Lela

“I celebrated my graduation dinner here and it was such a beautiful and memorable experience. The food was delicious, the atmosphere was warm and elegant and the service was 10/10. A special thank you to Christopher for being so kind and welcoming. He even helped us take pictures, which made the moment even more special. I am truly grateful because he helped make my graduation celebration unforgettable🤩🤩🤩”

“Absolutely amazing restaurant! I have been twice and both times left absolutely satisfied! I am a gluten free girly (MCAS... It isn't fun) and their attention to GF restrictions is the best I have seen. Their bread is so good! Pasta is divine! The creme brulee is out of this world. The flavors in their sauces is perfection! The wines they paired with my dishes both times were spot on as well. Be willing to spend some money but it is worth every penny! I don't have a picture of my pasta without me being a weirdo in it but the crab cake pictures was what I had as an appetizer and oh those flavors could sing!”

“Lela was a fun bustling spot. The open concept gave it a festive atmosphere, which some could find a little loud. With it being restaurant week, we knew it could be busier than usual. The food was all presented in an elegant way, and the flavors were on point. Some of the restaurant week items are not on their regular menu, so this is all strictly based on one-off menu items. I ordered the braised short rib. The flavor was excellent, but I did feel it was slightly overcooked. My wife had the swordfish which was seared well and flavorful. Overall, we would give Lela a 4/5 with everything tasting really good, but not outstanding.”

“I have enjoyed their ahi tuna poke for years, always get to go and it’s wonderful. Went yesterday and was told I can’t order to go because the chef is worried that the presentation won’t be the same once home. So I had to order as if I was eating in, they brought me the nicely-plated food along with two to-go boxes to do myself. Try as I might, it didn’t end up pretty in the box, but that wasn’t the point. Flavor, taste was. Sadly, might be the last time. Maybe have us sign a waiver that we don’t give a crap how it looks, just how it tastes.”

“Restaurant week here was a disappointment, even though the menu looked promising. Restaurant week is normally a showing of the most popular dishes or menu featured items so that diners have the opportunity to try one appetizer, one entrée, and one dessert. In this case Lela chose only non-menu items that tasted poorly mass produced for RW, which normally isn't an issue but none of what we ordered was very good in general. Flavor just wasn't there with most of the entrees, portions were smaller which isn't uncommon for MN RW but come on, $45 for a tasting menu, where 80% of it isn't good, yikes! We split a regular calamari appetizer while waiting for our RW menus. I had the braised short rib, while the tricolor carrots and mashed potatoes offered some flavor, the 'braised short rib' was devoid of it. It really needed some seasoning or salt, there was none at the table, so it was very bland. Everyone that had this at the table agreed it was very mid, flavorless, literally tasted like a crockpot recipe I could do at home, and I am not a cook whatsoever. My friend Lindsay ordered the sword fish and it was TERRIBLE, possibly the worst fish entree I've tried in years. The fish was unbelievably fishy and spongey, it gave off frozen fish steak defrosted in the microwave vibes. Also there was no cauliflower puree to speak of, mostly just clam velouté, the spring vegetables were abysmal. There were a handful of peas and a couple of asparagus tips in white sauce. Not an impressive dish, should have never been added to the menu, quality appalling. Desserts were good, I had the cookie skillet, others got the crème brûlée. All in all I would recommend passing on Lela Restaurant Week, the servers were not prepared for the rush of the event and didn't even really know restaurant week was happening, we had to ask for the RW menus two to three times. Server also gave attitude when my friend had to return her inedible fish. Not a great RW experience unfortunately! (Update: my other friend Leah who also ordered the sword fish got violently ill the next day, this is not okay; I suspect food poisoning from the bad fish, I wonder how many other people got sick that night!)”