EaTo — Restaurant in Minneapolis

BEST ITALIAN RESTAURANT I’VE BEEN TO SO FAR! Eat to restaurant is located in Downtown Minneapolis, MN. It is known for serving some great Italian cuisine with a modern Italian interior inside. There are three sections of Eat to’s; the market, the restaurant, and the bottle shop. The market is filled with organic fresh ingredients, sauces, and drinks, the restaurant where people sit down, and the bottle shop where all of the alcohol is. Italian food is one of my favorite cuisines and I was so excited to try this place. I got their Pesto, Beet salad, Taleggio and honey pizza, and Seasonal veggies. I have to say ALL of them were my favorites and ALL of them were super delicious in their own way.

Their pesto with linguine sauce was very garlicky, salty, and nutty. It was bright and earthy and tasted a great amount of cheese flavor as well. I literally couldn’t stop eating their pesto because it was that delicious! I tasted all of the elements in pesto that pesto has and none of the ingredients were hidden. I think all of their dishes' ingredients are very stand out and there is nothing to hide. For example, I got their taleggio (cheese) pizza with honey and rosemary. The pizza was very simple and not complex but I thought the flavor combination was strange at first. Taleggio cheese has a very funky bitter taste and I was amazed to taste it. The honey acts as a counter “attack” to the taleggio because that is their sweetening agent that balances the funky taste of taleggio. The rosemary acts as their earthiness blend to balance the strong bitter cheese with the sweet honey as well. It’s honestly one of the best balanced pizzas I had. Like I said, there was nothing hidden with their dishes and their pizza was the perfect example.

The seasonal veggies also had their moment to shine as well. They were sautéed and cooked perfectly to tender. The seasoning was perfect and the medley of veggies fit right in with the Italian flair. Their Beet salad was another example of ingredients not hiding from the dish. The salad was greatly conceptualized as the salad was light. The cheesecake is from a local bakery in Minneapolis and that cheesecake was the bomb! Very creamy and soft; just like a cheesecake should be.

Like I said, BEST ITALIAN RESTAURANT in Minneapolis. I am so happy I found this place and got to enjoy some amazing Italian food. Everything was organic, homemade, authentic, and conceptualized. You can tell how much thought was put into each dish as none of the ingredients were hidden and very much stood out. Thank you Victoria and Brooke for taking care of me and JJ who made stunning...

If there was a negative star option I would have selected it. I had high hopes for this place. I’m a huge fan of Grand Cafe and was expecting the same amazing experience. Unfortunately it was a huge failure.

We had a large group, 12 of us. Celebrating two birthdays. Everything started out fine, but roughly 15 minutes after we placed our orders, the waitress comes back to our table and begins to read off what is no longer available. It’s a Saturday night, why would a top notch Chef reputation restaurant be out of their key food items??? Many of us then had to quickly find something else. I then was recommended a delicious glass of sparkling wine. When I went to order a second glass, again I was told that wine is out now. Why would you even serve it, if it was the last glass to begin with??? Our appetizers were bland. The oysters that a number of us ordered tasted very unappealing and all I remember thinking is that I hope no one gets sick from these.

We then waited for 45 minutes, possibly an hour for our dinners to come out. During this whole wait time not once did the staff come over to us and apologize about the wait. In fact the restaurant was not even busy for a Saturday night. I could completely understand if that was the case. But, we saw several tables that were sat way after ours and they were getting their meals before ours. When I flagged down our waitress to check our ETA for our food, she simply looked at me and said “it’s coming” and then walked away. No apology, nothing. I had to ask for another round of bread for the table since some of us were absolutely starving at that point. Again, I had to ask the staff for extra bread. Not one staff member didn’t think to do so on their own.

Our meals were very bland. I’ve had better pasta at Olive Garden. Our steak was ok. Completely overpriced though. Majority of everyone’s food was cold. No flavor on a number of dishes or over salted as well. Massive disappointment based upon expectations from Grand Cafe’s food. When we got our checks, a number of items were on our bills that were inaccurate as well.

My self and my entire party of 12 of us plan on never going back to Eastside. It was a complete disappointment and frankly killed the vibe of our party we were trying to have in celebrating 2 birthdays. I’m utterly embarrassed I suggested this place to my...

Can I give EATO, ten stars? Food - the best I have had in years; the service - flawless, perfect mix of professional and friendly; the atmosphere - welcoming and casual. I would not have changed a thing! I had a large group of people coming into Minneapolis from all over the country and a few local friends recommended EATO for the group farewell dinner. A few weeks ago I stopped in and talked to the manager, Jason, and he suggested a half restaurant buyout for the group with tables over by the bar. (Excellent idea, it worked out great!) Then he connected me with Chloe who helped me pick menu items so my guests could choose a salad course and an entree course from five options, with optional protein additions, she also printed out custom menus to welcome my guests. Super easy process, and Chloe had great suggestions,. When we arrived Jesse, Connor, and Chloe were ready and waiting at the bar to handle the group of 30 people, serving them drinks with fresh flowers in them, special tap beers, and bubbly Prosecco. I think part of the group also had some killer Old Fashions they raved about. Connor and Jesse were our servers and they moved through the tables taking orders, delivering the food, filling water glasses, getting drinks, etc. The table service was impeccable, these guys know how to treat guests like honored family. (What more could you ask for?!) I don't know the chef's name, but kudos to the kitchen. The food came out quickly, and was plated beautifully. Without fail, every guest told me that their meal was fantastic. I personally had the beet salad (yum!) and the chicken Parmesan. It was the best chicken parm I have ever had, not kidding. Thank you, EATO, for helping me put on a wonderful event! - Libby Huebner, corporate...