Doesn't Recommend

Christine D.

Joined 1 year ago

Worst Restaurant Experience EVER. I have been a patron since over 20 years ago. I loved it then and even celebrated my law school graduation there. I haven't been recently after having a mediocre experience about a year ago. I knew it had changed hands but thought I should give it another chance. Well, my kids surprised me for my birthday yesterday and.....I am not exaggerating to say it was the worst! The food was horrid (not even a shadow of its former self), the service was extremely slow, and to make things even worse, the waiter was not only incompetent, he became belligerent! I had expressed my complete disappointment (given my history with the place) and his response was to tell me I was wrong and it was My fault. For a moment, I thought we were being "Punk'd." What a waste of $76!!!!!!!!

Needless to say, I would STRONGLY discourage anyone from patronizing this restaurant for its food, value and service. (and yes, I intend to inform management....as she was not there at the time)

P.S. The only shame is I can't rate it a "0."

Recommends

restaurant frequenter

Joined 2 years ago

Wonderful place for a date night out. My husband and I went there early summer and loved it.

The server was polite and friendly and did a great job with serving us. The food was great!

Doesn't Recommend

Peppercorn

Joined 5 years ago

Just Mediocore. My husband wanted to go for his BD luncgh, which we did. I found the food to be mediocore and bland. I expected the food the be more flavorful. However, the salad greens were very fresh and the home made chips were great.

Don't think I would go back for the price.

Doesn't Recommend

krecreane

Joined 7 years ago

absolutely unremarkable, again. 3rd time there. I wanna like it. It's cute. Comfy. Romantic, even. Alas, the food is boring if not wrong. Two of our four dishes were SO SALTY that I feel dehydrated. My tongue is terry cloth. Why did I eat it? Why didn't I send it back? I had already sent back the absolutely inedible, over-salted greens. And I love my salt!

It's expensive. Expensive enough to expect good if not great or inspiring food. Take the Arroz. It had no flavor (except salt--lots and lots of salt)...nothing to set it apart from the Spanish rice that I get at school at lunch. Shouldn't there be a delicate saffron flavor...any flavor? Though, the had piled it into a ramekin and turned it over on the plate to make a nicely shaped Arroz cake. The Pescado was decent -- nice coconut rice...but nothing to write home about, I don't mean to be mean, but the garlic bread was the highlight of the meal.

Recommends

mplsbf

Joined 6 years ago

Interesting food, not great service. We had been to El Meson before, but not for a long time. We found the food as we remembered it--full of flavors and ingredients we don't find regularly, and prepared well. The prices seemed reasonable, and we enjoyed the house-made sangria on a warm evening.

The downside was the service. We would sit for a long time before being attended to--before our order, after appetizers, when we were ready to go. If they could upgrade their service, we would return more often.

Doesn't Recommend

acurioustongue

Joined 3 years ago

Nice atmosphere, mediocre food. My wife and I tried El Meson last night for the first time. We were both excited as it seemed like a unique menu. The food however was pretty run of the mill. We tried two tapas, the Serrano, and the Quesillo. Both dishes were bland and undersized for the price. For our entrees, my wife had a shrimp dish with a spicy pepper sauce and plantains, the sauce was extremely tasty. I had the "Spanish Pot Roast". The beef was fatty and stringy, and the sauce tasted like canned tomato sauce. For 75 bucks, I expected a lot more than what we got. I might go back some day, but for now El Meson makes the "not worth the price" list.

Doesn't Recommend

nivag

Joined 4 years ago

Mismatch between food and service. The menu was sufficiently interesting and the food was good enough to warrant a second visit. However, the service was not. The waiter seemed quite indifferent to our presence. As just some examples, we were not asked for drink or appetizer orders, he watched our food be plated by the chef and THEN went to take an order for another table, we were not acknowledged on our way out by anyone. And this was NOT a busy time: only 4-5 tables seated. We do appreciate good food but also expect the service to match when dining out. There was a clear mismatch at El Meson and given the many other choices in the neighborhood, we won't be back.

Recommends

lucychilds

Joined 4 years ago

our favorite!. Great atmosphere, great tapas menu. They have great nightly specials - if you love something you might never see it again. We love the sangria, too!

Recommends

CSMobileUser

Joined 5 years ago

Fantastic fusion. A delightful combination of traditional spanish entrees, like paella, with contemporary caribbean flavors. El meson also offers an impressive wine list to complement the exotic flavors. Start with the peras, they're the bomb.

Recommends

Tanqecita

Joined 5 years ago

Great Tapas and Vino!. El Meson is one of my favorite spots in town. The food is always great as well as the service, they are so personable. I love the tapa menu and there great wine list, with some really wonderful Spanish and South American wines and you can't beat the 1/2 price bottles Sun-Thurs. Try and go on a saturday night when they have the Flamenco music. You feel like you have stepped out of Minneapolis and into a cozy little restaurant in Spain!