El Norte Kitchen is a local Southwestern comfort food pop-up shop that offers an array of unique flavors. El Norte Kitchen believes in using fresh ingredients and providing a flavorful experience. El Norte kitchen offers food from different areas within the Southwest region of the United States. 

Pop-up shops are becoming more and more popular these days. For those who don’t know what a pop-up entails, it's a foundation for businesses to introduce customers to potential concepts. Pop-up shops don’t have permanent establishments, so it’s important to follow their social media accounts to make sure you are keeping up with dates and locations. 

Sign up for El Norte’s email list to stay updated on locations and event details here:

http://elnortekitchen.com/#news

El Norte is run by Ben Allen (Head Chef/Owner), Tricia Allen (Boss/Co-owner), and Elijah Allen (Sous Chef). Currently, El Norte doesn't have a set location but offers pop-ups at various tasteful locations around the Twin Cities.

The most well-known item is the El Norte ''Concha Burger'', which is a finely crafted burger that is hugged nicely by a Concha. Concha is mexican sweet bread (aka “pan dulce”). The Concha Burger has gained attention across social media outlets as well as being featured on Thrillist.

The Concha burger event set for Jan 27th, 2020 is officially SOLD OUT. Stay tuned for upcoming events!

Watch how the Concha burger is made below:

Besides the Concha Burger, El Norte has other amazing options, including: breakfast burritos, California burritos (stuffed with carne asada, french fries, monterey jack cheese, crema, and guacamole), street style tacos, quesadillas, and asada fries.

The food is delicious and the atmosphere is inviting. El Norte has an amazing vibe and with that comes a great music playlist to be social to.

Stream: El Norte’s Official Playlist Vol. 1

“I don’t want to be known as a Concha Burger guy,” Allen says. “I’m a burrito man. Burritos are my thing. Tacos are my wife’s thing. My brother, he likes everything. January 27th, as of right now... that’s the last Concha Burger.”

-Ben Allen via City Pages

Ben and Tricia Allen have been doing research and development, traveling nationally to get a better grasp on their version of the breakfast taco. We can anticipate a breakfast taco drop in the near future.

El Norte is also enrolled in a program through the Neighborhood Development Center (NDC) to help build a business plan with El Norte to optimize future business endeavors. 

These pop-up shops are only the building blocks to the bigger picture for El Norte. The El Norte staff all juggle full time jobs and would like for their end goal to work El Norte full-time as well as having a permanent establishment. 

Visit El Norte Official Website: http://elnortekitchen.com/

El Norte Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/elnortekitchen/

El Norte's success was boosted by online presence that required excellent photography skills provided by Derrick Koch. A special thanks to Derrick for his astonishing photographs included in this entry.