It’s been a while since we’ve eaten at Homi, almost exactly a full year in fact (my last write-up of a meal there was posted on August 29, 2023). Homi has long been our favourite affordable Mexican restaurant in the Twin Cities metro—and until Oro came along it might even have been our favourite Mexican restaurant of any kind in the Twin Cities metro. This is not on account of just their food (which has always been very tasty) or their menu (which has always been far more expansive than those at most other affordable Mexican restaurants). It’s also because of their hospitality. The pandemic and then inflation has been very hard on small restaurants (and other small businesses) that don’t have very many resources to fall back on. But Homi has managed to stick it out through it all so far with their trademark warmth. This is their 15th year of operation—that’s a pretty good number in this business but in truth they feel like an institution that’s been around longer. They deserve all the support they can get to keep things going. To that end, here’s a quick writeup of a recent lunch there with friends we’ve eaten with at Homi many times before.

In case you’re wondering why I began this write-up the way I did, it’s because a number of our friends who’ve eaten at Homi over the summer have noted that the restaurant was not terribly busy when they were there. I am glad to say that it was not empty on our visit. Well, it was pretty empty when we arrived but at one point during our meal almost every table was occupied. That was good to see. But the demeanour of the owners and how much they expressed their appreciation to those eating in suggested that they are concerned about business. So if Homi is a place you enjoy and if you live closer to them than we do, please go out and support them as much as you are able.

Of course, you’ll also eat well, as we did on this visit. There were seven of us. What did we get? Their excellent chips and salsa to start. For the main event one of our friends and our younger boy both got orders of the birria tacos, which Homi promotes very prominently on their exterior signage. Are birria tacos still very hot in the Twin Cities? Well, Homi’s birria has always been excellent and so are their birria tacos. Another of our friends got the quesadilla with carne asada and the third got simply an order of beans and rice with a side of fried plantains. Our older boy got enchiladas rojas (with chicken). The missus got the costilitas de puerco/pork short ribs en salsa verde and I got the costilitas de puerco en adobo. The two orders of costilitas and the enchiladas came with rice and beans as well. Some Mexican Cokes and Jarritos rounded out our order.

The food was all very good as usual. Well, the pork ribs were a little over-cooked but both sauces were excellent. The birria tacos were a big hit as well. It’s a massive order, by the way: three large fried tacos with a bowl of consome. The younger boy managed to finish a taco and a half and I ate the rest for lunch the next day along with leftover beans and rice and that was a pretty filling meal for me as well. I don’t mean to suggest that the rest was not a lot of food as well—both the missus and I skipped dinner that day after devouring our costilitas with the accompanying tortillas and beans and rice.

For a look at the menu and what we ate, launch the slideshow below. Scroll down to see how much it all cost and to see what’s coming next.

With tax and a credit card fee the total was about $190 before tip or just about $230 after tip. Factoring in leftovers, this was enough food for 8 people; so effectively less than $30/head. That may be more than some people may be looking to pay for affordable Mexican food but I’d say it’s good value for the quality and quantity. Once again, if you live within easy range of them, I would urge you to continue to support Homi.

Alright, what’s next on the restaurant report front? I will have at least one more report from San Francisco later this week, perhaps two. My next Twin Cities report will be from the high end of the market—that’ll be next Tuesday.