Have a little taste of Mexico in El Poco Cantina, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant hidden along a back alley at Leon Guinto Street. Adding their own special twist to the classics, El Poco Cantina’s dishes are a mixture of familiar Mexican flavors and their own style of cooking—from their bestselling Asian pulled pork soft tacos to their authentic pork carnitas burritos.
Opened last September, Mexican dish lovers can select items from El Poco Cantina’s “concentrated” menu like soft tacos, quesadillas, burritos, and nachos while chatting with friends and its owner.
Photo by Anne Valmeo
After the success of their food delivery service Ken Ken Fried Chicken, Benildean alumni Richard Ken “Tots” Ramirez (Human Resource Management) and partner Beatriz “Bi” Urbino (Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management) decided to put up their first physical store—what they call a “small taqueria”—at Leon Guinto to bring their own versions of some of the classic Mexican dishes that we know and love in Taft, just within every Benildean’s reach.
With comfortable ambiance with others and the ever-alluring scent of El Poco’s kitchen, owner Ramirez describes it as “home.”
Photo by Anne Valmeo
“Our business model is, basically, we talk to our customers on a daily basis while we’re cooking. So, while in a normal restaurant you wait for your food, here, we actually communicate with you while waiting for your food. So, that’s why we call it home,” Ramirez shared in an interview with The Benildean.
Its bestseller, Pork Carnitas, has the closest taste of Mexican food diners get to enjoy. Customers may choose from its variation of soft tacos (uno: Php 60 and doble: Php 115), quesadillas (Php 130), and burritos (Php 180).
Photo by Anne Valmeo
El Poco’s secret to its menus is its tedious and long preparation of food that makes each serving a crowd’s favourite. “We cook that every night. When we close down, we cook it, then it’s [going to] finish the next day. It’s around 8 to 10 hours a day with its own fat and aromatics and our secret rubbed ingredients with it,” Ramirez said, proving their restaurant’s dedication to high quality dishes that if the ingredient does not meet the standard cooking time, they will not serve it.
Photo by Anne Valmeo
Aside from the pork carnitas, other favorites include their Chinese cuisine-inspired Asian Pulled Pork soft tacos (uno: Php 70 and doble: Php 130), with its flavor derived from the taste of peking duck; their Bacon Quesadillas (Php 130) that taste better dipped in their homemade sour cream sauce; and their new bestseller is the 24-hr marinated Chicken Chipotle’s soft tacos (uno: Php 70 and doble: Php 140) and burritos (Php 200) before serving. 
Photo by Anne Valmeo
Still undecided on what to try? For spice lovers, the Chicken Chipotle is definitely a go-to, paired with habanero sauce to add a little more kick. Vegetarians may also enjoy an all Veggie Burrito (Php 180) with the same Mexican spiciness, guilt-free.
Furthermore, the Mexican little canteen serves a special menu that changes every two weeks. This week’s special? A shrimp variant of each of their regular menu items. In the next coming weeks, keep an eye out for more authentic flavors to try like lengua and pork cheeks.
El Poco Cantina is open Mondays to Fridays (11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.) and Saturdays (until 5 p.m.) at 2583 Leon Guinto Sr. St., Manila.
Be updated with their special offerings by following them on Facebook and Instagram @elpococantina.
