El Parian Mexican Restaurant

Not the most authentic, but very good nonetheless. Their enchiladas poblano (with molé) was excellent and my friend enjoyed her quesadilla fajita. Nice décor, great service, this is a rock solid choice for a lunch, quick dinner, or snack.

I have written reviews for this place before! I just spent a week in Phoenix area were they are suppose to have great mexican and it was good! But not as good as El Parian! After each i said place went to i said not as good as El Parian!!! I have been craving been craving burritos San Pancho for 30 hrs and 1400 mile drive!!! It was totally worth the drive!!! Best mexican around! Period!!!

Best Mexican I’ve had in a long time! Good service, good food, doesn’t get much better :)

Very good food but staff is a little quiet and they keep to themselves when they should be attending customers. One staff member was on the telephone while serving food to his table. he was not a manager.

This place is awesome. It’s not the best Mexican food around the area (probably El Azteca in Apple Valley), but it is excellent. Everything I have had here has been fine. Get whatever Mexican fantasy you want; don’t think too hard.
What you really need to get is the nacho cheese. It is the best liquidy goopy cheese ever. I know that’s not, like, the most romantic way to describe food. But you aren’t eating crab legs at a fancy seafood restaurant (like Bubba Gumps or Red Lobster or something) — you’re at El Parian. Eat that liquid cheese gold. Put it on everything. So order what you want and order a side of nacho cheese.
The place is small and quiet. Which is nice because the service is usually pretty quick then. I’ve been there for dinner and there weren’t any tables left, but then it was just a little wait. No big deal.
The lunch specials are awesome. You get a bunch of food for under $ 10 and some chips.
The margaritas are awesome. They have some sizes that are insanely big — I recommend having 5 or 6 of them. Jk. 7 or 19.

Yum!!! Excellent food at a decent price and friendly staff. It’s a very popular place so plan to have a short wait… and it’s worth it. :)

Great family local «hole in the wall.» Great service and authentic food.

Delicious food and great service! The habanero salsa is a must for people who can take the heat! The cheese dip is also deciously-​addictive.

Service was good but the food sort of meh. We did lunch service which was fast and cheap. The taco salad was soupy and the fajitas less interesting.

This is by far my favorite Mexican restaurant in Eagan. The food is authentic and delicious! I enjoyed my order of burritos and enchiladas. The staff are friendly and helpful! The restaurant can be crowded, especially during lunch time. The prices are very reasonable!

Absolutely amazing!
Very authentic — by far the best food around!
It was our first time there but I will definitely be back — and hopefully often!

Good food, bad service.
Arrived for lunch at 1:15
Wait staff was nice and attentive
We were the only people who arrived at that time. The place did get super busy by 2pm.
Realized a little before 2pm when a table that arrived after us got their food that our order wasn’t coming up. Weak apology from waitstaff no offer to comp or anything. It was like they were too embarrassed to really apologize so they just acted like nothing happened… my kids were hungry and exhausted… server should have realized when he offers us more chips that the food was late. Anyhow, know people like it and assume this was a fluke, just wish I could have really felt the apology… won’t likely return…

Great food! Good portions and very clean. Was packed on Sunday dinner time! Ordered chimichanga was excellent and the chips are two dips that are complimentary are awesome. Service was fantastic too!

Love this place! It’s small but the food is what you come for. The most authentic Mexican food this side of town. Their carne asada tacos are my favorite… So simple, fresh and yummy! Pair that with a Coronarita (margarita with upside down corona in it) and you’re set. Free chips & salsa while you wait is an added bonus. Coming here after a bad day at the office makes me forget what I was upset about.

I have been coming to this place for about two years now
the service is always wonderful and the food is always perfect
Honestly I would say this is probably one of the best Mexican restaurants in the Twin Cities
Pancho villa can’t compare

Excellent food– definitely not the old Mexican restaurant that was there before. Quick and friendly service. I will be back for many more visits to this Mexican restaurant.

Ah-​mazing prices with ah-​mazing food! There were mainly Hispanic customers, so you know it’s legit! Especially since there were Hispanic customers coming in to pick up to go orders. Got the ground beef chimichanga and it was super tasty!

Joined Unilocal just so I could review El Parian, that’s how much I like it.
Like others have mentioned, it’s kind of got that small, hole in the wall feeling, but not so much that it feels grimy or anything like that. Clean, bright and has some of the most interesting, if not unintentionally hilarious, décor on the walls.
And the food. Oh, the food. This little place honestly has some of the best Mexican food I’ve ever had. To me, it’s comparable to El Loro around here in the Cities, but even better. The bonus, is that the food is very inexpensive, considering how good it tastes! Great value…
And though I haven’t had one, they have some enormous margaritas if one were so inclined :)
Everyone I know who have been to El Parian has given it rave reviews, so if you’re in the South Metro and in the mood for Mexican food, check it out.

I came here a few days ago so my memory of the place is not as fresh, but the food here sure is. The food is great especially for the prices. It was a little difficult for some of my friends to find, but that was mainly because they used Apple Maps.
The restaurant is a bit small but I suppose that’s what gives it that ‘hole in the wall’ feel. What I really enjoy was the Latin American pop music they have playing. When I eat, the music adds to the atmosphere and overall experience.
The server was also kind enough to give my friends and I more chips and salsa without extra charge. They get five stars for great food, service, and overall experience.

Nestled in between Anna Chung Chinese Restaurant and Dominick’s Pizza and Family Restaurant lies the nondescript El Parian Mexican Restaurant, a hidden jewel in Eagan, MN. Driven by a desire for chips and salsa, I ventured out from my hotel to partake.
I arrived at 5pm, the beginning of traditional dinner service. I was pleased to find four other parties in various stages of their dining experiences. I secured a booth with a view of the television since I was dining alone. True to form, soccer was the program of choice. My server arrived seconds later to take my drink order. After a quick trip to the back, he returned with my drink, chips, salsa and ranchero dip. I ordered queso dip as well.
ASIDE– Why do Mexican Restaurants in these parts insist on putting Hidden Valley Ranch in bowl and passing it off as a dip? I’ll never know…
I ordered the beef fajitas minus the tomatoes, cooked with the onions and peppers. After my last experience at a Minneapolis area eatery, I decided to steer clear.
My queso dip arrived shortly after I ordered, hot and fresh. It was creamy without being too thin and had a great flavor. The salsa was a perfect consistency as well. Very flavorful with a medium heat level. Made in-​house, El Parian salsa could be bottled and sold as a nice side business-​it is that good. I probably could have (and should have) stopped with the chips, salsa and queso. But alas, the fajitas were already ordered, so what could I do?
The main course arrived steaming and sizzling accompanied by flour tortillas and a plate of rice, beans, sour cream and guacamole salad. The first thing readily apparent was the seasoning on the fajitas. Not from smell or taste, but from sight. The strip steak, onions and peppers were coated with a light tomato-​cilantro sauce the practically ensured that that this entrée would not disappoint.
Turns out I was right.
The flavor of the sauce permiated the tender meat, sautéed onions and crisp peppers, inviting me to continue to come back for more, which I did. Several steaming tortillas later, I consumed my fill, with food still left on the plate and a wide smile on my face.
The service was adequate, but that’s not why I came anyway…
If you’re in Eagan and craving Mexican food, do yourself a favor and stop by El Parian. Chances are, you’ll go out of your way to visit again and again.