Talara

I ate here many times. My boyfriend and I had one of our most special and memorable dates here, and I am extremely sad that the location has closed.
The swordfish was one of my favorite dishes. I also loved their wonderful wine section. I had dined here over 10 times and the service was always impeccable, food always wonderful and delicious, and atmosphere was invaluable.
Very sad this location closed. I was so sad when I found this out. Like I said, I had one of the lost memorable meals ever with my boyfriend here, and wish I could relive that.

To bad today is their last day! Talara will be missed.
I never had a bad experience. Loved the service and the ambiance. I even celebrated a birthday there…

I’ll be honest… we were staying at the Marriott, and it was below freezing outside. A huge factor in choosing this place was the proximity to our hotel, but the menu and décor really would have won us over anyways!
The cocktails are fantastic (spicy blood orange margaritas, mojitos, caipirinhas) and the food was fresh and delicious. I appreciated the waiter offering up suggestions on which dishes could be made vegan/​vegetarian.
I also really appreciated the light fixtures — I couldn’t stop staring at the cool glass globes. All around, good experience!

So… the online menu looked good. The reviews looked promising. It was close to the theater. The pictures looked tasty.
Short version: Disappointing. Poor service and mediocre food.
Long version: First off — atmosphere. It’s an upscale bar with an open kitchen. OK… casual works.
First impressions, however… our menus were dirty. As in four menus all had food stains front and back. And had only about half the items listed on the online menu.
We told our server we’d never been to the restaurant before and asked for recommendations. She rattled off the entire menu. And apologized that the menu had recently changed, so she didn’t know what they had anymore.
Sodas tasted like they needed more syrup, a problem not fixed in any way. The server, instead of apologizing and fixing it, explained what she could not do. A mixed drink with grenadine tasted odd, and when it was sent back, she said, «Oh, yeah, our grenadine is a little different than usual.» (a warning on that would have been nice when we ordered, thanks)
Ordering was a nightmare. We asked questions and got vague answers. We tried to order one ceviche (seviche on their menu) and were told the chef did not suggest a cooked fish for that option (then why is it on the menu that way?) The server made a suggestion for a different dish, modified, which we declined and we finally settled on three ceviche options and three tapas.
Most of our order was correct, though she did bring the dish she suggested rather than the option we had ordered. Whatever, by this time we’d given up trying to communicate with her.
All in all — terrible service. Really. We had to call her over to get any help, and it was not a crowded night.
The food — mixed. The quality of the fish was excellent. The mussels were spot on perfect (and a huge portion). One dish (a beef quesadilla thing) was good, but commonplace. The ribs were well prepared but very fatty and just OK.
The seviche (or ceviche), which should have been the star, is where things fell apart.
The Chipotle Salsa looked a mess, and you could not find the fish in it. It was also so hot it could not be eaten (according to the server — it’s «moderate»).
The Asian Tartare with the salmon was good. Attractively plated, but the wasabi overpowers every other flavor in the dish. White truffle? Couldn’t tell. It was a texture experience with wasabi.
The Fire & Ice (that should have been a different chipotle) was so bland it was boring. Because the server had suggested we order it without the peppers. That’s what was brought to the table.
All in all, not an experience I care to repeat. The only thing that left a positive impression was the mussels. Sadly, that was entirely overshadowed by all of the negatives.

The manager here is a real B!+#$ she was extremely rude to me and a group of friends after traveling all the way downtown and valet parking we walk in to be not so warmly treated and informed that they are closed for a private engagement… there was absolutely no notice on there website and nothing but a paper sign that we missed on the door… when I complained to the manager about being inconvenienced she made little apology and offered nothing to compensate us for our troubles and was extremely rude cutting me off… mid sentence… all I can say is that management here is piss poor!!!
The evening got better though went across the street to Roy’s and was treated with excellent customer service and fabulous food and drinks…
Talara… You Suck!!!

