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El Sazon Cocina & Tragos | Our Story

Four Kitchens, One Family, All Heart

El Sazon started in a BP gas station in Eagan and grew into four celebrated Twin Cities restaurants — all because Cristian and Karen DeLeon believed food cooked with love and shared with family is worth everything.
A Kitchen Table Moment

A Kitchen Table Moment

In 2020, the DeLeon family — immigrants from Mexico and Guatemala — came back together around the table. That quiet time reminded Cristian and Karen that their truest sazón had always been cooking for the people they love.
The Gas Station Kitchen

The Gas Station Kitchen

In March 2022, they opened El Sazon Tacos & More inside a BP gas station in Eagan — a tiny cocina with enormous dreams. It racked up nearly 500 glowing reviews and caught the attention of MPR.
Growing Into the City

Growing Into the City

From Eagan, El Sazon grew to Eat Street Crossing and into a full-service restaurant in Minneapolis's Tangletown neighborhood — El Sazon Cocina & Tragos. Chef Cristian still greets guests tableside, because that's how you welcome people into your casa.
Xelas — His Mother's Table

Xelas — His Mother's Table

In Stillwater, Cristian opened Xelas, a Mayan-inspired restaurant dedicated to his late mother and rooted in ancestral culinary tradition. The seasonally rotating menu — including a taco omakase unlike anything else in the Twin Cities — is his most personal cooking yet.
Porque en Familia Todo Sabe Mejor

Porque en Familia Todo Sabe Mejor

Raising three kids, running four kitchens, building something real. Every guest who walks through our doors is part of this family — because everything tastes better when you share it with familia.
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