Ward 6

Visited on Saturday, June 15th

Ben's Review
For my birthday I was tasked with choosing a place to get dinner with Erin as her mom had offered to watch the kids while we went out. In typical fashion I had a hard time deciding and enlisted the help of my coworkers. I got several awesome suggestions and settled on Ward 6 in Saint Paul.

Ward 6 is on the east side of Saint Paul in an old saloon (apparently the bar is the same one that was installed in 1903) and has a retro feel to it, even though the place has obviously been spiffed up a bit. I could tell it had opened not too long ago since the paint on the trim wasn’t even dirty yet.

Pints of beer are $5, except for Hamm’s which is only $3, and the tap beers are a great collection of local beer: Summit, Fulton, Flat Earth, Steel Toe, Indeed, Pour Decisions, Surly, and Lucid are all represented. They also have a full bar and several cocktail suggestions on the menu. I started with a Lynchburg Lemonade while we were deciding on food and had a Steel Toe Size 7 with my food.

The food menu is not huge, but there are several good looking options. Erin’s reuben even looked good to me, and I’m not a reuben fan. The daily special that day was a pork loin with warm potato salad, which easily sealed the deal for me. The potato salad was just as much of a draw as the pork, I love that stuff!

I had my beer and my German food and I was all set. The portions of food at Ward 6 are refreshingly reasonable, not the gargantuan plates you get at many places these days, and the prices are proportional as well, which I appreciate.

The pork had good flavor, but was not as moist as it could be, but paired with the potato salad, it was excellent and I wolfed it down in no time, leaving me to finish my beer as dessert :) We were done so quickly that we had to figure out something to do, lest we get home to Erin’s mom too early! We went for a walk down Grand Ave where Erin had some ice cream and I got a cigar, great ending to a birthday dinner.

Erin's Review
For once, I left the dinner decision completely up to Ben! We are completely out of the loop on restaurant openings lately, so I wasn't too shocked to hear that his coworkers had recommended several places we hadn't even heard of! I did look at the website for Ward 6 before we went, but wasn't quite sure what to expect.

This is definitely an awesome place that I WISH was closer to us! It's not like it's that far away, obviously, but it would be nice if it was even within a few miles, or not on the other side of downtown St. Paul. We went to downtown St. Paul for a drink at Barrio prior to heading over to Ward 6, which is pretty close to The Strip Club. It's one of those places that is casual but feels nice, serves really great food, and is affordable. Definitely kid friendly, too, I'd like to go back for breakfast with the kids sometime.

I saw that the bar had some ties to Hamm's (apparently the actual bar itself used to be in the brewery which was next door or something) so felt it was my mission to have a Hamm's while we were there. Also it was $2 cheaper than everything else, and I think we ALL know that I don't care what kind of beer I'm drinking, and in fact the closer it tastes to water, the better.

The Reuben was calling my name - to think of my younger self, never even trying a Reuben because it sounded gross to me. Now I love them! They are pretty rich for me, so I actually only ate half but the other half reheated well for another meal. The fries were delicious as well.

Really loved this place - excellent service, friendly atmosphere and good food. Worth the few extra miles from Minneapolis even!!

Deets

Ward 6

858 Payne Avenue

St. Paul

The Lyndale Tap House

Visited on Thursday, October 29th with Kate and Kyle

[I (Erin) didn't have my camera, so all photos in this post are taken by Kate of Red Apple Images - thanks Kate! No pics of the interior or exterior though, so if you want to see those, check out the Heavy Table review for more great photos]

Erin's Review
I read a few blogs/newsletters that list which restaurants are opening each week, and add places to our list accordingly. I'd added Lyndale Tap House whenever I saw that it opened, so I was interested to read Heavy Table's review of the place. While it was pretty negative, I didn't want to rule it out based on that one review alone. Kate and I quickly decided we'd go to see for ourselves if it really was that bad.

