La Voya Brasserie — Restaurant in Fort Snelling Unorganized Territory

My family booked our Mother's Day brunch at La Voya. We had never been there before and the reviews seemed a bit mixed, so we had no idea what to expect.

We were absolutely delighted. The food was excellent. It was all fresh, hot, and very tasty. Nothing sat under a heat lamp. The omelet was fluffy, the brioche was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, the bacon was crisp, the hash browns delicious!

But the reason we'll be going back was the service. I don't remember the last time I was so impressed with a team of servers. I made point to write down their names. Christine seated us immediately and got our drink orders out to us within a couple of minutes. Ash took our orders within a few minutes of that. I'll get to Santiago in a minute.

Our food arrived in a very reasonable time considering it was all freshly made. Christine never let our coffee cups get less than half empty. Ash checked back with us several times and got us what we asked for immediately. I don't mean quickly. I mean IMMEDIATELY. When my wife asked for extra sugar for her coffee Ash turned toward Santiago who was at the counter and said "sugar". Santiago had the sugar at the table practically before my wife finished her request.

Santiago was like a whirlwind throughout the restaurant. He cleared plates quickly, quietly, and courteously as customers finished with them. More than once, when I finished with a plate and tried to find an out of the way place on the table to put it, Santiago appeared out of nowhere to ask if he could take care of it for me. At one point, a customer dropped a fork and Santiago zoomed from the kitchen to pick it up before the customer could do so. He is amazing!

Surprisingly, as quickly and efficiently as all three of these servers were, we didn't feel the least bit rushed. On the contrary, we felt that they were getting us everything we needed and removing the clutter so we could sit back and relax.

All in all, a remarkable and enjoyable dining experience. Thank you Christine, Ash, and...

Amazing food. Great service.

I had the Steak Frites and the reduction was fantastic with it, the truffle fries were delicious. The steak was tender and moist and so easy to cut into even with a regular dinner knife.

My mother had the chicken wild rice and we all were amazed by it; we're not sure what they used in it, but we think it might have been marsala which worked well with the chicken. She also had a pan roasted chicken, Coq Au Vin, I believe, which melted in your mouth. Just wow, the seasonal veggies with the truffle potato puree was such a great combo.

My father had the pastrami sandwich which was very good. I don't usually care for pastrami, but even I found it to be good.

The service was timely and considerate, always on top of our beverages and even helped us with questions. My father said the long island he had was among the best. Absolutely recommend if you're staying over between flights or just...

I feel I need to warn people about this "fine dining": My wife and I dined here on a layover in MSP. First, the good: The service was excellent. Our server (Jon I believe) was attentive and friendly - couldn't be better. Unfortunately, the food situation was mediocre - and that is being very kind. I had the scallops (4, slightly overcooked) which came with some sort of fried corn fritter. Somehow they managed to almost burn the outside of the fritter while keeping the inside doughy and tasteless. My wife ordered the mushroom bisque (her verdict: "It tastes like someone opened a can of Campbell's cream of mushroom and then dumped in heavy cream"), and the beet salad: The beets were very hard and someone just threw four whole lettuce leaves (with brown stems) right on top of them. We each had a cocktail and a glass of wine. The bill for this "Fine dining"?? $213...