Tavial Grill — Restaurant in Saint Paul

1 check-in My girlfriend suggested this place after she came across this place and seeing 5 stars 56 reviews!! Boy was she excited. I decided to go eat lunch with her during her break and she suggested we grabbed Tavial Grill. Tavial Grill is located south St. Paul...I never thought I would be driving all the way out there to grab some Mexican food, but after seeing the reviews, we agreed to give this place a go.

The restaurant is somewhat new (September 2014). It's a nice small restaurant that seemed to have bought a past fast food restaurant. They offer both dine-in and a drive through. I came here around 11:45AM on a Friday and was not that busy. I walked in and the floors seemed a little dirty. Though this place only opened less than a year, it seemed to be somewhat dirty for its age. However, their tables and seats were top notch. Clean and new looking.

Upon entrance, I gazed at the huge menu. They seemed to not only serve a variety of Mexican foods like Tacos, tamales, quesadillas and burritos, but also American favorites like Philly Cheesesteaks, Chicken wings, salads, cheese curds and more. It seemed like of odd..., but hey if it's good, why not sell it.

This place seemed to be opened by a family. I placed my order to, which seemed like the owner's son. He was very sweet and nice and answered the questions I had. I asked him if he preferred burritos or tacos and he told me he personally likes the burritos. I decided to go with the carnitas burrito. I love carnitas burritos! I get it at almost all Mexican restaurants. My girlfriend wanted tacos, so I got her 2 carne asada tacos and 1 pastor (pork) taco, which contained pork, pineapple and onion..which I thought was a little weird. I don't often get pineapple in my tacos...but hey, it seemed like it'll be good nonetheless.

I then tried to order, my staple drink. The Horchata. I love horchata!! It's one of my favorite drinks to drink! I love cinnamon flavoured foods! I didn't see it on the menu, so I asked them if they had it. The young boy told me not yet, they are still looking to get a machine for it.. Hmm, I was a little disappointed, but I knew my girlfriend would be even more disappointed.

After placing my order, I saw some guy eating tamales. After being unable to resist..I went back and ordered a pork tamale... Boy does this a lot of food for 2 people.

They packed all the food in a lunch bag and topped it with tortilla chips!

Now onto the food..... First thing I tried was my burrito. It was pretty big and was a little scared I wouldn't be able to finish it. I then started chowing it down. The burrito had rice, beans lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes, cheese, and carnitas meat... boy was this a bland burrito. I'm sorry, the carnitas meat was very bland..did not like how their carnitas tasted. It wasn't moist..wasn't fattening..and wasn't roasted well.

It might be one of the worst..burritos I've ever had at a Mexican place... I couldn't even finish it..I tossed the last 1/4.

Next I tried the carnitas tamale. The carnitas in the tamale was again..as disappointing as the one in the burrito.

Lastly..my girlfriend's tacos. I didn't try any, but she did not like it at all..and she's tried tacos from all over California and Minnesota. She recommends tacqueria la hacienda on lake street for tacos.

I probably wouldn't come here again for mexican food..it just...

My wife and I live in South Minneapolis but we shop at the Trader Joe's on Randolph and Lexington because it's close to her parent's house. We'll often stop by their place on our way there, say hi, and then be on our way.

One night we were feeling pretty hungry and we wanted to visit a restaurant we hadn't been to before, preferably near Trader Joe's. I did a quick Yelp search and found Tavial. Everyone seemed to be raving about it, so we thought we'd give it a try.

I got the alambre with steak, since that seemed to be the oft-praised dish, and my wife got the fajitas with chicken because she wanted some refried beans with her entree and the cashier recommended it. Honestly, we weren't impressed. The rice was short grain and looked like the cheap Sysco stuff, just with some different seasoning. It tasted alright but that felt like a significant drawback to me.

The chicken on my wife's fajitas was disappointing. It was just salt and peppered, that's it. My wife squeezed a little lime on it to give it flavor but apart from that it just tasted like chicken, minimally seasoned. The alambre was okay but not spectacular. Los Ocampo and Pineda in South Minneapolis do it better. The portions are larger, and the flavors are much more dynamic.

I really wanted to like this place. I love that it's family owned. I love that it's in a part of the Twin Cities that I rarely go to. And one Yelp reviewer said that the owner worked in his Father's restaurant, moved here, and opened his own which is so cool! Unfortunately, I'd like for them to invest in buying/producing higher quality. I'd be willing to pay a little more...

Ok. The food here is good and the two home made hot sauces are great. One major detail that ruins this place: the neighborhood. On the way in, I passed two teens next to the door smoking weed right out in the open facing West 7th. I went to the bathroom right away and opened the door to a woman snorting something off of the freezer. You know, the freezer in the bathroom, of course. This wasn't the first time I saw shady activity here. It seems the management of this place doesn't control or care about the activity on their property. I'm sure it isn't easy to police all of their clientele, being that they are located on the lousy street of West 7th. No one really cares about what happens on the typical street in St. Paul, including police. This city continues to go downhill... and it never was respectable to begin with. Fortunately I don't spend much time in the armpit of the metro area. It's too bad that this restaurant isn't: 1. Located anywhere else, or 2. managed by people who care to control the slimy activity taking place on...