Can vary from okay to delicious food depending on what u order — if you like ceviche’s they are amazing here, their chef is great and he knows what he is doing. Kale salad is one of my fav, sushi s aren’t amazing but not bad either. Cocktails are not good at all

Had an excellent meal Friday afternoon — first time at restaurant so we were pleasantly surprised at the awesome selection of happy hour tapas and cocktails– 5 – 7. We love ceviche* so tried all $ 5 tapas that were related… a salmon tartar, tropical fruit shrimp & calamari ceviche (so good we ordered twice) all $ 5 apps/​tapas were top notch! For dinner husband had shrimp & grits — said best he has ever had! I had two selections of ceviche — fire and ice with scallops and the Peruvian preparation with cobia… both so amazing I woke up next day craving them! And to top off our amazing meal — fantastic $ 5 & $ 6 cocktails– favorite was the hot pepper infused tequila blood orange margarita! Only problem with this place is it is too far from us.6hrs away… but next trip to inner harbor… we will be back! Do not pass this place up! Interior is nicely decorated and not too big — bar area well appointed as well. Perfect for date night, friends night out… etc.
*husband from Panama so that is how we spell it!

I didn’t eat a darn thing but here’s what you need to know… Monday nights are absolutely hopping! Salsa, merengue dancing!!! Did I just get teleported to Miami? Elvis Crespo, Juan Magan, Sonora Caruseles… And just like a Latin American party… Dancing dancing young, old, all night. The only question is when can I go again?

I read the reviews so I was apprehensive. BUT we had a perfectly fine dinner. No problem with the service. The seviche (sic) was terrific. Flank steak fine. Veg casserole better than fine. Glad we went.

Still one of my favorite late night places to grab food in the city, especially near the harbor/​downtown. After the O’s game we wanted a snack and a night cap. We walked in less than an hour until closing and were warmly welcomed and treated with excellent customer service. We ordered our old standards and enjoyed them just as much. Talara is consistently great and top notch late night food.

Overall, didn’t meet my expectations.
Based on other reviews, I was expecting much more in terms of food and service. Unfortunately I left less than satisfied.
Food was good. Liked the fire and ice sushi spoons. Service wasn’t hat great. Server seemed a little out of it. It was a weeknight and honestly they weren’t that busy. (An empty restaurant usually makes me think twice about going, but I was with a large group so we weren’t going to change our minds at that point).
If I’m back in Baltimore, I’ll be certain to find another place.

My boyfriend and I were here a while back for dinner, not knowing about the ceviche bar. I wish I could remember all of the dishes that we ordered. The mini tostadas were fine. The sesame glazed ribs were gross. Drinks were passable, but not good. The service was beyond bad. Unattentive, took forever, overall forgetful. The restaurant was louder than the ambiance would suggest. We won’t be back.

These guys are a regular stop on my friday nights in Harbor East. I love the food and the service — although I seriously do miss Nora, but I am very happy she is moving on to bigger and better things.
I probably should branch out because I am always pleasantly surprised when I taste new dishes, but we always order the same thing.
We start with the chips and dips (guacamole and black bean humus with their home-​made tortilla, plantain & yucca chips). Well, that is after we each order a blood orange margarita — I like it fiery, but not everyone agrees — either way — still good.
Our other favorite is the Bistec. Holy crap! They have this soft toasty bread that they call — Lavosh Crisps. So the chef, takes seared steak and mix it with caramelized onions, and sautéed cremini mushrooms. It basically quesadilla styled with some Jarlsberg swiss and served with that yummy orange «special sauce».
Now, let’s get to the ceviche — there are six different styles and at least 10 different types of seafood (raw & cooked — so don’t be scared). The styles have changed recently and they no longer have one of my favorites — the avocado and corn. Hopefully they bring it back. Luckily — they still have the fire and ice — I like it with scallops or tuna, but it also looks fancy in an oyster shell. Basically they take fresh lime, scallion, red onion, cilantro, jalapeño & habanero peppers to marinate the seafood. My favorite part is the bright pink topping — a housemade prickly pear granita — the ice to complement the fire… The asian tartar is also so very good — kind of like a sushi roll with whatever seafood you pick wrapped with rice and nori with a fancy truffle wasabi.
They have great happy hour specials — several drinks and food specials.

