Martini’s Grille

from dinner on 1.28.16, 9:05 (ticket close out); server Rachel
WHAT HAPPENED!!! This used to have such delicious, impressive food! Thursday night it was awful, save for the bread (which was likely from a vendor) and the salad which anyone with a hand and half a brain could assemble…
The crab cakes are disastrous and an insult to fake and real crab all over the world. The seafood ‘risotto’ which was selected as a side for the crab cakes was totally dry, crumbly and hard. It was not made with arborio; it was not the LEAST creamy. It was WORSE than a pile of dried-​out fried rice. A risotto should be so creamy that it spreads as it’s served on the plate.
The chicken penne pasta dish with a pesto-​cream sauce had decent flavor, actually, but had not a drop of cream: it was extremely dry and under-​sauced (which I’m under-​exaggerating).
And WHAT a cheap bar. As we are restaurateurs, we know what basic tenants should be upheld. If you’re going to do a rocks pour, it should AT LEAST be one ounce. What a joke. The olives weren’t even touching the vodka because it was so low. HELLO!!!
NOW, dinner’s ONLY impressive performance was that of our server, Rachel. Her timing was excellent, she was friendly from beginning to end, she wished to help make our dinner better – but for my partner, it couldn’t be salvaged having made him so nauseous. And I’ve NEVER seen him NOT clean a plate – EVER. He in fact said, «That was THE worst ‘nice dinner’ I’ve ever had.» That coming from a 55-​year old, multiple businesses own/​franchisee… No better way to sum it up.

Great location. Comfortable seating. Happy hour all day Thursday! Wahoo! I only had drinks and apps. The martinis were yummy! I had the blueberry and the cucumber. I didn’t really care for the spinach artichoke dip. Chicken lips were great! Calamari was good, smaller portion than I’m use to getting but whatever. It’s just an app right?

The drinks here are awesome. I’ve never seen a bartender who hauls it the way these guys do at martinis, they get very busy and still somehow manage to keep up. No matter how busy they get, i never have to wait longer than 5 minutes. I can tell you from experience, having bartended there in 2010, that this is no easy feat. The drinks here are legit! The bartenders show up 3 hours before their shift to make fresh juice EVERY DAY! The bar staff is so knowledgeable too, I had a nice discussion about the origin of vermouth with the bar manager, who has probably forgotten more about booze than I’ve ever known.

Very nice upscale restaurant for Burlington good atmosphere and very attentive staff. Food was delicious. Good bar service. Definitely a must visit love the atmosphere.

Excellent view of the Mississippi River. Great food and service. Try the chicken lips for an app. This is one of most favorite restaurants to visit in the U.S.

Update: 9 months later, the Unilocal offer the manager claimed not to know about is STILL up on their business page.
Shame on you, Martini’s! If you had NO knowledge of it back then, why is it still up?
Kudos to the chef for the amazing chicken lips, though! (2 stars to him only!)

Martini’s are excellent, not too strong. The tuna was under seasoned and bland, quite a let down.

This place has great food although the service is sketchy. Not very welcoming bartenders as I sat at the bar.
Had a few drinks and the salmon. It was very good.
I have been back once since then, same result, great food, but the bartenders…

Fresh seafood that taste amazing! Big variety for martinis! The view is incredible. You do get what you pay for! Don’t be scared off by the prices because it is so worth it !

Great view on a beautiful night. Great food as always! Disappointed to find patio not open for dining this year.

This is the best spot to eat in Burlington. This place has a great atmosphere! Great view of the river and downtown. The service and food is top notch. It is not inexpensive but worth every cent!

Martini’s is overpriced and has a pretentious vibe to it. My boyfriend and I visited for a date night. I asked our waitress if there were any specials that night and she scoffed and told us that they didn’t do specials. Their martinis are fantastic — the bubbling ones are really cool. But the food was unimpressive and relatively bland. You pay for the beautiful view — the restaurant overlooks the Mississippi and the walls are all glass. Unfortunately, the experience is ruined by the bad attitudes of the employees and the so-​so food. I won’t be back.

I took a date to Martini’s on a Wednesday night. We were given a beautiful booth looking out over the Mississippi River. It was as beautiful a non-​ocean view as I’ve ever had in an establishment. My date had Steak and Lobster while I had the seafood extravaganza. Both were excellent. BTW we started off with Chicken Lips as our appetizer because she didn’t believe! The care with which they remove and then cook the lips is only to be experienced!

We come to try the various martinis and have yet to find a bad point. We also enjoy the lobster roll since it’s the best sushi in town. Every time we got an appetizer or entrée we have not been disappointed. Martinez is by far the best martini bar in Burlington.

It’s hard for us to find any faults in such an unexpected find. My wife and I were just passing thru and we found a great view and great service and an amazing meal. I’m very happy that we found this place in the forth floor of 610 north 4^th. Try the seared tuna my wife highly recommends. The martini menu was impressive and the wine list had a wide price range. Something for everyone to enjoy. Whether you want to sit and graze or indulge on seafood and brûlée as we did.
Thank you Martini’s grill and Emily for such a great evening

We went here for my daughters birthday, and won’t be going back. There was seven of us at 6 PM so early, and our waiter was a mess. He mixed up our wine orders, messed up on rib order, forgot a sprite all together, and our desert which was free, and their signature for birthdays, had a staple in it. (already been stapled) and the soup was cold. The prices are high which i wouldn’t mind if the food was good. He apologized for forgetting the sprite, but seemed like he was overwhelmed ! I tipped him well because he can’t help what comes out of the kitchen.

