Fine Dining in the Most Unlikely Setting: A Gas Station

I'm seated between the shelves holding beef jerky and Tylenol Extra Strength, staring at a bed of rice topped with a buttermilk-fried quail garnished with an orchid petal. We're gathered around communal tables inside a BP filling station in the Twin Cities suburb of Eagan, eager to dig in.

Night at the Gas Station, a pop-up five-course meal with nonalcoholic drink pairings, was dreamed up by Guatemalan chef Cristian De Leon and his crew. They run El Sazon Tacos and More out of the BP's minuscule kitchen. It's a space suited for prepping convenience store sandwiches—not glasses of purple horchata or slices of cornbread with jalapeño jam, charred cheese and watercress.

Cristian has more than two decades of restaurant experience, in various cuisines. During the pandemic, he reconnected with his roots through home cooking alongside his Mexican wife, Karen De Leon. A friend tipped them off to the vacancy at the gas station, and the price was right. Now El Sazon draws regulars for birria tacos, carnitas burritos and—if you can score a seat—the full-on feast.

At the start of each course, Karen rings a service bell to get our attention. Cristian then shares his inspiration for what we're about to enjoy. A plate of ribeye and bone marrow is what Karen's mother served Cristian the first time he went over for dinner. "I was 20, and she was 17," Cristian says, to a quick elbow nudge and a "Don't say that part!" from Karen. The place erupts.

That sense of personal connection is contagious, flowing from the team to the guests. In a venue where the typical routine is fill up, pay and go, we've savored, lingered and found common ground. By the final bites of the sweet tamale cake served with cotton candy and rum raisin ice cream, new friends have shared bucket-list travel destinations, followed each other on social channels and in one case, bought tickets to a fellow diner's jazz concert the next day.

Once the black tablecloths are stashed away and the snack displays shifted back into place, the gas station reopens. Folks pop in for potato chips and lottery tickets. Meanwhile, the luckiest ones are headed home, tanks and hearts full.

How to Get Tickets

You do need a bit of luck to attend Night at the Gas Station; tickets sell out within hours. Keep tabs on Instagram (@el_sazon_mn) and Facebook for pop-up announcements—and news about the De Leons' second location, a full restaurant slated to open by October.