Meh. As seafood goes there are a ton of better places in Baltimore. And they’re not very good at showcasing the protein, instead masking the flavor and texture with lots of spinning lights and ribbons (figuratively). Two stars go to the plain rain chips and all the dips like black bean hummus. Yum.

I love this place! Great tapas as well as other dishes.
This was my second time here and I had the kale salad, Crab and Tian and the hummus with chips.
The Kale salad was AMAZING! It had beets, cranberries and a spicy kick to it.
Also for drinks I’d recommend the Poloma and the Fiery Blood Orange Margarita.

SOOO GOOODDD. I loved all the mini appetizers my friends and I shared, but yes the ceviche is my absolute fave, and the fire and the ice one is the best.
Would definitely be back.

Seems like Talara is pretty popular for HH. Some friends and I dropped in later at night and the place was still pretty packed. We didn’t try any food because we just had dinner, but my friends said the dirty martini was very strong.
Service started off fine, but our server quickly got distracted by a group of girls and it took us forever to get our check!

Booked based on Unilocal recommendations — was neither disappointed nor impressed.
A friend and I walked on over from downtown, and when I saw that Talara was at the base of a hotel, I nearly kept walking to any of the other options in the area — I mean, really, how many of your favourite restaurants are in hotels?! (my answer: none) But after a day of traveling, and empty stomachs, we forged ahead with slight trepidation.
As much thirsty as hungry, we went with the house special and ordered the pisco sour. A sweet/​sour cocktail; they also had a surprisingly decent wine list. Seviche (sic) was excellent — the fire&ice, spicy mango thing, and avo+corn were all fresh and attractively presented.
Salads were also well-​prepared, and we enjoyed the beet and cobb salads (very good price point for salads if you’re in the mood). Still a bit hungry, we also ordered the muscles, but should have quit while ahead. The broth was too thick for fresh seafood, and I must have missed the chorizo that we were looking forward to.
All in all, we were happy with the drinks, no longer hungry, and the service was quite good.

While in Baltimore, I heard that this place was supposed to be one of the best restaurants in the city. The restaurant was completely booked for the next two days, but we were able to get a reservation that evening thanks to AMEX (coming through in the clutch as always).
We were sat immediately and we had some chips and salsa and guacamole for an app. By far some of the best guac I’ve ever had. The salsa was pretty good too. We also had an order of pork empanadas which were absolutely delicious. The apps alone were worth coming here for dinner. For main course I had Arroz Con Pollo which was also delicious. One of the better one of this dish that I’ve had.
This place was definitely worth the hype. Definitely make a reservation days in advance as it seems to fill up quickly on the weekends. Also, the mojito’s are pretty good as well and they have a large variety of them to choose from on their menu.

I came here on a random Thursday night for dinner, and it was pretty empty, which I actually liked, and our service was awesome!!!
We started off with ceviche, the tuna (asian style) was good, and tasted like a sushi roll to me! The fire and ice was interesting, spicy ceviche with sweet, red crushed ice on top– I thought mine actually tasted really fishy and perhaps because we got it with yellowtail, but I probably wouldn’t get this again.
For entrees, our server allowed us to get different sides with our dishes, so I got the skirt steak, which was pretty tender, with a side of fried plantains, beans and coconut rice, and veggies. The veggies were really good, nicely seasoned!
The shrimp and grits were pretty good– I liked how they used jumbo shrimp and the grits were smooth and tasty. I ordered a side of the fried croquette and that was delicious!
I was disappointed in their tres leches cake– it was a massive square but tasted like a dense cake, without much tres leches soaked into it– I make it better than here!
I came with a coupon, otherwise, not sure if I would come again when the food was just OK. Maybe I’ll check out their HH and salsa dancing sometime!