Mars Restaurant & Bar

07/28/07

Fun place, but food not as good and sloooooow

by sfgreenchile at Citysearch

This location is much more hip and fun than the old location - definitely a great spot for happy hour. The drinks are fantastic (love the people-watching patio, too), but maybe it would have been best to stop there. I lost track of time, but it took a minimum of 45 minutes for our entrees to arrive after our appetizers. To the waitress' credit, she was very apologetic. However, after even more waiting, we didn't want apologies - just our food (feed us...please!). It was funny because the chef left the kitchen a number of times - we don't know if he was apologizing for his food or schmoozing with the customers, but we just wanted him to get back there and cook! When the entrees finally made their grand appearance, the reviews around the table were mixed. Some stuff was great (ahi tuna satays won raves, as did the salmon), other items were okay and forgettable (red curry - the rice was dry). This food was not as memorable as the old location - perhaps there were just issues in the kitchen on this particular night. I will not be bringing out-of-town guests there again but will go back for drinks and maybe work up do dinner again sometime in the future.

• Pros: Fun atmosphere, great drinks, people watching on patio
• Cons: Food average, very slow

05/13/07

Mars staff/Manager are on another planet!

by misssmith84 at Citysearch

I moved to Austin two years ago via San Francisco and have been eating at Mars since day one... It has been my #1 favorite place so you can imagine how excited I was to experience the new location. Friday night a friend and myself put our name on the "one hour" wait list and took a seat at the bar to start the weekend and play catch up on our busy lives. Ten min. into our conversation I see we are being paged... "GREAT" I told my friend, " they must have a ton of large tops tonight." We hand in our buzzer and keep talking as we get seated. We order a glass of wine and continue to look at the menu when one of the host's comes over demanding we, "get up and move, they made a mistake." After telling him to beat it, that was their mistake and we have wine coming he leaves to bring the manager over. NOW, I have to say folks... I work in the service industry as a Stylist on Congress.. when I mess up.. I take the blame... So, the manager comes stomping over with the same demanding attitude telling us we have the "CHOICE HERE" to do "THE RIGHT THING" as to imply that the mistake the HOST made is now "OUR" responsibility. The shmuck made us so uncomfortable that we got up and moved back to the waiting area for almost TWO HOURS (oh, and they forgot to give us another buzzer after all that I had to get us another one)... Are you kidding me??? NEVER would I make my clients feel the way my friend and I where made to feel.. What ever happened to "the costumer is always right" and "Above and beyond" they must not care too much about retention.. we all know what a bad reputation will do to an Austin business however! Good luck, I will tell everyone I know of THE WORST SERVICE I HAVE YET TO EXPERIENCE and it happend at MARS!!! UNBELIEVABLE AND UNACCEPTABLE! MARS in no longer my favorite place!

• Cons: Rude Host/Manager

12/11/06

great ambiance, inconsistent food

by eflores99tx at Citysearch

We've gone to this restaurant many times over the years but last Friday night (12/8) we went with a group of 8 and it was pretty much a disappointment for everyone.. after about 45 minutes of waiting for our food, I got the beef tenderloin that I'd gotten several times before and it was tiny, overdone, and almost cold. Same for someone else at the table. My wife's lamb was very gamey, barely warm, and not very seasoned. Sorry but if I'm going to pay $30 for a steak that size it should be excellent, and this was far from it. The restaurant was almost all big groups, which I supposed would cause the kitchen some problems, but if they have to cut corners they should at least admit it and comp us, not pretend that everything is fine and hand us the bill. We probably will be back, but not for a while, and not during the holidays.

