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I don't know why I waited so long to dine at Alma. What a delight! Had the 3-course dinner, along with champagne and dessert on Friday evening. Strongly recommend reservations, as it was busy and people were waiting when we left.
Between hubby and I we had:
1st course: Bibb lettuce salad with shrimp and calamari (great), rabbit terrine (terrific)
2nd course: Polenta with bacon (yummy and creamy), Porcini crepe (lovely combo of flavors).
3rd course: Mahi mahi with brussel sprouts (delicious), and scallops (equally delicious).
Dessert was the chocolate ganache cake--to die for! Warm and decadent.
Service was superb. Waitress noticed when we arrived that we didn't like sitting right next to the bathroom and offered to move us to an alternative table.
We will be back to Alma again!
Oh, be still my prix fixe, tasting menu-loving heart.
Fate: $45 tasting menu, three courses, Friday evening, without a reservation...a window front table awaited us. (This was luck, make a reservation, I implore you).
Course 1: Mixed Lettuce & Shaved Apple Salad
aged cheddar, cider vinaigrette, crispy fried onions 10.
notes: devoured in minutes. Crispy notes of sweet and sour, crispy onions add the perfect bite.
Course 2: Saffron & Mozzarella Arancini
fennel salami, marinara, spinach, garlic oil 13
notes: it's a gourmet "hot pocket" of sorts. Yes, I realize this conjures up cheap-ass food dreams, but I assure you this was finely created, and beautifully executed. Perfectly portioned, hot, gooey middle full of saffron and cheese....divine.
Course 3: Slow Roasted & Lightly Smoked Chicken
spice & fruit glazed eggplant, red lentil & yogurt sauces 25
notes: fruit glazed eggplant!? who knew. Seriously. This place made chicken EXCITING.
Total: should've been $58, but instead $45 per person. FANTASTIC.
A rainy night, empty bellies...Restaurant Alma was an oasis in the chaos. Great, locally-sourced food, evolving menu...a faux frugal-ish foodie's dream come true.
Go.
Snowflakes flirted with the dark night, competing with the wind for our attention as we rushed to our destination: Restaurant Alma.
For all the years I spent shuttling back and forth between DC and Minneapolis, I had heard such great things about this place, eaten at Chef Alex Roberts' Brasa countless times, looked at office space next door, but never actually enjoyed the experience of Alma. Pushing through the heavy curtain into the candlelit restaurant we immediately felt the intimacy and warmth Alma feeds its patrons.
Without a reservation we landed at the bar which for me was a delight... I am an unrepentant kitchen voyeur. I love watching the symphony of a working kitchen. Barely room to move yet each person is performing an essential function with ultimate economy. When you watch a lot of kitchens like I do, you get a sense of how good a restaurant really is. In this case, with Chef Alex flitting between stations, the cooks unruffled, looking like they were enjoying themselves, we eagerly ordered from the three course, $45 prix fixe menu: http://www.restauranta.... I started with mixed greens with shredded apples and crispy onions followed by griddled corn cakes and finishing with chicken two ways (smoked and slow roasted).
Alma sources local food and crafts its menu to the seasons.The flavors are thus deeper than you'd get from a salad off the sysco truck. I enjoyed my salad and my corn cakes. Portions were just right: heavy on vegetables and light on cake. The highlight of the meal, however, was the chicken. Every mouthful, morsel, bite was incredible. I'm not a chicken fan to begin with, but since I have become increasingly careful about the meat I eat, I tend to go with chicken in Minnesota (and pork, too) because I know there are some amazing sustainable producers here. What can I say, I thank the chicken that gave its life so I could have that experience. It was incredible.
We were so stuffed we couldn't manage dessert but I did inhale the aroma of waffle with apple compote the couple next to us had. The gentleman of the couple claimed "this is the very best dessert we have tasted." To this, the bartender James replied "well, we do love making waffles here." As we downed our espressos and savored the tiny chocolate lavender mint truffle that came with the bill, we mused about why this place pleased us so. I think it comes down to love. Like in the movie "Like Water for Chocolate," when love is infused in cooking, the food responds accordingly. Whatever inspires this loving goodness, may it continue apace. I intend to return for many more visits. Maybe next time even making a reservation as recommended.
