and La Guadalupe is on the left).
There are, allegedly, taco trucks in Pearl! So I hear. The trucks I’ve seen (not here, but in Durham NC) were usually decorated with string lights. Very festive.
[...] named YAR who runs the Carpe Jackson food blog told us about La Morena in the comments section of my post about Omonia, so of course we had to try it out a few weeks ago. It’s hidden away in a little nook of a [...]
[...] Omonia before, but what really intrigued us was their menu full of tortas, tacos, empanadas, etc. When we stopped by the first time we were stuffed with dim sum so we only got some breads. This time we planned well ahead of time [...]