MARBAR

Whoa. I have eatern at MarBar a couple of times before: the first time it was good, the second okay. This time it was pretty *yikes– inducing* from top to bottom. I’d heard about the variability of the place and this time, I can see why. It was a very off night; enough so that I will not be back.
I started off ordering the octopus and had to return it, which I have rarely done with a dish. I love salt, but this was so over– salted as to be inedible. I asked to have it replaced with the ceviche. Five minutes late, the ceviche came drowned in, I’m not exaggerating, at least a cup of cocktail sauce. It was as if someone literally dumped a can of cocktail sauce on top and served it. i could not detect any seafood other than octopus. Un-​fresh, uninspired and not like any ceviche I’ve ever had.
The other people at my table had issues as well. Service was friendly but inept. One of the ladies ordered a mojito, which had no sweetener in it. She ordered some simple syrup separately after tasting it. Another person asked for a salted margarita glass and instead got a salt shaker. When asked about dessert, the waiter said there was none, with no explanation as to why. Hmm… Another person at our table wanted to know if the kitchen was closed, as she was interested in getting another taco. The waitress said she wasn’t sure whether it was closed. Huh? How about going back and asking? Very odd… Finally, someone in our group apologized, not wanting to appear high maintenance, even though we were nothing but polite. Rather than comping us or apologizing/​explaining the off night, the waitress simply nodded blankly.
The owner of the restaurant was apparently one table over from us but was either oblivious to the experience we were having or wasn’t concerned.
There are too many good restaurants in Decatur for people to come back to experiences like this.

This restaurant was probably the highlight of my weekend. My mom found a living social voucher & wanted to try it. I’ve been meaning to check this place out for a few months but only think about it while already heading into Kimball across the street.
The drinks are strong, the food is delicious, the prices are great & they run specials every night of the week, what more could you ask for? Oh right, great service… We had Keylee & she was wonderful. She had a great personality, was on top of all our needs & definitely worked her butt off to make sure a 4 star dining experience was a 5 star one!
The tortilla chips are made in house & served with 2 house salsas– the green one is amazing! For apps we had the shrimp skewers (tender, flavorful shrimp, 5 or 6 to a skewer) & the mar bar ceviche (shrimp, octopus, calamari, avocado, mango, etc– was delicious, seafood was all incredible fresh & perfectly cooked, not chewy at all!). Entrees– my parents had Enchiladas & Flank Steak. Tried a bite of my dads steak & it had good flavor, they both enjoyed their selections. My friend had fajitas with steak & shrimp, he loved it. I had Tequila Shrimp & it was fantastic. I’m not use to capers & green olives in my Mexican food, but they were welcome additions :)
Disappointed I was too full to try any tacos this trip, but I’ll definitely be back! Perhaps for taco Tuesdays or ladies night Wednesdays!

This is my second review of the place. My complain was the Octopus Gallega in my first review. It is MUCH BETTER! you can tell the kichen is tasting and adjusting.
I really like the food & Marbaritas.
Services is not consistent. Some servers are great and attentive, others do not enthusiastic or happy to be there.
I do LOVE their seafood dishes and ceviche.

Maybe it’s this location. I wasn’t too thrilled with Feast, nor with whatever restaurant preceded Feast in the space (I forget the name).
First impression: Loud blaring music, although they did turn it down a little later. This place has a history of loud.
Second impression: not very comfortable, virtually immovable bar stools. Took a while to wrestle them into place. We declined the offer of a table, particularly one out in the middle (the restaurant was not very busy) and I don’t like banquette seating.
Third: Worst draft beer list in Decatur. OK, maybe not the worst, just one of the worst.
Indifferent bar service, but not terrible. Bartender was initially attentive but later asked if I wanted another beer — yes — and then proceeded to get distracted even though the bar wasn’t terribly busy and at least three people were working it. The beer arrived quite a bit later. But otherwise OK. Large wine pours here. Food came out quickly but we had to ask for silverware.
And this: one of the bartenders, who I believe was a trainee/​new guy, took my not quite empty water glass away. Maybe it’s just me but I think as long as a customer is still seated, the water glass stays and if it needs refilling, fill it. Or at least ask.
Weak salsa. Red was very mild; green tasted like out of a can. Chips good.
Octopus taco — nothing but a corn tortilla and sliced octopus. No garnishes, no nothing. Just that one small tortilla and a dozen or so very lonely chunks of sea critter, which admittedly were somewhat tasty. I ended up raiding my wife’s broccoli appetizer for some red pepper strips because tacos should have more than one lonely sea critter in them.
Carne asada taco not bad; it had a few other things to accompany the cow.
Guacamole tasted fresh but also totally mild. Throw some jalapenos in there! Something.
Corn on the cob with ‘smoked paprika crema’: OMG, what an oily, tasteless mess. I had no idea ‘crema’ meant ‘pool of olive oil’.
Overall, a very disappointing visit. MARBAR needs to add a little spice — figuratively and literally — to their menu. Not sure what to do about the space.

