Maradentro Studio City

Everything is amazing! I highly recommend the fish tacos, lobster guac, and the gringas de camaron. The drinks are amazing too; SMP’s, and maradentro margaritas are bomb.

I absolutely love this spot! The food is great and so are the drinks.
Food wise I would definitely recommend the following–
bacon lobster guacamole
carnitas nachos
carnitas plate
fish tacos
shrimp tacos
Drink wise, the SMP is everything. So tasty!
The only downfall is the valet. There is only one person working the valet stand and I find myself waiting at least 10 mins for my car. :(

Chef doesn’t make substitutions so you better like what it says on the menu or not have allergies!

Although the food that I was actually able to eat was delicious, I will not be back due to the ridiculous, pompous attitude and terrible service.
The ambiance is non existent. It looks like they pulled out some uncovered wooden banquet tables and those tacky pleather chairs and called it a day.
The service: the host was attentive and I noticed some other servers were attentive to their tables but our server Matt was a waste of space. He didn’t tell us about the specials so we didn’t even know there were any until long after we had ordered. He never came to check on us once our food was dropped off. The host walked by and noticed our empty classes and asked if we need more drinks. I asked for a water and Matt dropped off a bottle on the table without pouring it. He was just totally checked out.
The RIDICULOUS «substitution policy»: I don’t eat red meat or pork and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone being that this is California. This is why I go to seafood restaurants… TO AVOID MEAT. I requested that the bacon be left off the lobster guac and was told they won’t do that. Not that they can’t, but that they won’t. I asked for the bacon on the side, or on one side of the guac. Nope won’t do that. I was pissed. This is the service industry. A restaurant’s job is to provide the best possible service to their customers. This isn’t a cooking competition where the chef’s vision must be perfect. The idea that the chef rather lose customers or deny them food, rather than have them experience a dish without the garnish he intended, is absurd. He needs to get over himself.
Also, this place is pricey. $ 18 for two small tacos.
We won’t be returning.

This restaurant needs a larger bar top area and friendlier staff. My friend and I went here last week for the first time, and tried their lobster lobster and fish of the day dish. The dishes were ok, not the greatest. The guac was delicious. But the lobster dish was overly priced for the portion of food. The guac had more lobster than the actual lobster dish.
We will definitely not be back. We rather stay with Mercado restaurant. This place is not what I had expected.

Favorite Mexican food in Studio City. Food, drinks and music were great!
Cozy place on ventura blvd. Carnitas tacos were amazing! The lobster guacamole is a must!
Your meal is not complete without a few
SMP’s delicous!!!

I would have given the dining experience a solid for if it had not been for the Lime Rice. It was EXTREMELY salty! Like everyone in the kitchen and the wait staff had taken a turn salting it. The rice was not edible. I mentioned it to our waiter, she said she would mention it to the chef. I don’t know if she did but they still charged me for the rice. In hindsight I should have deducted the cost of the rice from the tip. Yes, it was that bad.
On the plus side they serve an incredible standard happy hour Guacamole!

Maradentro is a great little place with a hip ambiance as is the case with most establishments on the Ventura Blvd strip. They specialize in upscale mexican seafood and have a great list of craft cocktails. This is a great place to come with a group of friends or even on a romantic date. Parking can be a little tricky but they have valet so that is super helpful! They have indoor and outdoor seating and the staff is very attentive.
What I ordered:
— Watermelon Basil Margarita (perfectly spicy & sweet!)
— Fresh Raw Oysters in Mignonette Sauce (small but pack a ton of fresh flavor!)
— Dos Gringas — chile marinated shrimp, Oaxaca cheese, avocado salsa, red onion, cilantro, on flour tortillas. (the melty cheese is KILLER).
— Catch of the day marinated in achiote paste
The portions are a bit on the smaller and pricier side; luckily, the flavors are incredibly great and you won’t leave starving. I hear they’ve got a pretty good happy hour so I’ll have to come back for that. Overall, would recommend!

Food and drinks were good. Service was fine. I came here with my 2 gfs and we shared a couple plates. To start, we ordered the crabiqueso, which was very delicious! My other favorites (and recommended items from the waitress) were the lobster tacos (which has crunchy fried tortillas) and the fish sandwich. The churro ice cream is a must!
The chile relleno was somewhat disappointing as it really should just be called ciopinno seafood stew with a chile poblano.
If you’re not able to find street parking, valet is $ 5.

In a nutshell: Mexican seafood. Maradentro has a great happy hour taco menu and an even better dinner menu. We absolutely love this place. The carnitas tacos for happy hour or the carnitas plate for dinner are amazing. I prefer the tacos myself but the dinner portion can be made into tacos as well. I also love the fish sandwich. Highly recommend getting a side of the black beans, but you may just be so full you don’t get to them. Order the crabiqueso and the lobster guac to start. You can thank me later.
Valet is available or you can find street parking off any of the Ventura adjacent streets.

