Mars Restaurant & Bar

11/13/08

dumb little place

by FandWatx at Citysearch

Ah mars..................looks good, doesn't it? well its kinda like that really hot chick at the bar who seems appetizing, but the second she opens her mouth you realize how horribly stupid and gross she really is, and you start wishing you went to mcdonalds instead of going out.

first: they are obviously going for fine dining THEN GET SOME WAITSTAFF THAT HAVE EXPERIENCE . foodies expect a certain level of service, and at mars' prices, they better get it. i got some girl that was shuffling round the restaurant mumbling and took my order like i was at dennys. HAD NO CLUE ABOUT THE WINE LIST. presented our mixed grill as "UH...ER...HERES YALLS STEAK AND DUCK, AND UM, PORK..STUTTER THANKS"

entrees were served at the table before first courses were even half way done. GET A CLUE we realize we are paying for the ambiance but get a clue.

and the food............it was good. scallops were great. but i see how on here the chef actually responded to the reviews????HA! what a tosser. mars better stop looking in the mirror loving it self for its cool little red orbs in the trees and start respecting the patrons, because, along with that hot chick at the bar, we can usually spot a fake

10/13/08

Hands down, worst experience ever.

by saucyholli at Citysearch

I ate at Mars on one previous occasion in which I enjoyed it immensely. The food was excellent, the service was great, etc. Because I had such an amazing experience the first time, I dragged several friends there bragging about what a great place this is, how much they are going to love the food, ambience, etc. Upon arriving we were told that our reservation wasn't received, then we were later told that it was in fact received but ignored because a party of 10 had somehow doubled and we were simply no longer important. Crowded around a small table outside we ordered appetizers. The lamb skewers (among the dishes I had bragged about) bordered on gross, way overcooked. Other appetizers were also subpar. The waiter spilled sauce on my head and blouse and first acted as if nothing happened. When I reacted he looked up to the tree as if it was raining warm brown peanut sauce. The whole group was completely disappointed, and hungry. When we tried to explain our lousy experience to the manager, he walked away. HE WALKED AWAY. Its important to note that we weren't screaming, belittling, or being rude in any way as I have seen some very disgruntled patrons do once pressed too far. And this is just one more example of how service is changing in Austin. Some of the cool, hip, and trendy restaurants seem to have adopted the LA style of treating people.

• Pros: Food has ability to be excellent
• Cons: Inconsistent food, horrible service, a "you're lucky we serve you at all" attitude

06/22/08

food was really bad and overpriced.

by micre at Citysearch

I had the veggie wrap and even the wrap bread around it was bad. Even the french fries were awful even when they renamed them pommes frites.

My friend had crab cakes and got sick an hour later. She told me she didn't know why she kept eating them when they tasted bad.

yuck. Do not be drawn in by the glossy good looks of this place.

05/31/08

Lazy service, bland food, and incompetent management

by nfaa at Citysearch

They sat us immediately and jokingly told us our server would be with us in "4-5 seconds". About 15 minutes later the manager finally came around and told us that the server asked her to take our drink order - there was no: hello, welcome to Mars, sorry you've been waiting. It was Friday night around 8:00pm or so and there were empty tables everywhere so they weren't overwhelmingly too busy to care for their guests. Eventually we get our drinks and when our waitress finally comes over to take our order , it's the same thing - no introduction, no how are you, no sorry to keep you waiting. When we started to ask her questions about the menu and the wine she responded to everything saying that it was "good". When the appetizer arrives it was dry, my soup was unbearably salty, and the beet salad actually tasted ok but the greens were wilted and it only had a few beets. Our entrees were no less lackluster: the ribs were smeared in a sticky sauce that tasted ok but the meat inside was dry and bland; the softshell crab was disgusting....watery, mushy and had flavor similar to a frozen product. (let me mention that I am from the Mid-Atlantic coast where I grew up eating softshell crab); the hearts of palm that came with the crab were raw and bland; and lamb tasted of nothing but salt, like they marinated it in beef broth. Whoever the head chef is should be ashamed of the food he/she is sending out to the guests. When we told the manager of our concerns about the food, she responded saying "let me get it out of your way so you don't have to deal with it anymore". They comped the food we sent back, but there was absolutely no apology or attempt to improve our experience in any way. My boyfriend and I both worked our way through college waiting tables in nice restaurants so we know what it takes to make a nice dining experience. It was obvious that the server, the chefs and the manangement at Mars simply have no pride in their product. I will never go back.

04/28/08

Extremely slow service

by Taralara at Citysearch

This has got to be the slowest service in Austin, or anywhere and I come from Europe so I'm used to slow service!! Myself and my husband decided to give Mars a try for happy hour last week. We decided to enjoy the patio. However, after waiting for 10 minutes to be served with out drinks the waitress disppeared - even though we said we wanted to order food and we didn't see her again for about 20 minutes.

I am from Europe so I am used to slower service, but this was ridiculous - I don't think I'll try it again - which is a pity as it has such a nice patio and bar!

