In an ideal world, every square foot of leasable real estate in the Midtown Global Market would be occupied by Alejandro Castillon and Conrado Badilla of the Sonora Grill, Thomas Kim and Kat Melgaard of the Left Handed Cook and other similarly gifted, forward-thinking culinary entrepreneurs.
The Sonora guys first. The lifelong friends left their native northwestern Mexico more than a decade ago, and, like so many other immigrants, headed to Minnesota because they had friends and family members here.
"It's the same story that everyone has," said Badilla. "You say, 'I'm going to go for a year, and learn English.' But then you discover that you like the life here, and you stay."
Theirs is a classic American Dream tale. Badilla enrolled in Dunwoody Academy and entered the workforce, and Castillon started working in restaurants, becoming a familiar face in the kitchens at Solera, Barrio and Bar La Grassa. Last year, Castillon persuaded Badilla to go into business, and they launched Sonora Grill. A year of seven-day workweeks later, the two have become job creators, with seven employees on their payroll.
What they've created is something truly special. Let's set aside for a moment that Castillon -- who seamlessly channels both his own heritage alongside the on-the-job education he received while working for some of the Twin Cities' top chefs -- crafts what are probably the best quick-service tacos in the Twin Cities, and concentrate for a moment on the kitchen's half-dozen sandwiches.
They wisely start with gleaming, golden and teasingly rich milk buns from the neighboring Salty Tart bakery, and then Castillon stuffs them with abandon. The starring attraction could be brazenly tender and wickedly seasoned slow-braised pork, or a thick and juicy pesto-brushed chicken breast, or a lean house-made turkey chorizo that sports plenty of bite, or a deeply flavorful seared skirt steak; all are dressed with aromatic arugula, a mild cow's milk cheese and a generous swipe of zesty aioli.
A handful of skewered proteins also make a favorable impression, particularly a half-dozen batter-fried shrimp that ably demonstrate just how adept Castillon is around tempura batter and hot oil. A bacon-wrapped house-made hot dog, split and grilled for maximum eye-catching drama, ventures fairly far off the charts, flavor-wise. Even the semi-chunky guacamole is beautifully done.
But it's the tacos, using lovingly made tortillas as their base, that truly impress. Along with the remarkable pork, skirt steak, chicken verde and that feisty red tempura shrimp, Castillon also offers a slow-cooked beef tongue that very nearly melts in your mouth, and gently fried tilapia. The fixings are first-rate: jazzy pickled red onions, a refreshing salsa verde, carefully roasted red peppers, crisp cabbage and a complex chimichurri sauce. I'm hard pressed to think of a better way to spend $2.50 in this town.
