Restaurant Alma

The food was incredible, definitely the best part of the experience. We were seated in a corner upstairs which was the worst seat in the entire restaurant. The service was okay, was waitress wasn’t very warm or inviting, but did her job. The service was extremely slow but the incredible food made up for it. Overall, a good experience but a little overpriced given everything.

Impromptu Valentine’s Day dinner that I expected to be somewhat disappointing turned out yo be fabulous. The food was consistently wonderful ( and I almost never say that), we were not the least bit rushed and the ambiance was great. We could actually relax and have a conversation without having to raise our voices.

We enjoyed a wonderful birthday celebration for my boyfriend. The food was wonderful, and the attention to detail was amazing. I am so appreciative of the hard work the team at Alma put in to making our little party an outstanding and memorable evening.

Fabulous wine pairings!

We had a fabulous anniversary dinner on a cold and snowy evening. Each course was inventive and delicious. The service was friendly, precise, and perfect in every way. We will be back.

Wonderful food that beautifully presented by wait staff that were attentive and also patiently explained the incredible choices of the night. The chocolate tort was simply amazing. Parking isn't easy but we didn't use the valet service. We shared the some of each others food and everyone had top notch choices. You can't go wrong. It's expensive so we'll be back sometime for a special event. Definitely worth trying soon.

Our experience was mostly lovely.
However, there wasn't a menu for glasses of wine or champagne to begin, but I ordered a glass of champagne to start anyway. Upon receiving our check at the end of the night, it turns out our glass of champagne was $25.00!!!! It would have been classy, and appropriate for our waitress to let me know how much this champagne was. I felt taken advantage, which is never a good feeling.

very good place to enjoy conversation for whatever reason

Creative, delicious food with excellent service. Lively, energetic atmosphere.

I chose Restaurant Alma for my husband’s 40th Birthday -
food was fantastic, and Serena was incredibly helpful when it came to wine pairings. Thank you!!

We were impressed with the excellent food and outstanding service. Will definitely come again!

Alma still has it! We just went last night and had a fantastic meal with our friends. All the dishes were spot on and delicious. The wine list is excellent and pairs beautifully with the menu. Standouts were the hamachi crudo 1st and torchio pasta 2nd courses. Awesome service! Alma never disappoints!

As is always the case, very good food, very well prepared, and phenomenal service.

My wife had ordered a dish with a runny egg yolk, and the egg was a little well done. The waitress agreed when we brought to her attention, and she had a replacement on the table in minutes. And she checked back a few minutes later to see if all was OK.

Always a great experience, even with a rare bump in the road.

Terrific food and service. Worth every penny. Wine selection was outstanding.

While the food and wine paring we're good, the delayed delivery and lack of value stand out. Somewhat disappointing overall.

Everything was perfect. James, the former bartender, was there and helped us pick some unique and delicious wines. The food was top notch. Still one of the very best establishments in Minnesota.

Lucas and Maggie are wonderful people and great chefs. Along with the rest of their staff are dining experience was spectacular. Food was better than I could of imagined. Thanks Alma.

The service and meal were amazing. Restaurant Alma is a always a fav and rarely disappoints.

Restaurant Alma is by far the best restaurant in town.

Amazing food and service. I highly recommend Alma - Dave Doran

Always exceptional service, creative food and excellent wine pairings. Highly recommended for a special night!

We went out to celebrate my husband’s birthday. We had an amazing visit to Restaurant Alma! The food was exceptional. Drinks were fantastic. Service was attentive to detail, but yet left space for us to enjoy our time together. The ambiance was relaxing and beautiful.

I'm not sure there's a better creative, high-end restaurant in the Twin Cities (although I still haven't managed to make it to Esker Grove, and I had a high opinion of Piccolo). The three course prix fixe menu means that they concentrate on a few outstanding dishes. The chestnut bread pudding with lobster (a 2nd course) might be the best thing I've eaten in the past 12 months. Dishes are consistently balanced, intriguing, and well-prepared. It ain't cheap, but you could spend just as much elsewhere and get less interesting food.

