El Bodegon ToDoTC.com To Do in the Twin Cities Restaurants

El Bodegon

Date: April 24, 2026

17623 Minnetonka Blvd
Wayzata, MN 55391

Phone: (952) 473-0868

www.elbodegonmn.com

If you know where Spasso is, on Minnetonka Blvd & 101 in Wayzata, El Bodegon is across the street, in back of the Holiday Station by Grays Bay. They claim to have the Best Tacos in the Wayzata. This is a hidden gem.

E&I went to Cancun at the end of February for a week. Amazingly neither one of us really wanted to go, we have been to Cancun five times, what was there to see. After two nights at Desire a couple’s resort, we could not say enough good things about it. They were not your usual resort, they took the concept and brought in great chefs with incredible tasting AND looking dishes.

Two weeks ago, we went to Wildfire a steak place the was similar to a Ruth Chris type of steak place. E & I grew up in the Midwest and for a special treat we went out to steak places. Wildfire unlike the resort in Cancun did NOT reinvent themselves. We simply got a plate with a steak on it, but no art. These days chefs know with a little bit of work and motivation a great meal can LOOK great too. We are DONE with steak places, like Cancun we thought of, they are boring. But Cancun reinvented itself, we wish steak places would too.

A few weeks ago, we heard about El Bodegon a Spanish place by Grays Bay in Wayzata. We have no idea if I or E found it, but someone mentioned it somewhere and E got us reservations. I say this as E and I sat in this incredible place alone at 8PM on a Friday night. OMG is this place a GREAT FIND! Few things in life are more thrilling to us as finding a great unknown restaurant in the twin cities and telling you about it. El Bodegon’s food is in the class with Martina, Lucrat, La Grolla, Skybar and Elements. And NOTHING on the menu is over $21.

El Bodegon is Tavern in Spanish. By day El Bodegon is a Tavern serving Tacos at night it becomes a Tapas restaurant. If you are unfamiliar with Tapa and Small Plates they are a small appetizer the Spanish set on TOP of their wine or drinks to keep out the flies. Yes, REAL Flies. All their Tapas are $12-$21 and unlike man traditional Spanish places, they are works of art.

There are pages and pages of reviews on El Bodegon and the only bad one we read was someone commented it was expense… SIT DOWN! There were a dozen options for Tapas and they were all the size of a dinner plate. The problem we and others had was where do you start. I read one review that said you must try the Tinta Negra Tapa which was $20.60. Black ink pasta, baby spinach, roasted peppers, Brussels sprouts, shrimp, scallops, garlic cream sauce. OMG what a presentation and boy was it good. Nothing E&I ever had at a supper club in our youth. It exploded with flavor when we ate it. And yes, it is the most popular Tapa they have.

We then did what one of the reviews suggested we let our waitress order one Tapa at a time passed on what was popular. The second Tapa we had was Cordero for $21: Herb marinated rack of lamb, Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, spinach, truffle balsamic glaze, micro greens a great follow on to the Tina Negra.

The third Tapa choice made for us was Paella Marinera for $20 Calamari, green mussels, shrimp, scallops, rice, peppers, onions, tomatoes, cooked in a seafood sauce, garnish with peppers and lemon. They say shrimp put they were the size of prawns. Again incredible. It was the first time in memory that I was upset that I was full. But that just leaves us to come back and try more. Since El Bodegon is about three miles from the Wayzata Yacht Club I can see us ordering take out and sit on the deck and watch the boats come in.

We had a glass of Malbec and a glass of Tempranillo Reserva wine for $24 total. Great wine for a place in a strip mall.

If you want to try something new go to El Bodegon website and take a look at their Tapa dishes. It’s like something Gavin might serve or the coolest restaurant in Manhattan

Our bill was $96.82 under $100 like we like to keep. And for the first time in a VERY long time, I can’t wait to return. But do me a favor and don’t tell No Body, let’s keep this gem our secret!