Colita

We were supposed to meet some friends at Colita, but it did not work out for them to meet us, so John and I went anyway. We were also supposed to sit on the patio, but chances of rain were high, so on arrival they seated us inside. The tables were very, very spaced apart, so it seemed ok. I believe to order you write your selections on a piece of paper and they space out the arrival of the food depending on what you order. 

We started with the tuna tostada with raw tuna, avocado, sesame, tomato jam, cilantro, celery leaf. Very fresh and bright tasting. 

Next up was the Kansas City pork ribs with amarind, sweet herbs, peas, radish, tortilla crumble, parmesan. These were very tender and flavorful. 

We shred the tempura fried shrimp tacos topped with jalapeno, cabbage, fresno mayo, cilantro. The breading was light and the toppings added just the right amount of spice and flavor. 

Last, was the seared scallops with corn puree, corn salsa, tamarind, burnt husk. A nicely seared scallop was divine after not having scallops for some time. 

We had the churros for dessert. This was the only dessert on the menu, but it was a good one. Freshly cooked churros with some cream and caramel sauce were a great finish to our meal. 

The service and food were both excellent. Everyone was masked and distanced and we felt very comfortable and safe. They are doing a great job and Colita is certainly worth adding into the rotation. They also have online to go ordering available. 

Colita
5400 Penn Ave S 
Minneapolis, MN 55419
Phone: (612) 886-1606
https://www.colitampls.com

Popol Vuh

We finally got ourselves organized and made a reservation at Popol Vuh. It was just after Christmas, but we called it our holiday celebration dinner anyway. We arrived a couple minutes early, and had to wait a few minutes before they were ready to seat us as we were the first seating.

Once seated, the server did a great job going over the different sections of the menu and giving us some recommendations.

Chips and salsa starter

We had some raw west coast oysters as an appetizer, but I guess I forgot to take a photo of them. I guess I was really hungry!

they had some great mezcal drinks on the menu

Tuna ceviche with market fish, citrus, beet, cucumber, avocado. Very fresh tasting.

We also had the smoked ribs with tamarind habanero glaze, salsa verde and escabeche. These were not very warm on arrival. I didn’t find them to have a lot of flavor from the sauce or the smoking.

We had the whole market fish to share as our entrée. The fish was light and tender, but you had to watch out for bones a little bit.

Last, we had the carrots with mole blanco, pine nuts and piloncillo. These were very delicious.

They also gave us some muffins as a dessert. The picture did not turn out and I can’t recall what nuts were in them, maybe pecans?

Overall, we enjoyed the food and drinks. The service seemed a bit slow, but was otherwise fine. The room is very dark and not that large. You can sit at the bar as a walk in, though it did fill in pretty quickly after they opened.

The whole experience is a bit reminiscent of going to a Rick Bayless restaurant in Chicago, but not quite as polished somehow. Centro, next door, is a lot more fun, affordable and approachable, but if you want upscale Latin food Popol Vuh is a good experience.




Popol Vuh
1414 Quincy St NE Suite 2
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Phone: (612) 345-5527
https://popolvuhmpls.com/popol-vuh/

Centro

Centro is a quick service taco joint in Northeast Minneapolis. We find ourselves in this area a lot, but did not realize exactly where it was. You order at the counter or  sit at the bar and food and drinks are delivered to your table. The process works quite well.

The chips and guacamole were really excellent. Great flavor. Some guacamole can be way too bland! This was not. The chips were the thicker style, like you would get in Mexico.

John had one carnitas en adobo taco (pork), one pollo a la plancha taco (chicken taco) and one chorizo taco.

I had one carnitas en adobo taco and one papas con chorizo taco. Both tacos were excellent and had tons of meat in them. The chorizo was spicy, but in a wonderfully perfect way. These were some of the best tacos we have had outside of Mexico.

I think we really need to try Popol Vuh, which is the fine dining sit down restaurant in the same building as Centro and the same chefs. I suspect we would enjoy it a lot.




Centro
1414 Quincy St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Phone: (612) 345-5527
https://popolvuhmpls.com/centro/#tacos

Maya Cuisine

Maya Cuisine has been making the best tacos in the Twin Cities list for awhile, so we finally went to check it out.

The front part is more of a fast food dining option. If you walk though there to the back there is another section with a full sit down restaurant and a full bar. The room is very bright and colorful and there are TVs in the bar also. 

 Chips and salsa to start. 

We both had the al pastor tacos. There were the best al pastor tacos I have had outside of Mexico. The meat was plentiful, tender and the pineapple added just the right amount of sweetness. I even liked the fried rice. It had nice flavor and was not super bland as most places serve it around here. The refried beans were not bad either. 

We found the service to be great and the food was also very good. We may have to return and try the quick service tacos up front. Seems like the prices might be slightly cheaper up there as well.

