Saguaro

Not a good experience. Ordered Steak Fajitas and my lady ordered two tacos. Food took exceptionally long — after our server apologized for a third time about it, we were already getting a bad feeling about the place. Food came out — the steak fajitas were close to inedible. The steak was so tough and dry that I couldn’t even cut any of the pieces in half after putting energy into sawing at it. The server asked how it was, and even though I try not to be «that dude» I mentioned that the steak was tough and I was having a hard time even chewing/​swallowing it. He insisted on fixing the bill — so next a manger came over, had a bit of an accusatory tone, insinuating that I must have ordered them wrong (I ordered medium) — «Well, you already started eating them too, so…» And then trailed off. «Let me get you dessert» — I told him the server offered to do something for our bill, and I would appreciate him honoring that. He walked away and immediately started talking to the kitchen about me and the food, about 10 feet away from our table. It was loud enough for my date and I to hear… felt like he made the situation worse, when I just wanted to mention it and let it go. The server showed up with the steak fajitas taken off the bill and an apology, but that’s it for me. Server did everything he could, but there was little to no professionalism about any of it.

We went for the first time last night. We are always on the hunt for good Mexican in the Twin Cities having relocated here from L.A., and Saguaro is now at the top of our list. Great atmosphere is hip and cozy while hitting the sweet spot of not too casual nor too fancy. Food was fresh and had really bold flavors with a little different twist on your traditional Mexican. My husband loved the enchiladas, and I loved my steak tacos platter. The guacamole was amazing with the homemade chips, and the lime/​coconut tres leches cake is the best way to end a meal. We took our three young children, and they enjoyed the kids’ menu. Service was quick and friendly. We will be back. Next time maybe we will ride our bikes as this restaurant is very close to the bike trail by the creek.

Stopped in on an early afternoon after we had seen them on the WCCO morning show. Thoroughly enjoyed our lunch including the Tres Leches :-). Great service (no after lunch slack off) and an engaging staff.
Keep up the good work.

Great little place with fine service and very good southwest offerings. I always get the steak fajitas. They know how to do medium rare! Prices are a bit higher but within reason. The best part is this place is kid friendly, while maintaining a balance of charm for couples. Bravo!

Pretty good overall but as with many restaurants way too much sodium in every dish. Love the elote and the fritters, the short rib quesadilla was so salty I could barely eat it. The chicken tamale is average, needs a bit more kick in my opinion. We used Bite Squad so can’t say anything about service or ambiance at this point. Will update later on that!

I’m not sure why there are so many negative reviews. We’ve been here a handful of times and it’s been fairly solid with each visit. We bring our kids here for dinner because it’s rarely packed and they have things that the kids like to eat. The flavors won’t blow your mind but everything here is fairly solid and we’ve always enjoyed ourselves. The staff friendly and accommodating considering we have two fairly rambunctious toddlers. I would never hesitate to return.

I really like the chips, guacamole, and steak taco. The chips were uniquely good and seemed homemade. Definitely pricier than the usual so be prepared!

Love it here! I lived in Arizona for 5 years and have been longing for the flavors of the Southwest since moving back to Mn.

Alas, we had such great hopes for this place.
Saguaro is close to where we live, and as 54^th & Lyndale is somewhat lacking in the restaurant department we approached it with a mix of hope, yearning and patience. After word of a rocky start, we held off some time until our first visit, which, when it finally came, did not go great. (Slow service, multiple items on the menu not available.) Subsequent visits slowly wore us down, with the dagger coming in the form of two cold breakfast burritos served after a long wait despite only three tables being occupied.
With the exception of the corn pancakes, little fluffy wonders we hesitate to give our seven-​year-​old as he’ll be asking for them again for days on end, the food is just… Meh. I can’t think of a single other thing I’d recommend. Maybe the coffee? Yeah, the food is that bad. Well, not bad, just bland and forgettable.
What’s the deal with the sauces? Each time we were there the tableside options offered two heat levels, which could be described respectively as «water» and «self immolation.» Now, habanero definitely has its place, but a mid-​temp option would be nice, particularly considering many of the dishes really need it.
You know, like those breakfast burritos. Which you’ve watched sit under a heat lamp for 15 minutes because the corn pancakes aren’t done yet because, I don’t know, they have to mill the corn or something.
Stay away from this place.

