07/13/08

Delicious!

by furiae

Good, relaxed service. Pleasant outdoor seating. Wonderful corn pancakes. Wonderful stuffed omelettes! Thank you, Maria's!

05/07/08

Cold Food and Horrible Service

by suzym27

Breakfast Columbian style sounded like a great plan Sunday morning. The four of us arrived around 11:00 and although it was somewhat busy we were promptly seated. 10 minutes later our waitress "greeted" us without eye contact and stood about two feet away, she then complained that she could not hear us and could we speak up? The few times she returned to bring or refill coffee she would not look at us - it was very strange. About 30 minutes later our food arrived; although the place was somewhat busy we could see orders completed and ready to be served waiting for up to 10 minutes. Not surprisingly, when we received our food it was room temperature - mmmm, room temperature eggs. How does this place stay in business?

• Pros: Promptly seated
• Cons: Horrid service and cold food

01/27/08

Major Disappointment!!

by bellaboo324

Maria's was recommended by a friend so we were excited to try Columbian food for the first time. We have tried many other types of Latin food so we were no stranger to it, so we went on a Sunday morning to check it out. We had good service, though the couple next to us was seated way before us and were not even greeted yet by the time we ordered our meal. They had to get up and ask for help. I can see where service may be a problem here, the wait staff seemed clueless.

I had the "Sunday Special" with scrambled eggs, Arupa, two sausage patties, yuca and pinto beans. My Husband had the "Huevos Pericos" and we ordered a side of the famous corn pancakes.

The corn pancakes should be given 5 stars all by themselves, they were moist and delicious and the grated cheese gave it a nice complex flavor- I would go back for this.

HOWEVER.....for $11, I got a horrible dish where the eggs were overcooked, the pinto beans were tasteless, the Arupa was dry, the Yuca was cooked to oblivion and had no spice , the sausage patties were gross and I had to use my husband's leftover salsa from his dish to make my dish more palatable. My Husband did not like his much more but it was slightly better, though the homemade salsa was good and had the right amount of heat and flavor. I boxed my uneaten food and took it home, hoping to try it again later. I ended up throwing it away because my thoughts about it did not change after I got home. We both agreed that we would NOT be coming back for the egg dishes and were overall greatly disappointed. I hope this was not authentic because it was a horrible representation of Columbian food. I would go to "Sunny Side up Cafe" or "Victor's" if you have a hankering for eggs and beans for breakfast. Again the corn pancakes are worth a try and I would come back for those.

• Pros: Corn Pancakes are delicious!
• Cons: Horrible egg dishes with no flavor

Traditional South American dishes offer a new take on breakfast.

by Contributor

In Short
This 140-seat cafe, which opened in January 2000, serves breakfast all day and also offers a lunch menu. Most of the meals are South American, particularly Colombian and Venezuelan. Owner Maria Elena Hoyos, a native of Colombia, uses her hometown and family recipes to make dishes such as mango pancakes, cachapas (corn pancakes) and huevos pericos (a type of egg dish). She also caters business meetings at the restaurant.

06/25/07

Minneapolis' best flapjack.

by bivouac

THE singular best pancake in Minneapolis. I'll put ONE of Maria's world-class pancakes up against a stack of the competition. Yes - Even better than the original pancake house.

01/28/07

Horrible Service!

by rmbrenn

On Jan 28th at 12:55PM my friend and I entered Maria's. We waited a few minutes and were seated in the dining room near the counter service.

At 1PM our waitress came and took our order (1 Corn Pancake and sausage patties and 1 Quesadilla w/Chili). The restaurant had empty tables so I wasn't expecting a long wait for our food. 1:15PM came and went. 1:30 came and went.

The waitress had been doing her best to try and ignore us. At 1:35PM I finally stopped her and asked about the order. She condescending said they had a new cook (1st Day on the job) and everything was taking at least 30 minutes. If she would have explained this in the beginning we wouldn?t have at a problem.

At 1:40PM my friend and I got up and left. We were stopped by the waitress who again snipped, ?Do you want you food?? ?No.? we replied. We were also stopped by the hostess. I explained the story and she said ?There isn?t a new cook today. We hired him 4/5 weeks ago.? The waitress then snipped back again and said, ?The hostess is new. She doesn?t know what she?s talking about.?

On my way out I decided I should tell Maria the horrible service we encountered. We asked the hostess to find her. Entering the kitchen another waitress said ?You better tell Maria the story before she meets the customer.? After a few minutes, I saw Maria in the kitchen walking around as the hostess emerged to say, ?She?s on the phone.? (Note: I saw Maria. She wasn?t on the phone. Maybe she was trying to help cook, but she certainly wasn?t one the phone. If you?re going to stretch the truth at least make sure the customer can?t poke holes in your story.)

Maria?s Cafe has the horrible service. Maria?s Cafe has rude wait staff. It was the first and last time for my friend and the last time for me.

09/28/06

Muy Bien!

by h2okiki

Wow...I love Maria's for breakfast...Lots of nice, granola-hippy servers! The corn pancakes are simply divine. Be sure to get them with the cheese. Maria's is always full on weekends but they get us in fast. Service is quick and efficient. This is one of my favorite breakfast spots in the city!

• Pros: Corn Pancakes, Delightful Coffee
• Cons: No Sweetener on the table...Is Maria anti-sweetener?

06/15/05

Mmm...huevos...

by chiliboots

My sister and brother-in-law recently took me to Maria's for breakfast, and it was a pleasant surprise. I had the huevos pericos, which were delicious. My sister had the corn pancakes (not to be confused with cornmeal), which were also fantastic. A mango juice topped it off. Good, friendly service and outdoor seating too! Definitely check it out if you're looking for something a little different at breakfast.

• Pros: huevos, mango juice, service

12/15/03

I will love you forever, Maria!

by hans1247

Two words: CORN PANCAKES!!!!!!!

Yum. The breakfast and dinner menu are delicious. Great service and atmosphere. I love eating at Maria's

10/19/02

Colombian? Creo que no.

by felipeleones

This is bastardized Mexican cuisine. When I heard there was a Colombian restaurant in town, I literally tore over to Maria's only to be let down. Sorry, not great.