Maya Cuisine

1840 Central Ave NE 

Minneapolis, MN 55418

(612) 789-0775

Baja Haus

We visited Baja Haus in Wayzata for my birthday. I have been wanting to try it but I had a feeling between the fresh fish on the menu and the cocktails, the bill would escalate quickly. Also, it looks like I forgot to take a few photos, so we will just have to go back again soon. The menu overall looked very interesting and delicious as we love fresh fish selections and the Mexico theme due to our many vacations there.

We started with the augachile ceviche with tortilla chips. I’ve forgotten what the fish was, some sort of tuna I think. It was very good with lots of fresh fish and quite filling as we also ordered chips and guacamole to start.

We both ordered tacos as we were getting full from all of the tortilla chips earlier. I had the tempura fish tacos topped with avocado crema, cabbage slaw and grilled pineapple salsa. John had the pasilla mole shrimp tacos topped with serrano cabbage slaw, pumpkin seeds and lime crema. 

We finished with a dessert of tres leches cake with pineapple on the side. It was very good and much lighter than I expected.

The service was excellent and we really enjoyed all of the food. One thin to note, all of the food has a good amount of spice to it, they do not shy away from flavor at all, which is just fine with us. They also have a  great happy hour we need to keep in mind for future visits. 

Baja Haus 

830 Lake St E 

Wayzata, MN 55391

Phone: (952) 476-0816

http://www.bajahaus.com/

Jefe: Urban Hacienda

We tried Jefe at the recommendation of one of John's co-workers. It is on Main by the river in Minneapolis, kind of one of those hidden spots we tend to forget about. It has a great view and a nice patio once that weather comes back.

We were seated right away and greeted pretty quickly by our server. The inside is lots of dark wood and high ceilings with lots of cool art flourishes around the room.

I had the Jefe margarita and it was excellent. Good margaritas should be easy to make, but sometimes they are not if the ingredients are not good.

 We started with some chips and freshly made guacamole. 

Next up, the augachile, basically a  ceviche with hamachi , lime, cilantro, cucumber, jalapeno, avocado, onion, and housemate tostadas. It was fresh tasting and the serving of fish was generous.

We both had the camarones tacos made with sauteed shrimp, pickled pineapple, jalapeño, cilantro crema, peppers, cotija, and avocado. The fillings were generous and the shrimp had great flavor.

The tacos were very good and I even liked the corn tortillas, which I don't usually love. These were very fresh tasting and very soft and flavorful. You could tell they were made in house and fresh.

We both enjoyed Jefe and I thought their brunch menu looked interesting as well as the happy hour deals. We will have to go back soon!

Deals & discounts: we just missed happy hour, I think it goes form 4-6pm Monday to Friday. But you may want to verify that in advance.


Jefe: Urban Hacienda
219 SE Main St
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Phone: (612) 255-2000

Avenida

Avenida opened early this spring along 394 and I wondered if it was any good, but I had not seen or heard a single thing about it. We visited with John's sister recently. We stopped in on a Friday night around dinnertime and ended up being seated right away.

I had a margarita sol, it was decent.

Kelly had the panchito margarita

John had the Churrassco a g.rilled hanger steak, fried yucca, and chimichurri.

Kelly had beef chaufa a Peruvian fried rice, bean sprouts, broccoli, red pepper, scrambled egg.

I had pollo a la diabla boneless chicken breast strips, garlic marinated, spicy chili de arbol sauce, served with rice, black beans. It was not very spicy and I would not order again.

The service was acceptable, but not impressive, and a bit slow at the end of our visit. Overall, the food was average and overpriced for the quality and portion sizes. I don't think any of us were very impressed and I doubt we will be rushing to return.

Deals & Discounts: Happy hour is offered daily from 3-6pm. Current offerings include drink specials starting at $4.

Avenida
11390 Wayzata Blvd
Minnetonka, MN 55305
Phone:(952) 977-9888
http://avenidamn.com

Cantina #1

Michele and I met at the Mall of America recently for a bit of shopping and lunch on a Saturday afternoon. Cantina #1 is the only Mexican food choice in the mall itself and it is located on the fourth floor with a view of Nickelodeon Universe.

I had the Swiss enchiladas, which was four chicken enchiladas topped with Monterrey jack cheese, red onions, sour cream and tomatillo sauce. The tomatillo sauce was OK, not at all spicy, but tart. The chicken inside seemed a bit dry.

Michele had the chimichangas with beef and cheese inside and topped with tomato ranchra sauce. They were OK, but nothing notable about them. They came with rice and refried beans on the side. Michele said her food was not very hot and neither was mine. It seemed like it may have sat awhile before being brought out to us. Also, it should be noted that chips and salsa are not free, it costs $2.45 for an order.

