There’s Now Only One of These Restaurants Left in Minnesota

Bad news if you were looking for a lovely Mexican meal at this once-popular restaurant chain -- there's now only one left here in Minnesota.

That's right, we're talking about the Don Pablo's chain of Mexican restaurants, which used to be rather plentiful around parts of Minnesota, especially in the Twin Cities.

However, as this BringMeTheNews story notes, there's now only one Don Pablo's location left operating here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, and it's in Eden Prairie. The story says all the other Don Pablo locations, including Eagan, Maple Grove, Minnetonka, Roseville, Woodbury, Bloomington and Maple Grove have all closed, as well.

In fact, the parent company recently closed another Don Pablo's location in Richfield, leaving only the location on Viking Drive in Eden Prairie left. The story says Minnesota isn't alone in watching the Don Pablo's locations close, noting, "Don Pablo’s once had more than 100 restaurants across America, but now has fewer than 20."

I don't believe there was ever a Don Pablo's location here in southeast Minnesota, but I remember eating at the Bloomington location, just off 494, several times. Although the last time I ate there was probably 12 or 13 years ago, I remember getting the steak fajitas. And like most fajitas you get at a sit-down restaurant, these were delivered to the table, still steaming in a hot skillet.

But whatever seasoning they used on the steak was so, uh, strong (pungent, maybe?) that scent seemed to get stuck in the very fibers of the sweater I was wearing. And every time I wore that sweater again, it always smelled like fajitas -- even after repeatedly washing it. It wasn't a good smell! I finally had to toss that sweater out.

So, even though there's now only one Don Pablo's location left, I guess I'm not in much of a hurry to head there. Unless I want to get rid of a few things in my closet, that is...