Estelle - Saint Paul

This just became my favorite restaurant in Minnesota. AMAZING. INCREDIBLE. FABULOUS! Seriously. I was blown away. Ordered their shrimp tapas and spaghetti plate. Best shrimp and best spaghetti I’ve ever had in my life. Thank you Estelle!

Welp, Estelle is mind-blowing; food, drinks, service and design are all exceptional—and this is in the context of the already phenomenal Twin Cities dining scene. It’s like watching an elite athlete perform—everything looks effortless while also being flawless.Our group of 3 ended up splitting everything simply so we could try more of the menu. I was probably most blown away by the shrimp appetizer because shrimp is the one food I have always disliked. As such, my husband rarely eats it unless we are out. I usually try it, and prior to this day have always ended these experiments with, “Still hate shrimp”. This was the first surprise of the evening. I took a bite and was hit with something utterly delightful followed by a hint of smokey—I ate the whole thing, and then had a second! Do I like shrimp now? I think I just like Estelle.The second revelatory experience was their pastas. Each was so different but I couldn’t really name a favorite—the flavors were dynamic, it was an entire idea, a storyline carried to conclusion with satisfying plot arcs. If I could have eaten it all, I would have been seriously considering licking the plate.Finally, our server Josie was so on point. She was fun, attentive, and professional.For every moment of that experience, it was a perfect meal, a memorable meal. I will be thinking about this place for a long time!

Almost everything was, unfortunately, way too salty, ranging from the tapas to the rigatoni, which was the only main course my friends and I have ordered. I was hoping to have an experience that reflected majority of the reviews but unfortunately I wasn 't able to receive such just based on the food taste alone. I must say that the service was amazing and the atmosphere was everything I could ask for when I wanted to have a good time with my friends. My constructive feedback is related to food only.The chicken liver mousse had a nice mixture of flavors combining sweet and savory tastes into one when I started spreading the pepper jelly, the mousse, and the mustard on top of the focaccia, which tasted very nice. That was probably my favorite dish out of everything I had tasted. For the bacalao, I could not tell that it was salt cod in the potato fritters mixture. When dipping it into the tartar sauce, I could not tell that this was a form of tapas and I wasn 't sure if the sauce elevated the flavor or moved the flavor to a more typical direction of just fish and tartar sauce which to me is one of the most basic ways of eating fish products. I think changing a sauce might be able to showcase the bacalao 's unique identity, or even consider changing the way it 's cooked without deep frying. The shrimp was overcooked and too salty in the shrimp al ajillo tapas, and even the garlic butter sauce couldn 't neutralize the salty taste. But together with the baguette it became a little bit better. I think reducing the salt level would help, along with being more vigilant on how the shrimp tail got easily overcooked while the rest of the shrimp was more or less okay. The rigatoni was also very salty, and the flavors from different ingredients, ranging from the fennel sausage to the roasted red pepper, didn 't completely mesh with the pasta 's flavor profile. One bite of a piece of rigatoni, one would still get the pasta and cheese flavor without much flavor from the other ingredients. The pasta was freshly made and the basil on top was surely a nice touch, though. Overall I would highly recommend decreasing the salt level on everything as there was a lot of it.The pasteis de nata was pretty good. However, honestly it tasted more like a tiny piece of sweet potato pie, as the egg mixture in the egg tart really lost its egg taste and had a good amount of sweet potato taste. It could be the cinnamon that did the work. The churros were pretty good, and tasted like the standard churros I have had everywhere else.While I am definitely that happy that other customers enjoy the food from Estelle, I found it underwhelming, unfortunately, and I felt like maybe ordering more dishes from the plates section would help, but since it is so hard to find a place in the Twin Cities that had emphasis on Spanish and Portuguese flavors, I would love to see more of that incorporated rather than Italian, or American like a cheeseburger.With all that said, I will still say that this is a solid place for a date night due to service and atmosphere! It is also located in a very nice and cozy neighborhood.

Absolutely exceptional dining experience from beginning to end! The food and service is intentional and perfect down to the last minute detail. I want to mention the 20% service charge that is added to every bill. This is the first restaurant that I have been to where it felt like the right thing to do. Each person who works at Estelle's has a specific job that is done to perfection. They all work as a group making each part of the dining experience very memorable! 100% of the service charge goes directly to the staff and, truthfully, they deserve so much more then the 20%.

Cute and cozy dining room. Open kitchen floor plan so you can watch the chefs do their thing. Their cocktails are everything. Food is always so yummy but very heavy. I have to remind myself to eat slow. Service is very knowledgeable and friendly.