Much improved!
Had the shrimp ceviche appetizer
Burrito with added spinach and the chicken enchilada…
Curstyn did a great job, she was quick, kind and very accommodating.
Love Kay, the bartender, she is amazing, always. Honestly I’d come to Mar Bar for her, but now that the food is so great it’s a win-​win-​win

I met up with 7 or 8 of my friends here on a Friday night. Other than our party, there were only 2 or 3 other parties in the place.
Starting with drinks, I was going to have some of the margarita pitcher, but opted instead for the $ 5 Paloma — tequila, toronja (grapefruit) Jarrito, mint, lime. When mine arrived, I noticed an amber hue, while my neighbor’s had none. Our server then explained that he added a touch of brown sugar to complement the citrus. By the time others at the table ordered the next round of Paloma’s, the touch of brown sugar had become too much, with sweetness overpowering the tang of the grapefruit, so just be warned.
We had queso fundido with chorizo for the table. It comes in the cast iron skillet with a small cup of pico and a few tortillas (your choise of corn or flour). I didn’t get any tortillas, instead using the chips to eat mine. Cheesy goodness with chorizo — yum. I would’ve liked more pico and more tortillas, but managed ok with the chips.
For my dinner, I chose the half seafood salad — octopus, shrimp, calamari on arugula with a habanero vinagrette, a shrimp and bacon taco, and a conchinita de pibil taco. The salad was pretty good, though I couldn’t really taste the vinagrette, and it didn’t appear to be much seafood. The tacos were small. I preferred the pork, since the bacon was overcooked in the shrimp & bacon taco.
As for parking, I had to drive around the neighborhood a few times to find a parking space, ending up in the unpaved lot a few blocks away. When I was walking to the restaurant, I saw a smallish sign that said there was parking in the back. I’d passed it 3 times in my car without noticing it.
All in all, not a bad experience — beautiful space, friendly staff, not busy — but I can understand why it wasn’t rockin’ on a Friday night.

I’m rounding up to 3 stars based on the appealing, breezy interior, and our friendly waitress. The complimentary chips, salsa and refreshing watermelon slices were nice touches to start the experience. My group checked out $ 2 Taco Tuesdays and I opted for an octopus taco (surprisingly tender and tasty), carne asada taco (lacked flavor/​sauce, better once I added salsa), and the shrimp/​bacon taco (decent, but not much filling). Good, but the right sauces and toppings will make the tacos great. We were the only table upon arrival and yet we waited nearly half an hour for our dishes which arrived in two waves. Our waitress apologized for the wait and said that there was only one person in the kitchen. Sounds like long waits have been recurring issues since opening day. I’m hoping for more attention from management and will try again on $ 5 margarita Mondays.

A good casual place to stop by for an impromptu meal filled with sangria, margaritas, quesadillas, tacos, and other Mexican inspired dishes. Their prices were reasonable and the atmosphere was laid back with a California beach type theme. There were a couple of TVs affixed to the walls for sports watching in the background.
I’m tempted to return back on Tuesdays for their $ 2 taco special. The meal was satisfactory but not overly memorable but this place hits the mark in the right places to merit a return trip.

The best $ 5 Margarita in town! Tangy salsa with chips. Ceviche good, but more veggies than seafood. The Mrs had 2 tacos, very good, and I had veggie quesadilla that was good but for the beans — navy beans which surprised me at a Mex place, and as is normal for navy beans, tasteless.

So close… And yet so far away. It’s a shame, really. We found out that they were out of mussels after we ordered them and then were told they’ve removed the tortas also after we ordered. Not cool.
Ultimately the food was good but not great. It all seemed like it’d been prepared the day before.
We both ordered the mojito, which seemed like a steal at just $ 6 each, especially since the glass it came in was not a rocks glass. But we realized quickly that we’d just overpaid for minty soda water, even after giving it a good stir in hopes it hadn’t been mixed well. As you can see in the photo, neither of us could finish our drinks.
I’d say it seems like they hired an executive chef to create the menu, fired him/​her and left everything to modestly trained people to do all the foot work.

We stopped by for lunch today. Omg. The place was completely empty. We were sat outside in the back patio. Empty also, come one where are the people at lunch time.
We ordered apps, seafood skewer, calamari and a seafood taco. The skewer needs to have clean shrimp and loose the tapanade and tomatoe purée. no flavor. The octopus was tough. no bueno. The calamari was a bit salty but it was palatable. The service was good, im sure because again it was a ghost town. we did not order entrée’s. It was too dead to continue eating.
Wont return.

