authentic mexican food, first time here and it was delicious. I am happy about the gluten free options as well with the corn tortillas! Quick service and the vibe was laid back. I would definitely go back again to try other things on the menu! read more

El Pariente Mexican Grill - piña Pia Colada - Tacos Near Me - White Bear Lake, Minnesota

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I have never been to this part of WBL and didn't know that this wasn't more of a table service restaurant. Should have done better research. First time there, had no idea that we did everything which isn't a problem at all, but would be nice is there was someone at the outside or even inside stand letting you know what to do. My husband was excited at the prospect of a Mexican buffet- not too many of those left. $26 to me was a bit pricey for what was offered. Small paper plates, plastic utensils and from what I could see the variety and options were meh. My husband and dad tried it. They both liked it. I tired the classic plate with carnitas which was pretty good. I has asked for all rice- no beans- came out with beans and rice. Okay- no biggie. Also ordered the kids quesadilla and kids taco for my mom and son. They both said it was okay. I love churros, but not the filled ones. These had a filling in them which was not a fan of, but they came out piping hot. Counter service Outside Tables- picnic size tables with umbrellas Big Horses Grab your own menus inside Drinks from the fountain. Plastic forks and napkins inside. No frills which is fine. The food was okay, the prices a bit high compared to some of the other places we have been. I can cross this one off my "to try" list. read more

Always fabulous! Nice staff, super consistent, quality food! Highly recommend this place!

Their lengua tacos here are my absolutely favorite! I always get it with esquites too! Absolutely delicious!! Service has always been good-- seems very welcoming! Cocktails are fresh and seemed to be made with effort. My family enjoys coming here a lot and ambience is also fun! read more

El Pariente Mexican Grill - Tres 3 Leches Cake, margarita - Tacos Near Me - White Bear Lake, Minnesota

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Always a great place for an authentic meal! Super friendly staff and clean restaurant. Ordered a margarita, one birria taco and the Wednesday special. Usually the standard rice and beans at most places are blah, but not here! Such good flavor and nice moist rice. All delish and highly recommend a trip here! read more

El Pariente Mexican Grill - Margarita - Tacos Near Me - White Bear Lake, Minnesota

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I used to enjoy the street tacos here, they were delicious. I quit coming here for several reasons. I used to get my order to go and would get both green and red salsas like they have on the tables. One of the last times I ordered the owner/manager interrupted the person talking my order to tell him in Spanish that I couldn't have both. Slightly off-putting but not a big deal since I have both at home. The reason I won't ever be back was the service I received from the owner last time I was in. When I arrived at home with my order I found TWO USED slices of lime taken from someone else's plate and put in my to go order. I can't help but think the owner/manager is a racist. Won't be back. read more

Food great, owners are great, staff is great. Sometimes it take a while but honestly some of the best around.

Cozy environment. Outside seating Large margarita? Not sure I did not order the margarita but wondered about that VIP margarita. It looks awesome. Menu is big. Lots of choices. For me, the winner is always a good cheese and chips. The cheese dip was good, thin but really good. read more

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The food was amazing like SO good and the service was pretty good too, and ambiance was good

Ordered an Horchata really quick while picking up an UberEats order as I've eaten here before and enjoyed the food and drinks. I didn't ask for a receipt since I was just ordering one drink but once it processed through my account, I was charged $8.34 and I immediately disputed it for the right amount, which is $4.09 even on the website and I know the $8.34 was not what the male cashier said when I tapped my card (I know I did not tip at all). Really disappointed since I liked going there and I live close but lesson learned I guess. I got the money back which is nice but warning, watch your receipts even in a rush. read more

$33 for a combo of 3 tacos rice and beans with a watermelon drink !!! Not including tip! Good flavor and the service ir great but c'mon read more

Honestly, this place exceeded my expectations. Everything was amazing and the staff were so fast and friendly. There was a lot of seating and the music was good. The prices were average. If I had to recommend one thing, it would be al the pastor tacos. read more

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The food was fine. I ordered a burrito bowl, chicken, spicy sauce. The chips were extra, I skipped it. The service was low effort. My person who helped me seemed rude and didn't care. I was trying to ask a question and he shooed me out. Happy to take my money and move me along. There was no one in the restaurant. Not sure about going back, there are many other options. read more

El Pariente Mexican Grill - Spicy chicken bowl. A bit too much sour cream. It does taste good. - Tacos Near Me - White Bear Lake, Minnesota

