Macarons By Maddie Lu — Restaurant in Bloomington

As a professional pastry chef, I can say without a doubt, these are quite possibly the worst example of macarons that I have yet experienced to date. Both in appearance and flavor, they fall short of the standard. Normally, the price for macarons would not bother me. However, given their poor quality, it is my opinion that the doors to this establishment should stay closed.

Upon first glance, the bright colors draw one's eye. However, it is then that you notice how uneven the shape is, how the foot is very unbalanced, and the lack of dome on the top. The filling also is nearly impossible to see around the edge and where it can be seen, the layer is uneven and generally bears no contrast to the cookie color.

My first bite filled my mouth with a complete lack of flavor and a very lackluster "crunch" to the cookie base. They have obviously absorbed a good amount of moisture as they sit out at room temperature. The flavor of their "Very Vanilla" was akin to that of dipping a soda cracker into a tub of store-made vanilla frosting. Disappointing to say the least.

Next, came the "Honey Lavender." It too had the characteristic softness where a crispness should be. And, in all honesty, I found no distinction at all in flavor between this and the vanilla one before it.

The "vanilla frosting" in these two was grainy and far too soft and unworthy of being placed inside...

Visited: 3/24/19 around 3pm

They do not taste like a macaron you would be happy you bought...if you engage in Macaron exploring around the country, this place disappoints. Clearly produced for volume. the fillings are weird and not consistent in quality.

The lady who helped me wasn't very nice and seemed annoyed. She didn't say one word to me, even after I excitedly said, " hello, how are you?" She just stared...annoyed. there was no line and a small group of young girls figuring out what they were getting in the store. The attitude was a let down. Your cookies aren't good, so why do you have to not be nice? The guy who took our transaction was nice.

The cookies could be WAY better.The recipe kinda sucks. They weren't uniform and didn't fit into the 10pk box at all.This isn't normal for macarons. The point is to have perfect uniform little pieces of heaven. That was disappointing. They weren't put in the box organized either. I took them out and reorganized, smoothed them over, tilted them backwards to look pretty for my pic.

Overall they need to fire the middle aged rude lady, make better cookies. No flavor all dye. Would not recommend to others. The dents(because they dont fit in the generic box) and different cookie sizes on the same cookie (top/bottom)upset me for what i was paying....

My kid and I have gone here year after year, we LOVED these but I guess it takes one bad experience. We don't live near Mall of america but we usually stop and buy some if we are anywhere near it for whatever occasion. They used to be PERFECT, each flavor was distinct and each cookie baked to perfection. We got a pack of 10 with different flavors, a few old time flavors we've loved and a few new. My favorite is lavender honey, it didn't taste like lavender or honey, the lemon tasted like they threw the peel in. Almost every cookie was overly moist and very gritty as it seems they no longer use quality almond flour or are to lazy to sift or process it more. There is almost no filling in the cookies may be why they don't taste like much. As a customer of MAY years... I don't plan to ever purchase cookies from them again. It's obviously a money grab or maybe they are seriously struggling and...