My husband and I went on a Tuesday around 8...pretty busy but managed to get seated right away. Seating was very "intimate" in the "hear the people next to you's first date" way.
We tried the bibb lettuce salad with fried calamari and shrimp. It is very good in the Applebees for lunch kind of way. Not what we expected in the fine dining sense.
Next I had the garlic prawns and my husband had the gnochi. Both were fine but nothing special. I was uninspired by a James Beard nominated chef.
The price points made it hard for me to come back as there was not much value in small plates at $13 and I would not feel comfortable spending more to bump up to their entrees in the $25-$30 range.
One of best meal I had in Minneapolis, That was a couple of weeks ago , the food was so delicious , and good service~ Be back there for sure!!
When I read Ravena F's, my first though was "wow" this place sounds perfect and since we are heading that direction and our first night would be a free one, maybe we can check it out. But as you well know, often times logistics and laziness play a big part in keeping you from doing things you mean to do.
My wife and I arrived on separate airlines into Minneapolis roughly around the same time. We were both cranky as neither of us had eaten. After picking up our rental car and then heading to our hotel we started discussing dinner options. TGIF? Chilis? We were starving and at this point anything sounded good. I then remembered reading about Alma and decided to inquire at the front desk and ask how far away it was from our hotel. Turns out we were only a couple miles away! Before heading out I called the restaurant to make sure they could take us and were told to just come on out.
When we arrived (around 8) the dining room was just about empty. There was only one other table of two and then us.We found out later that it was State Fair weekend and most places are slow during this time. However as the evening went on, the place did start to fill up.
The menu is set up as a pre fix but are able to order as single dishes if you like. As mentioned, it's $45 for three courses and is an excellent value considering the quality. But believe it or not, we chose not to go this route and just piece milled out dinner. My wife and I shared a pesto and tomato salad. I usually do not get worked up over a dinner salad, but this one was amazing! The tomatoes tasted as if they were freshly picked from a backyard and were accompanied by thinly sliced new potatoes and marinated red peppers. We were in the mood for a sparkling, but the only one they had by the glass was a Spanish Cava. It was delicious! hints of apple and earth, very Champagne like and at $9 a glass a total steal!
For my main I went with the pork tenderloin. One of my pet peeves is that many restaurants tend to over cook pork. I am one of those who prefer mine medium rare. When it arrived, that is exactly how it came out. Score! It was served over a sweet corn chowder and jalapeno corn bread. Every bite was mouth watering. My wife ordered two small plates, the calamari which I did not try as I am "allergic" and the smoked chicken cannelloni which scored an OMG!
Our wine selection was a Spanish Petalos. I had never heard of the grape, but it was absolutely delicious. It reminded both of us a big pinot (think Goldeneye from the Anderson Valley) and for the price ($55) was again an amazing value. Alma uses Reidel wine glasses which being a glass snob was happy to see.
We finished our dinner off with a cheese course. They served the cheese with a chutney and nectarines drizzled in honey. This made for lots of fun mixing and matching our cheeses. Along with our cheese. They also brought us out a complimentary glass of Muscat. A very nice gesture in my book.
Laurie our server was very nice and attentive and made sure we had a nice night out. Some of the reviews mention that the portions here are small which I agree with, but considering the quality of the meal I had zero problem with this.
This is truly a find!
Inside Tip. Do not park in the lot next to the restaurant, it's a private lot that belongs to an apartment building and they will TOW!
Exquisite in it's simplicity. Humbling in it's creativity. This is where cooking and fine art are merged.
Fresh off the plane in Minneapolis, we drove our rental car straight here (via assist from Yelp & Google maps and a small amount of forsight in the planning stages of our trip). We did not have reservations, but were there for an early dinner on a Monday night and were seated right away. Not knowing much about Minneapolis culture and the people here, we were immediately made comfortable by two factors: friendly and exceedingly competent staff, and being seated near a jovial gay men triad. Where the aforementioned are present, we have found that it will generally be a pleasant evening among reasonable people. We were not disappointed.
