April 8, 2025

A grocery store and meat market has opened at 18th Street and Cleveland Avenue, replacing a landmark business that closed three years ago.

Worthington, Minnesota, businessman Efrain Patino opened El Mexicano No. 7 on March 28. He announced the purchase of the building in June 2022 and spent the time since then having it remodeled extensively.

Patino owns similar grocery stores in South Sioux City, Omaha and Worthington. He also operates a restaurant and an ice cream store in Worthington.

The Sioux Falls store at 1025 S. Cleveland Ave. includes a carniceria, or meat market, fresh produce, baked goods brought in from Sioux City, household decorations, over-the-counter medication, magazines, snacks and gift items such as piggy banks, said manager Eduardo Castillo, speaking through a translator.

Castillo worked for Patino for four years in the Worthington store, El Mexicano No. 3.

El Mexicano No. 7 employs 14 people, Castillo said.

It has a selection of grab-and-go foods such as carnitas in pork and chicken, tamales, chicharrons and rotisserie chicken. All items are prepared in the tienda, or store, said Randy Patino, Efrain Patino’s son. Other homemade items include guacamole, salsa, rice and beans.

“Anything that says El Mexicano on it, we made,” he said.

El Mexicano also purchases large blocks of various cheeses and cuts them into customer-friendly sizes, Randy Patino said.

The store offers fresh-cut fruit from its produce department, which offers a wide selection of peppers and harder-to-find items such as dragon fruit, chayote and nance, an El Salvadorean fruit that resembles a cherry and is both tart and sweet. Meat market displays include fajita mixtures.

Castillo smiled broadly when he talked about El Mexicano’s first 10 days in business. Customers have praised the store for its cleanliness and the friendly staff, he said. Shoppers at other stores who travel to Sioux Falls frequently had asked the Patinos to open a Hispanic grocery here, Randy Patino said.

Efrain Patino moved to the United States from Mexico almost 30 years ago. A brother started the family’s first two Hispanic grocery stores. That’s why when Patino opened his first store in Worthington in 2011 he named it El Mexicano No. 3.

The restaurant in Worthington opened in 2014. Patino operated it for four years and then rented it to another operator. He resumed operations during the pandemic, in about 2021.

Bob Jelsma closed the previous grocery store, Andy’s Affiliated Foods, in 2022. Jelsma’s father started the business in 1950. When Jelsma announced his retirement, it was the second-oldest family-owned grocery in Sioux Falls. Only Franklin Food Market on Cliff Avenue is older. Jelsma had owned Andy’s for about 35 years.

Jelsma also sold the land north of his store, and a Dollar General opened in early 2022.

At the time of the sale, Jelsma said he chose Patino to be the new owner because of the younger man’s enthusiasm.

On May 5, El Mexicano No. 7 will start accepting entries for a Mother’s Day celebration that will include a drawing for prizes on May 11 along with music and entertainment.

El Mexicano No. 7 is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.