Valerie H.
Yelp
First off, let me just do a TLDR: This place is 6/5 stars and everyone should experience eating here at least once, it will become a favorite!
In general I don't venture up to the northtowne area very often. What prompted the visit this time was a quest for a decent scallop meal at a reasonable price and at lunchtime. This proved to be difficult on two fronts: 1) we are in the midwest and land-locked, so a decent scallop is hard to come by in general and, when you find it, the meal is general higher priced than most (understably so) and 2) the few places I found that do offer scallops only offer them as a dinner meal (most are actually ONLY open for dinner). The one exception is a well-known brand restaurant from a famous chef and everything on the menu is way overpriced for the rest of the family.
The occasion for the outing was my family birthday meal, and one member would not go anywhere for the meal at dinnertime so it had to be lunch. Enter Trezo Mare. TM has a wood-fired scallop meal on their dinner menu, but I also noted that they are in fact open for lunch on a Sunday. The restaurant is employee-owned so I thought, why not ask? I gave them a call and spoke to them about the possibility of getting scallops during lunch; they were more than happy to accommodate this without hesitation. The young lady added a note to our reservation (we had a group of 6 and anything TM requests reservations for for groups of 6 or more per their website) and let the kitchen know so they could add a serving of scallops to the lunch prep for the day. Thank you so much TM!!!
This is not where the hospitality and positives about TM end though. When we arrived, we were seated immediately, even though several party members were running a few minutes late and my car had arrived a few minutes early. The hostess was welcoming, the waitress was amazing, and the manager (who brought our food) was very friendly and announced each meal as he set out our plates. The waitress was aware of my birthday from the reservation and wished me happy birthday from the start and let us know that they would give me a free desert, which is always a nice touch. When she brought out the desert (of my choice from any desert on the menu) it even had a birthday candle which she lit before placing it on the table. Side note to this- it was also nice that she didn't do any singing or announcements like some other places do- those are fine for the kids, but as an adult I find it embarrassing).
Everyone got vastly different meals for our lunch; we had a fish & chips, macaroni & cheese (dressed up with lots of additions), salmon with cesar salad, french toast & bacon from the brunch menu, and of course my scallops with purple potato's and sauce. Everything was wonderful and even the picky person liked the fish & chips he ordered. The scallops were melt-in-your-mouth delicious, some of the best I have ever had (including from the aforementioned restaurant branded by the famous chef). I chose the Trezo bars for desert (without the caramel drizzle) and, although they were very rich, they were so yummy we couldn't stop eating them (I shared with the table so everyone could have a bite or two to try them).
The cost of the meal was incredibly reasonable, especially considering my scallops came from the dinner menu and almost everyone also had a drink with their meal. It was not much more than we would have spent at any regular dine-in restaurant.
Trezo Mare claims to be an Italian and seafood focused restaurant, but they really have a variety of food options on the menu so there should be something for everyone, from steaks or burgers to Italian, seafood, and even breakfast (during brunch).
Other things to love besides the amazing food and service: employee-owned and operated, they support local farmers and sustainable farming practices, all foods prepared in-house using the freshest ingredients available, recycles or composts over 85% of waste out of the building