La Grolla

After reading multiple reviews, we decided to check out La Grolla for mid afternoon lunch on a Saturday afternoon. A beautiful day allowed us to enjoy their garden seating.The interior of the restaurant is cozy and inviting with a full bar and plenty of beers on tap. Offering a lunch menu we went a little crazy because we were in Minneapolis for race weekend and my husband was carb loading. We started with appetizers that included the fried olives stuff with Gorgonzola, which were so different from anything that we had tried before, and really tasty. The bruschetta included Kalamata olives, in a really flavorful twist. The star of the show was a (lightly sautéed) mushroom salad that really was outstanding. We split everything so we got to taste it all.In addition to the standard menu, there were daily specials available. We enjoyed several pasta dishes that were exceptionally generous in portions and super flavorful. The farfelle pasta with pink sauce, spinach and sausage was absolutely outstanding. The garlic was sliced razor thin (think good fellows!) just provided a phenomenal taste to the entire dish.Complementary bread first time around anything extra is reasonably priced. Outstanding olive oil on the table. Honestly, all ingredients were top shelf.Our service was attentive and left us wanting for nothing. I love the fact that we were able to relax and not be rushed. We definitely return here again.Check out La Grolla if you are in that neck of the woods - just a short Uber ride from the downtown Saint Paul area.

My partner and I celebrated our anniversary and had dinner here. I was excited to come back for the second time as it has been 8+ years since I've been here. My partner was never here and I was excited for him to experience it. When we arrived early for our 8pm reservation, we were told to have a seat and wait to be called for our table. The host was friendly and wished us a happy anniversary. My partner made the reservations and must have put a note in there. I thought that was sweet. So, we sat down and waited for our table to be ready. The entrance had about 4-5 couples waiting to be seated. You could tell some of them were there for awhile as they were checking in the reservation multiple times. We ended up having to wait over a half an hour to be seated. We tried to remain positive, but questioned why they have reservations as it felt like a first come first serve basis. We did notice a sign at the host area that says if you are more than 15 minutes late to your reservation, they will cancel it and offer your table to present guests. Once we were seated, we were asked for our beverage orders and bread came shortly after that. I was half expecting for a warm introduction or a thankful sentiment for waiting so long even after having reservations. We had oil on the table and was looking for pepper to add to the oil to dip our bread in. We weren't able to find our sever, but she showed up after we enjoyed a few pieces of bread. She asked if we needed any advice and asked us if we wanted to hear the specials. We ended up choosing two of the specials for dinner. We also bordered the fried green olives. The appetizer itself was the best part of the meal. Very tasty and not something you typically find elsewhere. The main dishes were hot, but it wasn't what I was expecting after hearing the special. My surf and turf meal was steak with marsala mushrooms and scallops. I will say the scallops were amazing and didn't contain any grit. I was unimpressed with the steak. It was smothered in the sauce and wasn't medium as I requested. It was nearly all well done. The steak was also cut up into pieces which I thought was weird. I did have a few bites that I had to spit out as it was too fatty or had gristle. If I had known the steak was smothered in the sauce and had no charring on the steak, I wouldn't have chosen that; or I would have asked for the sauce on the side. My partner's enjoyed his salmon, but said it was on the smaller side and also smothered in sauce - which he would have appreciated on the side had he known it was smothered in sauce. Had the specials been explained in more details we could have made some adjustments to our meal. I know that sometimes with special events, the expectation may be higher than normal, but I'm just disappointed in how the experience turned out. I'm noticing more and more there seems to be a lack of an apologetic nature in customer service. That goes a long way in my book. Overall, we ate the meal and it wasn't one of our favorites. Very unfortunate experience considering the price of the meals. We left with a "whomp whomp" experience.

