Mallards Southern Kitchen — Restaurant in Bloomington

I want to be clear that I truly understand that as a country we are still in a crisis state and restaurants are really suffering from short staffing. The experience I had here was simply not acceptable.

Decided to try this place out for my boyfriend's birthday with my mom. We had a reservation and immediately our waitress was not welcoming. It took 30 minutes to get our drinks and more than hour to get our food. This would have been fine but the food was for some portions simply inedible and others were not as advertised on their menu. We ordered their asian sea bass with risotto as well as an order of crab cakes and brussel sprouts. The risotto was not cooked correctly, had a gelatin like film, and absolutely no flavor at all. The brussel sprouts were not cooked with bacon, had no flavor other than of the vegetable itself, and our food was cold.

The manager handled this well apologized and offered to comp dessert for my bf birthday and our drinks. I requested to remove the brussel sprouts and she agreed.

Our waitress was honestly worse than the food. She was dismissive and not welcoming immediately. The issue happened when it was time to get the bill. I reviewed it and saw that our drinks were still being charged. I sought her out and mentioned this and she seemed to want to argue. So I suggested she should go confirm with her manager that they should have been comped. After getting confirmation she handed me the billfold and rolled her eyes without a word to me and walked away.

I hope that this was a one off bad experience but for a first experience it assured us that we...

We went to Mallard's on a Saturday evening with another couple. The four of us had reservations and were seated immediately on arrival. Service here was absolutely fantastic despite being busy. The server was so friendly, attentive and patient. We never felt rushed.

I had the blackened fish tacos which were fantastic. I also recommend the garden salad- it was one of the best I've had. Fresh spinach, carrot slices, baby tomatoes, romaine - nothing wilted. The French fries were thin cut and crispy - very very good. I don't recommend the green beans. They were squishy and luke warm with an insane amount of garlic. They looked wonderful but didn't taste good at all. My husband had the jambalaya. He said it was ok but "MN spicy" and the andoulli sausage was sliced very thin. He wouldn't order it again. The other orders at the table were a lobster roll "very good" and Mediterranean salad without the red pepper flakes - clean plate club.

We loved the atmosphere here! We were able to have a long comfortable visit over a good meal. The ambiance is beautiful, like a fancy restaurant without the fancy prices. It's quiet enough for conversation even when very busy. Service is wonderful and prompt. While not all the food is 5 star, if you pick correctly - there are definitely some winners on the menu. We'll...

This was a great experience. We were sat down immediately and our server was great as well. I had been here once before but played it safe and just ordered a burger .This time around I had a crab cake which was probably the best I've had in a long time. Plenty of crab, seasoned to perfection, nice size, the sear on this crab cake was flawless, just a sear not burnt, it was juicy as well not over packed with filler and dry and the Cajun sauce on top the best. I probably should have gotten more lol, but it was just the appetizer. Next I had the Blackened Fish tacos. The walleye was delicious so flaky, nicely seared and flavor was lacking a bit but the lemon vinaigrette , Pico and avocado cream helped. I did still need to add a bit of salt. Now there is a hot sauce on the tacos that I over looked so I didn't like that but I don't like hot sauce at all. Over all , it was really good. My husband ordered the fish and chips. He liked its but out of ten it was like a seven. He didn't like the batter too much but still enjoyed the food . I would recommend this place if you are looking for a nice happy hour or an elevated seafood experience not Oceanaire but just the every day experience if...