Lela — Restaurant in Bloomington

We went to Lela to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary this evening (12/14/18), we had a 7:30 reservation. The first thing we noticed was there was no line, no one waiting to be seated, and the restaurant was between roughly 1/3rd and 1/2 full, this stuck us as odd during what should be dinner rush on a Friday night. We were seated right away and the hostess told us our server was busy so it might be a few minutes. When we were sat at our table we noticed that the table behind us didn't have menus and clearly had been sitting for a while as all 4 guests were surfing on their phones and were very clearly bored/unhappy. The hostess came back 10 minutes later and said our waitress was still busy and asked if we wanted to place a drink order, we did. Thirty minutes later, it was now 8:10, we still had not seen our waitress (we had seen 2 waitresses in our area of the restaurant, both appeared to be handling 2 or 3 tables) the hostess shows back up with our drink order, yes it took THIRTY MINUTES to have 2 drinks delivered. I got up and tracked the hostess down and asked to speak to a manager, the hostess said she would get one, she ran off looking all over the restaurant for a manager, and then looking very flustered went into the back of the house presumably to look for a manager. At this point the table that had ordered before we were seated recieved their food, so it was at least 45 minutes, and most likely much more judging by body language, between ordering and getting food on a fairly quiet night. We sat around for another 5 minutes before we got up and left without ever seeing the manager or our server.

We had high hopes for Lela we thought the menu looked interesting and we thought the restaurant looked nice, dispite being crammed into a tiny 2 seat table even though there were plenty of other more comfortable tables open.

We have both worked in restaurants, including waiting tables at a higher end restaurant, where I routinely had 10 or more tables at a time on a busy night, having customers wait 45+ minutes without ever seeing their waiter/waitress is 100% unacceptable... The manager should have been on the floor, helping the wait staff, talking with tables that the wait staff couldn't handle, helping to smooth over this huge bump in the road.

At this point we will not be returning to Lela, and unfortunately we will be telling family, friends, yelp, Google etc about this...

Restaurant week here was a disappointment, even though the menu looked promising. Restaurant week is normally a showing of the most popular dishes or menu featured items so that diners have the opportunity to try one appetizer, one entrée, and one dessert. In this case Lela chose only non-menu items that tasted poorly mass produced for RW, which normally isn't an issue but none of what we ordered was very good in general. Flavor just wasn't there with most of the entrees, portions were smaller which isn't uncommon for MN RW but come on, $45 for a tasting menu, where 80% of it isn't good, yikes!

We split a regular calamari appetizer while waiting for our RW menus. I had the braised short rib, while the tricolor carrots and mashed potatoes offered some flavor, the 'braised short rib' was devoid of it. It really needed some seasoning or salt, there was none at the table, so it was very bland. Everyone that had this at the table agreed it was very mid, flavorless, literally tasted like a crockpot recipe I could do at home, and I am not a cook whatsoever. My friend Lindsay ordered the sword fish and it was TERRIBLE, possibly the worst fish entree I've tried in years. The fish was unbelievably fishy and spongey, it gave off frozen fish steak defrosted in the microwave vibes. Also there was no cauliflower puree to speak of, mostly just clam velouté, the spring vegetables were abysmal. There were a handful of peas and a couple of asparagus tips in white sauce. Not an impressive dish, should have never been added to the menu, quality appalling.

Desserts were good, I had the cookie skillet, others got the crème brûlée. All in all I would recommend passing on Lela Restaurant Week, the servers were not prepared for the rush of the event and didn't even really know restaurant week was happening, we had to ask for the RW menus two to three times. Server also gave attitude when my friend had to return her inedible fish. Not a great RW experience unfortunately!

(Update: my other friend Leah who also ordered the sword fish got violently ill the next day, this is not okay; I suspect food poisoning from the bad fish, I wonder how many other people got sick...

I have eaten here four times, now, and each visit has been memorable with truly spectacular food and service! I confess, I've yet to have dinner, here; I've been to Lela for 2 breakfasts and 2 lunches. But, if they're as good with their evening meals as they are with their earlier-in-the-day fare, I know I'll enjoy it!

The waitstaff is professional, crisp, and attentive. They perform with perfection and without flaw. Small, everyday requests (such as drinks with no ice, a table for someone plus-sized, extra butter, or salad dressing on the side) are met with a smile and prompt attention to detail.

Now, since most reviews here seem focused on dinner, I'd like to heartily recommend Lela's breakfasts. The menu is small but to-the-point. This morning, I had the eggs Benedict. Do not expect a typical version of the dish, either. Neither the one I had this morning nor the crab-cake version I had on my last visit are "typical". The chef uses prosciutto rather than salt pork or Canadian bacon and serves the eggs (perfectly poached, I might add) over a lightly toasted slice of ciabatta. The hashbrowns accompanying the main dish were light, crispy-on-the-outside, and not heavy. The portion was not over-large but also not minuscule: just the right way to start the day!

The prices at Lela are a bit higher than the average family dining establishment but you get what you pay for. The value in perfectly-prepared food with creative riffs on the standard cannot be over-emphasized. Yes, you can get more food at some buffet or going to a Perkins but what you get won't be even a fraction of the quality I keep getting, time and again, at Lela.

So, there you have it: my review of a truly fine restaurant, nestled away on the first floor of the Sheraton hotel! Go!...