Jay S.
Yelp
My rating would be closer to a 4.5 but there are a few factors that lead me to giving this spot a 5 instead of a 4 on here, which I will elaborate on soon enough. First things first, Daniel del Prado did it again with creating a great food spot for people to try and gather! Macanda is in Wayzata which means it's closer to Josefina, and with the lake view if one chooses to sit by the patio, it has some added points for the summer.
My friend and I ordered 4 types of tacos in total, and they were all good in their own ways. My favorite was the tempura shrimp soft taco. The arbol mayo and cabbage really made a difference in defining the flavor beyond the tempura shrimp texture and it worked very well! Then the carne asada soft tacos were excellent as well, as the meat was very tender and juicy. Adding their hot sauce on it was a great plus in providing flavor, along with lime juice. The smoked mushroom soft tacos and the brisket tacos were great as well, although the brisket did not have a very pronounced presence among the other ingredients which replicated some of the same ingredients in the other kinds of tacos. The mushroom almost had a meat texture, and together with the fajitas (green bell pepper at least) included, it tasted almost like meat tacos. Then the corn esquites were out of this world! With queso fresco and chipotle mayo sauce included, it was almost like the bowl version of an elote except for the cheese difference. Maybe using cotija could be even better? I am not sure, but it's really good already! The chicken enchiladas, I felt leaned more towards mediocre, as the guajillo salsa ended up becoming the main flavor defining factor, instead of the chicken, the crema, or the toppings (radish and cilantro), which in the end just tasted like chicken dipped in salsa.
Finally desserts, big shoutout to the fresas con crema! Great combination of strawberry, cream, and shortbread! Our server even poured cream on top of it as he served the dessert on the spot. The strawberry did not taste that fresh, so combining everything together was what made the flavor work. We also had the buñuelo. It looked different from the traditional one, but ended up tasting pretty good. Personally I thought there was too much golden raisin and candied orange, so I actually tried to use the tres leches gelato to neutralize the strong flavors from those two ingredients. However, I can definitely see some people liking it that way as well.
Now the factors that is leading me to give this place a 5 would be: 1) atmosphere, which was clearly intentionally made and well-designed, so despite the noisiness, it didn't necessarily drown a conversation, and my friend and I still had a great time. 2) service, which was just amazing, as our server Eric was extremely courteous and attentive to us, carrying a smile throughout the entire time, so I promised to give him a shoutout here - he was excellent! 3) relativity, which basically means that I wouldn't feel right about giving Macanda a 4 when I have given 4's to some way more mediocre establishments, because Macanda made great efforts in many aspects of my dinner experience.
Several additional areas of opportunity that I will just mention here, speaking for myself only: The food came out a bit slow, so my friend and I waited for a while before our first dish came out (but I need to make it clear that there was a table of 14 right ahead of us that just submitted their order which might have impacted serving speed). The water tasted a bit weird, which I don't know why, but just want to make it known. These are just some nit-picky points!
My friend said she would definitely return and bring her family members here, and I will say the same!