Mara Restaurant and Bar - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Cindy ?. C.

Always a great experience here. It is a little pricey, expect to pay over $100 for brunch for two, but you will quickly see why. I am usually very critical of service and can sometimes be viewed as a "Karen" but i have to say, there is not one negative thing I can say about our dining experience. From the moment of Valet and coat check to being seated, wait staff and food, I would say this is one of the best brunch places in the cities. Food is always amazing and presentation is like little servings of art. Staff is very attentive and does not rush you at all. I noted on our reservation it was an early Valentine's celebration. They took time to seat us at a beautiful table acknowledging they wanted it to be special for us. Thank you so much for making our time together special!

Andrei S.

We dined at the chef's table and it was an amazing experience. Our host, Sarah was great at explaining our wine pairings, answering questions about the food and menu and made sure we had everything we needed.

Chef Thony put on a masterclass. Fall flavors were on full display. Our favorite dishes were the pasta with truffle, short rib with fennel and the trout with horseradish and an amazing red cabbage sauce.

Great experience, the chef's table provides an intimate view of the kitchen, a chance to talk with the chefs, and a fantastic menu.

myra W.

Beautiful location in the gorgeous Four Seasons Hotel. Service was wonderful and the food was absolutely delicious. The Mezze was sooo good, the hummus was ridiculous, and feta cubes and pita were so delicious. Calamari was excellent, the Chicken shawarma sliders were good, but i wasn't a huge fan of the chicken patty texture. The flavor combo with the tzatziki sauce and pickle with the chicken, however, was spot on. I definitely want to go back and try more stuff on the menu. Chef Gavin definitely did not disappoint. Burger and wings were reported as very good.

revanth K.

Mara Restaurant offers an exceptional dining experience! The steak was cooked perfectly and Great atmosphere and attentive service. Highly recommend!

Mariam R.

Had such an incredible and unique dinner experience at Mara! We were celebrating the December birthdays in my friend group - mine included ! Definitely a great place for a girl's night out.

Let's start with parking, because that always stresses me out. We had an 8:15pm reservation for a Friday and downtown was absolutely packed. I didn't feel comfortable parking too far so I ended up circling for about 10 mins before finding a spot a couple blocks away. Phew ! Keep this in mind when dining here - it's in a busy area ! They do offer valet, but I didn't ask the price.

It did take us a while to be seated. 10 mins. The waiting area is beautiful - the whole restaurant has an elevated vibe with deep maroon curtains and beautiful upholstered seating.

Dinner was amazing - I absolutely loved the mocktails. I ordered the Metropolitan which had a cranberry flavor. They have a menu that shows Halal options of menu items that don't have pork or alcohol. The waiter was also very careful to explain that the menu items that do have alcohol cook out, but wanted to ensure I wouldn't order something I can't have. I appreciated this!

We got potatoes and hummus as an appetizer. I really loved the crispy potatoes ! The potatoes and aioli at the bottom was so delicious. Perfectly salted too. I didn't think the hummus was more unique than other hummus I have tried. The crunchy fried beans on top were a nice touch. I loved the fluffy naan it came with.

I ordered the Redfish. It was absolutely divine. Lots of flavors going on and I loved the beurre Blanc sauce used. The onions on top were caramelized nicely.

I tried my friend's Chermoula Spiced Chicken which was very delicious too! Also tried the bucatini with lobster. I wasn't a big fan of the bucatini but It's personal preference because I don't really like red sauce much unless it's in pizza or a lasagna.

We got the olive oil cake for dessert. It was good, but not what I was expecting. It had a custard on top, very thin layer of cake, and chocolate surrounding it. It was good but probably wouldn't get it again.

I was a little surprised they didn't offer a birthday treat or even just a candle on the dessert. Especially since we were celebrating two birthdays.

On that note, I did love how the staff gave us a spot right near the fireplace and made room on the counter next to us to put all our gifts!

It does cost $8 a slice to cut a cake at the restaurant, so we didn't go that route. Keep that in mind if you're planning on bringing cake.

They did bring out complimentary macaroons at the end of the night which was nice! I would come here again for a date night with my husband.

Pi P.

Server, Chadwick, was great. They really took care of us for an anniversary dinner. Everything was good - but the Branzino with table side explanation was a highlight for us, the tomahawk would have been fun too I imagine. Skip the hummus and pita - it’s missing a salt and acid component. We also tried the special, steak on skewers with toum and it was very delicious. Tartare was perfectly balanced and also very good.

Opted out of the soufflé dessert because we were stuffed (we took the hummus and pita to go, too) but it seemed delicious. Came back down a little later in the evening and missed the window to order the special dessert but it sounded lovely. Had a scoop of chocolate ice cream instead, which was a perfect little serving size for me and pacotized but had too much xanthan gum or something so it ended up with a slightly wrong texture for me - I’d stick to menu desserts if you can.

Five star service from the hotel extended into the restaurant, with multiple staff commenting over the celebration flowers the hotel had gifted us over the two hours. It’s nice that they care enough to train the staff on those details.

PS if you’re staying in the hotel, order breakfast before 11 so you can try Mara breakfast offerings, not available after 11.

Kelsi K.

One of the best meals we have ever had. Our reservation was 30 mins late, but we weren’t in a rush and they gave us complimentary bubbly! The Gorgonzola Tartine was pretty good, nothing too special but glad we tried it. The gnocchi was absolutely incredible, just melts in your mouth. After this course we thought there was no way the salt baked Branzino could live up to it, and we were so wrong. Possibly the best fish dish I have ever had. They really care about the food and you taste the amount of thoughtfulness that goes into each dish. Will be back so many more times in the future. Great way to celebrate my 30th birthday and baby moon!

Z H.

The appetizers are 4-5 stars. I tried their babaghanoush and watermelon salad and loved them. My friend tried the fried chicken wings and said they were the best they've ever had. The entrees and desserts, however, were not very appetizing. The entrees (tomato pasta and the citrus butter fish) and dessert (looks like a baklava but isn't) didn't come close to the fresh flavors of the appetizers. The broccolini wasn't as appetizing as it sounded either. I would stick to the appetizers.

So why the 4 star rating? The service. Our server was fantastic. She noticed that we didn't touch our entrees and our enthusiasm had diminished, so she immediately tried to rectify it. The manager came over and apologized as well. It's very considerate of them. I will come back for the appetizers and probably a different dessert. The non-alcoholic drinks were also very nice.