La Hacienda

So in my ever continuing quest for the mighty papusa, La Hacienda serves them up and they are good.

For those that have never had a papusa, think juicy lucy but instead of a hamburger, think of a flour ball filled and flattened, (usually) a spicy coleslaw on top with a more vinegar based hot sauce.

Chicharonnes & cheese? Yum.
Beans and cheese? Even better.

The cole slaw could've used a little more spice but the hotsauce was tasty.

I'm a huge fan of Manana's pork and cheese papusa but La Hacienda makes a better bean and cheese.

Price wise, you can't go wrong. They are $2.50 a pop. If you're looking to save some change, go to Manana where they are $2.00 a pop.

Eitherway, La Hacienda is a nice way to step into the world of El Salvadoran food and the mighty papusa.

This place is pretty cool. The staff is always nice and courteous, and I love the free chips and salsa to start the meal.

I visit La Hacienda after every flight into MSP airport. I keep it simple with two tacos and a pupusa. All of the tacos are on point, and the pupusa is a rare find in Minnesota so it's always a treat to visit here. They have a large menu ranging from Mexican to Ecuadorian and American, but I've never ventured too far out of my comfort zone here and have always kept my meal under 7.50.

Great prices, nice people, good location. (Also a great place to practice your spanish as lame and touristy as that sounds, but the woman that owns the place will actually correct your verb tenses and is very patient with you. I've been here so many times now that she won't even listen when I try to speak English with her.)

The first time we ate here the food and service were amazing. We tried a little of everything and really liked it. The cabbage was my favorite.

This time the server was friendly, but did not do well (never returned to the table, left glasses empty). Both of our orders came out luke warm and sad looking. The flavor was fine, but I couldn't get past the temperature. I like an establishment that is consistently good, not hit or miss.

Out first visit was around 6:30, the second visit was around 8:00.

We will not be going back.

(Tangent) One of my relatives persists in getting us restaurant.com gift certificates. I sort of wish it would stop, because the restaurants are never that great.

This was no different. I looked forward to trying out the pupusas, but was really thoroughly unimpressed. We ordered three different pupusas to split. They all basically tasted the same, were greasy from the cheese, and were not at all flavorful. The slaw and the sauce couldn't save them.

Since the pupusas are so cheap, we ordered main entrees to get to the gift cert minimum. The rice and beans are pretty good but my shrimp was just meh; again, everything was pretty heavy but not very flavorful.

I can say that we gave it a shot but that's the last time I'll visit.

In searching of mexican food I'd like, I tried this place. I planned to dine in but I feel uncomfortable with the place, seems dingy and some people were sitting/ talking I didn't know if they were customers or not. So I decide to do take out. Gyros sandwich for my husband and he love every bit of it. I ordered tamales platter, they were tasty and flavorful. I love their pork tamales better than chicken one. Their tamales were soft and not spicy at all. They used certain leaves that add flavor to them.

I found this place through Groupon and decided to give it a try. The food is reasonably priced for the large portions you receive. Ordering the food was a bit of a struggle since most of the names are in spanish and instead of the beef that I thought I ordered I ended up with cow stomach! However the chef was very sincere and actually came out to check that I would be OK with that after they brought it out. The fajitas my girlfriend ordered were quite tasty and the chips and salsa brought before the meal were downright addictive.

Overall, it was an interesting experience and good food, but be sure you ask exactly what you are ordering if you are unsure!

The food was subpar. I ordered chicken enchiladas, which were bland. The rice that came with it was flavorless, greasy, and weirdly sticky. The service was off-putting too.

First, the waiter had forgotten our drinks until we reminded him. The drinks were not brought out until we were more than half way through our meal.

Second, we had tried to order a shrimp dish and were informed they don't have any shrimp.

Finally, my friend (a vegetarian) had ordered something to go in addition to his meal. He was told it was dine-in only, which was odd because there were to go boxes and we had watched people come in and take orders out all night. Anyway, he first tried to order chili rellenos. The waiter told him the restaurant was too busy to make it for him tonight and asked him to order something else. It was weird the waiter said this because most of the time we were there, the restaurant only had 3 or so tables of patrons. Each table had 2-3 people. They also staggered in, not all came in at once.

My friend then chose to get cheese and bean enchiladas instead. The waiter asked if chicken or beef was okay. My friend said he is a vegetarian and so he wanted the vegetarian option. About 15 minutes or so later, the waiter told us that they were too busy to make vegetarian enchiladas for him and instead brought him a beef chimichanga. The waiter was visibly annoyed when my friend said he would not take it, brought us our check, and essentially kicked us out of the restaurant as soon as our bill was rung up.

La Hacienda is an unassuming, somewhat divey eatery located in Sibley Plaza strip mall on West 7th Street in St. Paul. Don't let the restaurant's exterior turn you off - you'll really miss out. The menu has Mexican, El Salvadoran, Peruvian (or was it Ecuadorian?), American, and Mediterranean. I ordered from the Salvadoran section - a bean and cheese pupusa, and "carne deshilada", basically a shredded meat and egg dish. What I got was one delicious pupusa and a giant dish with tortillas (or some other kind of flatbread), beans, salad, and of course, shredded meat and eggs. This in addition to the gratis nachos and the amazing special sauce they make. The carne deshilada, pupusa, and a pop came to about $12 - not bad at all.

If you're looking for something cheap, but very good, in the St. Paul area, La Hacienda is where it's at.

Not bad but I ordered chicken over rice with a side salad and got beef strips mixd with fries and rice. Easier experience if you know Spanish.

Decor, not so good...the food, GREAT!! We've been back many times. Wide variety of South American/Mexican food. Awesome.!! Also very affordable.