El Mercado Fresco

El Mercado Fresco is a Hispanic grocery at 5117 Independence Ave in the Historic Northeast, open since 2016 with an on-site butcher and scratch bakery. It is the anchor of a locally owned KC-metro family chain run by the Musallet and Zaben families.¹²

• Name: El Mercado Fresco (Independence Ave location)
• Type: Hispanic / Mexican grocery ◐
• Owner: Eddie Musallet and Sam Zaben (and families) ◐¹
• Established: 2016 at this location ◐¹
• Address: 5117 Independence Ave, Kansas City, MO 64124³²
• Signature: Marinated meats, fresh seafood, scratch bakery (panadería) ◐
• Status: Active ◐
• Tier: 1 (locally owned KC-metro family chain) ◐

Description

El Mercado Fresco is a Hispanic grocery offering an authentic variety of Mexican and Latin American products: carefully selected produce, fresh meat and seafood, marinated meats, dried salt fish, and scratch-made bakery items.¹ The Independence Ave store runs an on-site butcher (carnicería) and bakery (panadería).¹ Hours are Monday through Sunday, 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.³

Ownership and history

The Independence Avenue store opened in 2016 with a mission to serve Historic Northeast Kansas City’s diversely populated community.¹ El Mercado Fresco is a locally owned family enterprise operated by Eddie Musallet and Sam Zaben and their families, and has grown to roughly nine Hispanic and ethnic grocery stores across the Kansas City metro on both the Missouri and Kansas sides.¹ It is a KC-metro chain, but a locally owned and operated one — not a national brand — which keeps it within Registry Tier 1 scope; the multi-store footprint is noted here for transparency. on individual store openings and current count.

Menu

Grocery, not prepared food. Departments: produce, fresh meat and seafood, marinated meats, dried salt fish, on-site butcher, and scratch bakery.¹ menu_status: unverified

Links

• Website: https://www.elmercadofresco.com/[^web]
• Facebook: El Mercado Fresco — Independence Ave, Kansas City⁴
• Phone: (816) 800-4580

Sources

Footnotes

1. Northeast News, “El Mercado Fresco is ‘Just Around The Corner.’” https://northeastnews.net/pages/el-mercado-fresco-is-just-around-the-corner/ — asserts: store started 2016 at 5117 Independence Ave to serve the Historic Northeast; part of a nine-store KC-metro chain owned/operated by Eddie Musallet and Sam Zaben and families; sells marinated meats, dried salt fish, produce, fresh meat and seafood; on-site butcher and bakery. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

2. El Mercado Fresco official website and locations page. https://www.elmercadofresco.com/locations — asserts: company operates the Hispanic grocery brand including the Independence Ave, Kansas City location. ↩ ↩²

3. Yelp, “El Mercado Fresco — 5117 Independence Ave, Kansas City” (updated July 2026). https://www.yelp.com/biz/el-mercado-fresco-kansas-city-2 — asserts: store at 5117 Independence Ave, open Mon–Sun 7am–10pm, phone (816) 800-4580, operating as of July 2026. ↩ ↩²

4. Facebook, “El Mercado Fresco-Independence Ave | Kansas City MO.” https://www.facebook.com/ElMercadoFrescoKCMO/ — asserts: the store’s active social presence for the Independence Ave location. ↩