Ben and I got there a bit early, at 5:45, and were seated at a huge booth. There are a few booths in the place, and also some high top tables in the bar area with chairs that have no backs. I hate those type of chairs, so it was a good thing we weren't seated at one of those tables :) Since the main complaint of the Heavy Table review was about the ambiance and clientele of this bar, we were on high alert, but the place was pretty much empty and very sedate when we got there so there wasn't anything for us to be annoyed about, no matter how hard we tried to find it :)

I was so hungry I couldn't even wait for Kyle and Kate to get there before ordering the pretzels. In fact, they were lucky we even saved 2 for them :) (the main reason we saved any was just to get a photo) Those pretzels were delicious and I would personally be satisfied just going to this place right after work for a few rounds of pretzels and some beer (if I could drink beer, that is). I think most people know I'm 100% satisfied with Miller Lite, so I had no qualms about the beer list at all - it actually seemed to me that they had a pretty nice list that will certainly please most people who will frequent this bar, even if they didn't have many local options.

I vaguely recalled that Heavy Table said the Tap House Burger was pretty good, so I went with that. I asked if they had American cheese as I prefer that on my burgers, but alas, no. Just cheddar. I guess this MUST be a high class establishment ;) The rest of the table got Pit sandwiches, and I think I was probably the most satisfied with my meal of everyone. The pit sandwiches had an absurd amount of meat on them, especially Kate's pit beef. She also noted that her sandwich wasn't really quite hot, and vaguely tasted of cumin which she doesn't like. Everyone did love the fries, especially with the cheddar ale sauce.

Kate's Pit Beef

I can never resist dessert anymore, so I ordered the whoopie pie with warm chocolate sauce. As the cheapest item on the dessert menu, I expected it to be small, but no - this thing was ENORMOUS - far too big for us to finish. It was pretty good, but I thought it could have used more filling, and really did not need to be that big. It certainly satisfied my chocolate craving, but I probably wouldn't order it again.

One thing to note is that the SECOND Kate took out her camera, the manager came over and asked if we were with a media outlet, and kind of played it off saying she wanted to make sure she wasn't missing an appointment. We just said that the photos were for our blog and that seemed to satisfy her. After that, someone was at our table probably every 4 minutes, asking if we wanted more beer, anything else, filling water, etc. It was a little much but I guess they are just trying to be careful. Especially asking about more beer got old - it seems like this might be the type of place where people just pound beers one after another, but that wasn't really what we were going for at 6:30pm on a Thursday night, which seemed obvious to me.

We really would have no reason to go back to Lyndale Tap House because - 1. it's in uptown and thus is a pain in the butt to get to from our house, and 2. it isn't as good as other bars much closer to our house (Muddy Pig, Happy Gnome, BDP). However, that being said, I would have no problem going back if a friend was having a gathering there, and if I lived in the neighborhood I'd certainly go there for happy hour often.

Ben's Review
For some reason Heavy Table's poor review of Lyndale Tap House convinced Erin and Kate to try this place out last week. I had low expectations after reading the review, but I figured the least I could do was go and be satisfied that my assumptions were correct.

We got to the restaurant after a long rush hour drive from downtown Minneapolis to the Flat Earth brewery (W. 7th & Snelling in St. Paul) to get a growler and then from there to uptown. Not so much fun on a rainy day.

Miraculously, I found a parking spot on Lyndale about one block away and the meters there are only enforced till 6pm so I only had to throw in one quarter. This was all a pleasant surprise to me as I had expected a nasty parking situation.

I easily found Erin when I got inside as the place wasn't busy at all, which was a definite plus in my book. She was sitting along the back wall by the cook's counter in one of those half circle booths, which I love. Our server came over to get my drink order while we waited for Kate and Kyle to arrive and after trying to get a Summit Oktoberfest (it had switched to winter ale already, wtf? I hate that) I settled on a Bell's Two Hearted. I also learned that it was happy hour till 7pm, which meant half price taps and appetizers. Upon hearing that we also ordered some of the pretzels, which were one of the few things recommended in the Heavy Table review.

