Macanda — Restaurant in Wayzata

My rating would be closer to a 4.5 but there are a few factors that lead me to giving this spot a 5 instead of a 4 on here, which I will elaborate on soon enough. First things first, Daniel del Prado did it again with creating a great food spot for people to try and gather! Macanda is in Wayzata which means it's closer to Josefina, and with the lake view if one chooses to sit by the patio, it has some added points for the summer.

My friend and I ordered 4 types of tacos in total, and they were all good in their own ways. My favorite was the tempura shrimp soft taco. The arbol mayo and cabbage really made a difference in defining the flavor beyond the tempura shrimp texture and it worked very well! Then the carne asada soft tacos were excellent as well, as the meat was very tender and juicy. Adding their hot sauce on it was a great plus in providing flavor, along with lime juice. The smoked mushroom soft tacos and the brisket tacos were great as well, although the brisket did not have a very pronounced presence among the other ingredients which replicated some of the same ingredients in the other kinds of tacos. The mushroom almost had a meat texture, and together with the fajitas (green bell pepper at least) included, it tasted almost like meat tacos. Then the corn esquites were out of this world! With queso fresco and chipotle mayo sauce included, it was almost like the bowl version of an elote except for the cheese difference. Maybe using cotija could be even better? I am not sure, but it's really good already! The chicken enchiladas, I felt leaned more towards mediocre, as the guajillo salsa ended up becoming the main flavor defining factor, instead of the chicken, the crema, or the toppings (radish and cilantro), which in the end just tasted like chicken dipped in salsa.

Finally desserts, big shoutout to the fresas con crema! Great combination of strawberry, cream, and shortbread! Our server even poured cream on top of it as he served the dessert on the spot. The strawberry did not taste that fresh, so combining everything together was what made the flavor work. We also had the buñuelo. It looked different from the traditional one, but ended up tasting pretty good. Personally I thought there was too much golden raisin and candied orange, so I actually tried to use the tres leches gelato to neutralize the strong flavors from those two ingredients. However, I can definitely see some people liking it that way as well.

Now the factors that is leading me to give this place a 5 would be: 1) atmosphere, which was clearly intentionally made and well-designed, so despite the noisiness, it didn't necessarily drown a conversation, and my friend and I still had a great time. 2) service, which was just amazing, as our server Eric was extremely courteous and attentive to us, carrying a smile throughout the entire time, so I promised to give him a shoutout here - he was excellent! 3) relativity, which basically means that I wouldn't feel right about giving Macanda a 4 when I have given 4's to some way more mediocre establishments, because Macanda made great efforts in many aspects of my dinner experience.

Several additional areas of opportunity that I will just mention here, speaking for myself only: The food came out a bit slow, so my friend and I waited for a while before our first dish came out (but I need to make it clear that there was a table of 14 right ahead of us that just submitted their order which might have impacted serving speed). The water tasted a bit weird, which I don't know why, but just want to make it known. These are just some nit-picky points!

My friend said she would definitely return and bring her family members here, and I will...

You can surely tell Daniel is no longer involved. It's a great location, with really nice staff and a great atmosphere but the kitchen is a mess.

The forewarning should have been obvious as we listened to the complete wait staff warn every new table that the entree's were teeny and they didn't want them to be let down when they came. That should have been our clue to leave...

While they were right, that was not the problem. The execution was. They went from a very interesting menu and great food, to a menu that is very confused and now with del Prado not involved it seems that the whole menu is just a money grab. $60 entree's that are only 3 bites is not sustainable...even in Wayzata.

Basically every aspect of our dining experience was flawed. We started out with the crispy rice and tuna. The crispy rice is so thick you could put anything on top of it and still only taste the rice. It was plated nicely and looked good, but it was not a good use of really nice ingredients. The scallop tostada was off putting and had a strange flavor. Sad as the previous tostadas before the menu change were really good. These were under seasoned and the combination didn't make sense. We also tried some oysters. The oysters were really fresh, but the accompaniments made no sense. I am a HUGE fan of mexican flavors and oysters, but this was just a cop out of re-using chile sauce from something else and packaging it with the oysters. Luckly the oysters came with a side of salt....

Why was that necessary? We ordered the lemongrass marinated sirloin skewers. First there was definitely no lemongrass used or hardly in the marinade, but even worse they were completely unseasoned. Without the salt they would have been downright off putting. Sad, because the texture and grill work on them was really nice. We also ordered the chicken karage. The chef should drive by Ichiddo in the Ridgedale mall. The fast food ramen place has much better karage which is really sad considering the price. This dish was "ok" but that is not what you are paying for.

Now onto the huge entree's. The miso black cod was in a completely salt less broth that had no flavor and wiped off the nice miso marinade from the fish. I love this dish, but my 14 year old could execute it better. It also stated it came with oyster mushrooms and shitake. They should just say shitake as there were not really any oyster mushrooms in the bowl.

We also had the octopus. This was the opposite of the rest and over seasoned. That being said, too much salt at a restaurant is almost expected and I would be okay with it, but it was a really stark change from the rest which was horribly underseasoned. I also asked the waitress before ordering if it was a whole octopus tentacle and was told yes, but in reality it was just a half when it came. Sadly it was also sitting on a very unoriginal sauce that took away from the octopus itself and the attempt at patatas bravas with it was rather pathetic.

This is no longer a chef run establishment and unless they get their act together they will surely not make it. Sad because the previous concept was great. Obviously it didn't resonate and they are trying to take away traffic from some other great sushi spots near the lake, but with the execution they have that will never fly.

I would avoid the place entirely until the re-evaluate their recent change and fix the menu...

Before I explain why I gave Macanda the rating I did, I will say the food is AMAZING. Absolutely high quality ingredients with high quality staff who know what they are doing.

I have been here almost once a month since they have opened, I love the food. There aren’t many places like this in the Minneapolis area. After living in the west coast and spending lots of time in Mexico, Arizona, California, and Vegas I have grown to love the Mexican cuisine more and more. This place is top tier.

Now, to explain why I gave this review, it was purely based off an experience that truly hurts to share out loud because we are in 2023. And the fact this restaurant is high end Mexican cuisine. I shouldn’t have any race related things come up right? Maybe, but it’s also maybe because we are in Minnetonka/ Wayzata, Minnesota.

Story time: The host that was wearing green yesterday was one of the rudest hosts I’ve ever met. I noticed there were plenty of reservations set for 7-8 pm and came in with my mother who has never been there before. I didn’t think anything about booking something if there were PLENTY of reservations open for 2.

She wanted to sit at the patio and the host kept repeating herself saying “patio is sold out for the evening” “reservations booked out for the patio”

I replied many times in many ways, “we can wait” “we don’t mind eating until something opens up”…

After sometime my mom was “over it” and in our native language said “it’s because we are black she is treating us this way”.

After almost coming to this place once a month since it opened, I felt absolutely uncomfortable being in the space. I usually sit at the bar and have made bartender friends, but because my mother is Christian and doesn’t like drinks I sat in the dining room.

This could be the first time I’ve interacted with a host. I made a reservation after I sat, for a few minutes after, went to the host stand and told them that I made a reservation and my mother wanted to sit out in the patio. They never came back to me to get me a seat so we sat in the dining room anyways.

The server was very kind, respectful and took his time respecting my mother’s needs. He was spectacular, I wish I remembered his name.

Over all love this place, but I don’t think my mom and I will be coming back all because this host made my mother...