Now the food . . . good lord the food. Easily the best dinner I've had all year, this was one for the books. We did the three course fixed price option, which I highly recommend. Portion sizes were perfect, and the flavor pairings are simply stunning. The beauty is in the method. Rather than drowning the food you're eating in sauces and spices, the chef here uses the food as the main flavor, then highlights it with elegant splashes of perfectly complementary garnishes and spices. This is subtle, and it is what makes the experience comparable to a viewing of Swan Lake rather than a high school performance of the polka.
I gather that the menu changes frequently, so I don't know how helpful it is for me to list the dishes we had. However, I will mention that the lemon orzo with shaved artichoke was astonishing impressive in it's blend of flavors and textures. The ahi tuna was insanely smooth and again, with incredible flavor. And with a nice bottle of Pinot Gris, we were well sated with our three courses (plus dessert).
They use locally grown ingredients, organic when available, and with an attention to the details of quality and flavor worthy of a sculptor working on his life's crowning piece. The cost is absurdly reasonable for the quality ($45 for the fixed price). They could easily charge three times that (though maybe would have to be in another city) and still pack the house on a nightly basis with customers who would gladly pay for a memorable dining experience such as this.
The dance, the sculpture, the music that is this experience bring a level of skill and art to cooking that is not to be missed. If you are anywhere within a reasonable distance, this is a restaurant that goes on the must try before you die list.
I love Restaurant Alma and wish I had one in Los Angeles to feast on the variety of locally grown, organic vegetables & herbs. Fresh fish (meat from local farms) and in house baked french breads and delicious desserts. The artisanal honey, butter, cheese and wine selections are a real treat.
I was visiting Minneapolis and dined 2 consecutive nights at this minimal dining room with high beam ceilings and large windows.
Why so unadventurous?
The Glazed Black Cod. It was perfectly baked. PErfectly and delicately dressed. Perfect portion. Perfectly accompanied by a bed of spinach and cucumbers. The taste, texture and each bite, still haunt.
For starters: I had the exquisite artichoke salad followed by the crisp mung bean & kimchee pancake. Then the mouthwatering black cod. I had just enough room for the buttermilk panna cotta. All of this with a nice Italian red- barbera la tosa 06 ($11 per glass, total bill with tip $75ish well spent $).
The selection of wines by the glass was a bit limited but well rounded. Get a bottle if you've got company to share it with.
The 2nd night I had to have the warm, unforgettable artichoke salad (again) and Black Cod (again--sooo goood!). Plus the Garden salad with scrumptious fresh cherries and fennel that was perfectly dressed to allow you to taste all the fresh ingredients with just the right amount of ricotta cheese. Oh and the Trout... it was absolutely delicious. Again, perfectly cooked.
I was stuffed but was not going to leave without a complete dining experience. I had their one and only option of goat cheese: a Californian humboldt fog (log :) It was accompanied by local honey and crispy, baked in house, french bread...
The tea selections are also locally grown and quite flavorful. I really enjoyed Alex Robert's carefully and lovingly created ambiance, staff and food.
Both times I sat and feasted for 2 hours. This is not the place to pop in and out of ...and look forward to my next trip to the Minneapolis.
Thank you Alexander Roberts and staff!!!!
First of all....
Fix your heating AND air conditioning. People complain about being cold here in the winter and it had to be 100 in here this Monday when we dined there.
But...it was all worth it. Small menu but such variety and inventiveness. Had the Halibut and it was better than the Halibut I had fresh in Alaska four days ago.
New Pastry Chef should especially be praised, we had 4 different deserts on the menu and they were ALL fabulous. This guy/gal has REAL talent.
The root beer flavored caramels at the end took us way over the top !!!!!
Great job all !!
Um, maybe it was all the hype, but I think Alma is a bit overrated. Don't get me wrong, the food is good. I just wasn't impressed. Local fresh food doesn't mean that you can't use spices. The tasting menus is a bargain, even if the portions are tiny. Perhaps I need to give Alma another chance. I did like food. I just though it needed to take some more risks.
The atmosphere here is cozy, but a bit bare bones. I do like the exposed brick, but maybe it needs to better insulated? It's a bit chilly in there in the winter.
The wine list here is pretty good. Get a bottle to keep you warm!
