Xelas by El Sazon — Restaurant in Stillwater

Went to dinner with friends, and made a reservation originally for 7 pm for 7 people, our party ended up being downsized to 5, called ahead to let them know the party size was going to change and they were great about accommodating the change.

We wanted to wait at least 2 weeks after opening to check this place out just to let them get into the swing of service and I think it was the best call, they have a strong sense of their menu and it seemed to be popping off when we arrived and people showing up around 8 pm for dinner.

When we got there our server was great at letting us settle in and giving us time to look over the menu when deciding what we all wanted to share, when we asked for recommendations she tried to give us a rough idea about what was going to be enough for all of us to share.

The restaurant's vibe seemed to hone down on the culture by adding the artwork and having a section of the restaurant with a bigger table seem like an art gallery. The murals on the outside and inside entrance are great additions to adding color to the restaurant. Especially with the clean white and beige aesthetic of the interior. Liked their lighting, it's the right amount of bright to be able to see everyone around you and read the menu, especially with most restaurants deciding to do dimmer lights around dinner time.

Waiting time for drinks did take longer than 10-15 minutes but the server was attentive, they also seem to only have one bartender for the whole restaurant and bar area at the time of us being there. 3/5 cocktails were served at the table, while we waited for two cafe con ron to be made. They don't seem to have their cocktails batched so it made sense that they were taking their time.

Overall we all arrived at 7 pm and ended up leaving at 9 pm. We asked our server if the kitchen was okay with preparing a dessert to go, 5 minutes before closing and they did say yes BUT WE HAD ALREADY had dinner and our dessert, we would have been more than okay if the kitchen had said no but they were nice enough to do it. We appreciated our server, she never seemed to rush us out or made us feel like we were taking too long or bothering her.

We felt super comfortable knowing that their staff is Latinx. They also tried to help my friends with the pronunciation of the dishes when ordering.

All our food was shared amongst 5 people —

For drinks (COCKTAILS DE LA CASA & ZERO ABV FUSIONS) we got: Oro Verde (Not Pictured), Margarita Maya (Not Pictured), Jade Mojito (Not Pictured), and Cafe con Ron. NA's— Tamarind Punch, Guava Fizz (Not Pictured), and Cariño (Not Pictured). PERSONAL FAVORITE: Cafe con Ron cocktail, on the sweeter side compared to the traditional espresso martini, and the Carińo NA cocktail

For appetizers (FLAVORS TO BEGIN) we got: the Ceviche, the Guacamol, and the Guatemalan Sausage PERSONAL FAVORITE: the Guatemalan Sausage

For entrees (PLATO FUERTE) we got: the Cochinita Pibil, Hilachas, and Calabaza (pumpkin), PERSONAL FAVORITE: the Calabaza

Additional Dish (BEYOND MAYAN) we got: a Tlacoyo

For dessert (POSTRES) we got: Papaya & Vainilla and Guineo & Cacao - TOGO/Not pictured

My friends and I enjoyed all the art on the walls and the dishes. A nice addition of food and culture to Stillwater, would want to go back to try more of their dishes, we hope to see their cocktail and bar program grow a little more but these are some really strong drinks to start! Can't wait to see what other dishes they might add to their menu come spring and summer time. We hope to continue seeing them flourish and we...

Outstanding! My wife and I chose this spot for our anniversary. We live down the street from the Eagan location and frequent their Eagan location. We reserved the chef's table experience and were not disappointed. From start to finish, the experience was great. We were seated in the back of the restaurant at a large table with out of town guests from California. Shortly after being seated, Karen came and explained how the experience worked. We met the two chefs Jose and Christian. All three of them were incredibly friendly and they made you feel like you were you were royalty. The experience consisted of 8 dish and drink pairings. Some of the planned items on the menu were swapped with others due to seasonal availability. I will say that the majority of dishes paired nicely with the drinks. I liked every dish that came out. The only thing I disliked was the walleye and wild rice pairing. The dish was overly salty and the leaf wrapper that was around the walleye didn't pair well with the fish. The other thing that we noticed was that when the dishes came out, they were not hot, just above warm. Overall I enjoyed the experience and would definitely recommend it if you want to try something different! Thank you all for the amazing experience and we will...

Really enjoyed our first visit to Xelas! The drinks were great- really liked the Oro Verde and Old Fashioned. We had a couple appetizers that were so good we forgot to take pics ahead of time. We had a pepitas dip and Yuca and Chicharones apps- that pork belly was melt in your mouth good. We also had the pork shank and squash entrees, which were also good. This is a welcome addition to Stillwater! With all openings, the staff are new so they’re still learning the menu a bit- I’m sure this will be a non-issue soon. The only true negative is that they need to figure out the door situation. It was BRUTALLY cold, even with a packed house, and we were seated halfway into the restaurant. I wore my winter coat the entire time and was still shivering at times. A few heavy curtains at the doorway could make a huge difference, and eventually a vestibule outside. This was a problem with the previous restaurant too, but easily solvable. I will be back, but will always a request a table as far away from door as possible… and wear layers. To finish, we had the papaya and elote desserts. I think the elote was my favorite dish of the night other than...