We came here for a wedding rehearsal dinner. The atmosphere is great, with the highlight being a beautiful view of the city and the river. And food was terrific.
I think we were given the Grazing meal – bacon and white cheddar pizza, spinach dip, chicken lips, caesar salad, bread, option between steak and salmon (kids were given chicken fingers which were just the chicken lips without the sauce), smashed potatoes, green beans, and the ice cream pie. It was A LOT of food. I don’t know anyone capable of eating all of that food in one sitting.
Almost all of the dishes were amazing – the chicken lips stood out (first time trying them – my fellow Kansas City Unilocalers have been singing the praises of chicken lips for a while, and I have to admit they are delicious!) as well as the juicy, succulent filet mignon, creamy smashed potatoes, and flavorful and crisp – though a bit-​out-​of-​place – Dim Sum green beans. The pie was great, too, but I was way into a food coma by then to really enjoy it.
Some misses – after originally ordering wine, I changed my mind and ordered a Pink Lemonadini. It took around 10 – 15 minutes for me to get it, but it was dangerously delicious and smooth once it did arrive. Also, the caesar salad didn’t have much flavor. Plus, I don’t know if they have a private room and it was already booked, but it would have been nice to have the rehearsal dinner somewhere private and easier to mingle with other people from the rehearsal. As it was, we all sat at different tables and just interacted with the people at our table. And, and I can’t stress this enough, even though we were give A LOT of food (and if it was the Grazing meal then it was only $ 39 a person), I would have preferred slightly less food for a slightly lower price (for the sake of our friends who paid).
Besides those very minor problems, we had a wonderful time at Martini’s Grille. We had no idea what to expect at a restaurant in Burlington, and I’m happy to say that we were very pleasantly surprised and, in fact, quite impressed with the food and our experience at Martini’s. If we lived in Burlington we’d probably be regulars (and probably be a lot heavier, too).

My husband and I went to Martini’s to celebrate our wedding anniversary. It had been a few years since we last made the 90 minute trip. What a difference a few years can make. It was an extremely disappointing evening. The waitress was not very attentive, she never even asked if we would like an appetizer. The steak I ordered medium was barely warm all the way through and the salmon my husband had was undercooked. Our waitress never once came to ask about our meal.
We used to recommend the place but no longer. Don’t waste your money.

Awesome atmosphere, great view, eclectic mixture of Midwesterners as clientele. I didn’t drink when I came here but my parents are both a fan of their cocktails.
Personally, I found the food to be a little meh, especially for the price. I know it’s American food, but it just seemed kinda tasteless to me. I’m not a big fan on spending a lot of money eating out, and this place one where I just kinda felt guilty for spending so much money on an entrée that wasn’t particularly delicious.

This place was unexpected in Burlington, Iowa. You’d never know Martini’s is in this building unless you alread knew it was here.
It’s on the top floor of a used-​to-​be-​hospital and current business-​type building and has AMAZING views of the Mississippi River.
There were 12 of us, and the east side of the restaurant (the one that faces the Mississippi) only has booths, so we had to break up into 2 groups of 6 for dinner. It all worked out on who was sitting where, so it was okay with us. There were a couple of large round tables in the corners that might have accommodated our party if we squished in and got real close to our neighbors.
Honestly, this was probably a 3-​star restaurant… but with the view and considering it’s in Burlington, Iowa, I bumped it up to a 4.
Five out of six people at our booth ordered filets, and one ordered the salmon. The dishes all came out at really weird times. They didn’t deliver bread until the soups/​salads, and one filet wasn’t delivered until a couple of us were actually done eating ours.
Drink service was slow, but some of the drinks were quite tasty: I had a sip of a Pear martini, and it was really excellent. Maybe a little too sweet and not enough boozey, but overall it was good. Two of the girls at our table ordered the Ace Pear Cider, and only when the other drinks were delivered did the waitress tell them that they were out. I’d probably stick to the namesake Martini drinks here, and don’t expect super quick bar service on the weekend.
Our waitress was nice, but rather than just apologizing for the one steak coming out so so so so late, she apologized AND blamed the computer/​kitchen. I get it, it probably WAS the kitchen or computer’s fault that it wasn’t prepared with the rest of the table’s meals, but just apologize. That’s what I always did. To her credit, she did offer a free dessert (we went with the Chocolate Mousse cake) to compensate and it was EXCELLENT (and I’m not even a chocolate fan).
The other table in our party also had some issues: cold food, food delivered late, etc. They were also offered a free dessert but declined.
I ordered, of course, the filet mignon with a twice-​baked potato. It was served with broccoli and soup/​salad. The filet itself was quite good: cooked to medium rare like I asked and was nice and tender. It was clearly a good cut of meat. The twice-​baked potato was alright. Nothing extraordinary and the top of the potato was quite hard. The broccoli was the biggest disappointment of my meal… there’s a difference between «al dente» and «raw». It looked like it had been steamed or boiled for maybe 30 seconds to give it some color and that was it. It wasn’t even warm to the touch. Salad was good (a mix of field greens), but again, nothing extraordinary.
Overall, this is probably one of the best places you’ll find to eat in Burlington, Iowa… but to me it was really just a 2 or 3 star place compared to what I’m used to, especially if it’s trying to be «fine dining». But seriously, the view is awesome. Sit in one of the booths that faces the windows or in one of the booths right along the window. Order a Martini and a dessert for sure.
Oh, and a quick tip: you can’t call to make a reservation until 3pm, so try to call the day before (at least). Casual attire is just fine: no jacket required. You won’t be out of place in flip flops OR a blazer (just please, not both).