Mara Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in Minneapolis

Despite its outrageous pricing for cocktails and food, I’ve been to Mara a couple of times in the past for its ambiance! I’ve always had a pleasant experience, but our Friendsgiving celebration yesterday quickly soured.

To begin, we were informed that photography was prohibited in the restaurant as part of its policy. We understood and complied, leaving the main dining area and moving to the hotel lobby to take photos instead. However, we were followed and told yet again to leave that area and relocate. While establishments are entitled to enforce rules, the application here felt arbitrary and unnecessary—especially as other patrons were openly taking photos without interference. The constant monitoring turned what should have been a pleasant outing into an unsettling experience.

Being a group of Black women, we are sadly familiar with racial profiling, but this level of unnecessary scrutiny and overreach was excessive and deeply disheartening. It left us feeling singled out and unfairly targeted, turning what might have been a minor inconvenience into a blatant act of discrimination.

The situation escalated when we went to the restroom. Security personnel entered the women’s restroom unannounced, violating our privacy and creating an atmosphere of discomfort and indignity. I was in the middle of fixing my top, and thank goodness I was not exposed at that moment. Yet, he stood with the door wide open and accused us of being non-paying guests, saying, “The bathroom is for paying customers only, and if you’re not, you have to leave.” After three minutes of back-and-forth, I had to ask if I could continue fixing my clothing rather than just leaving the bathroom. Shockingly, he attempted to enter the restroom and close the door while still inside! I had to ask him to leave so I could have my privacy restored. Bathrooms are spaces where safety and dignity should always be prioritized, yet this experience shattered that expectation. While security guards may be present to maintain order, this behavior was invasive, inappropriate, and crossed every acceptable boundary.

Our server was kind, but when we requested to speak with a manager, no one came to our table. It wasn’t until we waited at the check-in desk that someone finally addressed us. The manager, Rosie, was dismissive and condescending, changing her story multiple times: first claiming, “I checked the bathroom and told the security it was all good,” then saying, “I checked the bathroom before and saw one of you and told the security to enter,” and finally asserting, “I checked the bathroom and didn’t see anyone in the bathroom.” It is impossible to enter a women’s restroom and see people in there without them hearing or seeing you, especially since the claim was that one of us was behind the door. Her attempt to deflect responsibility for both herself and the security team was clumsy and insincere, making the situation even more frustrating.

Speaking with the head of security didn’t help either. Their apologies felt forced and insubstantial, with the tired excuse of “it wasn’t his intention.” Adding insult to injury, the security guard in question wasn’t even present to apologize for his actions.

Dining out is more than just food; it’s about community, comfort, and connection. Unfortunately, this restaurant failed on every level to provide a safe and inclusive environment. While I hope my experience was an anomaly, the consistent patterns of intrusion and bias suggest otherwise.

For anyone dining here, I urge you to...

I normally don't wait to write a review for 4 months. My wife said something to me that made me rethink how I review a restaurant. She felt they treated me more importantly than her at our dining experience. I don't know if they looked at my profile before dinner, but they gave me 100% of their attention. When we were asked for feedback, they only looked at me. She explained how she felt, and I said I am so sorry. She was trying to do something so nice for me on my birthday. Thanks to my wife for giving me a special night.

I'll start by saying dinner at Mara was beautiful, elegant, and opulent. You will first arrive at the Four Seasons hotel with the valet service. The great thing is you can valet or be dropped off at the front door. This restaurant is downtown, so I suggest taking an Uber or using their valet service. When you walk in, you will see the restaurant front desk and bar about 200 feet past hotel check-in. The bar is beautiful and busy. If you come early, don't plan on finding an opening to have a cocktail dinner. It is busy with people staying at the hotel, so don't be frustrated if you can't have a pre-dinner drink. There is a welcome desk to the right of the bar. They found our reservation and sat us immediately.

We are lovers of sparkling wine, so we ordered the Brundlmayer Brut Rose. It was amazing and delicious! I would definitely recommend it. We ordered the scallop crudo for an appetizer. It was delicious and zesty. At this point, I became fixated on the kitchen. There is so much going on. Putting wood on the grill and chefs working together like an orchestra. You will be mesmorized by the calculated intent to make you the best dinner of your life. Sit as close to the kitchen as you can. It is so much fun to watch.

Then we ordered the braised lamb shank and Branzino baked in salt. Exquisite. You'll see by the pictures that it looks as good as it tasted. The lamb shank was decadent and blissful. When my fork touched the meat, it fell off the bone. I had the biggest smile after taking my first bite. I felt so happy. My wife ate all of her food. She normally does not finish the entire meal, but she savored every bite until the plate was completely cleaned.

If you were kind of to read my review to this point, it now goes to another level. The dessert was the unexpected live event. For my birthday, they brought out an olive cake with rosemary ice cream. I normally don't focus on the dessert, and I am normally too full to order it. This dessert was light, breathtaking, delicious, exquisite, complex, perplexing, etc. I am not qualified to explain what happened. I am imagining the chef experimenting at 2am and feeling such satisfaction to reach a level of perfection. Trying to pair complex flavors and realizing they had made something so special must have been a special moment. I felt I was eating art. I know this sounds crazy, but it was my favorite dessert ever. To the chef, I am so thankful I was able to experience something so wonderfully done and thoughtful. Cheers to you.

To the staff and chefs, we had an amazing...

Located inside the Four Seasons Hotel in North Loop, this establishment has one of the best decor settings I have seen anywhere in Minneapolis, and I think the fact that it is inside the hotel most likely has a lot to do with it. My partner and I went there for our wedding anniversary and we had a great experience there for sure. Our server was very nice and very attentive to our needs. The food was tasty in general. And it was just a great time after getting out of the pool upstairs while staying in the hotel.

My favorites are the two items under the "To Share" section on the menu: hummus and baba ghanoush. I know they are both common dishes one can find in a Mediterranean restaurant, but Mara did it even better by making the hummus and eggplant dip more flavorful than typically, as they contained tahini and tapenade. It tasted so amazing! I also really appreciated the fact that the hummus came with pita bread (the pita tasted amazing) and the baba ghanoush came with crudités. It made me realize some new about food combinations. My other two favorites are the desserts. The chocolate decadence and the maraklava are both amazing and very finely decorated, painted with edible gold brush. Both desserts came with either ice cream or sorbet which were huge pluses. I highly recommend both to anyone visiting Mara in the future. The bucatini was good as well, although the lobster flavor did not quite seep into the pasta or the pasta sauce, which would have been perfection. The lamp chops were pretty tasty with the sauce carrying majority of the flavor. The scallop crudo was gone too fast that we could not really have a moment to procee what it tasted like. The amount was very small. I am not sure if the spring onion, rhubarb, or the preserved orange made a huge difference in defining its flavor.

With all that said, I must admit that other than the four dishes I happened to like the most (to share's and desserts), I think the prices for the other dishes were a bit outrageous. Every entrée was over $30 which was uncommon even in fancy establishments. My two lamb chops that were not abundant in portion were $42 in total. And the scallop crudo that we barely had any due to its small amount was $23. Our bill easily went over $200 as a result and even in upscale establishments it wouldn't be like such. The amount (and at times, taste) and the price was not balanced. My favorite dishes happened to be the cheapest. But on second thought, I wouldn't be surprised if the high prices have something to do with it being inside Four Seasons.

Would I recommend this establishment? Definitely a yes. I just do not know how frequently people want to visit here but it surely is a great place for date nights and fancy occasions in general. As long as one does not mind the prices, then it is in fact perfect in pretty...