A blend of authentic Mexican and Venezuelan food, MexiVen has been giving Murfreesboro a taste of the southern influences for over four years now. MexiVen, open from 10 a.m.–10 p.m., has a lot to offer with homemade salsas, beverages and a wide variety of entrée options.
Chorizo and Fish Tacos
At first glance, the architecture makes MexiVen look almost like a Mexican Sonic, on Bradyville Pike near Minerva. There is an overhang for cars to park and eat inside, and the drive through is a popular option.
“We get most of our business from the drive through,” said co-owner Hermilo Tapia. “We can do call-in, drive through, dine-in and catering services.”
But don’t compare MexiVen to any commercialized Tex-Mex restaurants or fast food chains. The owners strive to keep their food and atmosphere as authentic as it can get, which means there are different ways of food preparation and unique dishes to MexiVen.
Tapia co-owns the restaurant with his partner Cecilia Llanos. He brings the “Mexi,” hailing from Mexico, and she brings the “Ven;” she comes from Venezuela, and together they make great food.
Reading the menu inside helps anyone brush up on his or her Spanish reading skills. The menu is mostly in Spanish with general translations all around.
The top traditional dishes to try would be a taco, burrito, quesadilla, huarache or a sope. All of the options come with your choice of meat, including asada (beef), pollo (chicken), al pastor (roast pork), barbacoa (deep fried beef), chorizo (pork sausage), suadero (marinate meat), tripas (tripe) or pescado (fish).
A traditional Mexican taco is only topped with onions and cilantro. Those two toppings alone bring out all the flavors in the taco without adding too much. The fish tacos are the exception to the onion and cilantro rule. If you have been searching for a good fish taco in Murfreesboro, MexiVen’s is one of the best I’ve tried.
The vegetarian options include substituting for mushrooms, spinach, onion or cactus. The cactus is very juicy and sweet, very similar to a pickle. Try the Sopa con Cactus for a new and veggie friendly dish.
Photo by Sarah Lankford Mayo
Other menu options to try are the Tortas, a Mexican style sandwich, and whole or quarter chicken with rice for as little as $7 for the quarter chicken meal. House specials include a number of entrees like shrimp cocktail, pork ribs, gorditas, empanadas, friend tilapia and Mexican steak. Getting a whole chicken or steak drive through style is a pretty cool find.
MexiVen does offer a special for every day of the week from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. These regular specials are—
Monday: Choice of 4 tacos and 1 small soda for $6.50.
Tuesday: One 12” Burrito and soda for $6.
Wednesday: 1 entrée (meat, rice and beans) with soda for $7.
Thursday: 1 Quesadilla and 1 Taco with soda for $7.50.
Friday: 1 Sopa and 2 Tacos for $7.
The sodas offered at MexiVen are not your typical Coke or Pepsi products. They carry your fruit flavored and carbonated drinks from across the border, like non-alcoholic Sangria, Jarritos, Sidral and Boing. I recommend the guava flavored Boing and Sangria.
Tapia and Llanos also make fruit drinks from scratch, called Licuados. The Licuados come in pineapple, melon and Horchata (rice milk with cinnamon). The pineapple juice literally tastes like squeezed fresh pineapple, no artificial sugar or anything. The melon tastes like honeydew, cantaloupe and watermelon juices mixed together. The rice juice is a milky, cinnamon drink that chases down intense spicy flavors well.
“I’ve been in the kitchen ever since I was a boy,” Tapia said, who came to America from San Luis Potosi, Mexico. “I just want to bring authentic Mexican and Venezuelan food to people.”
Whether catching MexiVen at their location on Bradyville or at their taco truck parked at one of the local laundromats around town, the food is always homemade fresh.
If you are in a rush and craving a taco or burrito, skip Taco Bell and taste the difference with MexiVen.
IF YOU GO:
MexiVen
1706 Bradyville Pike, Murfreesboro
615-890-4181
Open Daily, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
