I used to work and live down the street from Rusty Taco in St. Paul which was dangerous, because my coworkers and I quickly became addicted. I love that they use corn tacos, because corn tortillas remind me of being on vacation in Mexico AND they’re gluten free!

It may take a minute to get past the name, but it’s so worth it.

Environment:

I recently found myself ravenous on the last gorgeous Saturday pre-polar vortex, so instead of getting take-out, which just seemed like such a waste, I ventured over to Rusty Taco. When I moved to Northeast Minneapolis it was a happy coincidence that they had a second location so close to me so I figured it was about time to venture over and be able to cross something off the list of reasons I miss St. Paul.

What I love most about Rusty Taco is that it’s set up cafeteria style, making it an easy place to go to with other people, but also the kind of place you can go and eat by yourself without feeling awkward. I hate the habit I’ve developed pretending I’m on my phone doing important stuff when in actuality I’m just checking a social network just to look busy (you laugh, because you’ve done it before, too!). One of my resolutions this year is to make eye contact and smile at strangers to combat my RBF so I figured this was as good a time as any to start.

Rusty Taco has a great industrial vibe with exposed ceilings and stainless steel tables and counters. The staff also have a pretty great sense of humor as noticed by the note on their tip jar-“Sexy People Tip.”

The only downside of this location in comparison to the St. Paul location is that while there is a small parking lot outside the Minneapolis location, if you are unable to get a spot, parking can be a little hard to find due to it being on a pretty busy corner.

Service:

The service is pretty basic, because you order at the front and then sit down and wait until they call your name to pick it up. The biggest bonus about the service is that the food is ready within minutes.

*Tip: if you run out of chips to go with your dip, ask for more!

Food:

As stated, I’m obsessed with Queso dip. Queso Blanco dip in particular. If I was able to choose how I die, it would be death by drowning in cheese dip. Rusty Taco has amazing Queso. They also have delicious guacamole, and salsa. Our favorite thing to do when we’d go there for lunch was to order one of each of the sides to share. The homemade chips are delicious plain, too. They’re the perfect combination of grease and salt…a tough line to toe.

As for Tacos, I’m obsessed with the Chicken Fajita and the Picadillo. While the Chicken Fajita taco is more traditional, the cilantro and onion on the Picadillo taco is very strong. I love ordering them both, because they compliment one another really well.

This time, for the sake of this blog, I made a point to try a new taco; the Black Bean taco. I loved the cheese and pumpkin seeds on it. It was such a unique flavor and nothing I would have ever thought to make myself.

The Brisket taco, Rajas taco, and Fish taco are also crowd favorites. During lent they even have a Fish taco Friday deal, which is pretty great.

Rusty Taco also has, what I’ve deemed, the “sauce bar.” The sauce bar is made up of Mild (salsa verde), Hot, and Spicy containers that you either select while picking up your taco or take over to your table to try them out.

Do yourself a favor and visit Rusty Taco, because it’s the closest you’re going to get to a sunny vacation during Minnesota’s 5 months of winter

Rusty Taco
522 East Hennepin Ave.
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414
Sunday – Thursday: 11AM – 9PM
Friday – Saturday 11AM – 10PM