Ruscello at Nordstrom — Restaurant in Maryland

Inside the Nordstrom Department Store at Montgomery Mall resides a secret café that is not so secret. What is probably not known is that it offers full menus every day of the week, and even includes a fantastic brunch selection. I have been to Nordstrom Marketplaces before but had never visited this one. The decor is a little bit dated, with dark woods receded lighting but with huge windows that let the light in. There are both booths and tables to chose from for your seating. The menus are available in printed and online form via QR Codes at the table. The servers present the print versions, so I recommend them. The service is prompt and courteous. When I asked for my mushroom burger to be wrapped in lettuce, they inmediately said it was not a problem (the burger is a blend of mushrooms and beef, with truffle aïoli, Asiago cheese and caramelized onions). I asked for a lemon cookie for desert (which is a Nordstrom Marketplace classic) but they were not ready yet, so they got me a complementary brownie with chocolate sauce. This was a great experience! I recommend everyone to try Nordstrom...

Somewhat speechless -- still surprised to see a full-service diner cafe literally hidden in the middle of a premium department store in a large mall already filled with highly competitive aggressively advertizing food establishments.

What's more? The food ingredients seem fresh and made to order. The flavor and taste may not seem consistent, but it beats the heck out disrupting the entire shopping experience and having to truck one and one's family 1000 to 2000 feet to eat something and walk all the way back to pick up shopping ---- congrats to Nordstrom strategist for trying to keep shoppers without Nordstrom store boundaries.

Now in all honesty, the food seems inconsistent and the flavors are ok. Extra marks for having specials like lamb burger with harissa sauce and lambd pizza. The salmon in the salad entree was way overcooked. The crispy cauliflower seem dissappointing with just four small bites of actual cauliflower for a whopping $10. Overall, the cafe atmostphere and ambience is a nice respite from the busy...

I guess all Nordstrom department stores incorporate a Marketplace Cafe within their place of business. I’m not an avid Nordstrom shopper but I can vouch that their cafes are a nice escape from the mall food courts.

Prices are reasonable for the most part. The best thing on the menu to get is the heirloom tomatoes and burrata appetizer. Order two if you have to. It comes with maybe 4-5 pieces of crostini (so not a lot) but it’s the best thing they do.

I’m not really a fan of their flavored drinks, so I stick with water. The steak tacos are good BUT unfortunately they fry the corn tortillas when they should just steam them like the Nordstrom Marketplace Cafe in Pittsburgh does. Our steak taco shells were a weird hard and chewy consistency.

The complimentary Makers chocolates are delish!!! Wish I could buy a box of them...