At this point, I'm feeling pretty good about this place. Half price taps and appetizers is a fantastic happy hour deal and the fact that it runs till 7pm is awesome, as you can basically get happy hour deals all through dinner on a weeknight. The tap selection, while not featuring many local beers, is still a great list of beers with a variety of styles so everyone can find something they like. The pretzels didn't disappoint and the cheddar ale sauce and the honey mustard that comes with them are both delicious, we even got more of the cheddar ale sauce for our fries with our meals.

I've been craving pork lately so I jumped on the pit pork sandwich with fries. Kyle order of the pit Cuban tempted me for a moment (especially since I had seen the Cuban at the Muddy Pig earlier in the week and that looked fantastic), but I stuck with my guns on the pork. The sandwich came loaded with meat as I had read about previously and it was 'OK', not awesome but certainly not bad. It made me crave a pulled pork sandwich even more :) The fries were really good and they were clearly freshly made, which I believe can make or break a meal, and were even better in the cheddar ale sauce. With our meal I got another beer, this time the Two Brother's Cane & Ebel.

Kyle's Pit Cuban

As we were getting up to leave I realized that it was nearly full in the restaurant now. I had been facing the kitchen the entire time so I didn't notice the trickle of people coming in. They have a nice long bar with several TV tuned into the World Series, it seemed like a good place to watch sports. I think if we had arrived at 7 instead of 5:45 I wouldn't have liked this place as much, but as it turns out I would come back here for happy hour or an early weeknight meal.

• Service: Our server was nice, as was the manager, but they became a little overbearing after they discovered we were blogging about them.
  
• Food: Good bar food, awesome pretzels (and only $2.50 at happy hour :)
  
• Drinks: Great, diverse beer list and a full bar. Excellent happy hour.
  
• Ambiance: At 6pm on a weeknight the ambiance was great for me, kind of low key as they get ready for the busy time of the night. I doubt I would ever come here on a weekend evening.
  
• Price: Meal prices are reasonable for what you get. The beer taps are in the $5-$6 range, but are half off during happy hour.
• Convenience: Even though I found a parking spot, I'm calling that an outlier. Normally going to uptown is a headache and I'll stand by that.

Deets
The Lyndale Tap House
2937 Lyndale Ave S.
Minneapolis

Blue Door Pub

Visited on Thursday, January 29th with Nate and Molly

Ben's Review

We finally made it to the Blue Door Pub (BDP) last Thursday with our neighbors, Nate and Molly. The previous two times we had tried to go, the place was packed and the wait time was substantial. This time, we were determined to wait it out, regardless of how long it took. It was still packed on a Thursday night, and we waited around twenty five minutes to get a table. Since the BDP is so small there's no room to have a waiting area, you just have to kind of stand around other tables of people eating their delicious burgers and drinking beer while you wait for your turn. We did get some beers while we waited, so not all was lost.

BDP opened up last fall and has gotten only rave reviews since for their burgers and beer selection. I'm disappointed in myself that we hadn't been here sooner, as it's about one mile from our house, even closer than Trotter's, and we both love a good burger. Even better, they recently got Hopslam on tap, although I liked last year's Hopslam better.

After getting our table we were starving. I had noticed some sort of deep fried appetizer being served to another table that looked good, and the server told me they were cream cheese spam bites - cream cheese, with a piece of spam, breaded and fried. We got an order of those and Nate and Molly got some buffalo wings, both of which were fantastic, I thought. For my burger I went with the Cajun burger and the tater tots. The tater tots at BDP are fried instead of baked, which clearly makes them better. My burger lived up to expectations that I had read about, it was fantastic. Filled with pepper jack cheese and jalapenos made it nice and spicy and the tots were a perfect side dish.

