El Azteca

I've been here many times, the food is always good. They give you free chips, salsa, and white sauce while dining in. I love the white sauce, which is one of the reasons I eat here. The staff always seems friendly and they have good service. They have seating indoors and outdoors.

This place serves up some solid Mexican food. The flavors do most of the heavy lifting here. We usually dine in, but they offer takeout too. Portions range from medium to large, and the vibe is pretty nice (semi-modern) and well-kept. My go-to dish is the Pollo Asado, and their salsas (served with free chips) are great.Now, for the downsides. The service? Easily some of the worst I've had at any restaurant. Servers often seem annoyed, and getting a water refill--or more chips--is like pulling teeth. You could be sitting there with an empty glass, and they'll walk right by like you're invisible.Pricing is also on the steep side compared to other Mexican spots. Sometimes the portions help balance it out, but not always. Also, heads up, they're still charging a service fee for each order, which is illegal in Minnesota as of 2025.Will we be back? Probably, but only if we're nearby and craving Mexican. The food is good enough to warrant an occasional visit, but the service and pricing make it hard to justify regular trips. I'd say give it a shot once and see if it's worth it for you. Just be prepared for a potential service letdown, and a hole in your wallet.

Average food and terrible service. We were a party of six, 5:30 on a Saturday night. Fairly busy, but nothing abnormal for a Saturday night - no large parties, etc., that we could see. Seated fairly quickly, and the chips/salsa/drinks came in an appropriate time frame. After we ordered our food things went south quick. Will highlight three specific issues:1) We ordered two kids meals - pointed at the menu and confirmed the order with the waitress, who at the point had an attitude already and seemed irritated that we were asking questions about the kids options. When these arrived, they were NOT the kids meals (which included rice, beans etc.,) but just the specific item we ordered - in this case a single taco and a single quesadilla. We had to divvy our meals up so the kids had enough food. When we told our waitress, she didn't apologize, or bring the extra kids meals items, but said that we had specifically ordered those individual items, and not the kids meals. Blatant lie.2) We ordered the fajitas for two meal. They brought the meat out first, which was sitting there for more than 15 minutes before the tortillas, guac, salsa, rice, etc. was brought to us. Absolutely ridiculous, and never experienced this at any other reputable Mexican restaurant. By the time we were able to eat our fajitas, the meat was cold. When we complained to the server, she had the same irritated attitude and said it was coming. We asked to speak to the manager, who said no other Mexican restaurant has all the other fajita items ready to eat right away, and this was normal. Again no apology offered. WHAT??3) We had to ask four times for water. The fourth time, our server stuck her hand up in our faces, cut us off and said I'll go get it. We did not get our waters until our meal was almost done.By far the worst service we have experienced in any restaurant. Absolutely baffling. We spoke to the manager, who offered no apologies, and after much conversation finally agreed to drop the kids meals from the ticket.We won't be coming back here. Service was terrible, management seemed like they had no idea how to run the place, and the food wasn't nearly good enough to make up for it. Good luck to you if you try, though with how bad our service no place to go but up!

We stopped by later in the evening and it wasn't too busy. The food was okay. My husband liked his quesadilla.I had the Enchiladas Vegetarianas and once again they weren't very warm inside.We had to flag down another waiter after 10 minutes to obtain our check.

As you offer lunch fajitas , which were good, why no lettuce , sour cream , tomatoes, cheese with it? Disappointed I had to pay an extra 4.99 for a crema salad to get those itemsNormally served with fajitas on the dinner menu. Not sure if I'll visit again.

We hadn't been back here in years but the restaurant remains a very bland, middle of the road Mexican restaurant that caters to Minnesota non-spicy tastes. Pros: service was fantastic. Once we got our order taken, drinks came out fast and dinner was right behind. They start your table with complimentary chips, salsa, and a white ranch/cheese dip. Chips were okay, salsa tasted like Pace, and the white sauce was underwhelming. But it is free and they bring it right away, which is always nice.I had carnitas and husband got a combo of three items. Everything was fine. Nothing special, nothing bad. Very middle of the road as I stated up front. Portions were plentiful. Would have been nice if they asked you your spice level like at a Thai or Chinese restaurant. Every table in there was white so again, if you are a native Minnesotan that wants solid Mexican food, this is your place. If, however, you want more modern and spiced Mexican food, this is not it.Prices were fine. Was super surprised at how reasonable the drink prices were. We'll be back to sit in the bar and grab an app along with a big beer or cocktail.

My wife's family looks for any excuse to come here. You can't go wrong with bottomless chips. The fajitas are on point and the staff is always very nice.

Oh El Azteca!!!! What has happened to you???? Where are you???? This USED to be our absolute favorite Mexican food place. BUT You have changed and unfortunately I have made the decision (after several more attempts to give you another chance) that I am breaking up with you for good. If you look at ANY of your reviews on Yelp, Google & Trip Advisor can you not see that your customers are no longer happy? You have completely fallen off the cliff! This is a LOCAL restaurant and I do not foresee you staying in business because you are not the same place you once were. Overpriced food that is NOT even good, $4.25 plus tax & a tip for a soda, skimpy portions, and blah food. Too sad that you didn't listen to your customers. RIP El AztecaPssst...Mi Pueblo is right now the street and it was amazing! Our new find!

Food fabulous as always but the restaurant is old, dirty and in need of a top to bottom cleaning and sprucing up.

Great food. Good service. Very busy restaurant be patient. Sonia M was an amazing server and they were super busy but she kind and sweet and worked hard to get to all her tables with a smile!