• Pros: ambience, creative food
• Cons: inconsistent, expensive

12/03/06

Tasty but very priecy for very tiny portions

by tnoronha at Citysearch

Mars bill itself as a fusion restaurant catering to the foodies that are seeking a trendy yet flavor filled meal. The restaurant lived up to its claims of fusion flavorful food, with influences from Chinese, American, French and Indian cooking. We were delighted by the appetizer, potstickers stuffed with duck. Since there was so much to choose from we chose the Tandori Mixed grill, consisting of Wagga Beef filet, duck with orange sauce, chicken with hoisin sauce, and pork marinated in sake and soy sauce. The food was very tasty with a rich layering of flavors but it was also very small portions. If you took all the meat and put it together you might have the equivalent of a small chicken breast. As a result of the small portions our party felt a bit cheated for the price, so come with the right expectations. We followed our snack of an entree with dessert. We had a warm flourless chocolate torte which and a chocolate box filled with Amy?s ice cream. The desserts were divine rich and decadent but like the entree very small in the portions, our torte was 1cm wide and about 1 tall by 2inches long. Gents, this is a great place to take a date and impress with a cool ambiance and sophisticated food.

• Pros: Tasty Food
• Cons: Over priced for tiny portions...noisy place too

05/27/05

User review by cashious_chic

by cashious_chic at Citysearch

My ex & I tried this restaurant, and I have to say, I like the atmosphere & location, but the food was not as good as I'd hoped. The scallops were perfectly cooked, though the sauce was lacking. For desert we had ice cream flavored with sage and served with fruit. The sage added an interesting flavor (in a good way), but we could have done without the actual pieces of it in the ice cream. Our servicer was attentive and knowledgeable. I'm glad we tried it & I would return again if someone else wanted to try it.

• Pros: ambiance

11/04/04

Too Bad

by ruby rae at Citysearch

Was very excited about trying this restaurant.

The service was excellent. It made up for our dissapointment in the food. For a high-end restaurant it was lacking in substance. For example: The $10 Napolian appetizer was nothing more than a couple of nacho looking crisps and a dip.

The atmosphere was fun and great for a date, but too small for even a little group.

• Pros: Atmosphere, Service

03/12/03

Food great, but it's WAY TOO LOUD!!!

by jg1234567 at Citysearch

As I expected, the food was fantastic. My one and only complaint is the level of noise!! I found myself yelling across the small table at my date. By the time the food got there, we didn't take the time to enjoy it. We just wanted to eat and get away from the noise. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone wanting a romantic dinner. If they could do something about the sound, I would definitely go back..but not until then.

• Pros: Great atmosphere, Good wine selection, Great service
• Cons: WAY TOO LOUD!!, Needs sound control

02/06/03

Mars is close to Uranus!

by Angle_of_Mercy at Citysearch

The atmosphere is dark. It's quiet enough to have a conversation and the service was very good. I wasn't impressed with the food. I'm used to fairly spicey or flavorful dishes and most of what we had was marginal. It would have been ok if it hadn't been as spendy. The dessert was, however, quite tasty. If mild salsa makes your eyes water this might be the spot for your next date.

• Pros: Good Service, Nice Desserts, Atmosphere
• Cons: Food is a bit mild, Not a good value

01/04/03

Lamb was never this greasy

by a_saludares at Citysearch

I ordered a dish that consisted of ground lamb shaped into meatballs. I usually enjoy lamb, but this was disgusting--greasy greasy greasy--whatever seasonings were involved were drowned out. I find this restaurant overrated. It's a shame that the service was fantastic, the decor chic, and the other patrons friendly. My family and I did not enjoy the food overall.

• Pros: ambience, architectural design, service
• Cons: food, expensive

09/01/02

hmmm...why did I pay this much?

by dcopeland at Citysearch

Don't get me wrong...I absolutely love the atmosphere at this place. It's cozy and romantic, yet groups will feel welcome. The food was all close to being very good and they use top quality ingredients, but there was always "something missing" in each dish that would have made it much better. At the end of the evening, I had a nice time, but thought perhaps I paid more that the food was really worth.

• Pros: Great atmospehere, Romantic
• Cons: food not that great, slightly overpriced