El Pariente Food Truck & Sante Fe Coffee on a Friday Night in St. Paul
Finally, a beautiful Spring evening in Minnesota. Time for a short drive and maybe a few treats.
We started out trying to find a new coffee shop on Payne Avenue that
John had read about recently. But on the way, we passed the food truck
by Johnson High School - and I thought - oh food truck--maybe 'orange
sauce'!
We like the food truck in the Mexican bakery parking lot by Johnson, but
we also really like the El Pariente food truck that parks at
Hillcrest. So we make a quick left turn on Maryland and go in search of
my favorite sauce.
An interesting find, though...a new place is taking over on the corner
of Payne and Maryland in the Mr. Pete's location (someone rammed a car
or truck into Mr. Pete's a while back....that looked like it was pretty
much the end for them. John liked eating there....reminded
him of a couple of places in Chicago that served a wide assortment of
pretty fast food). So, we'll check out the new taco place when they
open the doors.
El Pariente Food Truck is Awesome
Meanwhile, back to my quest for sauce. Yes, oh yes!!!!
The El Pariente truck is sitting in the empty lot that used to be
Hafner's and they are OPEN! Our favorite employee is taking
orders....that usually means great service, really quick.
I am here for sauce, so it doesn't matter which of the great items I
order....I just need a platform for my sauce(s), pico, and sour cream.
So, it's the cheese quesadilla for me.....I don't think I've found a
more buttery cheese anywhere than the cheese on
this quesadilla at El Pariente.
John went for a burrito. First of all the tortilla was very tasty and tightly wrapped. The image is a partial image of the 8-9" delight. Often burritos are overloaded with filler (rice and beans). The El Pariente carnitas burrito was primarily hot flavorful carnitas. The beans were great. Pico de gallo, as fresh as can be and a little rice wrapped up the burrito package. John ate about a third for dinner, ate another third for breakfast Saturday and the final third for dinner Saturday evening, claiming with each third that it was the best burrito ever..
A bottle of Mexican Coke from the cooler....enough real sugar for us to share.
Oh yeah....everything I could possibly want inside the box. A big
cheesy quesadilla cut into four giant wedges (2 for now....2 for
sometime tomorrow when I really, really need a break from doing more
work)..and a portion cup of tomatillo salsa, a cup of pico,
a cup of sour cream......and my favorite friend---the hot 'orange'
sauce. And, it's my lucky day...John is not eating 'hot' stuff this
week, so all of his salsas are mine, too (I guess there is a reward for
making dozens and dozens of cookies and cookie
plates for everyone).
I am sooooo happy right now. Buttery cheesy perfectly browned
quesadilla with alternating bites of pico, sour cream, green salsa, and
my delightful 'orange' salsa. I'll finish writing this in a little
while...I'm kinda busy right now
Ah, what a perfect evening. Warm, sunny weather....it's Friday, and
I've finished most of the cookies for tomorrow.....and a dinner full of
favorite things.
What should we do now? El Pariente Food Truck sets a High Standard
Hey, let's see if we can find that Mexican coffee shop that John was talking about.
Linda: "John, what's the name?"
John: "I don't remember."
Linda: "Where's it located?"
John: "On the corner just north of the old Ward 6."
Linda: "That can't be. Marquez is on that corner, they're still in business." (because they have really good food).
John: "I don't know. Let's go look."
Yup, Marquez still in the same place. We drive about 3 more blocks and
try to figure out what he's talking about. Circle some blocks. Wait,
maybe that's the place you're thinking of...a Mexican bakery....we've
never been there. Let's check it out.
Bakery Stop: San Miguel Pastelerilla
We wander into San Miguel Pastelerilla. John is saying something, but
I'm not paying attention because there are soooooo many baked goods I've
already worked my way past the first case and am perusing the second
case....with a long was to go before I'm done.
Apparently, this isn't the place. John says the place he's thinking of
has espresso drinks and fruit drinks, and serves breakfast or
lunch.......
 |
| San Miguel Pastelerilla |
Maybe it's on Arcade. So, we drift over to Arcade and drive north, then
turn around and drive south. Nope, no such place here. I've now
opened the bag of goodies and am taking a bite off a pastry that I would
describe as a big Mexican cannoli, with a rich,
creamy filling plus a sugared exterior. I hope we find this place...I
could use some coffee about now!
Let's start over at Payne and Maryland and work our way south....it has to be somewhere.
We finally find the coffee shop: Sante Fe Coffee
About 3 blocks into this adventure, I say, "John, is it the Santa Fe Coffee Shop?"
John keeps driving and then finally says..."Oh, yeah, that might be
it." So, around the block and fortunately, a parking place right in
front.
At this point, it doesn't matter if this is THE PLACE or NOT....I'm getting coffee!
A charming young woman comes out of the back of the cafe and takes my
order for an iced mocha (that will go well with anything in the bag of
goodies from the pastelerilla).
John then peruses the place and says "I'm not sure this is the place"...
followed by "Wait, that menu board looks like the one I saw
on-line---maybe this is the place."
I ask the nice young woman how long they've been open at this
location. A little over 2 months. BINGO!!! This place was not a
figment of John's all too creative but sometimes questionable
imagination.
Very good iced mocha....and looking over the menu, I think we'll be back for a meal some day soon.
All in all, a great little Friday night adventure. Food as good as we
expected at the food truck, stumbled upon a bakery with a selection so
big we could barely take it all in, and a new coffee place that has some
interesting menu items that beckon us back
for a future visit.
A great way to end the day.
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