My only source of disappointment came when I ordered a Surly Furious that I saw on the beer list, but I was brought a Surly Mild. It turns out they had just switched from the Furious to the Mild a day or two before and the beer list had not been updated. I still drank the Mild, but, lets be honest, it's no Furious.

Our server was a nice guy, he talked to us like we were friends rather than customers. We also saw one of the owners walking around talking with people, which I thought was cool. One suggestion I would make to him would be to find some way to get more space. My dad went there for lunch the following Thursday, around 1pm and he said it was packed even then. Clearly BDP can sustain more people :)

• Service: Excellent service, we were taken care of and the server was a really nice guy.
  
• Food: The burgers are fantastic, as advertised. The tots are great (and I don't even like tots that much to begin with).
  
• Drinks: They have a great beer list, with a good mix of local brews (Lift Bridge, Surly, Summit).
  
• Ambiance: To say BDP is cozy is an understatement. As you eat your meal you will mingle with people standing around you waiting for a table :)
  
• Price: The price was right on par with other burger/beer joints. $7-$9 burgers, $4-$5 beers.
  
• Convenience: They do have a parking lot that wraps around the back, otherwise you'll need to find a spot on Selby, which isn't too bad.
  

Erin's Review

If this place was just a little less crowed, or a little bigger, it would give Maxwell's a run for it's money as our favorite bar. As of now, Maxwell's still has a leg up due to always having an open table. The third time was finally a charm for us visiting Blue Door Pub. I would not recommend going there with a group larger than 4 to avoid having to wait longer than 30 minutes for a table. The first time we tried we had 6, and there was already a ton of people ahead of us so we didn't want to have to deal with standing around - especially since one person in our party was approximately 8 months pregnant at the time :) The second time we were just too hungry to wait. This time, Ben and I were both mentally and physically prepared to wait as long as it took to get a table. I'm glad we did - it was definitely worth the wait!

We debated even giving this place another glowing review - clearly they have no issues filling the place at all times so we kind of wanted to write that it sucked to deter a few people from going :) Despite being crowded, everyone is super friendly at BDP - no one seems pissed if you bumped into them, and the servers are very friendly and don't even seem annoyed that everyone is blocking their ability to easily get at their tables.

I knew that I wanted to try Blue Door Pub's signature Juicy Lucy - the Blucy. I also had read that the spam bites were surprisingly good so wanted to give them a try too. They came out quickly and were pretty good - but then again, how could anything with that much cream cheese that is deep fried NOT be good?? I think the ratio of spam to cream cheese could be increased - it seemed like there was way more cream cheese than would be necessary for a tasty bite. They also could be a little smaller - more "bite" sized and less golf ball sized. Still something that is fun to try once.

I got my Blucy sans side dish, since I was certain that Ben's side of tots would be plenty for both of us, especially after the spam bites. I was correct. I liked the Blucy, but not as much as the traditional Juicy Lucy with American Cheese. What can I say - I have been conditioned to love processed cheese product. The Blucy was well executed, but next time I will try the traditional to see how it measures up against my favorite at The Nook.

Another note about how nice they are here - Nate and Molly ordered their Mushroom Swiss Blucy to share and the kitchen nicely sent it out in 2 separate baskets perfectly split in half. It was definitely a nice touch.

I think it's pretty clear based on this review that Ben and I will be back to Blue Door Pub, many many times.

Deets

Blue Door Pub

1811 Selby Ave

St. Paul

Birchwood Cafe

Visited on Saturday, January 24th with Scott and Christie

Erin's Review
While we've gone out with Scott a few times for the blog, Christie was usually not able to come because of her crazy schedule. We finally found a time that would work for everyone and emailed them with a few options for dinner. The pickings are getting a little slim for the low key, casual, affordable restaurants that aren't too far away!

I had mostly heard of Birchwood Cafe as a breakfast place, but I saw that had a fairly decent dinner menu and they served beer and wine. I was glad Scott and Christie chose this place - it was my top pick of the ones we sent them. Birchwood has a focus on organic and sustainable ingredients, which is pretty obvious by looking at their menu.

