Para Maria — Restaurant in Boston

My daughter made a reservation for us this past Saturday evening. We were very excited to visit Para Maria. We were underwhelmed by most everything that we ordered. The drinks were good not great, small and expensive. We started with a Caesar salad and Smoked Ahi Tuna. The salad was hardly dressed and tasted like just romaine lettuce. When we told the server, she brought us a small bowl of mayonaisse type dressing (not very flavor full) instead of taking the salad back to the kitchen to toss again or bring us a new salad. Not acceptable.The tuna was tasty but served in a very small jar. Nice touch but really a way to make this dish before service. Then, we ordered Crispy calamari and BBQ ribs. The calimari was crispy but cut much to small to be able to taste the squid. The ribs were tasty and the best dish so far but I expected maybe St. Louis ribs but they were short ribs. Hardly BBQ. Then, we ordered the Whole Fish and King salmon. The salmon was tasty and a generous portion but arrived to the table kind of sloppily plated askew on the coconut rice. Finally, the Crispy whole fish. Plated with not so perfect lettuce sitting curved which was a nice touch. The fish was ok but not seasoned! Everyone knows that anything fried should be immediately salted. Not this celebrated chef. I sent a message to her with the server about seasoning. When asked the server what the chef said, she smiled but no words. As a restaurant chef for 25 years and a as a person who still cooks food at home as I did in restaurants, I could only assume that her response to my inquiry was met with something negative (old school chef?). Being the Chef of a restaurant is not only overseeing the food but the most successful practice Hospitality 101. Lastly, cooking for the judges on "Chopped" is entirely different than cooking for hundreds of guests every night. Needless to say, we will not ever return...

My fiancée and I stayed at the Envy Hotel for the weekend and decided to try Para María, the restaurant located on the first floor. Unfortunately, the experience didn’t meet expectations.

We went for dinner around 5:30 PM on a Saturday and were surprised by how empty the place was. The space looked decent with both indoor and outdoor seating, but the menu was extremely limited—even the seafood options were few, and there were no real steak choices besides a steak frites dish. When we asked about appetizers, the waitress said they had some, but nothing was actually listed. A group of four came in, looked over the menu, and walked right out. I honestly felt the same but decided to stay for a glass of wine and try a couple of small plates before leaving.

We gave breakfast a try the next morning around 9:00 AM. It wasn’t busy—only a few other tables—but the kitchen was painfully slow. The waitress kept walking around repeating that “your food will be right out,” but everyone was waiting. When my fiancée’s pancakes finally arrived, they were burnt and inedible, something the kitchen tried to cover up by placing the burned side down. Thankfully, the waitress apologized and brought out a properly cooked plate, and only charged us for one meal.

While the staff was friendly and tried their best, the overall experience left a lot to be desired. The menu is too limited, and the kitchen is clearly struggling. I wouldn’t recommend Para María for a meal. If anything, it’s a decent place for a drink, but there are far better restaurants in the area worth...

My first time here,

This restaurant is really nice definitely a place to put on your list to visit. It's located on the first floor of the Envoy Hotel seaport waterfront district. I thought this restaurant would fall in line with a few Latin- Spanish restaurants I've been to but I was pleasantly surprised very happy with Para Maria restaurant it's very clean even the men's room was inviting 🤣 most places can be a horror show when it comes to those restrooms. The staff is great the drinks were great and last but least the food, omg omg omg. The food was served HOT do you know how rare that is to get at a restaurant these days. I ordered the Spanish French Onion Soup I love soup and was intrigued by the name itself so I get it, great presentation hot and mmm mmm good now I need to let know they add a very unique twist to the French Onion Soup that I won't divulge I recommend you try it. I then ordered the NY Strip medium with roasted Sweet Potato and their Veggie Paella, I can't remember when restaurant food had me humming while eating I really enjoyed the food that's all I can say. The Steak and Paella were cooked to perfection the seasoning on the steak was on point and the same for the paella both served hot and tasted so good. This restaurant hit so many benchmarks for me I'm giving it 5⭐️ I'm going again maybe for brunch the next time but I'm definitely going back. Oh I didn't order dessert there because I was heading to Grace By Nia to enjoy live music coffee...