Sol Azteca — Restaurant in St. Cloud

We went to Sol Azteca for my birthday dinner — 6 adults, 1 toddler, and zero other customers in the entire place. It was 4 PM, so understandable, maybe the crowd comes later. Spoiler: they shouldn’t bother.

Three of us ordered the Nachos Supreme, which allegedly come with sour cream, guac, tomatoes, and onions. What actually arrived looked like they were rationing toppings for the apocalypse — no tomatoes, no onions, and the tiniest smear of sour cream and guac you could imagine. We had to ask for the missing stuff and couldn’t even find our server.

The ground beef was… fine. The “grilled chicken” tasted suspiciously like canned chicken from the grocery store, and the “steak” was like those sad, paper-thin steak-um strips you buy at the dollar store — only without even a whisper of seasoning. The queso? Imagine paying a ridiculous price for a bowl of slightly spicy cheese-flavored water. Yep, it was that bad.

The others ordered burritos with rice and beans. Verdict: “meh.” The beans were straight from a can, and they tasted like it.

Service didn’t help the situation. The staff was slow, barely spoke, and seemed confused about who was actually serving our table — we had several different servers drifting in and out. The most memorable part? Watching one server put chips into a bowl with his bare hands. Appetite officially gone.

Oh, and the ambience — according to the thermostat, the place was 80 degrees inside, even though it was set to 60. So yes, we got to sweat through our underwhelming, overpriced, mostly-from-a-can dinner.

I left hot, hungry, and regretting every penny spent. If you’re craving Mexican food, literally go anywhere else. Even gas station nachos would...

I tried Sol Azteca for lunch today. They do have a lunch special and can do to go orders,just in case your wondering. I ordered a shredded beef burrito, which came with rice and beans. My total order was around $10. So far price depends on the quality of the product. Chips were warm, and made with fresh oil. So i thought i was in for a real test. Three chips in, i got a chip so soaked with oil that i couldn't eat it. Moved on to the salsa???? Thin seasoned ketchup?? Not something I desired. Then i love chips with good refried beans. Except this time. They were semi-warm and I've had better flavor out of a can of Walmart refried beans. Rice.... ok,it was in the dish so let's try it. Dry.... and no flavor. I can't say anything pleasant about this rice. Finally, my burrito. Very little Mexican taste to it. It was tender and juicy or greasy? Im not sure which. But then I came across something orange color. I tasted it, yup it was cheese. But everything was cold. So cold that the cheese wasn't melted and was oily more then melted. Oh that's not the end. Let's talk about the red sauce in the burrito. Again, tasted kind like a spiced ketchup. The cheese is melted on top. But its so cold that it looked it was heated then cooled off. I timed myself, it took me 7 minutes to get back to work. So if it cooled off this much. I guess I'd suggest only eating at the establishment. I want everyone to make their own decisions on a place. So i urge people to try it for themselves. Sorry guys i really wanted a leave a good review. But this lunch was...

When we initially arrived, we were concerned, as the moment we walked in, we could smell gas, and the floor was quite sticky. However, once we settled in, it was a non-issue. Our waiter was quick to get us drinks and menus.

When we went to order, they were out of a lot of things, but for a smaller business, it makes sense, given that we came in on a Sunday. We were skeptical at that point but then the food came out.

I am not being over-exaggerating when I say their shredded chicken and nachos may be the best I've ever had in my 49 years of life. My wife, and my son were also just in awe of how good the food was. The shredded chicken was juicy with the most amazing flavor. I can't recommend the chicken enough.

Overall experience was a joy in falling in love with food again. With chimichangas that would make Deadpool swoon. Amazing homemade style nachos with a perfect crisp and my son raved about his burrito combo dinner with enchiladas. The rice was absolute perfect and the re-fried beans were top notch.

For the amount of food you get for the money, the value here is off the charts good.

TL:DR

Best Mexican food I've ever had. Shredded chicken is miraculous. Great value for the amount of food. Deadpool level...