Great place for a very special occasion. We loved the entire experience of watching each course prepared and the tasting of all.
Mike B.
My friends and I were able to finally dine at this popular resturant. I've heard great things and couldn't wait to see for myself. The resturant has a main level serving dinner and games. The upstairs has a bar for folks waiting for their table or just hanging out. Our dinner was in the lower level. I really enjoyed the decorations throughout the resturant. They really took their time and made sure to have a festive ambience for the dinners. The service was very good. They were responsive and super friendly. If you haven't been here before, it's a tasting menu that the chef puts together for the parties each night. I enjoyed most of the dishes. Especially the ones with some heat! Now, even though the service and food were nice, I don't feel the price is justified. My meal was $200 with the non alcoholic choices. Alcoholic would have brought it up to $225. I would put this dinning experience closer to $75 with drinks. The food was nice, but it wasn't like we were served scallops with caviar or lobster bisque. Two of the courses were shared with the person seated across from you, which again, at these prices you shouldn't have to share. It was shrimp, not bluefin tuna. While I enjoyed the decor, it wasn't what I would expect from a meal of this price. The entertainment portion was the group pretending to be on a plane. Again, cute, but not what I'd expect at this price point. In summary, the staff was great, food was good, but the whole package is much too overpriced for me to return.
Dawn E.
Excellent food, but a very unfriendly to customers. We arrived for our seating and it became immediately clear that we were not there to leisurely enjoy our meal. The pace of the meal was rushed, and they actually told us we had to leave! For the amount of money we spent on that meal, I would not go back ever again.
Eve R.
My expectations were probably too high walking in. The food was good, not as outstanding or as interesting as I would have thought. The grilled sea salt oyster on the way in was tasty. They brought us well prepared chicken, some sushi small bite, and other things I can't remember a month later that were enjoyable. The cake was dry and not worth the calories (or cost). The dietary restriction I indicated was missed but they were able to adjust in the moment. The atmosphere was lovely upstairs. We ate in the covered outdoor area at a shared table.
Staci F.
We've been here before several times. We had yet another incredible experience tonight. I had the owners reserve wine tasting with our meal and hubby had the cocktail pairing. The staff was top notch as always and the food was grade A! Whenever we can fit Travail into our schedule (we live two hours away) we definitely do.
Jessica S.
Must try place!!! We just did the haunted basement and what an exhilarating experience complete with entertainment, delicious food and amazing drinks! Staff was top notch amazing. The food was prepared in small play style with lots of variety: the flavors of both drinks and food left your taste buds wanting more. The price is worth the experience for a special night out.
S N.
It's been quite a few years since we lived in MN, but this is one of the greatest restaurants I've ever been too. Amazing food, great service, etc.. you would expect. But the entertainment value and creativeness of the experience is just incredible.
Charlie P.
We went for the basement bar Party to Die For experience and it was amazing! It was a multi course meal that was very clever but also delicious. We also did the cocktail pairing, our favorites were the gin drinks. There were 4 cocktails and 8 dishes. You can purchase additional drinks or food to accompany the meal as well. The place was decked out and involved a few different rooms. The acting and themes were hilarious! The staff completely immersed themselves in the roles. The whole experience is under 2 hours. It is adults only. There is a parking lot option.
Kevin R.
Travail is definitely an experience. You're welcomed in and if you're a little early, you can pop up to the bar for some of their one-of-a-kind drinks. Then when it's time, you'll make your way to the communal table where you join another group (unless your group is big enough to take the entire table, I suppose) Be ready for a lot of food. They come in small portions but there are enough courses to fill you up. All of the amusements were well designed; picturesque, if you will. However, the flavor / texture combinations were a bit too adventurous for me. Not sure if this is an every night thing but when we were there, they had a trivia competition for the entire restaurant. That was engaging and a lot of fun. The effects that come with the presentation of some dishes add an extra level of detail to the experience. Get ready for lots of liquid nitrogen All in all, I would recommend others to try this place and I'm glad i did, but I wouldn't need to go back. The wide offering of courses is bound to be hit or miss since you can't appease everyone's palette. There were some dishes I enjoyed and others I didn't. However, for a meal of this price tag, I'd like to guarantee that I enjoy everything.
