Maruso Street Food & Cocktails

This place is amazing, not super packed as opposed to other bars in downtown,. 75 cent tacos on Wednesday nights. The staff is super friendly and quick service. I’ve been a regular here for three years and will continue to hang out here because I have such a wonderful experience every time.

Service for us (Saturday 6pm) was slow. When we arrived, the place was not packed and nearly half the tables empty, so we can’t blame it on the crowd. We were seated right away.
Drinks?! The waiter asked us if we wanted drinks, so I asked for the drink menu, in which he said there was no drink menu. We ended up just getting what he recommended. I mean, what choice did we have?! Only to find out as we were waiting (since there’s free wifi), I found a drink menu on their website?! :(
Anyway, we ordered two cocktails, two tacos and an appetizer. The drinks arrived shortly… But we had to wait 30 minutes (yes I timed it) till we received our meal! Does it really take that long to make a taco? Two gripes: 1. we ordered an appetizer… you know, something to eat before the actual meal… this didn’t happen, so we were left licking our empty cocktail glasses in hunger as we waited for anything to fill our stomach. Yup, we received the so-​called appetizer with our meal order… at the same time. So, why call it an appetizer? 2. The menu stated we get chips and salsa to go with our tacos! What? No chips and salsa? Serving us an incomplete meal? We even pointed this fact out to our waiter during our order, that we would be receiving this as a side. We never got the chips and salsa… we didn’t have time to complain. We were too much in a hurry. After the food was dropped off with the check, the waiter apologized for the wait, didn’t come back to check up on us till we were on our way out.
As for the food. It was decent: although somewhat cold, the flavors were good enough for street food and the ingredients paired well together. The fish was nice and crunchy on the outside, but the inside was a little dry. The Korean beef was a bit salty and had some burnt edges, but provided adequate meat in each taco to fill you up.
Considering this establishment is more like a bar and not a fancy restaurant, I would say the food was suitable. So don’t expect a fine dining experience here. A good place to go as you wait for a show across the street or before a ball game to start with your friends. Just make sure you have extra time in case the service is slow and they mess up your order and you need time to complain :(

My husband and I decided to stop at Maruso for dinner before a game. The place was pretty empty when we walked in, should have been our first clue. The chips and salsa were okay, have had better. We had to wait at least 40 minutes for some Tacos. Food was bland. I could have done a better job at home. Customer service was very poor. Never got our water re-​filled. We won’t be returning for sure.

Eight dollar beer in a plastic cup with food that looks like it was dreamed up by a stoned teenager. No thanks

My husband and I were starving after 8 pm this last Thursday evening. Visiting down town, we were shocked to see that a lot of restaurants were already closed for the evening. After going into a bar that was NOT our type of place, we stumbled upon this bar that was serving food and were happy that we did. My husband had the fish tacos, he thought they were pretty good. I had the philly cheesesteak, it was pretty good, full of flavor and not dry. We also ordered the fried mushrooms– those were a huge disappoint as they came with the meal and were all clumped together. They did not taste good at all. We told our waitress we did not care for them and she quickly made sure the manager took them off of our tab which was great considering we both just tried one. Our waitress was good about giving us updates about our food (we had a bit of a wait), but I was slightly annoyed when she started telling us it would be right up from across the room while she was clearing other tables. The atmosphere is a little grungy and has dark lighting. A good place for a quick burger when you are really hungry, not a good place for a first or second date!

My friends and I went to Maruso a few hours before a concert because Target Center is literally a block away. The place looked dead so our party of 6 thought we would have some cocktails and laughs and have plenty of time for the concert. WRONG.
We were seated right away but that was the extend of us seeing anyone for 20 mins. A member of the party went to the bar and asked to have someone come over. The manager came by and was very very friendly, but it didn’t make up for how slow everything was. Drinks took 15 mins, the food took at least 40. We were rushing to get out of there to make the concert and all we ordered were beers and some bar food.
$ 20.00 for one beer and three chicken strips-​not worth it. The Pierogies were terrible and the manger compensated one member of the party for her drinks and then asked for her number. No Way will I go back.

French fries so hard they double as weapons, s-​l-​o-​w service, and stale beer. Otherwise, just great. Especially entertaining to count the number of ppl who left after a long wait (3 tables).
One and done for this place!

This place has decent food for happy hour specials. It’s a great spot to hit up late night for food. The crowd can get a bit strange late at night but I guess after drinking who isn’t strange. They have a good selection of beer and specialty drinks. If you like an eclectic menu, give it a try. I highly recommend their perogies, buffalo wings and french fries with their brava sauce.