The service was a bit hit or miss. We waited awhile after we were seated for the server to come by and she was slow to keep our beverages filled. We had to ask for refills. Overall, I was not impressed at all. The food was mediocre and so was the service. There are far better choices in the mall, but we selected it because it was Mexican food at the mall and we happened to be meeting there. I would not go out of my way to visit again.


Cantina #1
Mall of America
406 E Broadway
Bloomington, MN 55425
(952) 854-6500

Red Pepper - Grand Forks, ND

I don't know how I've forgotten to do a post on the Red Pepper in Grand Forks. We have been there many times and even gotten grinder kits to bring home. It is a favorite fast, affordable food option among locals, as well as UND students and alumni. I hesitate to call it fast food, because it tastier and more unique than your average fast food.

On a recent trip to North Dakota to visit John's family, we stopped in after going out for a few drinks. I believe that night time is the best time to visit the Red Pepper anyway.

John had a cheese tostada and a beef tostada. I guess I forgot to take a photo of his beef tostada. The cheese tostada is just cheese with a bit of Red Pepper hot sauce on a plain tostada. The hot sauce has a bit more zip to it than one expects in North Dakota though.

I ordered a beef taco and a combo tostada. I think the best thing about the tacos and tostadas is the freshly grated Colby cheese. All of the toppings are fresh, crisp and recently chopped as well. No brown lettuce here. For some reason they do not have forks available. I have become quite proficient at eating my tostada with a spoon though.

The original Red Pepper in downtown Grand Forks. 

The Red Pepper has lots of quirks, but the food is tasty and affordable. I think everyone likes it that way and I hope it remains the same for years to come. And I promise to take a photo of a taco grinder on my next visit!


Red Pepper
1011 University Ave  
Grand Forks, ND 58203
(701) 775-9671
http://www.redpepper.com

Rojo Mexican Grill

This is the winter that refuses to end and just when you think you can't take it anymore, it snows again. In April. And in May. So when life hands you lemons, or limes, why not drink margaritas during a blizzard. It just might make you feel a bit better. So that is what we did for happy hour during another one of the snowstorms recently.

strawberry jalapeno margarita- spicy!

Rojo Cadillac margarita- quite good!

beef red chile burro

three cheese quesadilla

shrimp tacos

I liked the shrimp tacos and they had good flavor, but were not spicy at all. The rice is very bland as are the refried beans. Though John's strawberry jalapeno margarita was really spicy! All I could taste was hot, not strawberry at all. Michele liked the quesadilla because it only contained ingredients she liked-- the chicken and the cheese. John had the beef burro, which is a burrito, but they call it a burro for some odd reason. John said the sauce was not very spicy and the meat was bland as well.

The service was very good during our entire visit. The waitress checked back with us frequently. The food was all good, but nothing amazing. Though there was nothing wrong with anything we ordered and no problems with the service. I felt like this after my last visit here. Everything was fine, but there was nothing I loved so much that I can't wait to come back. For some reason the prices here always seem a little bit high compared to the portion sizes. Or maybe I just have not found the perfect entree here yet.

Deals & Discounts: Lots of happy hour deals to be had here. They offer both an early and a late night happy hour. Check out the current offerings here: http://rojomexicangrill.com/happy-hour


Rojo Mexiacan Grill
1602 West End Blvd
St Louis Park, MN 55416
(952) 657-5385
http://rojomexicangrill.com/

Rosa Mexicano - 20 minute lunch

My co-worker Jenny and I decided to check out Rosa Mexicano over lunch the other day. She had visited for restaurant week and saw a special express lunch deal, which sounded great to both of us.

The express lunch includes guacamole, chips, tortilla soup, taco of the day and the espresso flan for $12. It arrives in 20 minutes or less if the whole table orders it. The server also brought us chips and salsa. The salsas were quite good; one was a spicy tomatillo salsa and the other had a smoky tomato flavor. The taco of the day was a lightly breaded fish taco with pickled vegetables. I loved the guacamole, it was very fresh tasting. The only thing is they do not make the guacamole table side if you order the express lunch. I love things prepared table side! Anyway, the taco was really good too. I liked the tortilla soup a lot also, though I did not detect any tortillas in it. It had a nice lightly spicy tomato flavor and some chicken and cheese in it. I liked the flan more than I thought I would. The crust at the bottom had a chocolate flavor with a lightly espresso flavored sauce.

We both thought the food was tasty and it was a good value. The waitress asked if we were full afterwards and she said she was still hungry when she had the express lunch, but we both thought it was the perfect amount of food. It was not so much that you fall asleep at your desk and enough that I was full.

