CRAVE Food & Drink Mall of America — Restaurant in Bloomington

This is my first time writing a review for a restaurant. I've never felt the need to write a review after eating a meal... until now.

My ladyfriend and myself ate here last night while seated at the bar. The bartender was attentive and friendly, and the cocktails she prepared were very tasty!

But then the food started coming out..

The crab cake appetizer was first. I am not exaggerating when I say it tasted the way cat food smells. It also smelled the way cat food smells. Imagine leaving a can of tuna in the hot sun for 3 days. I like seafood, and I like crab cakes.... I can truthfully say I've never tasted a more disgusting crab cake in my life. I could barely swallow the one bite I took. My partner (somehow) managed two bites. There were three crab cakes served on the plate, and together we couldn't finish one of them, even though we were starving.

I ordered "The Crave Burger"... seems like a safe bet, right? Was asked how I'd like it done, and I said medium. At this point I'm just assuming the crab cakes were a horrible fluke, so I'm optimistic about this burger and fully prepared to love it.

Then the burger came out.

Again, not exaggerating... They cooked this thing BEYOND well done. As if they cooked it to well-done, and then threw it back on the grill for 10 more minutes. The meat was dark grey all the way through, tough, chewy, and bone-dry, and the toppings were downright depressing. To compare it to a foil-wrapped gas station burger would be far too kind to the chefs at Crave, and unfair to the gas station burger manufacturers. To make things worse, the bottom half of the bun was stale and hard, as in, you could literally make a 'ping' noise by dropping the bun onto the plate from 6 inches up. After trying a second bite, I gave up. 70% of the burger was not touched.

So, after taking 3 small, disgusting bites, I paid the $150 bill (2 drinks each, an app, and 2 entrees) and I left the restaurant hungry to go home and eat leftover Pizza (4/5 star rating for the leftover pizza). Of course, I still tipped the bartender, since it wasn't her fault (although in hindsight, it might have been appropriate to ask us why more than half of our food was not eaten). I'm not really the type to complain at restaurants (A.K.A. seeking freebies), so I just signed the check and left a note saying "Good service, super disappointing food" and left.

Honestly I'm just a bit dumbfounded by how awful that meal was, which is why I felt compelled to leave this, my first ever restaurant review. A mediocre $150 meal is one thing... I actually wish that was our experience. It wasn't. We paid $150 and couldn't even choke down what they gave us in return.

I can genuinely, truthfully say I would not eat this food if it was free. This would have been unacceptable if it was served in a jail.

Maybe you'll have a better experience than I did, but personally, I'll never eat here again.

**EDIT: Just in case someone reads this, I did not email Crave as they suggested in response to this review. Why not? Well, I imagine people frequently complain about food just to get freebies, which is despicable. I want to make absolutely clear that I was not seeking freebies when I wrote this review.... The "food" they gave us was actually THAT bad. Worst meal I've ever been given at any restaurant ever.

Maybe I can save someone else from having the...

This was our first time in CRAVE and it was a pleasant experience! My husband and I haven't gone before because of worry of price and if it would be appropriate to bring a toddler in. The restaurant has a stroller parking area if you do bring your little one, and a kid's menu. In addition to the stereotypical kid's food, we were surprised to see sushi on the menu as well! Our LO's food had fruit, french fries, and a vegetable; quite a lot of sides in addition to the California Roll. We each had two different cocktails. The price was reasonable and the flavor profile was good for each one. My husband started with a CRAVE Old Fashioned, and remarked that it was "A damn good Old Fashioned". I had the Ginger Bay Breeze, a nice drink to have with fish due to the ginger and citrus notes. Following this I had the Lavender Champagne cocktail, and considered it a perfect dessert drink for after dinner since it was sweet and floral, but not heavy. Our appetizer was the Wagyu meatballs, and we really liked how the riccota cheese paired with the slight heat in the meatballs. For entrees, I had the Spider Roll and my husband had one of the smash burgers. Solid price, presentation, and taste for both! We did not have to wait long for the appetizers to come out, nor the drinks. The entrees took longer than the appetizers, but it didn't feel like a lengthy amount of time. The atmosphere of the restaurant is one for smaller parties and couple, but we were still able to enjoy the atmosphere as a family. Finally, our server for the night, Alex, was really great. Professional, sociable, observant, and gracious. He made sure we had everything we needed in a timely manner, was respectful in conversation. He must have also heard my husband and I at some point and asked if we wanted to celebrate my birthday, which I declined, but appreciated...

I normally love Crave and am a fan of their Minneapolis and St Louis Park location. However my experience at the MOA Crave was terrible.

I came to this location for dinner while shopping. When we arrived there was a long line going into the mall just to reach the hostess. It took a good 5 minutes to reach her. (It would be more time effective if they had more than one hostess to handle the amount of people) She then told each individual the wait would be 30-45 minutes. We took our wait and continued shopping until we received the text stating that they were ready for us.

Besides the long wait, I was NOT impressed with the food. I ordered Tempora bites. (Image if them is added to show how unappealing they appear) They were over cooked and flavorless. I’ve had them many times before at other Crave locations and was disappointed. I then ordered the fettuccine with chicken. The chicken was dry and over cooked. The pasta tasted like the chef added an entire cup of salt. I couldn’t even eat more than one bite. When I informed the server she called the manager. The manager came over to apologize that they were 0/2 for food items and promised to be attentive to what I would order next.

I think that attentiveness left him a little OVERLY attentive. I decided to then order lettuce wraps. The waitress took my order and then returned to say she did not put in the order “I think you might find that to be too salty since there is soy sauce in it, so you should order something else.” In the end after waiting nearly an hour to get a table, I left the restaurant with NO food. Biggest...