mexican restaurant reviews

After more than a year of writing the Latin Tongue series, we are still finding surprises and learning lessons valuable and true. Let me start off by saying that when this whole Latin eating adventure comes to an end, I will look back upon it with much fondness and I hope to say that it has made me a better, more understanding person. A window to another world is open to anyone willing to sit down and have a meal with someone from another culture. There is possibly no better place to put yourself if you want a glimpse of the Latin world in the Twin Cities then El Mercado Central. Located on Bloomington and Lake, this small indoor market is packed with food, merchandise and plenty of good folks.

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.

What would you do if you heard about a place called Nacho's in the suburbs? Not a chance right? Sounds like someone's excuse to serve monstrous plates of high calorie, cheese smothered food. Now, what if all you did was add the word Supermercado. Nacho's Supermercado. Ok, I suppose it sounds a bit like a joke, but it is real and it is in downtown Hopkins. We simply could not resist checking it out because nothing about the name and location made sense. I was careful not to research it so that our surprise would be complete. What we found, was definitely a surprise, in more ways than one. 

Were there nachos? Nope. Was it a supermercado? Not really. Did they have a tortilla press, excellent barbacoa and three types of tamales? Well, of course. Lucky us…again.

Often one of the goals in these Latin eating adventures is finding a new place, one totally off the map. Almost everyone knows the pleasure in discovery and how rare it is in today’s world. Well, we may not have found something totally unknown to everyone, but we definitely feel like we were off the map, so to speak. We found ourselves in the rough, but spirited eastside neighborhood called Payne Phalen in St. Paul, eating at Bymore Taqueria.

More often than not, the places that serve us the tacos, tamales and the like have been around, some for more than a decade. Reviews have been written, yelp folks have argued about how much things differ from their expectations, and alas, I am old hat. For this review, I have the pleasure of sharing with you some new folks here to satisfy your cravings for corn, beans, cheese and meat. I'm speaking of a modest little eatery on 42nd and Cedar avenue south in Minneapolis: Pupuseria La Palmera. 

Well, we continue to bounce around the Twin Cities and hope that everyone out there is on board for more Latin eats! With no end in sight and continual support for our efforts from readers, we continue to pick off taquerias, restaurantes and pupuserias with a seemingly insatiable appetite. If you would have told me after our first article that we would potentially still be going when the Winter came back around, well...ok, I was hopeful, I might have believed you...and given you a hug because I love this stuff. As a matter of fact, I love it even more when I can share with others and this past week was all about sharing. My friend John told me about a place in Richfield that I had not been to yet: Andale Taqueria.

Part of making this eating adventure work involves a lot of flexibility. I've said it before and I will say it again, I am sure. It comes down to the fact that when you don't really know what you are doing or what you are getting yourself into, you cannot be attached to the outcome. So, like the fool I am, I sent us on another wild goose chase. It started when I was on my way to a sheet metal shop for some home repair work and I swore that I saw something resembling a Latin eatery. All it took was a quickly read sign with a "La" something or other and I was ready to go.

Well, we're back after a brief hiatus. We heard from a number of folks after our 4 month review saying that they would love us to continue checking out local Mexican restaurants. We were easy to convince and so we pulled out our trusty list and then threw it out as the place we wanted to go didn't seem to have a name. At least not one that we knew.

There are just some eateries that leave a warm fuzzy feeling when you remember them. Homi actually left a burning hot and fuzzy feeling, and I still feel good just thinking about the tiny establishment, hidden behind a pile of University avenue construction. From the charming owners and workers, to the absolutely amazing hand made food, Homi was just what we were looking for.