"The property's main ocean-view restaurant serves breakfast, weekend brunch, and dinner; Executive Chef Michelle Mathews, trained at the French Culinary Institute and experienced in San Francisco kitchens, leads a Mediterranean- and Italian-inspired menu that highlights local seafood and seasonal produce. Signature dishes include local prawns with ’nduja butter, octopus carpaccio, bucatini carbonara, scallop crudo, and seared halibut with olive caponata, reflecting an effort to marry Carolina coastline bounty with classic Amalfi Coast offerings and regional seafood preparations informed by the chef’s travels and professional background." - Erin Perkins
"Surprise, your LA client is in town and needs to be wined and dined in FiDi. La Mar is here for you. It’s right on the Embarcadero with a lot of space and Peruvian seafood. Lots of space is the key part here, both indoors and outdoors, because you can usually always get a table in a pinch. Not the cheapest place around, but worth it for the ceviches and pisco sours." - taylor abrams, max child, will kamensky
"La Mar looks like a classy sea blue hotel lobby set somewhere on Miami Beach, with two bar areas and a high-ceilinged dining room. But the covered waterfront deck overlooking some piers is exactly where we want to drink never-ending pisco sours and fill up on tangy ceviche, crispy empanadas, grilled scallops over lima bean tacu-tacu, and other Peruvian classics. This small plates spot is always packed with tourists, locals popping in for the 3-5pm weekday Happy Hour, and people in town for some sort of convention, which makes a night here buzzy." - lani conway, julia chen 1, ricky rodriguez, patrick wong
"We reserve La Mar for when we have a high-maintenance friend in town who wants to actually dress up for dinner, or when we need to keep a visiting client on our good side. But for the purposes of a group meal, the Peruvian spot on the Embarcadero has it on lock. There’s a patio right along the water, a lively dining room, and a bar to keep all the overflow cocktail-filled while waiting for a table. Adding to the photogenic space and waterfront location are the small plates that are worth coming here for alone, like tangy cebiches, Peruvian-style nigiri, and fantastic empanadas." - julia chen 1, patrick wong
"La Mar is a Peruvian restaurant on the Embarcadero that could double as a swanky hotel lobby in Miami—and if you run out of things to discuss with the client you’re intensely wooing for the next two hours, just look up at the giant woven squid hanging overhead and say something like, “Oh, look at that giant woven squid.” The ceviches are lip-puckeringly tangy, and the empanadas resemble puffy pool floaties (and taste much better). There's also an "Executive Lunch" option ($45 per person) on weekdays, which comes with your choice of a starter and an entree. Soak in the waterfront views with a pisco sour while you close that very important deal." - ricky rodriguez, julia chen 1, patrick wong