Ben's Review
After realizing that we hadn't been out to a place on the list for a month we decided to head out on Sunday night to 112 Eatery.
Being a Sunday night with no sporting events happening the parking situation was great in the warehouse district, with no meters enforced. I dropped Erin off at the door and found a spot and met her. We were initially confused by the door to the restaurant, as it's not labeled and there is a small sign "Please ring for deliveries" posted on it. It also appeared to enter into the main seating area of the restaurant. The handle was unlocked, so we walked in and wandered around the "cozy" restaurant trying to find the host so we could claim our reservation. We eventually found her and she was a little rude about the whole situation and then sent us on our way to the second floor for our table. To get to the second floor you have to go back out the door we came in, walk down a hallway, and take a rickety elevator. I was initially worried that we were being sent to the overflow area that would not have as good of service or decor, but I was pleasantly surprised that the second floor matches the first floor in every regard, even with its own full bar.
The second floor isn't nearly as cramped as the first floor and we found the hostess right away and she brought us to our table. We got seated right next the server's station, weakly hidden by a wine rack on a counter top. This was a little frustrating as we were walked past a perfectly set table for two, but for some reason we got the worse spot. By this point we were a little pissed at the whole experience from the confusing entrance, lack of any direction once you get inside, snotty hostess, and then being placed at an inferior table after being moved to the second floor.
Our server came over soon after we sat down to get us started, his name escapes me right now (pretty sure it was Marcus), but he turned out to be a fantastic server. I was taking my sweet time trying to decide what to order and he gave us plenty of time to think and helped us out with some questions. I eventually settled on the roast halibut with avocado and mango with the sausage and calamari risotto coming in a close second. We also ordered a side dish of salsify in a walnut pesto to share, and I got a glass of red wine (I felt bad cause Erin can't have any, but clearly not bad enough to not order it :).
The food took about twenty minutes to arrive, which was perfect as we weren't terribly hungry when we got there. A different server brought my halibut and the side order of salsify and then said that Erin's pasta would arrive in a couple minutes and could she "get her anything in the meantime." Boy, that does not inspire confidence that the food is coming soon, if they offer you something in the meantime! So we sat there and waited and chatted more and kind of picked at the salsify (which was delicious) and some pieces of avocado off my halibut. Minutes go by and our server stopped by and was surprised to see that Erin's dish still hadn't arrived so he went to check on it. I'm getting really angry by now as our food is getting cold while we wait for Erin's entree. Thankfully, our server stopped back in a minute and said it was coming shortly but that he was taking it off of our tab as "it had already been too long." What a great example of awesome customer service. He didn't apologize profusely, he simply stopped by, gave us the update (which was accurate, the food showed up a few minutes later), informed us he wouldn't charge us for it and was gone. Perfect.
With Erin's pasta finally arriving we could start to enjoy our meal. My halibut was really good and it was absolutely covered in avocado and mango. The salsify was also excellent and the walnut pesto was interesting, I'm a big fan of pesto but we usually use basil or arugula.
We had previously decided on having dessert, so that was a quick choice of the tres leches cake. This cake gets served in a bowl of sweet milk and it is seriously the best dessert I've had in recent memory. Unfortunately, Erin was full after her meal, leaving most of the cake for me to eat, which made me walk out nearly clutching my side, but it was worth it :)
In spite of the poor start to dinner 112 Eatery was redeemed by the excellent service we got from our server in general, and specifically his handling of Erin's late food arrival. The food itself was also excellent and reasonably priced for the high quality.
- Service: Awesome service from our server, I didn't like the way the hostess treated us.
- Food: Everything was great: the halibut, Erin's pasta, the salsify, dessert, and the bread. :)
- Drinks: Full bar on both floors with a varied wine list with a good range of prices.
- Ambiance: 112 Eatery is in a richly decorated, narrow space which gives it a weird mesh of classy and cramped. I did like the booths downstairs a lot and if we go back I'm going to request one.
- Price: Good prices for the quality you get. Entrees in the $10-$25 range (Erin's pasta was $8 for the half order) and glasses of wine from $5-$9.
