One of our favorite new restaurants is located along Kingshighway, where Southampton meets Princeton Heights. After soaring to a coveted #9 spot on Ian Froeb’s STL 100, El Molino del Sureste is gaining popularity, with people booking reservations to see what it’s all about. After attending their opening and returning again recently, we are convinced we understand now what it truly is all about: family.

We’ve enjoyed the talented Chef Alex Henry’s cooking at City Foundry since 2021 at the Sureste food stall. Sureste continues to serve some of our favorite tacos in St. Louis, along with tamales, ceviche, and other flavors of the Yucatán. Chef Alex opened El Molino with his brother Jeff Henry in September 2023, giving Chef Alex space to expand upon the flavors of Sureste while Jeff runs front-of-house, making sure each guest feels that they are truly sitting at their family’s table enjoying the recipes passed down among generations. The duo honors their family history, serving dishes from their Abuelita’s kitchen and reminiscing tableside of personal memories associated with each dish. The flavors of the Yucatán region pervade every dish of their curated create-your-own tasting menu approach.

The cocktails feature a range of flavors suitable for any guest, from those liking both sweet and smoky to more savory and rich.

The ceviche featured grouper with burnt garlic, citrus, onion, chile guero, aceite verde. The cut on the ceviche wasn’t the more common diced fish but in thin pads which reminded us almost of a sashimi cut.

One of our favorite dishes from the menu was the Mole de Hongos. This vegetarian dish was full of flavor, and as meat-lovers, we didn’t even miss the meat! Local mushrooms, mushroom mole, onion, and herbs served with fresh tortillas. We are still thinking about this one.

The Ensalada de Nopalitos y Tomate Verde was innovative and refreshing. Neither of us had tried cactus before, and it was a winner. The mouthfeel was similar to a roasted poblano pepper, but the mild flavors of the cactus soared when paired with green tomato, queso panela, and fresh herbs.

The Relleno Negro featured roasted turkey, ground pork stuffed with egg, and chimole. As the dish was set on our table, we couldn’t help comment that the egg was reminiscent of a Scotch egg. Similar to the mole in the Mole de Hongos, the sticky sweet sauce kept us coming back for more.

The Chuleta de Castacan is just so impressive. It’s a made-up cut of a “double” pork belly chop, served with skin on that has been crisped to perfection. The contrasting lighter accompaniments include a flavorful xni-pec salsa, marinated cabbage, housemade mayo, and herbs.

Octopus is always a crowd pleaser in St. Louis. It’s not on a ton of menus, and we certainly haven’t had it prepared in this way. The Pulpo en su Tinta is braised in its own ink, tomato, herbs, and served with fresh tortilla.

Arguably our favorite dish on the menu, the Cayo de Hacha en Mole Blanco was unique, light, dreamlike. The sea scallops were delicate and warm, served with a white chocolate mole, that paired beautifully with aromatic fennel and herbs. Ground pepitas amplified the overall texture and balanced out the flavor of the sweet white chocolate.

A fun way to try a variety of flavors from El Molino is to order from the Antojitos (small bites) menu. All of the Antojitos we tried were outstanding. The Taco de Lengua, had grilled beef tongue, salsa de campechana, onion, and herbs. The Taco de Camarones al Coco was coconut-masa fried shrimp, apple tamarind salsa, and herbs. The Tostada de Tzic de Jaiba featured blue crab, citrus, radish, avocado, and herbs.

Do not skip dessert. As the sun set, so did the quality of these images, but we just HAD to post because these were some of the best desserts we’ve had in a while. The Flan de Queso de Cabra was light as a feather, topped with marigold petals. Marquesita is a Yucatán-style crispy rolled crepe, a popular street food again from the brothers’ childhood. The Marquesita is stuffed with edam cheese, showing the Dutch influence in that region at the time of the creation of the dish. It’s topped with housemade cajeta (goat’s milk caramel), and fresh berries.

If you’ve been waiting to visit El Molino, now is the time and you can book a reservation on Tock. They recently launched a new happy hour menu on the patio from 5-6pm Tuesday-Friday, featuring $5 antojitos and dips, $13 1/2 dozen oysters in augachile, and drink specials. We’ll be back soon!