Disappointing! The food is good, but this place is way over-priced (vis-a-vis Heidi's for example). The trout and sea bass entrees were both around $27, the trout was great the sea bass just ok, Heidi's has a trout entree for $17 that is just as good. My second problem is with the bread. It should be a rule that restaurants should not make their own bread unless they can do as well as their best supplier, sadly Alma's cannot come close. The bread is better than Cubs "french loaf", yes... but even Rainbow's bakery rustica is better than Alma's... come'on there are plenty of great bakeries in the Twin Cities! (Rustica for example).
As for my particular experience, I had reservations for 5:45pm before my Guthrie show, seating looked pretty open, and yet they stuck us by the bathroom and the noisy ventilation system... we had to ask to move. The service was ok, but not even close to the seamless service of Vincents, A restaurant for example. I want to give this place 2 stars, but the food is too good for that.
I moved about a block away from Alma a few years ago, yet it still took me an amazingly long time to give this place a shot. It is, admittedly, a very unassuming restaurant in a very unexpected place. Even today, people doubt me when I tell them there's a lovely restaurant over on 6th and University.
"Really? What is it by?" they ask skeptically.
"Uhh...not a whole lot." I reply.
Trust me: it is there and it is tasty. The menu is amazingly simple: four starters, four middle sources, and four main courses. The emphasis is on local ingredients and seasonal flavors, with the menu rotating every two months or so depending on what's available and fresh. It is a nice touch on their part, and the freshness of the ingredients is evident in the quality of their food.
Prices are a bit on the higher side, with starters and middle courses around $8-$15 and mains around $25-$30. A three-course tasting menu for $45 lets you pick a dish from each category. The wine menu feels a bit skewed toward the more expensive stuff, but the few under-$35 options are quite good. They tend to have a few decent beers available as well.
For gourmands and slow food fans in particular, Alma is a must visit. It's a rare restaurant where your server can tell you the breed of pig your pork tenderloin came from or what type of honey they've drizzled over your ricotta. For the non-foodies out there, this would be a fine place to start exploring things. Delicious and unpretentious.
I agree with the other reviewer who said Alma is over rated. I liked the food okay, but the portions are tiny. I'm talking 4 bites. I went with my wife and after spending 100 dollars we both left hungry. The host was a prick and our waitress was a zombie. They have this terrible "upstairs" sitting area that sucks. No possible chance to have a private conversation up there, the sealing is really low and no windows or atmosphere.
I had kind of left Restaurant Alma off my rotating restaurant list, but I cannot remember why. Maybe it was the fact that I couldn't make reservations online, or that I usually ended up with a table in the "loft". No matter. All is forgiven and Alma is back on my favs!
I was dining with an out of town pescetarian business associate and I always try to find something unique to the Twin Cities. Without a reservation, we were able to snag a front window table which was very cold temperature wise, but was warmed by the hospitality of all of our servers.
The tasting menu is a great value and a perfect way to sample the variety of dishes coming out of the kitchen. Three courses (four if vegetarian) for $45. Not cheap, but neither is the food. The lightly marinated yellowfin tuna is a great, fresh starter. The rabbit confit for the second course really tastes exactly like all the flavors of Thanksgiving pulled into one small dish - wonderful comfort food. For the final entree, I opted for the duck breast two ways - delicious. My dining companion order the seared mahi mahi and was thrilled.
Restaurant Alma has a simple, clever, well constructed menu and none of the dishes disappoint. I officially put on my highly recommend list again.
Yes and yes.
This is fuck you good.
The tasting menu is a great value.
Not as comfortable an environment as Muffeletta in St. Paul which feels more european in the lingering 2 hour meal kinda way, but the food is enough to keep you coming back.
I won't bother telling you much about what I ate, as the menu changes seasonally if not more frequently, but I will say this: Waygu.
My boyfriend and I went here after hearing rave reviews from his coworker, on our way to the scariest haunted house in Minneapolis at the Soap Factory. The food and service were great. We considered the tasting menu of 3/$45 but instead opted to skip salad and get dessert instead... healthy choice indeed.
