Coda Kitchen and Bar — Restaurant in Maplewood

4 1/2 stars

It's been ages since I've been to Maplewood (literally the last time was to see Jobs with Michael Fassbender in theaters, which was in 2015), but the minute I got to the downtown area I remembered how insane the parking/driving situation is over here. Weird one-way parking spots, yet two-way streets, and obviously the fact that it was two days before Christmas on a Saturday wasn't ideal. Since I didn't feel like being a creepy parking vulture, I just drove straight through the chaos and parked a few blocks away in a residential area. No drama, more Fitbit steps. Coda was easy to find despite numerous businesses in the area - prominent signage right in the middle of everything.

This is my kind of place, with an edgy/dark interior and gastropub vibes. Despite that, I actually saw a ton of families in there, though Coda doesn't scream kid friendly (not anti though, necessarily). My chum and I secured a high top table in the front bar area right next to the window, which allowed for some primo canine viewing, most of whom were appropriately decked out in knitted sweaters. Tis the season.

I didn't have to browse the brunch menu for very long, and decided on literally the first item right at the top, which was a pretty classic breakfast sandwich featuring egg (sunny-side up for me), cheese, bacon and my favorite bread-like accompaniment, the almighty biscuit. It was very good, though the biscuit was on the drier side (which, coupled with its crumbly nature, is probably why most people don't go down that road). Everything else on the sandwich was top notch. The roasted potatoes were actually TOO seasoned for me, which is a rarity; it drowned out the actual potato. It was also cooked with onion, so they basically doubled down on the flavoring - I would just cut one of those out, and I think they'd be good.

The service was excellent. The place was decently packed and yet our waitress somehow found the time to stop by very regularly and chat for a minute or two each time. Super personable and friendly, and was honestly one of the most pleasant people I interacted with this year in a restaurant (and that's saying something). Unquestionably improved the experience.

My only reluctance to coming back is that nutty downtown area, but I'm not going to blame Coda for that -...

My now husband and I came here the night after we got engaged and loved the place. He has been a local for years and made me a huge fan. I returned a second time and also had a good experience with the food. Tonight, we were served rotten mussels (they held an undoubtedly rotten fish TASTE and SMELL to them that was incredibly nauseating). Unfortunately we both ate them simultaneously in hunger and only concurred as to their rottenness after (Thank goodness we communicated after our first one each!). We were told by our waitress (after she took them back to the Chef, who undoubtedly must have tried them) that she would kindly comp this item. We tried to forget about the taste and finish eating, but truly it was horrible. Upon reviewing the final check we also realized a manager has to approve “comps,” (as on the check it identifies “Mng Comp ITEM,” so not only were we given rotten mussels, but the manager couldn’t be bothered to stop by to check in or anything as little of the sort. Really what a shame, years of loyalty as customers, from my husband (and his family), and me as well the last few. The service and lack of care was really distasteful and disappointing. So be careful with the shellfish at CODA and don’t expect anyone on staff to care if you consumed a clearly rotten product. Also, we were explicitly told the mussels were fresh that day...so...eat with caution.

EDIT: The manager of Coda replied to this review and subsequently sent my husband and I an email explaining the circumstances of our dinner. I have changed my review to five stars because it really seems this was an isolated incident and the level of response from Coda’s managerial team was incredible. Thank you guys for your customer service and we will...

Very terrible experience last night. I came here maybe two weeks ago & had a pretty good experience food was phenomenal. This time I came with a couple friends to celebrate one of our birthdays & from the beginning to end there were multiple things that rubbed me very wrong about this place. For one, when we were seated we received a pitcher of water…that to our surprised tasted like beer. When I looked over to another table our water was definitely darker. We asked for new water. She brought us bottled water to the table to correct the mistake but didn’t mention we would be charged for it (realized in the end). The thing that really sat wrong with me was that my friend ordered a burger medium well. The same burger she ordered the last time we came. To discover that one half was very rare. She showed me the burger & I suggested she complain because it wasn’t like that the last time. The manager came out and was very rude and walked away during our conversation multiple times. Not once was there even an apology. He originally made it seem like nothing could be done and that’s just the way it is. Only 1 out of 3 of us had an issue with our meal. The manager was very snarky with us. I couldn’t even finish my food the way he was speaking to my friend.

We all grew up here our whole lives and to be treated the way we were was unacceptable. I’ve sent and recommended this place to quite a few ppl since I came two weeks ago. Who also came and spent their money here. This experience left a very bad taste in my mouth. I do not recommend. Make sure you go through all the reviews...