Andale Taqueria y Mercado

[GutGrease]

If there is something that you should be able to find in Richfield, it's good Mexican food! I've now got someplace new to eat and I'm loving it. Someone opened a restaurant / grocery in the old Embers at 494 and Nicollet. I've been there twice now and really enjoy the food. I've had the burrito, the side tacos, and now the La Cubana - a trashcan torta with breaded steak, sliced hot dogs, scrambled eggs, chorizo, oaxaca cheese (I think), peppers, guacomole, and probably ten other things that I forgot. Everything has been quite good and very filling. It's slightly pricey most menu items will run you $7-9 but its all authentic and made fresh to order. They have side tacos that you can order for $2 each if I remember correctly.

The attached grocery/deli/butcher/bakery has lots of traditional Mexican foods and you can buy just about any of the restaurant ingredients in store. I'm definitely going back for more but will have to avoid repeated encounters with the La Cubana if I want to keep in shape!

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Andale Taqueria y Mercado
7700 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55423

[lilips]

Don't forget to try a glass of horchata when you're there-- my boyfriend and I always get a jumbo glass to go, and it never seems like enough!

[Westsgirl]

I live pretty close, and waited and waited for it to open. Food is good for the $, bigtime. Though I prefer Los Oscampos on Lake and Chicago. Another good one in the very S Mpls and Richfield area is Teresita's (62 crosstown and 34th Ave).

[DukeFan]

well i've been 3 times in the past week and it is some of the best downmarket mexican I have had this side of LA or Houston.

Their tacos al pastor are as good as i've ever had. Carne asada was very good as well.

Wasn't crazy about the guacamole, but then again, authentic guac tends to be a little more bland.

[kevin47]

Wife and I got take out here. Our food was terrible. We had the carnitas alambres and the chicken and asada tacos. They were out of the goat and tongue tacos.

The flavors in the alambres were just off. The melted cheese was oddly pungent, and there was an off taste to the meat.

The tacos were uniformly dry, and there wasn't anything to punch up the flavor.

I was there on a Friday night at about 8:00, so maybe things were winding down, but that was not at all a good meal.

[GutGrease]

Interesting. I guess no restaurant nails it every time! I'd say to give it one more shot and maybe trying dining in. Granted there's not much ambiance to their cafeteria seating, but maybe (just guessing) it had something to do with taking the food home? IDK - any place should make food that holds up for takeout orders, but I find that pizza and chinese tend to be the only two food categories that really focus on making takeout food last until you get home. Even McDonalds fries get soggy and everything loses whatever oomph it had if you eat it 20 minutes later.

[kevin47]

Right, but why the off flavors? Also, took some bites of taco in the car. It was certifiably dry.

[GutGrease]

It sounds like the food was bad. I was just playing the devil's advocate

[baa]

I went last night and had the carne asada torta--very tasty, and I thought quite large, so I'm having half of it for lunch today. After I sat down I noticed the special of the day was goat tacos for (I think) $1.50, and I wish I had ordered one of those, too.

The guy at the counter told me that they are now serving breakfast (I think just on the weekends, but I'm not sure about that), buffet-style. He told me the price ($6 or $6.99 or something very reasonable) and said "very" when I asked if it would be a kid-friendly thing.

For those who are more adventurous than I am, I noticed that they have menudo and tripe available on the regular menu.

[foreverhungry]

I went to Andale last night, had a great meal. The guy at the counter also told us about breakfast - he said every morning, $5.99, hot, buffet style. This coming Saturday is a 2 for 1.

[getgot211]

anyone know the hours here, specifically Saturday?

[MSPD]

http://richfield.patch.com/listings/a...

[puddin head]

We finally went tonight for dinner, and I am going to say YUM! Best carne asada taco I've had in Minneapolis. The meat is perfectly seasoned and cooked. My only complaint was a couple of bites of gristle so hard it actually hurt my (sensitive) teeth.

As a bonus, I found my coveted El Milagro corn tortillas in the attached store. Downside: $1.50 a package (I think the store by my parent's house in the Chicago burbs sells them 3 packs for $1.00). I will still bring them home by the hundreds from Chicago, but it's good to know they have them in a pinch.

[The Dairy Queen]

What a great find, about the tortillas!

~TDQ

[namabiiru]

This sounds pretty good. Attached market it kind of reminds me of Don Yan for Korean food. I'm gonna try Taqueria y Mercado next time I'm out that way.

[Bill Roehl]

Here's a link to a picture I took of the menu board (scroll to see it all): http://www.flickr.com/photos/bill_roe...

It's definitely a good place to go and I loved the variety on their menu compared to other similar joints around town. One commenter on the review on my website said that their goat options will be limited to the weekends only. Boo.

[MSPD]

Agreed! I've gone about a half-dozen times now and I'm very pleased, especially since the source of the best torta in Minnesota (Olmeca in Burnsville) has now fallen victim to the wrecking ball. The "Cubana" torta is indeed a monster and it is very good.

One thing worth mentioning is that the wait between ordering and eating is on the slow side. I don't care personally, but it's slow enough that it might matter to some people.

[Db Cooper]

Mspd,

Have you tried Taqueria Hildalgo in Burnsvile for their torta? Pretty legit sandwich.

[Bill Roehl]

Not only do I disagree I would go so far to say Hidalgo is so poorly executed in every way that you're better off at Subway next door.

[MSPD]

Are you sure you aren't thinking of Taqueria La Hacienda at 13 and 5?

I've been in Taqueria Hidalgo (off Nicollet in the strip mall with Caribou, Subway, the closed TCF) a few times and it has never been good. I stopped going since Taqueria La Hacienda and, even better but now closed, Tacolmeca/Supermercado Olmeca are/were both very good. Easily, the best torta in the Twin Cities (in my opinion) was at Tacolmeca.

Anyway, there would be worse things than trying it again, I suppose.

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Taqueria La Hacienda
334 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55408

Taqueria Hidalgo
12609 Nicollet Ave, Burnsville, MN 55337

[Db Cooper]

I'm not ... But I wonder if it's what I order. I always without exception go with the steak milanesa. Its my favorite.

I'm with you guys that Olmeca was the best. You got the biggest sandwich with the most flavor at the best price. However, the quality was starting to slip before it closed. The last few times I ate there, I got rotten avocado a couple times and old lettuce as well. Thats when I gave Hildalgo a shot. They made a nice steak sandwich. It was fried perfectly and still was soft enough to tear apart. It had solid flavor. All the toppings were fresh. It was about the same price as Olmeca. It wasn't as large a sandwich, but I felt like they loaded up on the toppings to make up for it. I've had it 7 or 8 times and never been disappointed.

Now I can't speak for their other other tortas. They may not be as good, and based off the posts here, I'm thinking probably not.

I found La Hacienda to be OK. More expensive and smaller sandwich. It's good but not enough to justify the higher price.

[sandylc]

Db, I had similar issues at Olmeca. We got spoiled meat there twice and finally gave up on them, despite wanting it to work.