To be fair I have only had lunch here but…
My lunch mate and I both felt that the food was not interesting enough to be bad.
To start we tried the queso dip with chips. If the queso dip doesn’t come from a #10 can with «Frito-​Lay» stamped on the side I would be amazed.
I had the Chimi de Oro. Again not interesting in any way. I don’t mean to say it wasn’t innovative, I mean it was bland. Tragically bland in fact. I don’t mean not spicy enough (it wasn’t), I mean a complete vacuum of flavor. The side of Potatoes Bravas was… it wasn’t… well it was boring, fantastically boring.
The only thing interesting about my lunch was the fact that you could take 5 or 6 ingredients and combine them in such a way as to have truly no flavor. If it weren’t for my lunch mate agreeing on every point I would think I was having a stroke that only affected the taste centers of my brain.

Went for Sunday brunch today. The inside has a very cool southwest décor! And the food is a fusion of cuisine from Arizona and Mexico. The prices were a bit over priced, but we had a groupon!
The food was good not amazing. The Hash was tasty but not worth 14 bucks. The bacon is delicious (obviously), service was alright. I’d rate it a 7 out of 10.
I imagine it’s better for dinner!
Worth a try though, if you’re in the area and want something besides pancakes for breakfast.

This is some of the best food I’ve ever had! Chicken chimichanga was go die for, big chunks of moist chicken throughout. Yummy rice, good drinks, pico was amazing! My friend got the steak fajitas and she said they were amazing! I work in the neighborhood and can’t wait to go back!

Service is great. Some food choices were hits and others misses.
The guacamole was disappointing. No onions, tomatoes and lacked salt for flavoring. We tried a pork chimichanga and a short rib quesadilla. Both were good but nothing compelling to come back for. Finished the meal with the churros and those were pretty tasty.

Really wanted this place to fill the void of wonderful AZ food I have been missing since I have left there, but alas, it did not. Atmosphere was nice, its a very cute/​quaint place! Service was good, didn’t have any issues with our server, very courteous, timely etc… Food was meh for me. Here is what we ordered and my rating/​review of each:
Guacamole and chips — the guacamole was delicious! Definitely met my expectations, would not change a thing about it! Loved the both varieties of chips we received! (four stars)
Elote Corn Bowl — cannot get on board with this, the corn tasted like it was straight out of a $ 0.68 can, was mushy and had zero flavor. We had seen a picture of some corn on the cob, and that was what we were hoping for, until our server advised us it was in a bowl…(one star, and this is generous)
Steak Fajitas — These were very good! No complaints on this one, very happy with how the meat was prepared, the presentation was nice, super yummy! (four stars)
Southwest Salad with shredded Chicken — I think this salad could have been great, had the chicken actually had flavor and was truly shredded. Chicken was dry, no flavor, and it looked like they took a fork to a grilled chicken breast. Shredded in my mind equates to slow cooked throughout the day and just super easy to pull apart with tons of flavors from the juices etc… dressing was meh, toppings were good. (two stars)
So there you have it! Didn’t get dessert, went out to Izzy’s instead!

I kinda love Groupon! I wouldn’t have discovered this little gem otherwise. For dinner on a Wednesday night, two people enjoyed their beef chimichanga, spicy chicken taco, indeed beer, tres leche, and churros. All that was around $ 40! Service was fair, relaxed. The servers gave us their honest opinion about everything. Definitely need a return trip.