I hate to damn with faint praise, but I feel I must. I wish there was a 3.5 stars.
The service is out-​of-​the-​park over-​the-​moon great. The host was more than welcoming when I parked at an outside table waiting for a friend stuck in traffic. The waitstaff were attentive, helpful and on top of it. I don’t drink alcohol, but the waitress helped my dinnermate make a slight change to an already inventive cocktail with success.
So far so good.
My dinnermate is a restaurant owner and chef. We asked if the chef could do what she called a «flight» of various tacos. We got a flat no, even though the kitchen wasn’t too terribly busy. We ordered anyway. One of us is gluten intolerant and didn’t realize that the lobster taco we ordered was on a fried flour tortilla. We asked the waitress if we could just get the filling or put it on a corn tortilla and again… no. To their credit, they substituted a filet mignon one on corn, which was decent.
But let’s get to the core of the problem. I’m an L.A. girl and I grew up on kickass, authentic LA tacos for $ 2 – 3 each. When I’m paying you $ 17 for two tacos, couldn’t you flex a little? More to the point, we began to see that everything on the menu was a little too over-​thought and hip for it’s own good; it all sounded great but was it really as good as a taco de pato at Cacao in Eagle rock? No. We had lovely small Washington State oysters drowned in some overthought sauce. That’s the core of it; we couldn’t taste the oysters.
If you want a place with great drinks and a nice atmosphere with some good nibbles (the Guacamole looked great, but the queso disappointed) right on Ventura Blvd. at the corner of Movie Industry Privilege and Vine, go.
If you want tacos, go deeper into the valley to Canoga Park.

I’m a big fan of both Mexican food and seafood, and Maradentro didn’t disappoint. We (my best friend and I) ordered the crab queso and the signature lobster guacamole (both to split) and then each got tacos for our main course (shrimp for her, lobster/​filet for me). Everything was fantastic — the food was super flavorful and perfectly prepared, and service was both very quick and very pleasant. I particularly enjoyed my lobster taco — the cheese was great and the lobster was deliciously tender. For dessert we ordered bread pudding, which was also quite good (sans the nuts and the raisins — not a fan of either). The cinnamon ice cream on top of it was perfect!
Subtracting a star for 2 reasons: they inexplicably wouldn’t remove the bacon on the lobster guacamole (it wasn’t mixed in and was just sprinkled on top) and because my filet mignon taco was disappointing (on the dry side, too charred, and not very flavorful). Other than those two minor blips, I really enjoyed Maradentro and will definitely be back soon!

Love this place! Food and service are great, but their drinks I have to say are absolutely AMAZING!
I’ve dined here several times and have never been disappointed.

Oh, Mexican seafood. Two words I love seeing next to each other. ANYWAY, these are the best tacos I’ve ever had in my whole life – specifically the spicy shrimp one. Everything is made in-​house. Even the freaking corn tortillas are scrumptious, and I’m usually the kind of person who is annoyed when my soft tacos come with a double-​decker tortillas – one is enough carbs for me, thanks. Here, I enthusiastically called for another round.
We came during Happy Hour (on a Saturday) and ordered strictly off that menu – allowed us to be adventurous without going home penniless.
The flavors – of the food, the drinks – were fresh and a JOY for my mouth. Great service.
We parked a couple blocks away on a residential street. They have valet but we had no cash on us.

In a word… OUTSTANDING!!! Chef Jose absolutely knows what he’s doing! His food is beyond delicious! His restaurant and staff are on point! When we first went to Mercado we were takin back how good everything was. And now coming to Maradentro we are blown away just the same!!! Fantastic food! Fantastic drinks!!! Fantastic experience!
Drinks: The jalapeño cucumber margarita is best margarita I’ve ever had! So refreshing and perfect ratio of tequila, jalapeño, cucumber, and salt. The Maradentro margarita was also very good! Not too sweet and flavorful with black salt! Really good!
Food: we came for happy hour we started with fresh hot chips, crabiqueso, guacamole with langostino and bacon! WOW wow wow!!! Finished every last bit! Muy deliciouso! Next we shared the Dos Gringas de Camarons and Baja Fish Tacos (a staple)…the flour tortillas on the shrimp tacos were fresh and homemade tasting. And the fish tacos were PERFECTION!!! Light crispy fish with the perfect toppings to go along! Loved them! As full as we were we ended with flan. Best flan I’ve ever tasted! Light and creamy not too sweet… perfect.
As you can see we really love this restaurant along with Chef Jose’s other establishments. The restaurant is pretty, the food is pretty and of high quality, the bathroom is pretty (and clean), the music is great, the drinks are deeeelicious!!! Looking forward to coming back! You should definitely try any of Chef Jose’s restaurants… you’ll be really happy you did! We are very happy and we are FULL!!!

