La Poblana — Restaurant in Rochester

Review for La Poblana – May 19, 2025 1 star – Extremely Disappointed

I don’t usually leave negative reviews, but I feel compelled to share our awful experience at La Poblana on May 19th, 2025.

My family and I came in for dinner and ordered three meals with drinks — we spent nearly $100, and it was absolutely not worth it. I ordered the caldo de res, expecting something hearty and homemade, but what I got was anything but fresh. The broth was overloaded with chili or jalapeño to the point of being hard to eat. The meat was clearly not freshly cooked — it tasted like it had been sitting around and reheated more than once. The vegetables were rubbery and overcooked. I couldn’t even eat it. I pushed it aside after a few spoonfuls.

We also had a plate with meat, rice, and beans. The beans tasted like they had been scraped from the bottom of a burnt pot and mixed with others in an attempt to hide the burnt flavor. The rice had no seasoning at all — just bland. Even my daughter barely touched her food. My husband tried to make the best of it but ended up leaving most of his plate too.

What made it worse was the cook or waiter coming by to ask if everything was okay. Out of politeness, we said yes, but it was obvious from our plates we didn’t enjoy the food. We barely touched it. It felt insulting to be asked that question when the quality was so poor.

For nearly $100, we expected something decent. Instead, we left hungry, frustrated, and feeling ripped off. I do not recommend La Poblana. They should know better than to serve food like that and then...

La Poblana redid their dining area! It looks great and provides a cozy, colorful atmosphere. I'm surprised that more people don't dine in here. It is a lot nicer than Los Arcos and wayyy less crowded. Food: The salsa isn't my favorite; mostly tomatillo and I think that makes it a little too slimy and lime flavored. I'd prefer a little more tomato puree, cilantro, and onion or garlic. Other than that. I think the food is really delicious. The downside here is that the portions don't compete with Los Arcos, right now. As this is Poblana's biggest competitor, I think they are wanting to lure more people down 37th with the nicer venue; I hope costs go down too or afford a little larger portion. We got two entrees and we think they could have added more rice and beans.

Overall: if you want Mexican but don't want to be in a ridiculously crowded room like Los Arcos, give La Poblana a try. I can't speak to their alcohol but they have a nice bar and I presume would prepare...

This is a sad day. We get to Rochester MN a couple of times a year and the one highlight is the red chili pork quesadilla at La Poblana. But when we went if yesterday we discovery that it went from a great local Mexican restaurant to the MOST EXPENSIVE Mexican restaurant I have ever been to. I know things have gone up in price but 22 dollars for a quesadilla is crazy expensive and just way too expensive for me. We ended up walking out after looking at the prices. Other restaurants in the area have gone up a couple of dollars but 10 bucks per meal is crazy. I know that losing our business is probably not a big deal for them since we only went 3 or 4 times a year, but I wonder how much business they have permanently lost by price gouging their customers. Either way, it was a very sad day (luckily Rochester does not have a shortage of great Mexican restaurants that are reasonably priced - we ended up at El Carambas at is was 60% cheaper and...