Tilia- Minneapolis, MN

My friend Raya and I were planning a double date and she suggested we check out Tilia. I read some of the online reviews and was very eager to try this restaurant. The first thing I noticed was it was a little hard to find due to the fact there is not a sign for the building. There is simply a window decal which makes it hard to spot while driving by. The restaurant is on the small side and does not take reservations so it fills up quickly. I was early and was able to get a great table for us.

They have a great beer list which allows people to sample some new, fun beers. I originally wanted a glass of wine but couldn’t rationalize paying $10 for a glass of wine when the wine I buy in the store is less than that for a whole bottle. I decided to go with a diet coke. I ended up ordering a glass of $4 wine after Raya ordered one and I tried a sip since I wasn’t sure what kind it was, turned out it was pretty good.

We started out with the grilled bread with prosciutto & fresh mozzarella appetizer. I loved it. It was so delicious. I could have eaten 2 orders of it myself. The menu here is on the smaller side so I had my dinner narrowed down to two pastas and ended up choosing the small size of the tagliatelle pasta. It was… okay. I really didn’t feel there was anything special about it. Plus there were additional items in there that were not mentioned on the menu and I really had no idea what they were. Raya got the squash caramelle pasta and I liked hers a lot more. We should have switched since afterwards we realized we liked each other’s better than our own. Oh well! The boys got the reuben and the fish taco torta. The guys seemed to be happy with their meals. I also stole a few of our friend’s French fries and they were pretty good however they were less than impressed with the fry sauce that came with it. It didn’t have much flavor at all.


Overall this restaurant was cute, the waitresses were friendly and we had a great experience. I just left feeling a little under impressed with my meal but it could have been that I just ordered the wrong thing. I would definitely go back if someone suggested it and would just be sure to order something different.

Date of visit: Wednesday 10/5/2011- 6:00 pm
First time here: Yes
Total of bill before tip: $50 (2 beers, soda, glass of wine, appetizer, fish torta and small pasta)
Recommended: Yes
Website: http://tiliampls.com/