Rare Steak & Sushi

The Mexican roll is DELICIOUS! We’re transplants from Seattle and have been looking for good sushi and this place hit the spot. Would definitely go again to try other rolls and steak. There’s also an interesting all-​you-​can-​eat-​sushi happy hour that we’re excited to try!

While I haven’t eaten from the steak menu, the sushi is definitely subpar to other places in the area. The tempura was over fried and seemed to be coated in bread crumbs rather than actual tempura batter. The fish did not taste fresh.

Went on a Saturday, had a Groupon. The location is in a hotel. It was dead, quite, no background music. We walked in with no host. It took 10 minutes for any acknowledgement. Waiter was nice and knowledgeable with the menu. We ordered calamari, sandwiches & a couple sushi rolls. The sandwich bread was yummy. It was both good. The sushi, was alright. Very small rolls. Didn’t have to wait too long for the sandwich but apparently the sushi chef was behind with the tickets. Overall it’s an average place.

Not sure why they call it a steak and sushi restaurant. The sushi rice was horrendous. It was sticky and tasted nothing like sushi rice is supposed to taste. I’ve had better sushi from the deli section at grocery stores. The service took long and it was definitely a restaurant to try once and never go again.

I wanted it to be delicious and defy all the bad reviews! However, that was not the case. While it’s located in a beautiful kimpton hotel, this restaurant isn’t as luxurious as it sounds (or looks). The wait staff was nice but the food was not good. I know, what was I thinking getting sushi in DT MN. I wasn’t sure if my salmon was fresh or if it was salmon at all. The fish to rish proportion was awful. Sorry for a terrible review, but lots to work on here. Perhaps next time I will try their cooked dishes, my colleague really liked their pot stickers…

Happy hour rolls are cheap… but pretty awful. Tastes like the rolls we’re refrigerated for like 3 days and then served. Weirdest tempura coating ever on one of the rolls and TINY pieces of fish in every rolls.

I stopped by Rare for lunch, needing a break from the office. I hadn’t been here since it was a Fhima restaurant so time to give it a try.
I sat at the sushi bar and had a competent lunch of sushi at a relatively high price… once I tackled a server. I’m always a little bit shocked when I sit down at the sushi bar and am not greeted and have to waive at the staff for help… especially lunch when I need to get in and out. Also, I struggle to pay dinner prices at lunch… but that is my personal preference I suppose. At the end of the day — this is an out of the way place that doesn’t really differentiate — they do an OK job but not a destination for me going forward.

Read a lot of the reviews before I ventured in. And after I did, I should have listened to the reviews!
I walked in tired of an all-​day flight just wanting to have a bit of sushi and sake — what I found was lots of scraps of fish that are used in their rolls, drenched with various sauces to mask the fishy taste along with a real poor selection of sake that is served in wine glasses! REALLY? Who serves sake in a wine glass?
DON’T come here for sushi unless the concept of «all you can eat» sushi works for you!

The service was really bad. We had to wait for more than an hour for our food and the waitress barely took care of us. The sushi was nothing special to me.

Sushi rolls were bland and had strange whole asparagus pieces in it as filler. The streak was well cooked but very tough and full of gristle. Overall we felt it was very forgettable food with unforgettably high prices. You can go a few blocks to Manny ‘s and spend $ 20 more for am out of this world steak, or go a few blocks to Wasabi for amazing sushi that is $ 20 less — why eat here? At least the staff and manager were nice.

It makes me really sad to think that travelers who stay at the Grand Hotel might think that this restaurant is indicative of the Minneapolis dining scene. It is NOT. There are really charming, delicious, delightful restaurants in the city that are making exciting, flavorful food and unforgettable dining experiences. You’re already on Unilocal so you’re just a few clicks away from finding an awesome place.
Rare is not one of those places…
My husband and I are members of the Lifetime gym below this restaurant and hotel, so we’ve always wanted to try it. I believe that Lifetime members receive 20% off if they dine here. So that was our incentive for us giving it a try.
We went here for dinner on a Saturday night in December, a week or two before Christmas and this place was dead. It had no pulse. The only people there were: us, one other couple sitting at the bar, 2 sushi chefs and 1 server. And to better paint the picture: the space is massive, overly lit and feels really dated and depressing.
Our server looked 16 years old, and acted as such. She didn’t know the specials. She struggled opening our bottle of wine and spilled a bit as she poured. The food itself was completely forgettable. Not great. Not bad. I believe we had mussels as a starter and then sushi for dinner. It’s hard to remember the food itself since the overall experience was so sad. Saturday night… two couples there… we mostly just laughed about it, since it felt like we were in some romantic comedy. Or like we were being Punk’d.
I’m glad we tried it because I’d always been curious, but there are so many modern, fantastic, on-​their-​shit restaurants in the Twin Cities that I can’t see anyone eating here unless you are staying at the Grand Hotel and it’s –5 degrees outside (but even then, this place is connected to the Skyway, so really, you have no excuse).

Went out for lunch with colleagues and this was the place we decided on.
The food was decent. I ordered both sushi as a starter and entrée (which was a mistake) since this wasn’t really an authentic Japanese restaurant. Its name «Rate Steak & Sushi» is misleading since sushi making is not a core competency. I would have ordered a steak, but let’s wait till next time.
The customer service was expected and the price a bit expensive for some pieces of fish.

I was here for a friend’s birthday and we had the unlimited sushi for about $ 30. It was awesome. You allowed to choose from a limited menu for that, but trust me, it’s really good.

