El Loro Mexican Restaurant Moundsview Square

We just ate here and I am happy to say that the wait staff was great! Friendly and very attentive. Our food was fair. The guacamole was fresh as were the chips. However, my fajita was bland with no special attention to spice or flavors. I may be willing to try again and hope for a better fare.

Excellent and fast family joint for dinner after soccer practice. Staff are easygoing, knowledgeable and great with kids.

The last two times I ate here the food was so bad I didn’t even finish. The two stars are for the very friendly staff. Take the soccer off the tv’s too, nobody cares.

In searching for a lunch destination, my co-​workers and I were given the tip to try this place for great specials. Deals there were; my party’s orders ranged from enchiladas to fish tacos to huevos rancheros. All of our meals rang in under $ 10 and received contented sighs of approval. The chips and salsa were solid.
The service was excellent– polite but fast. One of our co-​workers special ordered her food for extra spice, and her dish was correctly delivered with no glitches.
The ambiance featured cozy if stereotypical decorations iconic of Mexican themed restaurants the world over, complete with brightly covered murals.
Highly recommend for lunch and get-​togethers. Nothing out of the ordinary, but that’s the point: good food, good service, good price.

El Loro still delivers!
Been going here for a while now, and it’s still our neighborhood gem.
Their pork is melt away tender, a must-​have in dishes we love: Carnitas and Enchilada Rancheras.
Viva La Loro!

I sure hope this restaurant reads reviews by customers. I will say the food here is very good & the service impeccable.
DISLIKES-​this restaurant uses a cleaner on the tables after each customer dines, but the cleaner is so strong it nearly gives me an asthma attack. It goes right into the lungs.
I know it’s not just me either. I spoke with a friend who casually mentioned she had dinner there. She said great food but I won’t go back… whatever cleaner they use on the tables makes me ill.

This place is close to our house so we have been here a number of times. Our best experiences have been when the manager is there. He is really friendly and seems to go the extra mile. When we have been there and he is not working the service is hit or miss. The food has always been outstanding, although we do not care for the white sauce that comes with the tortilla chips. Salsa is good though and they will bring out really hot (also yummy) salsa if you ask.

First of all, I would like to say that, being from southern Cali, I have had great authentic Mexican food a lots of places. I can’t expect to find the same quality and variety of flavors here in Minnesota. Among the Mexican restaurants I’ve tried so far, el loro was the least worse. Margaritas and salsas are really good, but the chile Colorado doesn’t taste like it should by any mans. The enchiladas, or Yolandas, were okay. Last, the service was very rushed through. Maybe next time we will try some different entrees.

This place is our go-​to quick family meal place. The service is fast and professional. We love the chips and salsa especially the white sauce. Try the El Serrapa!

Excellent food and staff! Great atmosphere! Nos gusta mucho!
Great place to go. Take the whole family!

I don’t recommend the cheese sauce. The orders were wrong and the ingredients taste cheap.

Had the shrimp chimichangas and they were amazing! The service was just as excellent! I would totally recommend this place to anyone who wants great food!

I was not impressed. I think sugar should be in the dessert not the meal. All I could taste was the sugar or sweetener. I had the chicken enchiladas. And the sauce was nasty.
Ok, my bad, I am used to eating food that is healthy. This is a big FAIL!!!
The good;
The salsa was great with just the right amount of cilantro.
The service was great!

My boyfriend and I came here on a pretty busy friday night. They have a desk in the front that I suppose is an efficient set-​up when it’s not busy, but likewise inefficient when it is. At this one station, you pay your dine-​in check, pay for and pickup takeout orders, and/​or wait as the hostess answers phone inquiries.
We were given chips, salsa, and some other dipping sauce promptly, and our drink orders were taken soon after being seated. I ordered a chicken chimichanga and my boyfriend got the pork chop dinner. They were both different from what we expected, but at least I ended up liking mine (emphasis on just mine). When I think chimichanga I think of a deep fried burrito w everything in it. But they serve tortillas rolled into thin tubes filled with only shredded chicken, then fried. However, it was redeemably covered in this white cheese sauce, which made me like it even more than the traditional chimi. Here I am writing a review about deep fried burrito specifics… it’s important. So on the flip side, my boyfriend’s «pork chop» was actually a ham steak. Basically just a thick slice of smoked deli meat. Good thing I was enjoying my deep fried and cheesy meal…
The value of the meal was pretty comparable to most mexican themed joints. Though I think they are all overpriced for what you are getting and how much effort goes into scooping bulk rice and beans onto a plate. But that’s just me. And I keep coming back for it anyways!

