Erin's ReviewI was very happy that my sister Liz told me that I could give her three choices of places to have her graduation dinner from our list. I gave her the options of Brasa, Erte, and Meritage. She chose Erte, so off we went. Ben and I had been to the adjoining Peacock Lounge with Kyle and Kate a few times because they lived a few blocks away, and I always thought Erte looked like such a nice place so I was excited to try it.
I think Erte is a beautiful restaurant. I love the decor in the Peacock Lounge as well. I think this place looks better when it is dark outside, and we were there when it was still light outside, but it still looked lovely. It is very close to a number of dive bars (Knight Cap, Mayslacks, Shaw's, probably more) so it was kind of surprising to me how nice of a place Erte is the first time we saw it.
(Bread and olives that come out right away)
I like to follow my dad's advice (on this at least...) and stick with what a place is known for when ordering so I got the only type of steak I really enjoy, the Filet Mignon. I ordered it medium and it was cooked perfectly. The sauce it came with was delicious. Ben and I also got a side of "le smush" mashed potatoes to share. What is with restaurants giving potatoes cutesy names? I think this trend is le lame. The filet was amazing, one of the best I've had. Granted, I don't really order steak that often, but this tasted delicious to me. The potatoes were also good. They would have been made even better with the addition of garlic, but I think most things in life could benefit from garlic. I also got a salad to start which was awesome - I loved the bleu cheese dressing.
I had a glass of pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon over the course of the evening. Both were pleasant. My sister got a lemon drop martini that looked great, and my mom got a lemon daquiri to remind her of our trip to Zihuatanejo last January - she said that it was very good.
The turtle fudge brownie sundae was delicious, and my sister had a key lime pie that was pretty good, although slightly too tart for my tastes.
We all really enjoyed this restaurant! It is quite romantical, but is also a good place for a celebration dinner such as the one we were having with a small group of people.
Ben's Review
Erin's sister Liz graduated from college this month and she picked Erte from our list of restaurants for her celebratory dinner. Erin's mom got us reservations for 7pm last Wednesday.
As it turns out, you don't really need reservations on a Wednesday night, as there were only three or four tables in use, out of approximately twenty-five tables. Erin and I got there first and I checked out the drink list while we waited for Erin's parents and Liz to arrive. Erte has a decent domestic beer list and an equally sized European beer list. Most of the beers are bottles, although they do have a couple taps. What I also liked about the beers is that they have a range of prices; you can get a can of PBR or a bottle of Golden Monkey.
After everyone else sat down, Erin's dad ordered a scotch so I followed suit and got an Oban on the rocks. I wasn't really feeling like a beer anyways.
The menu at Erte is great, I had a hard time deciding what to get. They have several steaks including an 18 oz. porterhouse, a 16 oz. rib eye, an 8 oz. filet , and a 10 oz. sirloin. There were also several chicken and fish dishes I was considering. Erin had decided that she was getting the filet and offered me half the steak knowing that she wouldn't be able to eat it all. I was leaning towards the walleye but Erin's dad says that when you're at a steak place, get a steak, so I did. I ordered the house special, the 10 oz. sirloin that came with a mixed green salad. Erin and I also got a side of mashed potatoes to share.
The salad came with a perfect amount of dressing and tasted delicious. The onions in the salad was a great touch and I actually found myself wanting more of the salad when I was done.
My steak came out done medium as ordered, and it also tasted great. You can optionally get garlic butter on your steak and I wished that I had, but I forgot at the time. Our mashed potatoes came out as well, and the potatoes mixed with the steak was excellent. I like to get a piece of steak (or meat in general) on my fork and then use that to scoop up some potatoes, it's delicious.
As promised Erin had plenty of her filet left over that I took down. The filet was good, but it wasn't as good as others I've had in town, but it also didn't cost as much, so take that for what it's worth. It didn't have that crusty exterior that some filets have, which I really like. Still, I'm not gonna turn it down.
We moved on to dessert. I'm not usually a dessert guy, but if there's a dessert that comes in a turtle fashion (pie, sundae, cheesecake, etc.) I can't help myself. In this case Erte has a turtle fudge brownie with vanilla ice cream that Erin, Erin's mom, and I shared. Oh man, this thing was good. If nothing else, get this dessert, it's two big brownies, a scoop of vanilla ice cream with fudge, caramel, and pecans all over the top. Wow.
Our server at Erte was a incredibly friendly woman who was prompt and just knew what she was doing in general. I give the service two thumbs up, this was one of the best servers I can remember.
On to the ratings:
- Service: Fantastic, our server was very friendly.
- Food: The food was excellent as was the dessert.
- Drinks: Limited taps but several bottled beers. A good selection of wines and full bar as well. Several specialty martinis are on the menu.
- Ambiance: It wasn't busy on a Wednesday night but the inside of Erte is cool looking, its a big open space with a well decorated interior.
- Price: The bill was reasonable for five people, I think it worked out to around $40 per person.
- Convenience: Erte is located on University just two blocks north of Broadway in Northeast with plenty of parking on street.
Deets
Erte
323 13th Ave NE
Minneapolis
Highly recommended for the food and atmosphere