This was my first experience at La Grolla and felt is was a very mid compared to other Italian restaurants in the Twin Cities. First I'll start with the good:Ample street parking as well as validated parking in the nearby lot. Beautiful interior and clean gender neutral bathrooms! The charm inside is perfect for date night or catching up with friends. And the service was awesome - each employee I encountered was amazing. Parmesan and fresh cracked pepper offered for each dish. The not so good: The burrata was mid and forgettable.It took a very long time for the 3 of us to get our meals. My lasagna was not that great - it didn't have much flavor and the noodles were overcooked, resulting in a kind of mushy mess. Since it's such a staple dish and very approachable to many people it's a good baseline by which I judge a restaurant. I might be back again to try more dishes and will see if my opinion improves. However, there are other Italian restaurants that I would pick first before returning to La Grolla based on my first experience.

La Grolla is one of the few restaurants I've been able to find that not only take reservations, but are incredibly flexible when it comes to changing them! Our waitress was incredibly helpful when describing the menu items and very efficient. The dim lighting definitely made for more of an intimate dubbing experience and the restaurants size further added to that. My pasta was incredibly flavorful and is one I will definitely be going back to get again. My friend said her gnocchi was very rich and delicious and the salad was very fresh and the chicken made it filling! The one thing to note is that they tend to walk around to each table displaying the deserts which was definitely a little awkward as we were not looking to have any. Other than that and the bit of steep pricing, I highly recommend checking out La Grolla.

This place was soo busy! We had a reservation and even then we had to wait for our table. We got seated and taken care of right away. The server was really nice. I ordered a mojito and did not like it, it was way too strong and not sweet enough for me so the server was nice enough to switch for another. You get bread for the table with oil and balsamic which was okay, nothing special. But then when we got our meal, it was HUGE and so so amazing! I took the rest home and had enough for three more meals!! Would definitely come back. Love the vibe!

If it weren't for the extremely slow service, this would be a 5 star review. The food was absolutely delicious. I am very impressed with the quality and the options. The seafood options were priced very well in my opinion and the taste was top tier. However, the service was extremely slow. We almost walked out after not being able to order drinks or food for 30 minutes after we were seated. It would have been nice if we could at least have a drink to sip on, but our server was no where in sight. We almost got up to leave when finally, someone came by to take our drink order.We were given bread, but no olive oil or balsamic so we had dry bread. Couldn't find anyone to flag down to ask for some! Hoping to return one day to give it another shot. Maybe it was a bad night.

Attended a business dinner with the team on Tuesday evening. The restaurant was filled to capacity.We started with the stuffed olives, baratta, and bruschetta. All three apps were delicious.I had the Pollo Champagne. The chicken was delicious. It came with scalloped potatoes and mixed vegetables.We finished with the cheesecake and tiramisu. The service was outstanding, the atmosphere was lively and refreshments hit the spot.Everyone had a delicious meal.I highly recommend this establishment.

I visited La Grolla for the first time with some girlfriends earlier this week. I have lived in the Twin Cities for over 10 years and had not heard of this spot before. It is a cute Italian spot located in Summit Hill neighborhood of St. Paul. It is much bigger on the inside than it appears from outside.the service was welcoming, the food was fresh and delicious. There is a parking lot right next to the building. If you bring your ticket in with you, they will validate for free parking. A very nice perk, especially with street parking being limited.

The food was to die for. From the complimentary bread to the 3 different pastas that we ordered were phenomenal and nothing like I have tasted before. The ravioli shrimp, as raved by everyone, was the best thing my tongue has ever tasted. The alfredo pasta as well was delicious. And the bread was so soft and hot, it almost melted away.The staff were the sweetest people. The whole ambiance was amazing as well.Overall, would visit again/10

The staff was very inattentive, waited for our reserved table for 30 minutes. Ordered drinks and my kids milk had ice in it, I never seen milk served with ice so it was "weird". Carpaccio was nice but the mushrooms were cold. It felt like it was cooked but then rewarmed however as we went into next courses noticed that the kitchen was doing their part but waitress was always behind. Our dishes were served and they were great. Desert was disappointed to say the least, crème brule had the eggs cooked during the process and you could taste the scrambled egg flavor. Truly disappointing service! In 2 hours 3 course meal, waitress showed up 4 times and never followed thru with the things we requested.