what an unexpectedly amazing experience! Why there isn't a location in Los Angeles that charges twice as much is beyond me! My husband and I made reservations for their basement steakhouse style multi-course dinner. We've gone to a restaurant back home in LA with a similar concept where you don't really know what you're eating until they put it in front of you. It always seems kind of scary, because you just don't know what you're going to get, but the fact that it brought us out of our comfort zone for things we would normally even maybe sort of kind of consider, and we ended up loving everything, speaks volumes.We started with oysters. Neither of us had ever eaten them because they just don't sound good. But they were!This was followed up some sort of salmon on top of crispy potatoes. Also excellent! Textures were fantastic together.Next was a scallop dish. Again, something neither of us would have ever ordered, but greatly enjoyed.A petite wedge salad was up next. My husband adamantly hates wedge salads, but loved this one!A Japanese style omlette stuffed with mushrooms and covered in a creamy, buttery chive sauce followed.A nice blackberry sorbet to cleanse the palette.Home made potato chips to munch on while our main course made its way out.Mashed potatoes made with tallow and charred broccoli accompanied a perfectly cooked steak and chicken breast entree.My husband had a few drinks, one of which was a Monster Eye, which he really liked. The bartender also brought him a free drink in a llama shaped cup that he was piloting and wanted feedback on.And for dessert, chocolate cardamom cookies followed up I'm not exactly sure what, because it was a last minute menu change for the evening, but it was AMAZING. It was some sort of peach jelly layered on top of a cheesecake-style cream with a shortbread sort of soft cookie bottom. It was great.Everything was great from the service to the food to the entire experience. If you are in the area and have a chance to visit this place you won't be disappointed.
Carol G.
Tasting menu is large. Top notch service. Can be very pricey. Worth the price if there is a special occasion.
Jada T.
Heads up, the restaurant is a little hard to find because there isn't a large sign that says travail, and it is very subtle. Sleek, but subtle! From the moment, my husband and I walked in, we were greeted with a smile and a starter bite before the host walked us to our seat. The restaurant is clean, modern, and simple. We were blown away at every dish, even the dishes that I thought that I wouldn't like, I ate every crumb! The servers checked up on us quite often, our glasses were never empty. They even checked to see if I enjoyed my wine because it took me a little longer to drink my glass of wine! I really appreciate the attention. Not only were the dishes delicious, the skill set as a chef really shined with each and every dish. This restaurant most definitely is not cheap, but worth every penny! I highly recommend anyone to come here, at least once in their lifetime.
Shannon O.
FANTASTIC restaurant. Dinner here was an experience and so unique. Adding the drinks to the package made it that much better. Will definitely be back!
Brendan T.
Love Travail's special event nights! Always great food, cocktails and efficient service in a fun space. Location is a bummer though, we'd go more often but it's a haul.
Big fish in a small
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Great place for a very special occasion. We loved the entire experience of watching each course prepared and the tasting of all.
My friends and I were able to finally dine at this popular resturant. I've heard great things and couldn't wait to see for myself. The resturant has a main level serving dinner and games. The upstairs has a bar for folks waiting for their table or just hanging out. Our dinner was in the lower level. I really enjoyed the decorations throughout the resturant. They really took their time and made sure to have a festive ambience for the dinners. The service was very good. They were responsive and super friendly. If you haven't been here before, it's a tasting menu that the chef puts together for the parties each night. I enjoyed most of the dishes. Especially the ones with some heat! Now, even though the service and food were nice, I don't feel the price is justified. My meal was $200 with the non alcoholic choices. Alcoholic would have brought it up to $225. I would put this dinning experience closer to $75 with drinks. The food was nice, but it wasn't like we were served scallops with caviar or lobster bisque. Two of the courses were shared with the person seated across from you, which again, at these prices you shouldn't have to share. It was shrimp, not bluefin tuna. While I enjoyed the decor, it wasn't what I would expect from a meal of this price. The entertainment portion was the group pretending to be on a plane. Again, cute, but not what I'd expect at this price point. In summary, the staff was great, food was good, but the whole package is much too overpriced for me to return.
Excellent food, but a very unfriendly to customers. We arrived for our seating and it became immediately clear that we were not there to leisurely enjoy our meal. The pace of the meal was rushed, and they actually told us we had to leave! For the amount of money we spent on that meal, I would not go back ever again.
My expectations were probably too high walking in. The food was good, not as outstanding or as interesting as I would have thought. The grilled sea salt oyster on the way in was tasty. They brought us well prepared chicken, some sushi small bite, and other things I can't remember a month later that were enjoyable. The cake was dry and not worth the calories (or cost). The dietary restriction I indicated was missed but they were able to adjust in the moment. The atmosphere was lovely upstairs. We ate in the covered outdoor area at a shared table.
We've been here before several times. We had yet another incredible experience tonight. I had the owners reserve wine tasting with our meal and hubby had the cocktail pairing. The staff was top notch as always and the food was grade A! Whenever we can fit Travail into our schedule (we live two hours away) we definitely do.