This is probably the most soon-​after-​dining review I’ve written.
Also let me preface this by saying I hate complaining about service. Like really really hate it because I understand that service is super variable especially on special deal nights.
Tonight they were offering $ 1 tacos and drinks specials. How could we resist?!
The hostess notified us that it would be a couple of minutes before we could get a table, ok cool we’ll just hang out by the bar. A short time later we sit down and continue sitting… for a decent amount of time not knowing who our server is. Ok busy night got it. The boyfriend flags down the assumed waitress for our section and this is the starting point for this review. I will now proceed to list the service issues:
— the couple next to us who had sat down later was served first. By a large margin of time.
— forgot that she had just taken our drink order…“I’ll have a mojito and these 5 tacos” «ok what would you like to drink?» Excuse me?
— no straws for waters that eventually made their way to our table
— drinks? Oh yeah those finally arrived
— meal? What happened to our tacos? Hmm those tacos that the couple next to us has denied being theirs three times, look really familiar
— «Sorry, your tacos will be right out»…could you maybe refresh these chips since we’ve been waiting for ~40 minutes?
— Cilantro on tacos, guess what we asked for? No cilantro. Preposterous.
— Curious case of the missing 5^th taco. Hmm also there also seems to be two identical tacos. I thought we ordered five distinct ones. Hmm.
15 minutes later the boyfriend gives up and asks her to box the tacos up (when they come out) since it is now 9:30 pm.
Let’s recap, no waitress initially, inattentive waitress, stubborn waitress. Great. I think she might’ve vastly done more things wrong than right. Impressive.
At what point during service issues do you say «oh it’s just a really busy night» and start saying «wowza this server really has no idea what she’s doing.» I think we crossed that line tonight.
The manager/​owner/​powers-​that-​be did comp the entire meal but I would’ve rather paid for my dinner, enjoyed my experience and eaten my tacos instead of not even being hungry for them since it’s so late.

Great food and prices. A refreshing change from what lies opposite. Plus parking.
The atmosphere is warm, the rear patio a great retreat. Highly recommended.

Not sure why the # of stars are so low for Mar Bar… I stopped by here as the finale of a night of dining in Decatur, originally intending to go to Kimball House. The California-​like beach vibe of Mar Bar drew me in, and I sat at the bar. Service was excellent… attentive and friendly without being intrusive.
Bonus, there are $ 5 Texas margaritas on Saturdays and Sunday, along with a whole host of other daily drink specials during the week. The $ 5 margarita was very tasty, not too sickeningly sweet, decently strong with a fairly good tequila, and was a pretty good size! Mojito was the same giant size, but not as tasty as the margarita since it was mainly rum instead of balancing with lime and soda.
As for the food– since it was the end of our night, we ordered minimally. Mixed seafood ceviche was excellent– lots of lime juice, cilantro and fresh mango mixed with shrimp, calamari and one of the best octopus ceviches I’ve had in awhile. It also came with a healthy portion of chips, which adds to the basket of chips that come complimentary with 2 types of fresh salsa (green & chipotle). Tacos are $ 3+ for a small but satisfying portion, with choice of either corn our flour tortilla. Like Juan M mentioned… $ 1 tacos they ain’t…the filling could use some work as well. My mahi mahi taco only cam with a few sad pieces of fish… could have used some slaw or garnish.
Décor as I mentioned is California beach-​style, with lots of ocean blues, unfinished wood, and steel bar top and chairs. It is casual and the food is light, which is a great option for the hot days in Atlanta. There are also a couple of tables outside that face Kimball House. Parking is available on the street. Very impressed and unexpected… a hidden gem amongst the many wonderful options in Decatur!

The hubs and I were some of the folks who visited the incredibly disappointing MAR last year and had been reluctant to return. Upon hearing that the restaurant had gone through some much needed revamping we decided to give it another chance and are very glad we did.
Instead of the more upscale vibe MAR was trying for, MARBAR has more casual, neighborhood feel without devolving into another brewpub (we have enough of those in Decatur thankyouverymuch). We’ve watched a couple World Cup matches there, but the TVs don’t detract from the beautiful décor (which is the same as when it was just MAR — and I’m glad because that was the one thing MAR got right). As far as food is concerned, we’ve tried a variety of items including a few of the tacos — they are good, not mind-​blowing, but solid; my favorite is the seafood mixto, the mixed seafood and mahi cebiches — liked them both although the mahi is probably my favorite; the shrimp skewers — they’re grilled in shell, but the shell is relatively easy to remove and the meat was very tender and tasty. (I also appreciated the complimentary chips w/​two salsas to start .)
The bar is very well-​stocked and the bartenders are all super-​friendly (or at least each of the four we encountered across our visits). We’ve enjoyed their mojitos and margaritas — which were all quite yummy, but my favorite is just having one of their fine tequilas over the rocks with a twist of lime — the ultimate skinny margarita!
All in all, I’m really happy to see that they’ve reopened and add them to our regular rotation of Decatur haunts. They’re a great option when you want something light and tasty, but aren’t feeling sushi or want Mexican, but aren’t in the mood for a heavy burrito or equally heavy chilaquiles.

