Mazatlan

My wife and I like to try, budet permitting, a new restaurant every month; last evening we decided on Mazatlan with another friend of ours. Walking in the «joint» is a far cry from what a restaurant should be. We were disappointed at the condition, the cleanliness, and the staff sans any greeting whatsoever. My usual review of a new restaurant starts in the restrooms, I like to wash up prior to a meal. The mens restroom was flithy, walls, sink, floors, everything. If a restaurant can’t seem to keep clean the restrooms for the customers, I then always assume the kitchen is in same condition. Strike 1.
The service was adequate at best. The wait person took our orders for cocktails, 2 margarita’s served in a beer mug! and a bottle of Mexican beer with a dried out lime «shoved» in the neck of the bottle. She took our orders by memory and of course lacked accuracy when dinners were served because she wrote nothing down — saw that coming! Strike 2
The cuisine I found to be very bland, the quality of steak was overcooked thereby tough and not good, combined with fake rice terrible sauce and no presentation is my opinion for my 3d strike. The ladies with me did not use their restroom and adjusted to this last experience. Can you say Los Arcos (360 w bernard WSP) now that’s a TEN.

Scary walking into this place since the locals at the bar stopped talking and stared. The dining room seemed to have only the front half of room lighted. This Is definitely a dive — but yet the food came out surprisingly yummy. The fajita shells were freshly made and they brought out 5 different salsas to choose from.
I’d give the ambience a negative 5, but the food definitely made up for it!

We had a gift certificate from Living Social or somesuch so we checked this place out on a Saturday afternoon. It’s a little neighborhood joint with ample parking and all the dive bar charm you could ask for.
The shabbiness of the dining room doesn’t match up to the quality of the food and service. We were greeted by the super friendly English-​speaking bartender the moment we entered and took our seats in the corner booth. A tip: wear a sweater. It’s a bit drafty in the winter.
There aren’t a ton of descriptions on the menu so we did a bit of Googling and asking about the unfamiliar items. We ended up getting a ceviche platter, a pork torta, and the bistec Mexicana. The ceviche was as fresh as you can get in Minnesota. It came with sliced cucumbers and a stack of tostadas. The torta was brilliant as expected, and the clear winner was the bistec. It was exploding with flavor. The tortillas are presumably house-​made. Nicely thick and just chewy enough and substantial enough to hold the juicy bistec. It came with a simple rice and refried beans.

We tried the seafood soup and mixed fajitas (beef and shrimp). Food was pretty good and we had a buy one get one free card so price was right at least for us.
The soup had a fair amount of seafood and the broth is flavored well. Fajitas were solid and came with a stack of corn tortillas. I prefer corn tortillas and they are generous with amounts ~10 tortillas compared to the 3 or 4 you’d get at other places.
The atmosphere is kind of weird — there’s a bar attached and there are a lot of locals that hang out there. Everyone gives you that unwelcome look when you first walk in, but that’s soon forgotten.

Mazatlan, formerly the Brown Derby, is a relatively new Mexican restaurant found in the heart of the West Side of downtown Saint Paul. Just a mile or so from the Del Sol neighborhood.
My first visit was to celebrate my birthday and I found I could not have picked a better place to have a first experience.
The food is the best part of this restaurant. They serve authentic Mexican recipes including the traditional beef tacos and enchiladas all the way to red snapper and beef tongue burritos. Although I’m not a lover of seafood those who went with me couldn’t talk enough about the taste of their meals; particularly the spicy shrimp and the aforementioned red snapper. They provide each meal with a broad selection of sauces; each with their own unique taste and personality. They also serve a mean margarita.
The atmosphere itself is also authentic from the furnishings to the lighting to the menus. All menus are in Spanish except for the four English versions they were able to find.
The staff, as well, is very accommodating and friendly.
I highly recommend this place for its true ambience, delectably authentic food and the margaritas. Enjoy.