Must try place!!! We just did the haunted basement and what an exhilarating experience complete with entertainment, delicious food and amazing drinks! Staff was top notch amazing. The food was prepared in small play style with lots of variety: the flavors of both drinks and food left your taste buds wanting more. The price is worth the experience for a special night out.
It's been quite a few years since we lived in MN, but this is one of the greatest restaurants I've ever been too. Amazing food, great service, etc.. you would expect. But the entertainment value and creativeness of the experience is just incredible.
We went for the basement bar Party to Die For experience and it was amazing! It was a multi course meal that was very clever but also delicious. We also did the cocktail pairing, our favorites were the gin drinks. There were 4 cocktails and 8 dishes. You can purchase additional drinks or food to accompany the meal as well. The place was decked out and involved a few different rooms. The acting and themes were hilarious! The staff completely immersed themselves in the roles. The whole experience is under 2 hours. It is adults only. There is a parking lot option.
Travail is definitely an experience. You're welcomed in and if you're a little early, you can pop up to the bar for some of their one-of-a-kind drinks. Then when it's time, you'll make your way to the communal table where you join another group (unless your group is big enough to take the entire table, I suppose) Be ready for a lot of food. They come in small portions but there are enough courses to fill you up. All of the amusements were well designed; picturesque, if you will. However, the flavor / texture combinations were a bit too adventurous for me. Not sure if this is an every night thing but when we were there, they had a trivia competition for the entire restaurant. That was engaging and a lot of fun. The effects that come with the presentation of some dishes add an extra level of detail to the experience. Get ready for lots of liquid nitrogen All in all, I would recommend others to try this place and I'm glad i did, but I wouldn't need to go back. The wide offering of courses is bound to be hit or miss since you can't appease everyone's palette. There were some dishes I enjoyed and others I didn't. However, for a meal of this price tag, I'd like to guarantee that I enjoy everything.
Restaurantji Recommends
what an unexpectedly amazing experience! Why there isn't a location in Los Angeles that charges twice as much is beyond me! My husband and I made reservations for their basement steakhouse style multi-course dinner. We've gone to a restaurant back home in LA with a similar concept where you don't really know what you're eating until they put it in front of you. It always seems kind of scary, because you just don't know what you're going to get, but the fact that it brought us out of our comfort zone for things we would normally even maybe sort of kind of consider, and we ended up loving everything, speaks volumes.We started with oysters. Neither of us had ever eaten them because they just don't sound good. But they were!This was followed up some sort of salmon on top of crispy potatoes. Also excellent! Textures were fantastic together.Next was a scallop dish. Again, something neither of us would have ever ordered, but greatly enjoyed.A petite wedge salad was up next. My husband adamantly hates wedge salads, but loved this one!A Japanese style omlette stuffed with mushrooms and covered in a creamy, buttery chive sauce followed.A nice blackberry sorbet to cleanse the palette.Home made potato chips to munch on while our main course made its way out.Mashed potatoes made with tallow and charred broccoli accompanied a perfectly cooked steak and chicken breast entree.My husband had a few drinks, one of which was a Monster Eye, which he really liked. The bartender also brought him a free drink in a llama shaped cup that he was piloting and wanted feedback on.And for dessert, chocolate cardamom cookies followed up I'm not exactly sure what, because it was a last minute menu change for the evening, but it was AMAZING. It was some sort of peach jelly layered on top of a cheesecake-style cream with a shortbread sort of soft cookie bottom. It was great.Everything was great from the service to the food to the entire experience. If you are in the area and have a chance to visit this place you won't be disappointed.
Tasting menu is large. Top notch service. Can be very pricey. Worth the price if there is a special occasion.
Heads up, the restaurant is a little hard to find because there isn't a large sign that says travail, and it is very subtle. Sleek, but subtle! From the moment, my husband and I walked in, we were greeted with a smile and a starter bite before the host walked us to our seat. The restaurant is clean, modern, and simple. We were blown away at every dish, even the dishes that I thought that I wouldn't like, I ate every crumb! The servers checked up on us quite often, our glasses were never empty. They even checked to see if I enjoyed my wine because it took me a little longer to drink my glass of wine! I really appreciate the attention. Not only were the dishes delicious, the skill set as a chef really shined with each and every dish. This restaurant most definitely is not cheap, but worth every penny! I highly recommend anyone to come here, at least once in their lifetime.
FANTASTIC restaurant. Dinner here was an experience and so unique. Adding the drinks to the package made it that much better. Will definitely be back!
Love Travail's special event nights! Always great food, cocktails and efficient service in a fun space. Location is a bummer though, we'd go more often but it's a haul.