We ate the special Carnitas burrito bowl with two beers, $25. Clean restaurant, fast service, clean, restrooms, lively music. My only complaint is the use of plastic utensils and bowls. read more

In my opinion this is a $$ eatery, not $. For the money spent, I expect more food. Everything is a la carte. When dining in, the serve on styrofoam with plastic utensils - same as the carry out. That said, the food is better than average quality. Decor is typical and the service is good. Value: 2 Taste/quality: 4 Service: 3+ read more

Giving this place my toughest review as I had to wait more than 30 minutes for two tiny tacos that should've taken less than 10 minutes to cook. Not sure what the hold up was but I saw a few other guests waiting quite a while for their food. Prices were pretty normal for a Mexican restaurant, and once I did get my food I thought it was a pretty forgettable taco - nothing special and just a pretty typical flavor that did not make the wait worth at all. I'm sure this place has better days / experiences for other customers but because of my personal experience I don't think I'd come back again. read more

El Pariente Mexican Grill - Al pastor and asada street tacos - Tacos Near Me - White Bear Lake, Minnesota

Two of us one drink salsa and chips one extra salsa one plane quesadilla and one quesadilla with veggies ordered a margarita with a extra shot of tequila I was charged$ 29.00 went back the next day talked to the main guy asked him how this could be possible he showed me a small shot glass less than ounce and told me that was the price the whole order came in at $75.00 i got ripped off not cool read more

The first thing I tried Quesatorta, which is a quesadilla + torta. I choose goat meat for the meat option. I enjoyed this, but the shell did get a bit soggy on the bottom in the to-go box. I didn't remember to bring a mask, so they ask you to use the drive-thru if you don't have one. The drive-thru window showed they have a goat on Saturday and Sunday! I decided to go back within a week to try something different. I tried the marinated pork Pobrecito's. These were delicious. They weren't soggy. I also substituted the corn to tortilla for a flour tortilla. This I enjoyed outside at one of the few tables they have. This place is definitely worth trying! read more

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Ohhhhhh my Goodnessssss..... the most authentic and amazing food. Their corn quesadilla. Carnitas is amazing freshly made corn quesadilla cheese, melted in to perfection, radishes vegetables, and a fine, seasoned Carnitas or whatever meat you were looking for Cabeza available and more. Roasted jalapeños are so good they make their own green and red sauces and a Sunday buffet you don't have enough room for their huge selection ,my favorite Mexican food in Minnesota. read more

El Pariente Mexican Grill - A little peek at part of their menu they offer. - Tacos Near Me - White Bear Lake, Minnesota

We've been here now almost a year and finally decided to stop and eat! On county road E in white bear across from the caribou/bagel shop. There is a open parking lot, a drive thru and seating outside. Inside there is a good amount of seating and booths. Great music playing! We are originally from texas however we have been living in Hawaii the last 4 years. Mexican food is practically nonexistent there. We've had quite a bit of great Mexican food while here in MN. There is a decent large menu, service staff was friendly as we mentioned this was our first time. Recommended several items and they have specials of the day. Food was hot and fresh and service was quick. Red salsa is a spicy habanero and the green is a delicious tomatillo which was our favorite. We got a side of guac and we loved it great flavor! We will be back to try more menu items! We will be back can't wait to try more menu items read more

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Rude to there black customers , the food isn't always right , the ambiance is nice tho that's it .

I had tried El Pariente from the food truck about a year ago. I wanted to see if the food tasted any fresher than that time. The Birria with consumé was pretty good and tasted pretty fresh. I think it was a little on the spendy side for three Birria tacos but I'll be honest I'm not sure what I have paid for them elsewhere, and I would pay any price to try Birria from a new place. I also had the carne asada and the tacos al pastor. Here's where El Pariente lost me. The meat didn't taste freshly prepared. So like El Taquito in west St. Paul always cooks fresh steak tacos and I've been going there for over twenty years for that reason. When you can taste that the meat is not freshly prepared, there really is no telling how long it has been sitting before being reheated to serve. The al pastor. The same thing. It did not taste fresh. I go to Andalè in Richfield for their tacos al pastor. Although I believe their al pastor to be prepped before being ordered, it still tastes fresh. So if I am noticing the taste of meat that isn't fresh, again, there is no telling how long it has been sitting, waiting to be cooked. Pretty unfortunate to have a less than stellar review for these guys. The service was good and somewhat fast. And the place was clean. I'm not sure what else to say except I might only ever go back for the Birria. read more

