El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant - Maple Grove

El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant - Maple Grove

Suburbia--how do you tell one suburb from another?

...corporate chain after corporate chain piled into paved-over farm fields with 45 mph roads.  Every new retail development will be the next success as real estate developers cram as many 'boxes' into an area as possible, with minimal parking (you cannot lease out parking spaces) and company-owners frantically attempt to find employees. 

Big retail boxes, big and small box 'food' places with big signs in the windows offering discounts...the race to the bottom begins with coupons, Group-On, Living Social, $1 menu items, etc...certainly not a destination for 'real' food.

Here we are in Maple Grove in search of a non-chain lunch (see our bottom note on development).  At the NW corner of 694 where 94 branches off to the NW, Arbor Lakes Retail Center, Maple Grove Crossing and Arbor Lakes become an extensive retail development as much defined by national brands as it is by vacant buildings and empty mall spaces... that used to serve 'food.'  

But...we are exploring dining choices (trying very hard to find real food) in every part of the Twin Cities.

Whoa, what's that? 
"El Rodeo."  Name isn't familiar---is it a chain or not?  Ever eager to try somewhere we've not eaten...we head inside.   

The interior is the standard Americanized version of a 'Mexican' restaurant including banners (in this case, for beer, etc), sombreros, arches and colorful tile.  We liked the tile roofs inside in several areas of the restaurant and the cheerful painting when you enter the front door.

We were seated in a comfortable, well-worn booth and perused the many page (but not as many as some) menu.  When we entered, we noted 4 lunch specials--2 of the multi-item combos, plus the lunch tamale plate and a smaller lunch special with chile relleno & guacamole salad.

The combo with burrito, taco, and chile relleno was John's choice and I opted for the tamale with rice and beans.

This is a single-location family-owned place.  The servers wore the customary hot gloves when they brought out the really hot plates.  The service was attentive, with the immediate arrival of the ubiquitous chips and salsa (decent salsa, standard blah chips).

Our overall impression:  A nicely run place with average (much better than Don Julio..or as we call it--the Campbell's tomato soup of "Mexican" restaurants) food and good service.   

The best of the 4 items was the chile relleno and the American "Mexican" restaurant version of the tamale--beef wrapped in masa.  The chile was well-constructed, oozing with cheese and with overall good flavor.  The taco was marginal (hard shell, so you know) and the burrito was fine but forgettable, most of the cheese was the same kind you'd find at a grocery store in Shoreview (try to find Mexican cheese, like cotija or queso panela, in Shoreview--store staff point you to Kraft...and can't pronounce any cheese names----soooooo disappointing).  Conclusion:  2 out of 4 items were pretty good.

So we'd give El Rodeo 3 stars out of 5.  Not worth driving that far...but if you're in the area, at least you're supporting a family serving typical American "Mexican' food, with decent service and reasonable prices.

Bottom Note on Development

Communties need to be very thoughtful and residents need to provide strong local input on new development.  Residents always want 'locally owned' stores and 'good places to eat.'  Developers are dependent on bank financing.  Banks want long leases secured by the deep pockets of national chains.  'Local' and 'family-owned' are way off the radar of new development.

Many have expressed a desire for 'local' and 'family-owned in plans for the Twin Cities Arsenal property.  Recent development in Arden Hills and Shoreview on Blue Fox Road and Lexington represent the likely outcome...national chains.  If you want or expect something else you need to address your elected officials.  Developers will court city officials endlessly to complete their projects, and it's rare and difficult for a community to be able to enforce 'local' or 'family-owned.'