Rare was Terrible.
Was looking for a low key place and this was recommended after trying Masmu (too busy to get in straight away a looking forward to trying it though).
The server was lovely though! In fact I was really impressed with the young lady, I would employ her in a heart beat, very professional and empathetic — on leaving she said thanks for trying us and meant it.
Terrible décor, look up and enjoy ceiling tiles, in a high end hotel??? So much of the interior is wrong, not sure why they have 100s of wine bottles on bar poor inventory management. Interior, tired and cheap.
Sushi was the worse I have ever tried to eat. So left it. The soy sauce is low sodium or gluten free… They sell very limited choice of fish as the hide behind the premise of only using sustainable ingredients etc… I could not get normal soy sauce? What they gave me was gluten free I guess… Not the same.
If they were busy, trendy, serving good quality food, wine etc and in San Fran… Maybe you would get away with it.
The sushi is so low grade, here is my advice, on entering walk to the sushi bar and look at the variety and the quality, then leave.
If you want cheap drinks and cheap food I guess it’s okay judging by other reviews… I like good sushi, end of.
Left the place and went to another sushi place near our house, Bagu, much better.

Tuna roll, California roll, guacamole, potstickers and beef Tataki Roll. Great food. Service great. No pressure.

I love this place. Granted, I’ve only had the steak side of the menu and not the sushi. The steak is amazing.
My favorite here is the hangar steak. I’ve tried replicating it at home but with little success. It comes sliced (hangar is generally) to just the perfect thickness, so it melts in your mouth. And I can’t tell just how they season it… maybe with just a generous amount of salt and pepper and then cooked at high heat? I only wish I knew.
Be sure to try their side of spinach and mushrooms. Absolutely wonderful (though ask them to beef up the number of mushrooms… they are so tasty that there are just too few.)
I’m leaving off one star for the décor. It’s nice, but it’s not exactly a grand white-​tablecloth scene.
I’ll be eating here on my next trip to Minneapolis!

Alright if you stay at the Grand Hotel (open piano at the lobby!).
Would not expect good sushi from the Scandinavians.
Friendly staff.
Not very flavorful Sushi & soy sauce, dry. Would not eat sushi here again.

I think it’s funny that all the «bad» reviews are from people who use groupons.
We had a great time! The sushi is the BEST sushi you can find in Minneapolis/​St Paul. The sushi chefs are also amazing and love to entertain the guests, customizing each experience for an awesome time. It’s wonderful!
The steaks take a little bit longer than most places but it was explained that because protein forms differently when raised on a all grass diet it takes a little bit longer to cook thoroughly, hence it is recommended all steaks be cooked medrare. Their salads comes in huge portion sizes and are crispy and fresh! No wilted lettuce. The miso soup tastes like real miso soup, not something that comes from a package. My kid loves the miso soup, the chicken potstickers, and the seaweed salad. Their vegetarian rolls are also unique. The roasted tomato roll looks just like you’re eating sushi with fish but it’s not! It’s awesome!
We have really enjoyed our times there over and over again. This place is the only place i go to for sushi. I’ve been to Origami, Masu, Wasabi, and many others but this place always takes first. They also validate parking for 3 dollars after 4 if you park in the crown parking deck!

20 of my good friends from work came by for a farewell happy hour from one pyramid in Target to another. We had three promotions and three friends leaving the group. A 6 person happy hour is rare, but the turn out is good.
One of my best friends even came in from Target Northern Campus. Gotta love the friends that don’t forget about you once they leave.
The happy hour menu is pretty awesome, plus it starts at three! PLUS!
I ordered a lemon drop martini for $ 5, after one I was noticing that they don’t skimp on the booze, and it basically tasted like a lime crystal light with vodka in it. Very tasty! I decided it was time to switch to beer, since I had to work the next day.
They had Summit Maibock on tap for $ 3. Solid beer!
My friend gave me a couple slices of her flat bread pesto and cheese order. Nice, especially for $ 5. A ton of my buddies got the mojo sushi dish for $ 5, which looked awesome.
Service was good and bad, we waited about 15 minutes for our first drinks, but then after that, they came by, pretty regularly.
The place is out of the way from Target HQ and has a great happy hour menu. Kind of up class too!
If you want a place to escape reality and none of your co workers will be there. Rare is a great choice!

Downtown sushi/​steakhouse with reasonable prices, good service, and fantastic happy hour that lasts 3 – 6:30pm? I’m in!
The restaurant is inside the Grand Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, and a place my husband frequents for happy hour after work across the skyway. It’s a beautiful restaurant and our waitress was polite and attentive.
I bought a Groupon with $ 100 value for this place. I figured, it’s steaks — my husband and I will have no problem spending that much. Boy, I was wrong — we had to TRY. First off, they allowed us to get items from the happy hour menu. 2 beers and 2 sushi rolls at $ 5 each. Both the Mojo and Mexican rolls were amazing, by the way, though perhaps not very traditional.
We also got a whiskey flight consisting of 5 full shots for $ 10 (and that’s not even happy hour pricing). For dinner, we ordered a ribeye with whipped potatoes and brussel sprouts, and a filet with whipped potatoes and beets. I’ll admit they could use some more vegetable choices, and the ribeye was cooked a little unevenly, but still very tasty (I feel bad even saying that because the waitress asked «is it cooked to perfection?» and I said «yes» — I’m sure they would have cooked another one if I’d complained, but I hate wasting food over a couple slightly overdone bites). With Groupon left to spare, we each ordered a dessert — crème brûlée and chocolate cake. Our bill was $ 99, and we were too stuffed to function.
It’s not my #1 favorite steakhouse the city — can’t say I’d rush back for dinner, but I’ll definitely be back for the awesome happy hour! I’ve got to try some of those crazy martinis next time!