We had the opportunity to try this little gem of a place during DineLA (
) while in the valley and we definitely felt like we got our money worth while here. A full 3 course meal, we were filled by the middle of the entrée. The fish options (ahi-​ahi) was perfectly cooked and their carnitas are fork tender AND if your up for it their bread pudding is a sweet end to a dinner (try it with a glass of earl grey).
The décor is clean with a nod to the heritage and leans towards the clean white that is spread throughout the restaurant. It is cozy when you get to the back, we felt like we were sharing our meal with the table next door who kept eyeing our food — I was expecting a fork to jot across to our plates!
The drinks are fancy for a fancy price ($ 13) for their signature drinks.
They have a small lot that is valet, but if you’re feeling frisky then look down the streets that line the blvd and behind for places that may add 5 minutes to your walk. We found a place that if you’re a parallel parking master like me would — fit — right in.
So in the end worth the 4 stars.
Enjoy!

Sunday evening blues so we tried a new spot. I felt like Mexican food and I love seafood so I thought this would be perfect. I’m still nursing so I’m not drinking. Not that I would for a simple dinner as such anyways but we didn’t order any of their drinks. From the looks of the other patrons’ drinks they looked really refreshing. The reason I’m starting with this is because this is more of a drink and chill spot with some finger foods. It’s not an I’m hungry and wanna grub spot. Or even a I want good Mexican food spot.
Guacamole and shrimp tacos off the happy hour menu was delicious. The steak skewer tacos were average. Ceviche average. We came at 6pm so it wasn’t packed yet but there were a few Instagram famous people and a sitcom star guy here too.
What sucked was that the lobster guac and a lot of their other items that sounded delicious had bacon and they couldn’t remove it. I don’t eat swine so I couldn’t try them

Parking: Meters on Ventura (GL), Valet for $ 5 or park a bit ways away on Radford (if you like walking).
So I really enjoyed this place. The décor is nice, the servers are friendly and the food was solid. The only issue I had were the portion sizes.
The Surf & Turf was two tacos for 17 bucks. I get that it is made from lobster and filet mignon, but I feel like splitting the meat portion into three tacos would have been a much better value. The Pan de Tuna was essentially two pieces of bruschetta but with sashimi instead of tomatoes for 15 bucks. The happy hour carnitas nachos were a great value though at 10 bucks. That was the star of the show. Ample size for two people to start/​share. The nacho cheese had a seafood like taste and the carnitas had immense flavor. It was a crowd favorite and would definitely order again.
I’m conflicted because you are not getting the best value in all the dishes, but you are getting great tasting food. I will likely be back but will try to stick with the happy hour menu and find the great value dishes!

Upon entering, the restaurant was bustling and almost at full occupancy. The vibe is lively and a bit loud.
Service was friendly and efficient — almost too efficient in that each course came out of the kitchen with lightning speed. I would have liked to enjoy the appetizer a bit more before entrees appeared.
One big negative — my water glass had a big, red lipstick mark right on the rim. I asked for a new glass, and the wait staff replaced it without an apology or any acknowledgement — not something I would have expected from a higher end restaurant like this. My rating would have been 4 stars if not for this issue, but cleanliness is very important.
APPETIZER
Guacamole de Langosta (lobster guac) — hass avocados, serranos, red onion, cilantro, lobster, nueske bacon, chips — $ 13.
Yes, the reviews are spot on. This is delicious. It comes with a large basket of house made chips.
ENTREE
Chile Relleno de Siete Mares — poblano chile, shrimp, scallops, mussels, fish, clams,
calamari, tomato-​chile broth, ciabatta — $ 23
The broth is rich and flavorful. There was a good amount of seafood which was cooked well. The chile didn’t really add anything for me. This dish comes with one small piece of bread. It would have been better to have more, as there is so much broth.
Chef Jose’s Carnitas — slow-​cooked natural pork, guacamole, Yxta salsa brava, market vegetables, tortillas — $ 22
This dish was the winner. The pork was tender and packed with flavor. The veggies were cooked perfectly. The house made corn tortillas (3) were fantastic. I would order this again.
Contrary to what others mentioned, I thought that the entrees were sizable. My husband and I had plenty to eat and even had some leftovers. For elevated Mexican cuisine that doesn’t break the bank, I would recommend this place if it’s convenient. Dishes were pretty solid. But check your glassware!
parking — valet, metered, limited free street parking several blocks away

Came here on a Monday night for a girl’s night /​happy hour. Arrived at 6 pm and was able to score a parking meter right up front. Everyone else had to valet for $ 5 since parking is limited on restaurant row.
Ordered the Maradentro margarita and lobster guac to start while I waited for my friends to arrive. Drink was delicious but I was underwhelmed with the lobster on top of the guac.
My next drink was The SMP, sweet and tasty, bartender was super friendly too!
We pretty much ordered all of the happy hour food items. Crabiqueso, guacamole, oysters rajafeller, tacos Dorados the Cameron, dos gringos de cameron and carnitas nachos. All the items were well prepared and we left satisfied.
Outside patio was the perfect ambiance for catching up!