Murray's — Restaurant in Minneapolis

Bottom line up front: Murray's is a steak house that can even do fish right. If we are in Minneapolis, we will be sure to go back again. Wife and I went to Murray's on a Saturday night. Reservations are recommended, this place was packed. Nice touch: Wife left email when making reservation. Our reservation was for 7:15 but somebody must have cancelled as she got a notice asking if she wanted to move up to 6:45. We did.

We were seated about 3 minutes after we arrived. Enough time to look over the "Wall of fame" but, not being from Minneapolis, we didn't recognize anybody. Oh, well, maybe I am not as old as I think I am.

Even though this is a steak house, we wanted to try some walleye on our last night in MSP. Wife likes fish, what can I say? After looking over the menu, she chose the walleye and I went with the NY cut steak. We ordered seasonal vegetables and fries as the sides. We also had soup of the day (crab and lobster bisque) and French onion soup.

Wife ordered the Murray's special cocktail and I had my Black Russian. Both were very good. So good, in fact, I ordered a second later in the meal.

Before the meal arrived, the server brought a basket of bread. It had two pretzels (semi-big) and several pieces of what looked like garlic toast. The pretzels were great, the toast was VERY salty. We asked for another set of pretzels and got them.

The soups arrived. My wife was very pleased. The onion soup did not have the giant load of cheese on top like most places but that turned out OK. You were able to spoon it out without the long cheese string going down to the bowl. Soups were good.

Next came the entrees and sides. The steak was cooked as ordered and so was the walleye. However, neither was hot enough. It appeared that they had been on the counter a bit too long for my taste. I spoke to the server about it. I did not want to send it back (I have seen 'Road Trip') but wanted her to know about it. She immediately apologized and said that our deserts were on her. After she left, my wife said that she had never seen a server with that kind of power, usually they had to clear it with a manager. We were impressed.

The steak was very good. I was not able to finish it all (even though it looks small in the picture). I did try the walleye. Even though this is a steak place, the walleye was very good and, if you want fish, you can't go wrong with this.

The sides were also good and copious (ok, wife is hollering at me -- there was a lot of both the veggies and the fries). The veggies were zucchini and squash. They went together very well. I would order them again. The fries were hot and crispy, again just like we like them. Perhaps the entrees got done early and had to wait for the fries. If so, it was worth the wait. The fries stayed hot and crispy the whole meal.

Needless to say, we had no room for desert, but the server said she would box it for us. Wife like the looks of the chocolate cake, so we ordered that. We had my leftover steak and the cake the next day. Cake was not sweet enough for me, but the wife, from Europe, loved it. The steak was great on a plain bagel.

So, to sum up, food was very good, just not hot enough for me (OK, if it doesn't burn my gullet, it is not hot enough, but it wasn't cold). Service was excellent. Water glasses were topped up all the time. Place was full in a downtown that had so many empty storefronts, we thought it was a ghost town movie set. For the wife and I, plus cocktails, total check (excluding tip) was $171.

We...

Read before you try $$$$

-Disappointing experience-

I recently visited Murray’s to celebrate a birthday, but unfortunately, my experience left much to be desired. From the service to the food quality, there were several aspects that fell short of expectations for a restaurant of its caliber and price range.

Let's start with the service. Throughout the meal, I couldn't help but notice that the service seemed a bit lacking compared to what I'm accustomed to. The staff didn't check up on our table as frequently as I would have liked, and I often felt like I was having to ask for more attention than should be necessary.

Now, onto the food. While Murray's boasts a reputation for quality cuisine, the dishes I tried failed to live up to expectations. The steak, for instance, was disappointingly salty, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the dish. Additionally, the mashed potatoes lacked the creaminess and seasoning that one would expect, resembling something closer to boxed potatoes than a gourmet side dish. Although the mac and cheese was tasty, it played it safe and didn't offer any exciting twists or unique flavors. The bread appetizer also left much to be desired; it could benefit from either more butter or additional flavors like garlic or green onion to elevate its taste. Maybe try a fun jam or nut butter. Similarly, the stuffed mushrooms lacked a complementary sauce, which would have added depth and richness to the dish.

Moving on to the bar experience, while the menu offered a decent selection of drinks, the off-menu options fell short. Stick to restaurant menu drinks here. Some of the garnishes were incorrectly done, which detracted from the overall presentation and experience. This being a minor detail boy all would notice.

One particular disappointment was the dessert service. I had to request a dessert menu, which should have been offered proactively well before I even thought to ask. Additionally, my leftovers were already packaged to go, indicating a lack of attention to detail and anticipation of the customer's needs.

Finally, I opted for the raspberry pie for dessert. While it was exactly what I ordered and exactly what I had wanted, it was nothing more than fresh raspberries smooshed into a pie shape. To me- that’s a perfect dessert.

In conclusion, my experience at Murray's was underwhelming. The food quality did not justify the high price, and the service left much to be desired. If Murray's hopes to maintain its reputation as a top dining destination, improvements in both the culinary offerings and service experience...

We visited Minneapolis for a weekend getaway and decided to try Murray’s since we love trying new steak houses in various cities. Murray’s came highly recommended and I’ll admit I was greatly disappointed. When you pay $200 for dinner, you have expectations on the quality of the food and service. The food was Fine. And I say Fine, because the steak was actually pretty good but the asparagus was definitely steamed and basically soggy, and then tossed in oil to give you the impression of sauté. It wasn’t. The French onion soup was all right, but not much onion at all. Now, for the most tragic part, the service. First off, they placed us (a two top) right next to the servers station so all you heard all night was computer printing and servers getting water etc. That was very annoying. Second, the atmosphere was okay but definitely brighter than typical steak houses we’ve been to. And the lastly and the worst, our server was Anthony. He barely stayed at your table for seconds so you couldn’t even ask him a question without tracking him down. And it was clear he didn’t take his job seriously when he started arguing with me about my Dairy Allergy. Now, I don’t go into anaphylactic shock but it is such an extreme sensitivity that even traces of dairy can give me such abdominal pain and an upset stomach. So, it’s become much easier to tell restaurants I have an allergy so they take it more seriously. When I told this to Anthony, he literally argued with me about the clarified butter on the steak being okay to still eat. NO. Second, he then goes, well that’s your call. Thanks. Third, when I asked him about the French Onion soup being DF he replied, yeah I think it is, just no croutons or cheese but didn’t verify with the kitchen. So, assuming that he wouldn’t make such a declaration without knowing I believed him. Dinner came and went and his service continued to be lackluster all night. Towards the end of the meal, I became very uncomfortable. We went back to the hotel, and needless to say, it was a terrible, terrible evening. Even the next day, I’m was still in pain and couldn’t eat much. I called Murray’s once they opened and the girl on the phone checked with the kitchen and verified that the French Onion soup had butter in it! I’m irate and suffered greatly by his insulting behavior and his incompetence. We will never go back and I don’t recommend going to anyone with a food allergy as they will not...