Indio

Alright, I finally made it to Indio last weekend.  Here's my mini-review on vita.mn:

Chef Hector, Please lower your prices!

Indio was a knockout dining experience. From the perfectly mixed, juicy cocktails to the fresh-fried tortilla chips to the black bean mole on my enfrijoladas. But I must say, the biggest wallop came with the check when we saw the high price of our delicious meals: $112.00 for three ladies who each ordered just one cocktail with dinner, and no dessert afterwards. Chef Hector Ruiz's dishes are simple and delicious, using basic ingredients and traditional combinations of Mexican cuisine.

I don't know if I can bring myself to order an $8.00 dish of guacamole again any time soon, but I'd go back for the $7.00 mojitos on the patio outside.   Rating: ***

To add to that, I do want to say that the management at Indio is top-notch (hi Ken!), and the kitchen staff provides extra eye candy for your dining pleasure.  But I'm serious about not knowing if I could spend that kind of money on simple Mexican fare again. 

Indio uses fresher ingredients and lighter cooking methods than the joints a bit further down Lake Street (like my beloved La Poblanita), but should I be paying over twice as much?  $13.00 was too steep, in my opinion, for sauteed onions, onions and more red onions wrapped up in fried corn tortillas and covered in a pureed black bean sauce.  And yes, $8.00 was a shocking sticker price for a little bowl of guacamole.

My sister says I've become a Mexican food snob since mastering basic and intermediate methods of cooking the cuisine in my own kitchen.  Sorry, I can't help it.  Maybe I should open up a little takeout place of my own up here in Northeast.  If Indio is still in business in one year, charging the same prices (transportation inflation irrelevant), then I'll seriously consider it.

Comments

[Jason DeRusha]

Dude, I feel exactly the same about this place. Alyssa and I (and Jen/Rich) went there, and I was floored at the prices. They bordered on fine dining. Maybe it's just a bias that this type of food isn't fine dining, but I really don't believe it rose to that level.

We wanted salsa and guac, and had to buy an order of guac ($8) and an order of salsa ($4.50). That seemed silly to me. But whatever: you're fine dining, you want to charge for chips, I guess that's fine by me. (Although Masa gives you free chips). The salsa was delicious - of course. So was my dinner, and the drink menu was wonderful (have they added tequila flights yet?). Anyway, nice food, too expensive, rant over.

[gretchen]

I really liked the use of space, the staff, the general vibe of the place - especially the backyard patio...but come on. $8 for guacamole? $15 for my enchiladas? Add in the $4 you paid for parking and I just have a hard time going back, unless someone else wants to splurge on me. I would rather buy all the ingredients and have a mexican potluck party in the backyard with friends. I realize food costs are rising for everybody but I have a hard time believing they're going to pull a regular crowd at those price points.

[Alexis]

DeRusha: Tequila flights are available now. There's a happy hour on the weekends, too, but I'm not sure what the prices are for that.

[Matthew Hegge]

Holy Crap! That's a lot of pesos! You cannot improve that much compared to the great places on Central in NE.

[Greer]

Move the fuck out of MN already.

In L.A. and Texas, Mexican food is cheap and real and good.

I cannot understand why people CHOOSE to live there, then complain about such things.

[Bexley]

Yeah, but then you're living in L.A. or Texas. Ew.

[Marchelle]

I heartily second that, Bex.

[Alexis]

I cannot understand why people CHOOSE to read a blog, then complain about its content. Go read something you enjoy and leave this one the fuck alone already.

Minneapolis has innumerable amazing Mexican restaurants, like the ones I write about here and review on other sites. You're like a child who wanders into a movie.

[Moroco Topo]

Your overall impression of this place was the same as mine: i'd go back for the drinks, which seemed priced well, but i wont go back for the food. Masa does a much better job than Indio for similarly priced items. On the day i visited Indio, i also visited bar abilene so i can honestly tell you there isnt a better margarita in uptown for the price. i didnt try the enmolada but the pricing could be justified if he is making his own mole sauce, as compared with the places on e lake or central, which are likely using the stuff you can buy at any grocery store.

[Christopher]

As a local foodie, you need to share more of you cooking / dining adventures. Also, great review! I was planning on visiting Indio on Saturday evening. Thanks for the warning on prices. I'll keep an eye on the Guacamole.

If you're mastering your Mexican cooking, you need to check out the cooking shows on TPT17. I've become a follower of Rick Bayless' "Mexican Everyday" since I started home officing. I had to pick up the "Mexico - one plate at a time" cookbook to feed my desire for Tamales, Achiote Pork, Tortilla Soup, Whole fish with Adobo, etc. I think I've cooked everything in the book by now.

[Greer]

The movie this child wandered into is where I was born and raised, the TWIN CHITTIES. It has NEVER had good, reasonably priced Messican food and NEVER WILL. It's because it's 'mexican food on the prairie' bullshit, watered down, overpriced, and DUPING Gen-X yuppie middlebrow bloggers into thinking it's worthy to write about.

Get real, get the fuck out of the lily-white Midwest and stop pretending to be a "foodie." You make a much better "vanilla sex" writer.

[Max "Bunny" Sparber]

You know, when I loved to Los Angeles, I didn't endlessly troll Twin Cities blogs and insult their writers, or the town itself, which is actually lovely if you aren't a shrill basket case. There's just too much to do in LA. You should try going to the Armand Hammer Museum in Westwood. It's great.

[Max]

That's right. I loved to Los Angeles.

[Alexis]

In case anyone even cares, the above troll "Greer" (my second ever!) is also "Coco," the same "aging queen" who had a problem with my hairstyle in this post.

She also posts as "Bx" on MNSpeak, but I believe Max has banned her IP address from there now because of her ceaseless trolling. I'm banning her IP from here now, too.

Other bloggers beware; this Minnesota ex-pat is apparently so obsessed with her hometown that she can't stop living in it virtually.

[Alexis]

Christopher: I do love Rick Bayless, and catch him when I can. My next cookbook purchase is "The Vegetarian Table: Mexico" by Gloria Wise. I've come across several random reviews of it, and they're all very praising.

[Max "Bunny" Sparber]

Well, I banned one of her IPs. She apparently has a few, and so I'm letting her comment until she loses control again. Which, given her history, will happen shortly.

I'm not sure she knows she's a troll. I think she just thinks she's HILARIOUS and STRONG and OPINIONATED, and that all this makes her excellent.

It really doesn't.