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Alright, this is a dangerous discovery, especially with it being less than a 10 minute drive away. I'm about to be 800 lbs eating these damn tortas. First time I came I was starving, like I was hungry 4 hours before I got to eat starving, and I was murderous. So, I devoured and loved everything on the first visit, but secretly worried my judgment was clouded due to my physical state. Now that I've been back a couple times, I know I am an addict. I conquered the super nachos, enchiladas, barbacoa plate, pork tamales, Cuban Torta, and the asada, carnita's, and tripa tacos. I'd recommend any of these options, but the torta, oh my. It's stuffed with meat and fresh veggies, in a soft and perfectly grilled bun. I couldn't resist shoving giant bites into my mouth and taking a chunk out of the super spicy grilled jalapeño on the side. It's a mouthgasm. The tamales are some of my favorites as well, I always get a few extra for breakfast the next day. You want to try this authentic place. Don't forget the little sauce cups if you're making a to go order. read more

El Pariente Mexican Grill - Cuban Torta - Tacos Near Me - White Bear Lake, Minnesota

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Disappointed - we ordered food along with a paloma and a margarita. The paloma tasted like dishwater and they charged us for a Patron margarita without asking. Be warned, the drinks are roughly $14.00 with tax, and should be excellent for the price. They also got our order wrong. To top it off the staff argued with us saying we never ordered a margarita before charging us $14 for the one with Patron! Sadly, while we were fairly regular customers we had our last visit today. read more

We decided to try this place out one night and were pleasantly suprised. Was it the best Mexican I've ever had, no but it was pretty darn good. We decided to get a few different things to try. We had the carnita tacos with flour tortillas, a tinga (spicy chicken) tostada, a tinga quesadilla and tinga enchiladas. The enchiladas were very good and spicy and came with rice and beans. The quesadilla was also good we really liked both sauces they gave us to try the red one was spicier but both tasted very fresh. The carnitas tacos were very good but a little greasy however these were still on of my favorite things. I didn't care for the tostada but mostly what I could taste were the beans and lettuce and not really anything else. Overall I would recommend this restaurant the food was good and the man working there was very nice. Also the restaurant was very clean and organized which was nice to see for it being somewhere where you order and then sit down with your food or take it to go. read more

The food was good, but the senorita taking our order didn't seem to understand English to well. We had ordered nachos with our order but she didn't understand and we never got them...glad the food was good read more

First time finally trying this place, such a disappointment!! No menu for drive thru- look it up before you go. I ordered 3 Tacos Americano ($3.25 ea.=$9.75) and a side of chips & guac ($4.50) so my total for food was $14.25. How was I charged $18.08??? I waited 40 minutes..... yes. 40 minutes for items that just need to be thrown together. I finally got my food home. The tacos were soggy, had no spice to them (I ordered a spicy variety) and the guac was bland. Such a long wait for a huge disappointment only to get over charged on top of it!! read more

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Best tacos ever ! The birria tacos were out of this worlds Highly recommend the goat birria- even more tender and milder than beef at this place . Rice and beans were so flavorful . Their red and green sauce added even more depth and dimension to the tacos. Everything I ate blew my mind . Staff was kind, location was clean and affordable . read more

Went for lunch the other day. Stopped in bc remember trying this place about a year ago and remembered the authenticity was great. Got the special for Monday which was a burrito with soda for 10 bucks (rice was over cooked, beans - were decent, meat - tinga chicken was tasty, cheese, tomato, lettuce and onion were all barely there). For the price it wasn't the greatest deal, though big burrito, I've had better at Casa Lupita in WBL for several dollars less. Though if you are on this side of town might be worth a look. The person I went with got 3 chicken verde enchiladas dressed with sour cream, cheese lettuce and a side of rice and beans. There rice wasn't mush as mine was (guessing it was the bottom of the steamer tray) and looked really tasty. The verde sauce had a kick but chicken was mild. I liked the ambiance, it was clean and friendly service and good variety of tequila and beer available. read more

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This place is amazing. I've been here numerous times and am still addicted to their Chimichanga (big and smothered with cheese and filled with goodness). They also have the best Margaritas I've had State side. We went here for my brother's birthday and they played Spanish birthday music, provided authentic tequila shots (yikes haha), and all around just reminded me of my favorite restaurant in Mexico. I can't recommend this more! I posted the menu as well as the menu pictures posted weren't the best. Their Green Salsa is also a must for an add-on! read more

El Pariente Mexican Grill - Menu Side 2 - Tacos Near Me - White Bear Lake, Minnesota

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Food is always amazing! Staff is always kind. We love getting the street tacos or plate. Kids love the rice and quesadilla.