The service was good and our food arrived in a timely manner. Our beverages were refilled frequently. The room is beautiful and relaxing and it was not very busy over lunch on a Friday. We even made it back to work before our lunch hour was over, which is pretty impressive.


Rosa Mexicano
609 Hennepin Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55403
(612) 656-7144
http://www.rosamexicano.com

Bar Abilene

Just a quick post today. I wanted to share our recent visit to Bar Abilene. We went back last Friday for National Margarita day. We had happy hour drinks in the bar and moved over to the restaurant for dinner.

Here is a link to our last visit to Bar Abilene:
http://whereshouldwegomsp.blogspot.com/2012/08/bar-abilene.html

 I had the stacked enchiladas. They were good with a lot of tomatillo flavor and it was a lot of food! 

John has the tacos al pastor again. 

Deals and Discounts: This time I found a coupon through the Star Tribune Daily Steals site. It was a $40 certificate for $20 and it had very few restrictions. I think you only could not use it after 11pm on Friday and Saturday nights.


Bar Abilene
1300 Lagoon Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612-825-2525
www.barabilene.com

Bar Abilene

I saw a Groupon for Bar Abilene come up awhile back so I grabbed it since we have not been there in a couple years, maybe longer. It is always fun to go out in Uptown Minneapolis, especially in the summer time.

We started off with a couple drinks (margarita and mojito I think) and an order of chips and guacamole. They mix and mash the guacamole right at your table, and I love table side preparation of any food for some reason. The guacamole had great avocado flavor and it was a huge portion for two people.

I ordered the chipotle barbecued shrimp from the appetizer menu since we also had the guacamole to eat. I loved the shrimp. The barbecue sauce was very flavorful and actually rather spicy. And I mean spicy in a good way. The barbecue sauce had a nice tomato flavor too. The toast with goat cheese helped cool things off at bit anyway.

John had the tacos al pastor which had pork, pineapple and salsa in them on corn tortillas. These were very good and the pork was very tender. He really liked the touch of sweetness from the pineapple.

The service was very good throughout our meal and we enjoyed our visit very much. The food was much better than I was expecting and what I remembered from past visits and I think we will try to head back here again soon.

Deals & Discounts: Bar Abilene has a great daily happy hour with both food and drink specials. On this visit we used a Groupon I bought recently. It was only good on weekdays, but it was a good deal anyway.


Bar Abilene
1300 Lagoon Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612-825-2525
www.barabilene.com

Ciento

We decided on the spur of the moment to visit Ciento in Brooklyn Park on January 2, 2012, which we both had off as it was a work holiday. We chose Ciento because we had a coupon from the Twin Cities Dining Club. The location is a little farther away, but since it was a Monday we figured traffic would be light, which it was. 

When we arrived we waited at the door for a few minutes, as it appeared there was just one server in the whole place and no greeter or bartender. After we were seated, the service was fine as there were only 5 tables occupied at most during our visit.  

I had the chicken fajitas from the lunch menu and they were really good. The chicken seemed to be marinated and had good flavor. The portion size was a good amount, even if the lunch portion is smaller than the dinner portion. I really like to order fajitas if they are an option; I guess I like to play with my food or something! My point is, I'd go back just for these fajitas. Also, I believe we both just had soda to drink and did not try any margaritas on this visit. We definitely need to try them next time. 

John had the steak fajitas from the lunch menu. He said they were very good as well and the steak was not chewy or gristly, which can be a problem with steak fajita meat. With each entree we were offered the choice of black beans or refried bean, which is a nice option, not many places offer.

We were very impressed with our first visit to Ciento. The food was good and the service was acceptable. The prices were very good due to the discount card. I felt the food was comparable to Don Pablos or other Mexican restaurants around town. We would certainly return and recommend Ciento to others as well. (I do wonder if it is affiliated with the short lived restaurant also called Ciento that was along 394 a couple years ago. If it is the same people, I am not sure if this location is better or worse as we never visited the old location.)

Discounts: We used a punch card form the Twin Cities Dining Club on this visit. This card is good monthly for $8 off if you buy 2 entrees. Since we ordered off the lunch menu this was a great deal. Plus it made us try an new restaurant we would not have stopped at otherwise.

Ciento
9660 Colorado Ln  
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota 55445
(763) 898-3724
www.ciento100.com

Barrio Taco Truck

Last Friday, the Barrio taco truck was parked in my neck of the woods! Normally, it is parked a lot farther away from where I work so I've never tried it.  

I had the taco special of the week, which was a pulled chicken taco with guacamole, pickled onions and jalapenos. The special also came with chips, salsa and guacamole. I also had a Mexican Coke. Yum, Yum! The tacos had great flavor and the chips were the exact same served in the restaurant.  It was $10 for the taco basket and $3.50 for the Coke. I'd go back anytime the Barrio taco truck is nearby!