Another «Will be back» restaurant. Make reservations if you want to go on Friday. Lots of people. Drinks were yummy.
We ordered all appetizers & 3 tacos — shrimp & bacon, mix seafood & pulled-​pork. Shimp & bacon was quite salty. The others were great.
Then there was Octopus Gallega, Seafood Mixto & Mixto Cebiche. The octopus too was salty. The other were great again!
We will be back… to try others.

The ambiance of this place was really nice, so I’ll give them that. Having recently moved from Texas, I am well aquainted with Mexican/​Latino/​Spanish/​Jalisco/​fusion/​whatever food. This place is EXTREMELY overpriced for what they serve. There was a section for starters, a section for tacos, and a section for «proteins.» Pork comfit tacos?! I thought to myself «Heck yes!» and ordered them. If they had been under the «starters» section in the menu, I would have expected the paltry sum of food that I was brought.
Two tacos were $ 8 or $ 8.50, so that’s at least $ 4 a taco. This taco better blow my mind. I am not even kidding when I say the tortilla was about 4″ in diameter at best. There was also almost nothing on my tacos. One taco had maybe a tablespoon of meat on it, the other probably half of that.
My food also wasn’t even close to hot… nay, warm. Bummer.
People in our party ordered other kinds of tacos that looked better, all of the pork tacos at our table made me not want to bother ever again.

It was completely deserted and totally awesome.
Across the street from the depot, it is a beautiful space… that had two other couples to our five.
Granted, it was a Monday night but I don’t remember seeing such a huge space so empty in quite a while.
We got a great bottle of wine and started with a couple of ceviches that one of my guests said was the best he had even compared to some that he’d had in Latin America (where he is from). We followed this up with some tacos that we had split so we could try and share.
All very good.
Downside?
How hard would it be for the chef to cut the tacos in half? This clumsy Cuban had to hack them apart to achieve it.
Also, the price point is kind of high — don’t come here expecting «Chicken Tinga for $ 1» like our pals at La Perla…

I waited to write this review, hoping the place would grow on me in hindsight. I really, really, really want to like this restaurant. But, I don’t. I’m pretty sure I won’t go back, despite wanting to like it. Again, let me emphasize, I waited to write this review hoping I grow to like the memory of the place, just as I like the idea of the place.
Let me say a couple of nice things before describing the problems. First, the space is great. It’s way better than Feist was. The décor is great, the lighting is good, the patio is wonderful. Really, that’s nice. Second, the concept is good. Mexican (maybe, possibly Latin-​American) seafood; how could you go wrong?
Now, the details. First of all, the service is TERRIBLE. The wait staff didn’t really seem to have any idea what is going on. The rushed us as much as they could (despite the place being empty). They probably could have gotten us to order another round (or two) of drinks, which are expensive, if they hadn’t hurried us along so fast. At one point, a waitress reached across my wife’s face, while she was in the middle of taking a bite of food, to clear a plate that had been empty in the middle of our table for about 20, maybe 30, seconds. Despite that, we never heard from the waitress except when bringing the food over or when we got the check at the end of our meal. (Note, we didn’t ask for it, we weren’t asked if we wanted anything else, the check was just brought.)
Second, the food needs a LOT of work. The lobster taco, which is supposed to be great, is beyond spicy. One person I was with got a HUGE pocket of chipotle (or chili?) powder in the taco. Why would you make a lobster taco where all you can taste is heat? The squid-​ink taco shell is great, but it’s almost unbearable from the heat. At the same time, the gazpacho is bland almost to the point of being tasteless. The fried oysters are basically balls of dough, almost sickingly doughy. Seriously, in retrospect, the only good thing we had was the salsa, which was delicious.
The drinks are good. La Flor is very good, though not the mezcal version. That was not good. The gin version was good. The MARgarita is way too sweet.

Update about a month after opening — service issues smoothed out. The food is fantastic and the servers great. The owners are very present, like hosts at a fun party. My husband had the gallega octopus starter — Octopus? Are you kidding me? Usually I find it too rubbery and don’t like the «mouth feel» — this was very tender and delicious, nicely seasoned. Very glad I gave it a try.
Word is (from friends) that the pickled oysters are incredible — not quite up to that adventure this trip.
I had the shrimp and bacon taco (more please) and a pork confit taco — both delicious.
Nice wine list and well made margaritas, according to my guy.
Great space, great food, great drinks — Decatur finally has some good Mexican eats. Hurrah!