This place is totally great, go there. Their food is magical. Especially good for seafood, but my boyfriend hates it and he still enjoyed his meal.

Outstanding in every phase. This is one of the best restaurants in the Twin Cities, and by far the most consistently elite dining experience over the last 19+ years.

I wanted to love Alma. It is a very attractive/interesting dining room. Our server was attentive and offered very good wine suggestions. He appeared hampered by the kitchen. Our first two courses came out very quickly- I felt rushed. Then it was over a 30 minute wait for the entrée course after we finished our second course.

Much of the food was very interesting and quite good, but the sautéed sea scallops really missed the mark. There was a sandy/gritty feel to them- it appeared they hadn't been adequately cleaned, also, the ham overpowered the flavor of the scallops.

The desserts were OK- they were attractive, but neither of us loved our dessert.

We were comped our wine due to the glitches above, but for two people, the bill with tip still came in just a few dollars short of $200. At that price, I don't expect to have food or service problems.

Wonderful food. It's price fixe but with options within each course

We have gone here the last two years to celebrate our anniversary, and will be going back again next year. The food and service is excellent, and the way the menu rotates with the various choices for each course ensures anyone can create an amazing dining experience. The staff's knowledge of the various options is impressive and helpful. Cannot say enough great things about it!

We tried a variety of dishes from the course menu and they were all delicious, though not particularly memorable. It was expensive, and the service lacking, with wait times long for drinks and bill. Our table was crowded and so close to others that we felt they could hear our whole conversation.

Fantastic food and amazing service. Prices got a bit high (especially for cocktails), but overall it was very nice

Sarina was our host for the evening. Her knowledge of wine and pairings with the food was exquisite. My wife and I highly recommend Alma and if you’re lucky enough to have Sarina as your host the evening will be perfect.

Our favorite dinner hands down.

Absolute perfection! Amy was an outstanding server and our food was exquisite. We will definitely be back again in the future!

One of Our favorites....a must if your near University Ave

Who is mostly delicious. Service was so so. Cocktails were good.

Wonderful, interesting combinations. Hard not to lick the plates!

The food was absolutely outstanding with an exquisite combination of tastes and textures and beautiful presentation.

Spendy but worth it! An odd first course of charred brussels sprouts (not "fried" as it listed, thankfully) with a creamy sauce and avocado proved way too rich -- with little horseradish breaking through to lift the heavy notes. Too "inventive." A different choice of the soft egg studded with minuscule potato and truffle bathing in leek soup was divine. We lapped up the homemade pasta with oyster mushrooms in brown butter. Similarly amazing, and surprisingly so, was the rotollo of swiss chard. Finally, the mains proved noteworthy: glazed crab mahi (minus the second mahi as we only had one small fillet), a rich lamb stew and smokey scallops with lentils and ham hock sealed the evening. No room for dessert nor pocketbook cash for wine. But a delightfully comfortable bench clothed in velvet and a quiet corner made for a lovely night! Very accommodating of allergies and requests.

We ended up having 6 of the possible 12 dinner courses. They were all "good" but not great. There was one exceptional dish - the Torcini pasta was superb. It was complex and elegant. The texture of the sauce was perfect.

Here are the choices that we ordered:
-Roasted celery root with poached oyster
-Brussel sprouts with horseradish
-Torcini pasta
-Braised pork belly with polenta
-Scallops
-Duck two ways

I would say that the food is good but relative to the price, there are other options in the twin cities that will meet or surpass the quality of food at Alma for 1/2 the price. Both of us came to nearly identical conclusions about each dish. I am excited to try the cafe side in the future. We don't regret going since the it was a good dining experience but after having experienced Alma, we'll be moving on to our next culinary adventure.

Food was great as usual, but disappointed in wine selection by the glass. A Sauvignon Blanc seems like a natural choice with the menu items offered. I like red, my wife likes white, so a bottle doesn't work for us.