Saturday night Kyle and I had dinner plans with my in-laws. We wanted to take them somewhere fun with good food, so we decided on El Mesón, a Spanish-Caribbean restaurant in south Minneapolis. We had been there a few times before and had always loved it. Unfortunately, this visit did not live up to our previous experiences.
I love the atmosphere inside El Mesón. It is very cozy and it has a fun vibe. The decor is interesting as well. With rooftops structures at the top of the walls and archways with booths housed inside, it makes you feel like you are eating in a dimly lit courtyard in someone’s backyard. I just love that feeling!
We were seated and then greeted by our server right away. Drinks were the first order of business. It was a bit surprising to find out that they don’t serve any beer. I know they used to sell beer, so I’m not quite sure why they have taken off their menu. Their only alcoholic drinks are sangria or wine. With those as our options, we decided to go with the sangria. Now, I’m not usually a picky drinker, but I was a bit disappointed with the sangria. To be more specific, it tasted very watered down. Sangria is usually such a fun drink to enjoy. It’s so colorful and festive, not to mention yummy, with the dry wine mixed with sugar and fruit. But this sangria was none of the above. The wine was weak and it had no sweetness to it, and the only fruit that was added were tiny, diced apples. Yes, apples are delicious, but it could have used more variety.
Our food experience was a little better. The menu features many rice dishes, lots of seafood, and several beef and pork dishes. Everything sounded so good; it was definitely hard to choose. We started with calamari with an artichoke lemon aioli. This definitely was up to par. The calamari was tender and the aioli was tart and perfect. For my entree I ordered one of the specials - sea bass. The sea bass, tomatoes and red onion were cooked in a banana leaf and served with a side of rice and an heirloom tomato and avocado salad. The flavors were really good, but unfortunately my sea bass was not prepared well. It was a little rubbery and not all that enjoyable. However, the tomatoes, onion and sauce that it was cooked with were very flavorful and I really enjoyed the rice and salad as well. Kyle ordered the asado, as it was promised to be the best pork dish served in the Twin Cities. He did seem to enjoy it quite a bit and he finished every last morsel on his plate.
Overall, I have mixed reviews for this visit to El Mesón. Since I have been there a few times before, I know that this is not the typical experience, or at least I hope that the quality has not declined as of recent. Is it still a fun place to go? Yes. Is it a great restaurant with high-quality food and drink? The jury is still out on that one.
El Mesón
3450 Lyndale Avenue
Minneapolis, MN
612.822.8062
Posted on October 1st, 2008 by katiejocannon
Filed under: Food
This is almost in my backyard and I love it as well. I have not been there for a while, now you have my curiosity up. I am wondering about why they no longer have beer on the menu. I am also disappointed to hear about the sangria. Do you think with their other two restaurants they bit off more than they could chew? I have not been to the new one yet, but El Meson is one of my favs and I love their calamari!
Thanks for the comment, Jilly! If you go back you’ll definitely have to let me know how it goes. I was so disappointed in the turn of events for them…
Was there still live music? We really enjoyed that, and felt it added to the atmosphere when we visited w/ you and Kyle.
I’ve been a few times and never had any big qualms…it’s too bad they don’t have a full bar, though. I’d enjoy a Spanish-Caribbean influenced cocktail list!
Jilly - Indio is good. They have a decent happy hour, too.