Food was bland. Rather the opposite of pretty much any Mexican food I’ve eaten.
My wife and I moved here from the Sonoran Desert. I wouldn’t say this meal reminded us of any of our rich dining experiences.
So add a star to my review if you’ve had fewer Mexican meals than us. If you’re a veteran of Mexican cuisine then you might want to pass.
Too bad because the potential is there.

Presentation was beautiful but the food lacked flavor. It wasn’t necessarily bad, it just wasn’t memorable. We had the breakfast tacos and huevos rancheros with sides of refried beans, potatoes, and citrus slaw. I could have done without the fried shell for the huevos rancheros. Their sauce on the table was pretty good, but I had to douse my meal with it so it would have some flavor.
The service was good (the server said he was new so maybe they hired someone better than earlier reviews). For a Sunday brunch, though, the place was pretty empty which was surprising.
If you are new to Mexican food or if you like your food on the bland side, this might be a good restaurant for you. If you’re a Mexican food veteran or looking for authentic flavors, you might want to try someplace else.

Food = 4 stars
Service = 1 star
Second time here, first time for Sunday brunch (and last).
Called in with a group of 6 people (3 couples) and was told an hour wait; not bad, but the guy told me, «we only have one table for a party that size.» OK, so tip: only bring 2 – 4 people.
We were sat at a table and in took 5 – 7 min for our server to come by and say, «one sec!» At which time I was talked out of walking to anywhere else. Our server approached to great us with, «sorry! It’s been a crazy day, we’re out of a lot.» We asked… well, «the bartender usually preps for Sunday but I don’t know what he did cuz we’re out of…» And we order one of the two drinks left.
She continued to tell us the food they were out of. Now, we got there at 1215, they had been open for 2.25 hours and they were out of ¹⁄₃ of their menu. I wasn’t so upset about this, but the fact our server ‘opened the kitchen’ and blamed the fault on everyone else, make me wonder where the manager/​owner is? This place is a complete mess and wouldn’t suggest it to anyone: there are 5 – 6 other places within walking distance who will appreciate your service. We convinced ourselves last time that this place was ‘new,’ but it has now been open long enough that it’s had time to work out the kinks.
The food was amazing. I’d go back only to get a to go order. The service was bad enough to keep me away from this place until I see a change. Our party of 6 was extremely frustrated, disappointed and all wished we would have went somewhere else.
I highly suggest looking into Prima, George and the Dragon, Kings or La Fresca if your in this neighborhood. We will not be giving this place a 3^rd chance.

I recently moved to the neighborhood, so my husband and I were curious about the restaurants. I am thrilled to announce that Saguaro exceeds our expectations. We had the AMAZING Chimichanga and two of the tacos. We could only finish half of the Chimichanga and all that my husband could do for the next 12 hours was talk about how excited he was that his lunch was going to be the remaining portion.
The staff is attentive and friendly — we had a wonderful conversation with our waitress and the head cook. It is an intimate restaurant and sooooo good. The flan was bonkers as well. YUM.

We were really excited by the addition of another new restaurant to the neighborhood. However, Saguaro just doesn’t live up to the new restaurant hype and it doesn’t perform well.
We came here on a weeknight around 7pm and the place was nearly empty. The service was prompt but the server was a little too personal, asking about how crazy we planned on getting this weekend… it was a little weird.
The food was OK, the beer list was good, but the mixed drink that we ordered was bad. My wife usually loves sangria, but she had to leave this one mostly full on the table. It was practically unpalatable.
We each ordered a sampling of tacos, (I had the Braised Pork Belly, Chorizo and Shrimp, and Lamb Sausage) which were filling but poorly executed. They lacked a solid flavor profile and quality imagination. I had high hopes for these options and they simply fell flat. My wife’s tempura cod and «homestyle» tacos exhibited the same reaction. The «homestyle» was actually pretty good, but since it is essentially your classic softshell taco, this was expected.
In all, there are many other options for Southwestern/​Mexican food in the Twin Cities area, and unless they are all full or closed, I would suggest going there over this establishment.