lake street

This is the latest post in our Latin Tongue series, which explores Latin eateries in the Twin Cities area. Check out the first article for the ground rules and a running list of restaurants we've covered.

Special late night edition you ask? I suppose it was bound to happen. Almost every week I hop on my bicycle and tour around Minneapolis with a few friends, sharing stories from the weeks events, having a few drinks and eating late night fare. All too often when searching for late night eats, you are left feeling stuck with few options. Usually, it is pizza or bar food. Then we discovered the habit of the Mexican restauranteur to keep their doors open until the odd hours of the night. And what a discovery it was.

Instead of consuming questionable greasy burgers and pizza as a night comes to a close, my friends and I now have much more to consider. Tacos, sopes, burritos, quesadillas and the hangover killing bowl of menudo have broadened our horizons. One of these gifts to the late night gut is Taco Taxi on Lake street.

Another week, another new take on Mexican food. This time we stumbled upon a Latin eatery called Taqueria La Hacienda. Situated awkwardly off of Lake street, it seems like the type of location that screams hole-in-the-wall. However, for the first time, we were welcomed with a restaurant that certainly had something new in this Latin eating adventure: a budget. 

Taqueria La Hacienda, it turns out is a local chain with three locations: the original on Lake street, a taco stand in the Mercado Central (Lake and Bloomington) and a spot in Burnsville. Not only do they have three locations, but they obviously have some money invested in their business as evidenced by their nice website, video menu screen and nice decor. 

Read why we are doing this in our intro article.

This week, we made a big mistake. Charles and I met at the corner of Lake St and Bloomington Ave without a plan. "Let's just walk around and pick a spot to eat," we told each other. Anyone who has spent even a little time at this intersection knows how preposterous this is. There are three Mexican super mercados and no less than 12 latin eateries within three city blocks. How we decided upon El Guayaquil is still a mystery. After wandering through the Mercado Central and then peering in each and every window of the places on Lake Street, we found ourselves standing in front of El Guayaquil and feeling so hungry that we simply did not care. The one decision we did make was that we would be coming back to Lake and Bloomington soon.