i've gone here several times before and i'm never disappointed. the staff is always friendly! they have a station for you to put your own trash and dishes away, but they always help out with clearing your table. the food is always amazing, and the music and atmosphere in general is great too. my usual is the street taco combo with asada and i always leave satisfied!! read more

Don't listen to them white folks leavin reviews. They don't know good authentic food taco spots. For you young folks.... this place absolutely bussin They got a taco truck too..... read more

Having lived in San Francisco for over a decade I've got to taste some of the best Mexican food I believe there is. With that said, my expectations for authentic Mexican are extremely high. I haven't found my go-to, must have Mexican food place in the Twin Cities yet. Although El Pariente wasn't particularly bad, it likely won't be it. It was a busy Saturday night, so it took a while for our food to come out - about 20 minutes. It was no biggy though. The place is clean, there's a TV and music playing. The food itself was just ok. We got quesadillas, chips and guac, fries, elote, and hubby got a burrito. The quesadillas had SO MUCH CHEESE. Depending on your personal preference this may be good or bad. I thought it was overkill. I was also disappointed that the kids quesadilla came with rice and beans where the adult version was just plain. Would have totally paid more for rice and beans to complete the meal rather than order them as separate sides. Kids eat free on Saturday until 6 or 7 pm so that was a score. I was sorely disappointed at the amount of pico de gallo though. Like seriously? Overall, everyone working there was nice. Prices were cheap and there was plenty of seating. read more

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Disappointed that you pay extra for salsas. Food was bland and not something to travel out of the way to acquire. Server was quick to bring our food after we ordered at the counter never checked back with us if we needed anything additional but passed our table multiple times to chat with patrons at other tables. read more

I am Mexican ... and this is authentic Mexican food. It was fabulous. My family and I had tamales, carne asada and margs.

I was happily cooking breakfast when my partner woke up and said "I want fajitas." We're relatively new to the area and were not sure where the go-to spots are. I did a quick search online and found great reviews on Facebook, Yelp, and Google so we decided to check it out and initially planned to get our food to-go. This is located at the very end of a strip mall with massive parking stalls (no complaints in this department since I like not having another vehicle park on top of mine). We walked in and are greeted by a friendly face. The menu is large enough to satisfy your craving for: tacos, tamales, pozole, torta, etc. They seem to have a rotating daily special and it just so happened that their special was steak fajitas (it comes with rice, beans, pico, guac, steak and peppers, and tortillas - for $8.00). I ordered tamales - one chicken and one pork ($2.75/tamale) since I was expecting them to be relatively small. Now, we wait. The place was spotless, tables weren't sticky, and the condiment/soda area wasn't a mess. We decided to dine-in. The food was great! Steak fajitas had an even amount of fat to meat ratio, the rice wasn't mushy, and tortillas tasted like it was made from scratch (did not confirm whether it is or not). The tamales that I ordered were not small... one would be sufficient and now I have leftovers! Will definitely be coming back to try other items on the menu: beef tongue torta. read more

Sometimes I crave the flavor of chipotles (the pepper, not the restaurant!). I hit up El Pariente to satisfy my desire. I have never been, but I've heard good things. For being in a small strip mall, El Pariente has a fairly decent Mexcian vibe. The service was fast and friendly. I ordered a burrito de tinga. The food was good, it just wasn't tinga. It was flavorful, just not the flavor it should have been. Thing is, there was no tinga - it was just shredded chicken. Tinga should have the distinct flavor of chipotle (smoked jalapeno). This was just plain old shredded chicken. The other ingredients resulted in a nice fresh flavor, but I had to soak the food in the salsa they provided on the side to spice it up. I have always said the measure of a good Mexican restaurant is the quality of their mole and tinga. Knowing that their tinga lacked what it needed to be true tinga would make me very hesitant to order their mole. read more

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Overall great experience especially for a suburban Mexican restaurant. The tacos were pretty good and there's a very good variety of meat including beef shoulder, head, tripe, etc. The only downsides would be subpar salsa and the price. read more

El Pariente Mexican Grill - Cabeza plate - Tacos Near Me - White Bear Lake, Minnesota

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VERY DISAPPOINTED! Ordered fajitas, guacamole, and pobrecito. Guacamole had absolutey NO flavor. Fajitas were tasty but did not get any tortillas or sauce. The pobrecito also was tasteless, we drowned everything in my homemade salsa. Ordered from here back in December and it was great. Very sad to see the food has gone down hill, the service was good. Will be looking for a new location for Mexican. read more