El Molino del Sureste — Restaurant in St. Louis

I really wanted to give this restaurant 5 stars. It’s an upscale Mexican concept close to home, but for the 2nd time in less than a week my wife and I went to try a new restaurant (this time based on several positive suggestions from others) and the entire experience was tainted by terrible service. Let me start by making clear everything we ate was fantastic. The drinks were great and the 3 dishes we had were delicious. The thing that ruined everything was our server. My wife and I, based on suggestions, decided to do a date night here. We’re both restaurant people with years of experience serving, bartending and back of house in restaurants: particularly in upscale concepts, which the restaurant clearly aims to be. I went in with high hopes and, as I stated, really loved the food, but our server had clearly determined that her 5-top was considerably more important than a 2-top. She took our drink order, explained the menu-that there were more sharing options etc—and then brought our drinks. We ordered 3 dishes (ceviche, a mole, and the pork belly dish) and she made clear they would be put in as a course-by-course dinner, which is great… Except she had clearly determined the 5-top inside was the only important table. We got our ceviche, which was delicious. Then she said she’d put in our mole dish. That was also amazing. When the plates were collected my wife commented that it was 8:45 and we had to get things prepared for an event tomorrow… 8:45! At 9:14 our server came to us and said our 3rd course was “being plated”. This was almost 30 minutes after our 2nd of 3 dishes. Keep in mind it was only 3 dishes. We got our pork belly, and, again was phenomenal. But at that point I was so pissed it didn’t really matter. When we arrived a man welcomed and seated us. I don’t know if he was a manager or owner, but while we were there he passed us more than 3 times more than our own server. I think it was clear we were upset because she apologized for the wait but her apology was that the kitchen was backed up because of a big order from a 5 top…which would totally be bought by someone who didn’t have a front row seat to watching the server regularly refilling water glasses, refreshing drinks, taking new orders, etc from that 5 top. It was painfully clear that the priority was the heavily-drinking 5-top, and not the lowly couple. Working in upscale restaurants, as this one clearly aspires to be, I learned that EVERY table was equally important. Not just the big tables. Obviously not everyone will have this miserable experience, but if El Molino hopes to be a success in this area then everything: food, drinks, and especially service need to be top notch. I want more than anything for local restaurants like this to succeed, but they need to tell the servers a 2-top is just as...

This restaurant is an experience that I hope everyone gets to have! The food here is amazing!! This was recommended to me by the owner of another restaurant I go to and I can’t thank that person enough. Each bite here is like a little piece of heaven! It’s like a perfect combination of flavors in your mouth. The little bite-size portions are beautiful in the way they looked and in the way the flavors combined. I just can’t wait to go back and have more. The shareable meal was delicious and definitely shareable. The way the spices and the smells and the flavors came together is mouthwatering and my partner, and I, just couldn’t get over how good everything was. My partner also had a small coffee drink and we shared a small coconut pudding dessert that was rich and sweet and the perfect ending to the perfect meal. It was all just so good. I felt like I was at a five star Gordon Ramsay type restaurant where all of the flavors and all of the portions were just so unique and amazing and it was an experience in every bite. We ended up being stuffed. We can’t wait to go back. Also, I’m celiac and I can’t have any gluten and everything here is naturally gluten-free so it takes that worry out of my night. The owner was so kind and explained the dishes to us from a cultural standpoint and also talked about how they frequently change the dishes seasonally. I’m just blown away by this place. They also sell tortillas there of different sizes and made from different types of corn (blue, white, yellow). I took some of those home, and I’ve already eaten those with different things at my home, and they were delicious. I will definitely be back. I would recommend setting a reservation if you’re going during a busy time or if you’re going with a large group. I think this will be one of my favorite spots in St. Louis. The only downside to this place is probably the parking. All parking seems to be on the street so just be aware of that. Also, this is not TexMex. This is authentic Yucatán cuisine so if you’re looking for chips and salsa, and that sort of fair, this is not what you’re looking for. This is very unique and true to the area it’s from. This is a classy/upgraded version of what Jeff, the owner, grew up on from his grandma. This is not something I think you’ll easily find somewhere else and that is part of what is so special about it. It does have a little spice kick, but be aware I’m a big wuss, so you have to take my opinion with a grain of salt. I’m the mild Indian food girl, so it doesn’t take much for me. :) The staff was very knowledgeable, though, and they directed me to what was more, or less, spicy. Hope you love it...

We live in south city and we were really excited to try this place! It’s always so exciting when we get new rein the neighborhood. This traditional Yucatán style restaurant is honestly the most perfect addition to the STL food scene. I learned a lot about how they prepare the food (two woman who are originally from outside Mexico City come to the restaurant every morning to mill the corn used in most of the dishes), and in general I was educated on a lot of the food culture of the Yucatán people which I really enjoyed. The food. THE FOOD was absolutely jaw dropping incredible! It felt like a fine dining experience! You order everything at once and they bring out the food based on flavors to really create a memorable experience. The show stoppers for me we’re definitely the octopus dish (pulpo en su tints), joloches con hongos, and the pork skin taco! The drinks I felt were a little too on the pricey side for this type of restaurant but we still tried 3 off the menu. My favorite being the Meridano. Desserts were worth experiencing, and we also got three of the menu and my favorite was by far the coconut pudding!! We cannot wait to come back soon and we really want to bring more and friends and family back with us. It’s also to note that for 4 people we spent $289 before tip, so I’d really consider this to be a higher end culinary experience and not just your average taco Tuesday place. I would spend that much again though because the food was...