MITO — Restaurant in Roseville

A Carnival of Chaos at Mito: A Dining Experience That’s Anything But Amusing

In an audacious attempt to merge dining with amusement, Mito fell remarkably short of achieving a harmonious fusion of the two. Positioned as a culinary spectacle, this establishment seemed to prioritize visual theatrics and elaborate presentations over delivering a quality dining experience, resulting in a dining event that appeared catered more towards social media appeal than taste.

Both food and drink, while aesthetically striking, were regrettably underwhelming in flavor. The drinks, served with as much fanfare as the food, were visually appealing but lacked the depth and complexity one would expect from a premium cocktail for $18. The queso fundido, priced at a steep $20, bore a closer resemblance to broiled nacho cheese sauce than the authentic Mexican dish it purported to be. The tacos de canasta, diminutive in size and overpriced at $23 for a half dozen, were more evocative of mini empanadas than tacos de canasta.

Among the disappointingly bland offerings, a couple of dishes — namely the Birria pizza and the chicken — were passable. However, these palatable exceptions were overshadowed by items such as the tasteless octopus ($42) and the sushi, which, following a tableside torching spectacle, bore the regrettable aftertaste of natural gas.

The restaurant’s ambiance was another point of contention. With music volume levels more suitable for a nightclub than a dining establishment, communication was rendered challenging, leaving our waitress vocally strained and hoarse from the effort.

Service at Mito mirrored the chaotic nature of its concept. Our waitress was frequently absent for extended periods, drinks arrived belatedly without the offer of timely refills, and meal pacing was off-kilter, with appetizers and entrees arriving simultaneously. Mito's management appeared more invested in executing extravagant birthday presentations — requiring the attention of 4-6 staff members — than in ensuring a smooth dining experience. The sight of idle staff members by the bar, whilst service elsewhere suffered, was an incongruous and puzzling sight.

In conclusion, Mito's ambition to be a spectacle, a social media hotspot, and a restaurant resulted in a jumbled, chaotic experience that failed to deliver satisfactorily on any of these fronts. A pressing need exists for a comprehensive reevaluation of the concept, with a focus on the foundational pillars of successful dining: quality food, attentive service, and a conducive atmosphere.

Regrettably, in its current incarnation, Mito was more of a social media stage than a credible dining venue. Unless marked improvements are made in food quality, drink selection, service, and the overall dining experience, I cannot recommend it and do not foresee a return visit to this establishment in the future. Gracias,...

Such a disappointing experience because I've been wanting to try Mito for months and finally got my chance last night.

Truly, it wasn't ALL bad. The ambiance was exactly what I expected. The themed signature cocktails were super cute but, sadly, looks are where the compliments begin and end for every cocktail we tried which, without shame, was a lot. My two best friends and I each ordered a different signature cocktail and passed them around to compare. Each was overly sweet and 2/3 were also overly bitter at the same time 🤷🏾‍♀️ oxymoron? Maybe! But I swear it's the truth. Still, the live saxophone and overall ambiance kept our hopes high.

For our appetizer, the only menu item we enjoyed and finished, we had the Amarillo roll. We also ordered the truffle fries but they came to the table late with our entrées and were completely COLD. Fortunately a manager did end up stopping by our table without request toward the end of our meal, maybe she noticed the uneaten food, and offered to remove the fries from our bill.

As for the entrées, not one of us ate even 50% of our entrée. The remarks ranged from too salty, too dry, too cold. Meh, ya win some, ya lose some. We decided to send all the leftovers home with the friend whose husband will eat anything lol.

We then thought about a margarita flight to share since they were on lots of tables but our server pointed out that a margarita tower would give us more to share and additional flavors for just slightly more than 2x the cost of the flight (she was all over those upsale opportunities - can't be too mad at that, tough economic times and all.

We ordered the tower. However, one of my friends spotted what had to be the margarita tower before ours arrived and noted that for the more than 2x price, you only get one additional mini margarita (5 instead of 4) 🧐 we asked our server to cancel the order and shortly after it was brought to the table by someone else who I assume was sent to "manage us". I think we disappointed their angry Black women expectations though because after we thanked her for bringing the tower over she dove (unprovoked) into a diatribe about the top shelf tequilla thats used in the tower but not the flight 🙄 (just walk away ma'am. We'll pay our bill with smiles and never darken your doorstep again)

Margs were awful. We barely touched them and went for drinks at a nearby establishment afterwards.

To sum it up: the drinks were not good, service was subpar and, frankly, the food was positively unacceptable. I had a good time though. Thats mostly because my friends are extremely entertaining but I'll give Mito its props for creating such a thoroughly impressive ambiance.

Also, this is definitely the "early 20's crowd". Everyone seemed sweet. Not terribly diverse but not entirely...

Come for the experience! Honest review. Creative crafted entrees and drinks, and a Miami club-type atmosphere, a fun dining music experience in the heart of Roseville.

Listen, I was skeptical after reading the reviews and it’s clear to me many folks are disappointed in the pricing (which I suggest reviewing before going to any restaurant) versus the flavors. Fair enough and everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I’m a foodie, the food overall was about 3/3.5 out of 5. Again, I understand I was coming for an experience, which we had and appreciated. You also get a decent amount of food for the price and they just opened, I hope for them they will improve the flavors soon.

Service: our service was great. We made same day reservations on a Friday night at 6:00. Appreciated our spot, fair amount of spacing between tables. Our sever checked in frequently, explained the menu, offered her favorite choices and was honest. Really appreciated how she stayed on top of everything even while being busy. Lots of staff, most smiling and observant. 5/5

Atmosphere/Decor : Instagramable! This is where they put much of their detail and creativity. From outside in, you felt like you were escaping to fun and no longer in Minnesota. We apprenticed that. Very Miami, Tulum, nightclub style but we weee here for it. Enjoyable Latin music playing. Upbeat and yes at times loud, to be expected. 5/5

Food: Mixed reviews. Guacamole bar was ok, you get a lot however it wasn’t the most flavorful and not enough to dip into with. Came with 3 tostada shells that were minimally flavored and one side (which you do have to pay for which they don’t list or share) 3/5. My fiancé ordered the salmon burger. It was delicious, flavorful and big with lots of fries 5/5. I ordered the Diabolo Shrimp, I appreciated it came with lots of creamy sauce and I like spice so it was flavorful but could be spicy to some. No rice just shrimp, mushrooms and sauce. 4/5. We each ordered a drink (server recommended) the Oztotl (strong and super fun presentation and the Beso Adelia, which was the red lips. It was delicious and we both were tipsy. We ended with Churros, which came in a cute cart with caramel, chocolate and strawberry dipping sauce. 4/5. Overall food was about a 3.5. I believe that will improve. Presentations were par with a 4/5 star restaurant but the quality less but still enjoyable.

Overall, we would go back and try some new things, seems like it would be most fun with a group or event. Not sure why the reviews were so low, nothing was awful, just pricey for the quality but your paying for the experience, which we...