Mercado González Northgate Market: An American Dream that Keeps Growing

March 6, 2026 | 3 min to read

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Mercado González in Costa Mesa, CA, blends an expansive produce department with foodservice, local entrepreneurship and in-store experiences. PHOTO COURTESY MERCADO GONZÁLEZ

Independent chain’s growth mirrors SoCal Hispanics.

The sprawling 37,000-square-foot Mercado Northgate Gonzalez supermarket in Costa Mesa, CA, is a breathtaking celebration of Mexican culinary traditions.

In the produce department, the Hispanic customers find items that might not be available in a Safeway or Kroger store. “We have cactus pears, and we also have a variety of green tomatoes,” says Justino Tiseda, produce manager at the store. “We have more varieties of fruits and vegetables.”

Beyond a selection of produce items used in Hispanic cooking, Mercado is a destination with features not often found in a supermarket.

CULINARY ADVENTURE

Even before you see the produce department, you can smell the culinary treats offered at more than 20 puestos or food stands scattered throughout the store. These puestos, a common feature in Mexico City supermarkets, offer seven types of hot chocolate, sweet churros, tacos and other dishes prepared on-site.

“Each puesto offers unique culinary adventures, including sweet churros and seven types of hot chocolate from renowned Mexico City churreria El Moro, carnitas at Carnitas Don Miguel, a Chiva Torta by Familia Albarran, and Tacos Los Guichos from Familia Zenteno,” according to a company description of the Costa Mesa store.

The spacious Mercado Gonzalez also includes a white tablecloth restaurant run by well-known Los Angeles restaurateurs. “Jorge Salim and Javier Hernandez Pons, part of the team behind famed Los Angeles restaurants LA Cha Cha Chá and Loreto, are opening a new in-store fine-dining restaurant in Mercado, Maizano, serving such dishes, such as mole, sopa de lima, and a variety of memelas and tetelas,” according to a company description.

The Mercado goes the extra mile to evoke thoughts of Mexico, as this store is decorated with murals and features live music performed on a stage in front of a water fountain.

The goal is to offer, in addition to food, an experience. This market also offers opportunities to cooks from the community.

Mercado González supports local entrepreneurs by providing them with a platform to show off their culinary talents. The community kitchens guide entrepreneurs toward food safety certificates, teach them how to cost out the inventory, and support their overall growth and success.

Outside the sprawling market is a 6,000-square-foot bar decorated with tropical vegetation. Visitors will find a wide variety of drinks, from micheladas to an extensive selection of mezcal, tequila and Mexican beers.

Mercado Gonzalez is the 44th store in the independent Northgate Gonzalez chain, and the crown jewel of the system Miguel González Sr. and his wife, Teresa, started in Anaheim in 1980.

Not that long ago, Orange County was known as the home of Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm and Southern California’s highest concentration of Republicans. But the community has changed. “Ninety-five percent of our customers are Latino or Hispanic,” says Javier Bautista, director of produce and floral at Northgate Gonzalez Markets.

HISTORY OF THE MARKET

The story of Northgate Gonzalez Markets begins in Mexico in the middle of the 20th century.

Don Miguel Gonzalez was a shoemaker in his native town of Jalostitla in Jalisco until a fire destroyed his shop in 1952. After more than a decade of struggling to get by, Gonzalez immigrated to California to pursue a better life for his family.

In 1980, he and his wife Teresa opened their first market in Anaheim in an abandoned liquor store. That store has grown into an independent chain owned by more than a dozen of Don Miguel’s descendants.

When Northgate Gonzalez Market started in a former liquor store, it proved to be the right idea at the right time, as the store, serving Hispanic residents, steadily grew to 44 outlets in four Southern California counties.