We split two appetizers of a masa & black bean corn cake and quail with shittake mushrooms. Both were excellent, but the quail presentation was a little disenheartening - it was a whole bird, deboned and splayed open upon a bed of shrooms. While it tasted great, it paled in comparison to the crunchy, spicy masa cake topped with equally spiced shrimp.
Keeping with the un-ordinary poultry theme, for dinner I tried the pheasant, which the waitress strangely described as "gamier" than chicken. While I agree that gamey is an adjective, it almost turned me off from the dish which was excellent. The pheasant was lightly fried without batter, giving it a crunchy exterior. It was served with a sweet, buttery sauce that was so lovely I'd enjoy injecting it straight into my veins for a sweet, buttery fix.
My dining partner chose the pork tenderloin. It was expertly prepared, and extremely tender... but still pork tenderloin. I wasn't very impressed, but the masa and pheasant had already won me over.
Lastly, for dessert we tried the chocolate cake. It was a small volcano-type cake, filled with gooey chocolate inside and topped with a wafter cookie and vanilla ice cream, surrounded by raspberry syrup. The figurative icing on top was the manager stopping by to offer us a complimentary glass of port, which, as intended, complemented the cake perfectly.
The service was overall excellent, and it made for a really relaxing meal. The one bad part was that I was facing the permit-only parking lot window, and someone came and temporarily parked with their hazards on... so my date had to watch my face flash orange for about 10 minutes. Obviously not Alma's fault, but seriously people - if you have to turn your hazards on, maybe you should consider finding a parking spot that won't get you towed.
(5 stars for my food, 4 stars for boyfriend's... averaging out to about a 4.5, and I'm rounding down due to inconsistency. Still a really great meal.)
It's a dead heat for the best restuarant in Minneapolis- Restuarant Alma versus Heidi's. The food is fantastic at both, the ambience is fun at both, and the service is exellent and on a par at both. Also, while not inexpensive, both restaurants provide good value for your money. These restaurants compete easily with the best restaurants we have eaten at around the world.
For the combination of food, service, and ambience, Restaurant Alma is second to none in the Twin… Read more »
If you go in the winter, wear a coat. We had a fine meal here but I was so cold I can't honestly remember what I had. Those big picture windows seem enticing but...brrrrr.
Not sure if it is a five star, but maybe a 4.5. I really like the pick 3 menu or whatever they call it. 3 very nice dishes and well done. Kind of the antithesis of the places where it is quantity over quality. Definitely quality over quantity. I always leave pleasantly not hungry.
Okay, I think this might be the best food in Minneapolis. Everything is amazingly fresh and they try to use organic/local/free range as much as possible. The chef manages to put together slightly unusual combinations of food in a way that seems so simple and natural. Everything is cooked perfectly and the presentation is beeeautiful.
The wine list is great, and you can still get a good bottle for 35 bucks.
The staff takes their time talking to you and is attentive and efficient.
It is on the more expensive end. Small dishes/appetizers are 12-15 bucks. Entrees are 25-28. But if you are looking for quality over quantity and a great dining experience without all the stuffiness, go here! You would feel comfortable in jeans or a suit, with a date or with friends.
In a very unassuming building on University Avenue (next to the Dunn Bros), this restaurant manages to stay busy all the time. It's one of those restaurants where you WILL get good food, but just in smaller portions. so you don't walk away necessarily full.
Went on a Saturday night and had reservations (which are recommended on the weekends). The service was good. It's hard to tell whether this restaurant is super formal or informal as the servers were all wearing jeans. But it has a great wine bar. And the chef walked around talking to many of the patrons, checking to make sure their meal was good. Thought that was nice. Expect to pay quite a bit of money, probably no less than $50 for a couple. Food is worth it.
We went here pretty much on a whim one night. Word of mouth was about as good as it gets. Thankfully word of mouth also warned on what we would probably end up spending. If you're looking for a great night out, with excellent food and a good atmosphere, Alma will do it. I plan to go back, hopefully the next time I'm in town.
Since we went on a whim, we were sorely under dressed, but no one said anything. The service was good and our waiter was friendly.
One of my favorite places for a nice dinner in mpls. Sadly I have not been in over a year now since I moved but am planning on stopping during my next visit.
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