I said last week that our next meal out in the Twin Cities was likely going to be at Taqueria Los Paisanos in St. Paul and, for a change, I am not a liar. The boys and I ate lunch there on Saturday on our way to pick up the returning missus from the airport (we also squeezed in a quick stop at Ha Tien in between). We hadn’t eaten Mexican food in a while and were jonesing for tacos in particular. I am very pleased to say that Los Paisanos was not a letdown. This will not be a surprise to anyone who has eaten there before—it was our first time—or to anyone who knows how solid the Twin Cities’ Mexican food scene is. I really feel that the local media needs to do a better job of broadcasting this information: affordable Mexican food may be the single-most reliable genre of food in the Twin Cities. Which, I suppose, may be true of every large city in the US at this point. It’s just that a lot of people—including many people who live here—don’t know that Minnesota has a large and growing Mexican population and, as a result, an ever-expanding Mexican food scene.

Taqueria Los Paisanos is located on E. 7th St., just a hop, skip and jump from Mañana. The neighbourhood is largely Hispanic and boasts a number of attractive murals: there’s one overlooking Los Paisanos’ parking lot. When we arrived the parking lot was not very full but it, and the restaurant, filled up steadily over the course of our meal. The restaurant has a large dining room but it’s counter-service only. The menu is up on the wall when you enter—and it’s also on the wall behind the cashier as you walk up to order. The meat options for the tacos, sopes etc. are listed on a rough printout in front of the cashier. You place your order and grab a table (or vice versa) and keep track of your order number. When it’s called (it won’t hurt to know your numbers in Spanish) you walk back to the counter to pick it up.

The tables in the dining room are a mix of two-tops and four-tops. And they’re fixed tables: so I don’t know what you would do if you came in a group larger than four. We, however, as I said, were a group of three and had no trouble. Ordering was a bit more trouble. By which I mean that it was difficult to make our choices. In the end the younger boy and I decided to get a bunch of tacos and the older boy opted for a quesadilla and a taco. The younger boy’s selections were: asada (which he pronounced mid), chorizo and birria (both of which he liked a lot). My tacos were topped with: lengua/tongue (excellent), tripas/beef intestines* (fried to a crisp and very good), and cabeza/beef head meat (likewise very good). The older boy got a quesadilla plate with al pastor (plus beans and rice) and a carnitas taco—he liked both his selections very much.

I had not eaten breakfast and three tacos was not going to do it for me. I decided to place a second order for a sope with buche (pork stomach). While I was up there, the older boy came up and decided he wanted something more as well. I talked him into trying an order of the mulitas because I really wanted to try it (yes, I am Father of the Year). Mulitas consist of two corn tacos stuck together with cheese and fried on both sides; the whole is then wrapped around spicy, shredded beef. Well, the mulitas were a hit with both boys (which meant I only got a couple of bites) and I liked my sope very much too—and especially the buche.

Two bottles of Jarritos rounded out our orders.

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

The first order—with tax and 20% tip—came to just about $51 and the second just short of $21. Excellent value for money. And I should say that the staff are super-friendly and helpful and the general vibe in the place is very nice. Given the fact that they’ve been around for a while, you probably don’t need my recommendation, but I would happily go back if in the neighbourhood.

Alright, what’s next from the Twin Cities? A meal from the opposite end of the price spectrum: we are scheduled to eat at Bucheron this weekend. That report will go up next weekend. I’ve been threatening to post my last two Delhi reports for the last month—will I finally post at least one of them this weekend? Let’s see.

*Thanks to Mike Lopez for correcting my earlier lazy error of translating “tripas” as “tripe”.