I went to Maruso on a Sunday evening and sat at the bar with a friend. There were only 2 other people in the entire place, yet I had the worst, slowest service ever. I had to order my 1^st drink twice, had to wave her down to ask if we could order our food before happy hour is over since we had been sitting there for like 15 minutes ready to order before she came back over, even though she was standing behind the bar the whole time. I also had to work very hard to get her attention to order a second drink. The food price was good, especially the happy hour deals. The food was about average, nothing to write home about, but not bad at all. I had the $ 3 vegetable skewer (HH price) and it was good and came with a ton of rice. I also had the spring rolls. They were good.

Dined here last night among a group of 9. Total time spent in restaurant? Two and a half hours. We should have left when we noticed the place was mostly empty at 8 o clock on a Friday night. Super slow service, an awkward and inadequately trained waitress are what killed what could have been a great experience. The food was delicious… I ordered the hreen tofu curry and vegetable fritters. My friend was not so lucky. First they were out of whatever she ordered, then managed to screw her alternative order up not once, not twice but three times. Also, the waitress had no idea what sparkling wine was (they were out of it) and broughte a chardonnay instead of a cabernet.
Just say no. Could have been a great thing, but the crap service os too bad to be overlooked.

Went here because I like street food and seemed reasonably priced for a downtown restaurant. Overall the food was pretty good. I would eat here again but not a place that I would crave and be itching to come back too.
Drinks seemed a bit expensive in comparison to the food. Although based on other reviews it seems like they have happy hour deals. It was really empty on a Friday night maybe an expanded happy hour would bring the people in?
Spring rolls were good as well as the pork sandwich (can’t remember the name). The hot dog wasn’t that good. Also the tofu rice bowl was very good.

I most definitely appreciate $ 3 happy hour specials for drinks and for appetizers! Where else downtown can you get these types of deals? And pierogies, fried cauliflower, and sopes? The hummus is pretty amazing, I had a lot of fun at this restaurant and the staff were friendly and helpful.

Arrived in Minneapolis from California during the Sunday NFL game and I was looking for a place to watch the last quarter. I came into Maruso’s to see if the game was still on, unfortunately, I miss the half of the last quarter. Since the Broncos beat the Raiders, I was pleased, to say the least! Beret the bartender was exceptionally courteous and made my visit pleasant. I order egg rolls and Grain Belt beverage, definitely would order the egg rolls again! I order another of the local handcraft beers, too. I do not remember the name, but I think it was an IPA, it is better tasting in my opinion. If anyone visits Maruso’s, hopefully, Beret will be there to serve you so that your experience could be as good as mine! Enjoy the Asian Fusion food and the nice beverage!

Service was a bit slow. I had the Green Curry Tofu and it was excellent. I don’t typically eat vegetarian, but the curry dish intrigued me. The curry sauce was very smooth and had just enough heat to it to make it memorable. The herbs and vegetables in the Green Curry Tofu were very fragrant and fresh. Definitely a place I would try again.

Downgrade by two stars because service has degraded by 10-​fold here.
I’ve been back here several times and each time, after sitting down and being ignored for 5 minutes, I have to get up myself and grab a waiter/​waitress or they’d never stop by. Did I mention there are only four people or less dining in the restaurant? No excuses Maruso, step it up and stop being so damn lazy.
Whatever, anyway the consistent incompetent service completely rubbed me the wrong way so toodle-​loo and a ta-​ta Maruso. Not coming back, I know when I need to leave an abusive and neglectful relationship.

I found myself downtown around dinner time last night, so my friend and I wandered around and finally decided to try out Maruso. It’s located right next to the Lure strip club and the entrances are kind of confusing, so be careful or you might wander into the club and have an entirely different kind of night.
The restaurant was pretty dead at 7:30 on a Monday night, but that meant we got served right away. They have a cocktail list with some delicious sounding offerings, in addition to alcoholic bubble teas, but I ended up with a $ 4 pint of Coors (I know…)
The menu is filled with food from all over the world, and after each menu description they note where the type of food is hailed from. I saw items from the Carolina’s to Vietnam. They have the food separated between snacks, sandwiches, and bowls; but they also have a couple breakfast items that they serve all day, like heuvos rancheros and shrimp and grits.
We started with the angry eggs and the pierogis to share. The angry eggs are deviled eggs with wasabi whipped into the filling that have bacon and green onion on the top. These were very tasty, though I’ve never meet a deviled egg I don’t like. The pierogi were good, but I have a sneaky suspicion that they were the Mrs. T’s brand you can buy at the store for $ 2 a package. I did like the horseradish sour cream that came with them, though!
For my dinner, I got the bulgogi bowl, which came with a TON of flavorful beef and kimchi and rice with a runny egg. The portion was huge-​I got to have two meals out of it. My friend got the green curry bowl, which was good, but all of the green curry absorbed into the rice so it was more like rice pudding.
I’m not often in this stretch of downtown, but they seem to have a good happy hour, so I’m planning on keeping that bookmarked if I’m in the area from 3 – 6.