- Convenience: There are some parking ramps nearby and the bus gets you pretty close as well. Easy street parking on a Sunday night.
As Ben mentioned, it has been a whole MONTH since we went out to eat for the blog! Never fear, we were still dining out, just not at new places, plus we just took a trip to Portland that included many awesome food and beverage establishments. After reviewing the list, I chose 112 Eatery, since I always hear it is one of the best places in Minneapolis but we haven't ever been there.
When you hear over and over again how awesome a place is, you tend to build it up in your mind. I had pretty high expectations of 112 Eatery, and thought it would be somewhat similar to La Belle Vie in terms of food and service. We had a wonderful experience there, so I was hoping for a great time at 112 Eatery as well.
When Ben dropped me off, I went in what I assumed was the door but didn't see an obvious entrance to the restaurant. I saw people going back to the elevator, but I honestly thought there were condos on the higher floors and they were there for a party or something, so I went back outside. No other door seemed right so I just waited for Ben.
I was already a little annoyed by the time we actually got into the restaurant, so when we didn't see any indication of a host stand or anyone to actually tell us where to go, I got good and pissed. I will admit that I have a much shorter fuse lately, so under normal circumstances, I probably would have been fine. Seriously - they really should make it easier for people to figure out what door to use and then where to go to check in for a reservation. Confusing people right off the bat is never a good idea. I was kind of a snot to the hostess (I said something about how we weren't sure where to go, but my tone was not so nice) so that could have been why she was snotty back... who knows. Whatever. I was annoyed and if the upstairs had looked anything like the upstairs at moto-i (aka, no decor, clear overflow seating), we would have been out of there.
As it was, we got the worst table up there - it was annoying to be further taunted by the wine rack right by our heads that I couldn't enjoy, but more than that, I didn't like hearing the servers chatting to each other and sounding annoyed about something or other most of the time - it really ruins the ambiance of a nice dinner. I know they have to give this table to someone, but it was frustrating to see another empty 2 top further into the room that for some reason was given to a party that arrived after us.
I wasn't even that hungry, so I had a hard time choosing what to eat. I originally wanted the foie gras meatballs and pasta but after a quick google search on the iPhone, I found that was somewhat questionable during pregnancy. After asking a few clarifying questions of our very helpful server, I went with the stringozzi with lamb sugo, which is basically thicker spaghetti with a meat sauce. Ben wanted to split a side, so I suggested the salsify since we had enjoyed that in many of our courses at La Belle Vie.
We got bread soon after ordering, and Ben enjoyed his wine (it was here that I decided we will not be going to any more restaurants like this until after this baby is born - 100 days (approximately of course) to go!). We chatted for awhile, and then Ben's entree and our side of salsify came out. I too was confused about the other server's offer of "something in the meantime" but I just said no and assumed it would be just a minute - after all, it was just pasta - not exactly some elaborate dish here. It wasn't that I was hungry, it was mostly that Ben won't eat until we both have our food that made the wait frustrating. With a table of 2, it does seem ridiculous that the entrees can't come out at the same time, so it was great that the server comped my dish for being late - that was wonderful service and at least let us know that it would be awhile longer.
At that point, Ben and I just started both eating his meal and the salsify, both of which were superb. I really enjoyed the combination of mango and avocado with the halibut, and the salsify was delicious with lots of crispiness and a flavorful pesto sauce. My pasta finally came out, probably about 10-15 minutes after Ben's meal first arrived, with a heartfelt apology from our server. It was piping hot and delicious - the noodles were thick and chewy (but not overly so) and there was the perfect amount of sauce. Even the half order was way too much for me, especially since I knew I wanted dessert.
Based on Kate's recommendation, I ordered the tres leches cake for dessert, along with a decaf latte. Both came out quickly, and the latte was HUGE. This cake was absolutely magnificent. It was the perfect way to end the meal even if it did leave both of us uncomfortably full.
While we did have kind of a mixed experience here, the most important thing to me was that the food and service (minus the one hostess) was wonderful. It is a great value for one of the best restaurants in Minneapolis - even more so when one person isn't drinking :)
Deets
112 Eatery
112 North 3rd St
Minneapolis
