El Loro Mexican Restaurante ~ Burnsville, Eagan & Savage, MN

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Cuisine: Authentic Mexican,

Restaurant Features: Bar, On-Site Parking
Locations: Burnsville, Eagan & Savage, MN
Addresses & Maps:

Burnsville- 2501 Horizon Drive (Cliff Road & 13th) Burnsville, MN 55337 (952) 808-0068

Eagan- 1428 Yankee Doodle Rd Eagan, MN 55121 (651) 405-8244

Savage- 4749 West Highway 13 Savage, MN 55378 (952)736-8307
Link:  El Loro Website

Atmosphere:  The Burnsville location is quite large, with several small dining areas throughout the restaurant.  The parking lot wraps around the building and there are two entrances to the restaurant.  The decor is authentic Mexican, with large bright murals painted on the walls and a sombrero hung up here and there.  There are a mix of tables and booths, as well as a small bar area near the back entrance.  There also appeared to be a small patio area for use during warmer months.

Menu: Appetizers include Nachos, Queso Fundido, Chicken Fingers, Jalapeno Poppers, and Guacamole.

Salads at El Loro include a couple of different Taco Salads, Tossed Salad, and Chicken Salad.

Special dinners (entrees) include Fajitas (Shrimp, Beef, Chicken, Seafood), Carne Asada, Steak Ranchero, Carnitas,teak a la Tampiquena, T-bone Steak, Burritos Mexicanos, Burritos Rancheros, Enchiladas Rojas, Enchiladas Verdes, Enchiladas Poblanas, Quesadilla Ranchera, Enchiladas Rancheras, Pollo Asado, Pollo Loro, Pollo Monterey, Pollo Veracruzano, Chori Pollo, Yolandas, Burritos Deluxe, Burrito Ruleta, Chilaquiles Mexicanos, Taquitos Mexicanos, Shrimp Quesadilla, Shrimp Chimichanga, Quesadillas Veracruzanas, Quesadilla Rellena, Chimichanga, Enchilada Suprema, Chile Colorado, Chile Verde, Combo Special, Special Dinner, Loro Loco, Seafood Enchilada, and Camaron a la Diabla.

There are several combination plates and smaller-portioned lunch specials at reduced prices.

Desserts include Tres Leches Cake, Sopapilla, Flan, Fried Ice Cream, Cheesecake, Churros, Bunuelos (puffy pieces of pastry covered with honey, butter, and chocolate sauce) and Xangos (cheesecake wrapped in a tortilla and fried that dusted with cinnamon and sugar).

Price guide: Appetizers $4-7 Salads $6-9 Lunch Specials $5-6 Special Dinners $9-14  Combination Plates $8-9
What we ordered: We started with the complimentary chips and salsa.  The chips were freshly made; warm, crispy, and lightly salted.  The salsa was slightly spicy and had great flavor, I especially liked the fresh cilantro.  We also were given a side of "Loro" house dressing, which was a thick, sweet and tangy ranch style sauce.  I also ordered the Texas Margarita, which I believe to be Jose Cuervo Gold and lime juice.  Very good but very strong!

For my entree I ordered the Special Combo, which was a chicken chimichanga and a shredded beef taquito covered with nacho sauce and served with rice and beans.  I wasn't sure what to expect from the Nacho sauce when I ordered, but it seemed to be made from melted Mexican cheese, spices and chile peppers and had a lot of flavor.  I thought it was pretty good.  The chicken in the chimichanga was shredded breast meat that was very tender and seemed to be of excellent quality, and the flour tortilla was fried to a nice crispy golden brown .  The beef taquito was also very good, made from a  fried corn tortilla. I also ordered a chicken enchilada a la carte, but substituted salsa verde for the enchilada sauce, which I think turned out to be an excellent idea! The chicken was great and the salsa was also very good.  Beans and rice were also both very good.  The consistency of the beans was on the thicker side, and the rice was flavorful and slightly dry (which I like!).

 

One of my companions ordered the Special Dinner, which was a chicken burrito, shredded beef enchilada, beef taco, chile relleno, chalupa with guacamole salad, and rice & beans.  Everything was very good.  The chile relleno was a spicy poblano pepper stuffed with cheese and deep fried.  The enchilada sauce was okay, kind of sweet & tangy.

Another companion ordered the Carnitas Dinner, which was delicious! The hefty portion of pork was very tender and moist and came with three flour tortillas, guacamole salad and rice & beans.  There was definitely enough meat to make several tacos, but I think corn tortillas would have been better with the carnitas (more authentic!).

Service: Our party of four arrived at El Loro on a very busy Friday night when all but one table near the door were already taken.  I was disappointed we did not get a booth, but we were hungry and did not want to wait for one to open up, so we sat at probably the worst table in the place (which wasn't really too bad).   Food and drinks arrived in a decent amount of time considering how busy the restaurant was.  One thing I noticed was that all of the servers in the restaurant were Latino Males.
Overall Impression: Very good, authentic Mexican food at reasonable prices.

Comments

[Dana Leigh]

1.

I have been to El Loro once but I thought it was great. I'll have to go back there again.

[Twin Cities Restaurant Blog]

2.

It would be nice if they had one in the northern part of the Cities.....

[Julie]

3.

I LOVE El Loro. I work right down the street from the Burnsville location so I frequent there quite often. :) The fried chicken chimi is my favorite.

[Dan]

4.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "Northern" part of the Cities, but there is a location in Crystal.

[Twin Cities Restaurant Blog]

5.

I meant the northeastern suburbs where Dana and I both live.
I was unaware of a location in Crystal, but even so.... that is further away
from me than the Eagan location and probably just as far as Burnsville :(

[Martha]

6.

I thought this restaurant was a joke. Grease and velveeta. Not fresh. Not suthentic. Brightly-dyed-green margaritas. Sad.

[Amy]

7.

The El Loro in Crystal is my favorite restaurant. They actually use mexican cheese which could (I suppose) be confused with a white velveeta. Everything here is fresh and made daily, even the chips.