- Mendota (/mɛnˈdoʊtə/ men-DOH-tə) is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The name is a mispronunciation of the Dakota word for the location, bdóte, which in Dakota tradition is the center of the world. The word in this use means “the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers,” and generally “mouth or junction of one river with another.” The population was 198 at the 2010 census.