• Pros: Nice patio and nice bar inside
• Cons: Extremely slow service

04/21/08

Worst experience ever! Rude management

by pcakesatx at Citysearch

Ate, or at least tried to eat there on a Sunday night with about ten people and had one of the worst experiences ever! We had a nice waitress who seemed overwhelmed with the size of our party but she kept our drinks full and was always visible. The problem was that we waited for over and hour for our entrees! Then when we inquired about them with a manager we were greeted by a rather rude expediter who immediately went on the defensive saying the order was put it at this time and we were wrong. When we were finally able to speak with a manager he gave us a round about excuse and then became sarcastic and just down right rude and arrogant, explaining that we were drinking and had no concept of how much time passed. We will never, ever go back to Mars! None of us have ever received such horrible service and have been treated in such a horrible way. To add insult to injury we never received our entrees, we all paid for what we had and left after waiting for nearly and hour and fifteen minutes for our entrees. This was one of the worst places to dine and I would avoid this place at all cost, not worth it at all!

• Pros: Nothing
• Cons: Arrognat and rude management, excessively long wait for food that we never got

02/16/08

Good atmosphere, bad value

by austinaggie17 at Citysearch

This was one of the worst eating experiences I've had in the 22 years I have lived in Austin. I went for my sister's birthday, and they charged me for the birthday cake (that took them 15 minutes to bring). My waiter gave bad recommendations and when I asked for limes, or clean silverware, I did not get them. The waiter also came and tried to take my plate while half my meal was still on it. These are things that would make me not go back for a while, but the portion size was the deal breaker. The $28 flounder, with the green beans that were served with it, wouldn't have even filled up a 2nd grader. I would guess that the entire meal was less than 2 cups in volume. Comparing that portion to somewhere like South Congress Cafe (just down the street) would be about 1/3 of the food at a higher cost. Also, they stuff people in the front so people walking by on south congress with think that they place is really busy, while the back of the restaurant is next to empty. I will never go back to eat again, maybe to use the restroom (they were clean)!

• Pros: good food and clean
• Cons: TINY portions, poor service, and overpriced

12/31/07

Adequate food, poor service

by jdefel at Citysearch

My wife and I visit Austin from New York every December, and we always set aside one evening for dinner with my sister and brother-in-law. They select the restaurant, always one of their favorites. They have frequently raved about Mars (in both locations), so we chose that for dinner on Dec 29. The evening began when two of us ordered martinis. The glasses were half-full (it was slightly more than a shot, really). We asked the waiter if this was the standard pour. He gave the glasses a perfunctory glance, and said that it was, and then added some confusing comment about total amount being affected by the way the ice is shaken. (When we walked past the bar at the end of the evening, all martinis were poured to the top of the glass). Then my wife then took a sip of her ginger ale, which was flat. We called the waiter over again. We tried to be light-hearted and self-deprecating, calling outselves the "table with bar troubles," but he responded with a curt, "It came from a can." He returned, and unceremoniously dropped a new ginger ale on the table (it was a bottle, not a can, and it was hot, which would certainly affect carbonation when poured over cold ice). As for the food, we had an excellent Thai Bouillabaisse, but all our appetizers were served on the cool side of room temperature, and the meats on our Tandoori mixed platter had no apparent spicing or characteristics one associates with Tandoor cooking. Overall, he food was acceptable, and we made the most of the evening (good company makes up for a lot), but the most distracting part of the evening was our waiter?s demeanor and attitude (after the first plates were dropped, he said ?I hope the food tastes good to you,? with a touch of weariness and condescension). Though he always had a smile fixed on his face, it was apparent he didn?t care about our comfort.

08/24/07

Too pricey and over-seasoned entrees - Just average!

by austowngirl at Citysearch

A group of six eating there recently reports that the Satay is too spicey, the Salmon is not what you'd expect for the price and overall the food is not up to par, very average. Hopefully they will upgrade the food to match the price of the entrees, as this used to be a very good restaurant.

• Pros: Nice location - used to have a good reputation
• Cons: Food is just not up to par withe price - disappointing

07/31/07

Terrible in every way

by empgb at Citysearch

I went to Mars on a weekday for lunch with some friend. I was hoping for a good experience from all the good reviews however our experience was terrible. First we went on our lunch break. It took over 45 minutes for the waitress to get our orders, and then it took nearly an hour for the food to come out. After we were done eating, it took a while for the bill to come. Not only that, the waitress mischarged the bill. Since we were a party of 5, some had cash, while others used their credit cards. She kept the cash as tip, then she over charged one credit card to compensate for her "tip". Overall, the waitress was either new or was not good at all. She was attentive at first, but after we got our food, we didn't see much of her. Now that was just the experience with the service. The food was also terrible.

First off, the waitress misinformed us of the Kobi burgers. She at first said the Kobi burgers was hand ground at the restaurant. Unsure of her answer, she came back and said it wasn't. Despite that, some of us ordered the burgers. They came out over cooked and underflavored. It looked like the Kobi burgers were frozen preformed patties. I substituted my fries for a salad that was wilted and old. I also ordered the coffee which was warm and not hot when I got it. The other people that ordered other items felt the food was so-so.

Over all, the bad service, bad food, and the time it took to for us to get in and get out (nearly 3 hours) gives this restaurant a not recommended rating. The only positive thing the restaurant has to offer is the ambiance. It gives off a trendy chic feel to it.