Ana Gomez of Cafe Mayapan teaches a fresh take on fish tacos
Ana Gomez, manager at Cafe Mayapan, demonstrates how to make fish tacos with mango salsa and jicama slices as tortillas at the restaurant on Thursday, March 6, 2025.
Taco Villa, a St. Cloud staple since 1966, won the St. Cloud Times’ poll for best Mexican restaurant.Tres Pozoles, known for its unique family recipes, came in second place.Giliberto’s, a 24-hour Mexican restaurant, secured the third place spot.
Voters have weighed in about their favorite Mexican restaurants in the St. Cloud area. Three local favorites stood out from the rest.
Downtown St. Cloud restaurant Taco Villa won the poll with 2,824 votes of more than 5,600 votes, or 50% of the votes. The restaurant, a St. Cloud-area staple, first opened in 1966 under original owner Lyle Kjesbo.
The restaurant closed in 2011, and after 10 years, new owners Susan Abel and her father-in-law brought it back to life in March 2022. The family also kept the Taco Villa legacy alive by purchasing the former owner’s recipes and preserving the original menu.
Taco Villa continues to serve original recipes in downtown St. Cloud
Abel had worked for the original owner at two locations before it closed, which she said also helped her learn more about the restaurant and its recipes.
Taco Villa serves many popular Mexican dishes, and the most popular items are the beef and pizza burritos. Abel said her personal favorite is the taco burrito, with a soft shell taco wrapped inside a burrito.
“If you’re bringing back Taco Villa, you don’t want to bring back the name, but then not have what they were used to,” Abel said. “We tried to keep our recipe and the menu as authentic as Taco Villa could be.”
The popular restaurant sees both new faces and many repeat customers, Abel said, and draws customers from around central Minnesota. The first day that Taco Villa reopened, Abel said the line for the drive-thru wrapped so far through downtown St. Cloud that the restaurant had to call the police to manage the crowd.
“It was awesome; it made all the hard work feel like it was worth it,” she said.
Going forward, Abel said Taco Villa may explore ways to open a food truck that could be stationed at local events like Summertime by George or county fairs. The restaurant may add bottles of its popular sauces for sale at some point as well.
Taco Villa is also focused on using high-quality ingredients, Abel said, and nearly everything is made fresh in the restaurant. The team also fries their own chips, which she said can sometimes be a pain, but it is worth the tradeoff for a better quality item and reduced waste.
“That should make a big difference, that (the customers’) food is freshly made … I take a lot of pride in making all these recipes,” she said.
Tres Pozoles 2nd place in St. Cloud Times Mexican restaurant vote
Tres Pozoles, a newer restaurant to the area, came in second place with 1,341 votes, or 24% of the vote. True to its name, the restaurant serves three kinds of pozoles, a traditional warm Mexican soup made with hominy, meat, vegetables and seasonings. It also offers items like birria, tacos, barbacoa and pork ribs.
Tres Pozoles opened in Waite Park last August as a spot for owner Francisco Vázquez Sobreyra to serve family recipes passed down from his mother.
While growing up, he occasionally helped his mother in the kitchen, especially with her chicken barbacoa recipe.
“All the recipes are from my mom, and she (also) passed (them) to my sisters in Mexico, they have small restaurants, too,” Vázquez Sobreyra said.
The restaurant also hand makes its tortillas, and everything at Tres Pozoles has “something that (nobody else) has,” Vázquez Sobreyra said. “Love.”
Giliberto’s takes 3rd place in St. Cloud Times Mexican restaurant poll
With 7% of the vote, Giliberto’s rounded out the top three winners. The popular spot stands out from many others in the area due to its 24-hour schedule.
Giliberto’s first opened in St. Cloud in 2017 and serves Mexican dishes like tostadas, nachos, tacos, tortas and enchilada platters. It also offers both pickup and delivery at its St. Cloud location and other spots in Willmar, Mankato, Owatonna and Rochester.
The restaurant will also be expanding into a new location soon. Last November, Giliberto’s owner Coconi’s Properties bought the former PepperJax Grill location at 3219 Division St., according to real estate company Transwestern Real Estate Services.
The new spot will provide Giliberto’s with 4,045 square feet and a full-service kitchen and restaurant, as well as a drive-thru window and patio space.
Teagan King covers business and development for the St. Cloud Times. She can be reached at teking@gannett.com.