Muay bueno! I had El Sarape and it was awesome! Far more than I could eat, the flavours mingle so well and the spice was just right. Great selection of dishes, everyone should find something they like. Oh! The sauces for the chips had a white sauce that was just great, along with the standard tomato salsa. The best part was getting chatted up in Spanish. Love this place!

I was heading to a book signing at the Northtown branch of a B&N. This was on the way on old Hwy. 10. It just opened and it was my brunch. It’s kind of dark inside. My server was very nice. He was surprised that I was content with so little. I got my usual, 2 hard shell beef tacos. I judge this local chain by what they don’t do to the taco. It wasn’t soggy and greasy, and the Mexican cheese was the fine shred that I love. They generously offer the signature red and white salsa and chips. For the most part, all these local chains are pretty consistent with the recipes. I was happy to try another one. I think there is only Coon Rapids left.

Probably the best quesadilla I’ve ever had! I got the chicken quesadilla ranchera and it was just amazing. Mine wasn’t cut like the picture of one of the quesadillas on the menu but it didn’t bother me. The other people in my party got the enchiladas rancheras and steak ranchero dinner which were both excellent.
The service was fast and excellent, couldn’t have ask for a better time. We were seated right away and brought chips, a salsa and some other dip that was really good.

I tried two nachos types they had. The Fajita Nachos and the Super Chori Nachos. Time to bring on the NACHO BREAKDOWN!
Fajita Nachos:
Cheese was real, which is good, but sparse
Chips were a bit thin which made picking up the topping a bit harder
Steak was OMG delicious!
Onions, perhaps a bit too big
Super Chori Nachos:
Fresh toppings (lettuce, tomato, guac)
Cheese was plentiful and real!
Beef was super salty. I had to stop eating it because it was so salty.
Chips were frail and broke when you tried to dig into the toppings.
El Loro’s has more types of nachos, so I’m going to leave them off my nacho lists for now until I can try them all. My conclusion from the ones I did try was to pass on the Super Chori and try the Fajita nachos.

This place opened up where the Totino’s restaurant used to be in Moundsview.
While I have enjoyed myself at their Coon Rapids location, Moundsview didn’t really jump out at me.
The staff here are friendly. Its the food that lacks. I had the El Serape. While I received more meat than Jason, I didn’t find it all that pleasing. With that ingredient list it should be great. I couldn’t stir up more than tepid enthusiasm for anything on the table.
They do serve Jarritos, and I do love my tamarind Jarritos … Olé!

I have to say this is our third time here and we keep hoping it will get better. We love the El Loro’s (which means the parrot) in Eagan, a sister store, unfortunately Mounds View is missing something.
We had the El Sarape, which is what I normally get and is nothing short of amazing, with grilled steak, grilled chicken, chorizo, green peppers and onions on-​top of a poblano pepper with cheese. Served with rice, beans and tortillas. It was basically large chunks of green peppers and onions, with little meat. I am a carnivore, give me meat and not a bunch of filler (onions beyond belief and whole peppers chuncks) or at the very least equal distribution of items. We also tried the chimi/​taquito combo meal, it was sub-​par at best. It had little to no meat, was bland and really no excitement. The margarita was glorious and so is the cheese dip, some of the best around!
Unfortunately, all in all we will probably not be going back to this location for lack of soul in their food and we really never knew who our server was! Thou, the young hostesses was very nice and did help us the most and did comp our cheese dip for the wait on our drinks, without us saying anything.
Maybe a little more love in the food and the service to bring the place up to par with it’s counterparts, otherwise we will be driving to Eagan next time we want El Loro’s, you should probably do the same.