When we got there, I immediately noticed the chocolate banana cream pie in the dessert case and made a note to return to get that after dinner was over. I convinced Ben to go with the Pizza night deal (2 pizzas and a pitcher of beer or bottle of wine for $30), and I got the veggie and he got the meatie. Both have since changed on the online menu, but I happened to take the description from the menu right after we went to caption my photo on flickr - lucky for me since there is no way I would have remembered anything other than black bean puree and cheese.

After ordering, we got one number for our table and sat down to enjoy our beers. Ben and Scott had the pitcher of Surly that came with our pizza night deal, and Christie and I both had Fat Tires. The pizza night would actually be a better deal with the wine because the bottles of house wine are $20 and pitchers of beer are $16.

Scott and Christie got their meals fairly quickly, but as Ben mentions below, ours took a lot longer, despite the server telling us that it would just be a minute. Even though we told Scott and Christie to go ahead and eat, it is annoying to be served at vastly different intervals from your dining companions because someone will be done way earlier than the others. I saw our pizzas sitting out and there were 2 people behind the counter that seemed to look at the ticket and not bring them to us (we were sitting right outside of the counter area). Finally, after at least 10 minutes, our pizzas came out. It wasn't a huge deal, but it seems that at places like this where you order and pay first, no one feels any sense of responsibility for your service.

Christie's Cauliflower Risotto Cakes


Scott's Pork and Winter Vegetable Quesadilla

Luckily, our pizzas were great so it made up for the wait. I loved my veggie - as I mentioned, it had a black bean puree, roasted corn and red peppers, and was topped with mozzarella and some guacamole. While they have since changed their veggie pizza offering, if this one ever pops up again, I'd highly recommend it!

After finishing the meal, Scott and I headed back up to the counter to get dessert. I noticed the sign for the banana cream pie had been removed, but there were still a few pieces. The person behind the counter informed me that it was now coconut cream instead - still sounded ok to me (although not nearly as good as banana cream). Scott got Key Lime Pie. I tried a bite and it was perfectly tart and creamy. My pie was pretty good, but I really had my heart set on banana so I was a little disappointed. Oh well, I'll get over it.

Despite the service mishap, I really want to go back to Birchwood to try their breakfast. I love places like this that are relaxed and affordable, and that also have wonderful food. This place reminded me a lot of Trotters Cafe, but with better decor and ambiance.

Ben's Review
We finally nailed down a night to have dinner with Scott AND his wife Christie after many attempts. We decided on Birchwood Cafe, just north of Lake St. across the river from Saint Paul.

Erin and I arrived at Birchwood and headed inside. I hadn't realized that Birchwood was a place where you order up front and then a server brings your food out when it is ready. I was a little bummed at first, just because I didn't feel like standing in line and making a quick decision, but I got over it, especially after Erin and I ordered a pitcher of Surly Furious. The dining area of Birchwood is not huge and there were only a couple open tables when we arrived. Before ordering Erin and I put our jackets on one of the tables to reserve our spot.

Scott and I were splitting the Furious pitcher while Erin and Christie each got a bomber of Fat Tire. Erin and I ordered the special that night of two pizzas and a bottle of wine OR a pitcher of beer for $30. I believe the pitcher of beer alone would normally be $16 so this seemed like a great deal to me.

The atmosphere at Birchwood is very casual, there were several children running around while their parents and friends talked and ate. This really is a neighborhood cafe, as it is five blocks north of Lake St., not really where anyone would just pass by, looking for a place to eat. I even thought we were lost on the way there, as it doesn't look like any restaurant would be tucked amongst the houses in the area.

Christie and Scott's food was brought out by a server and he told us that our pizza's would be out in a minute. Erin photographed their food and we waited for our pizza to come. And waited. And then waited some more. Finally a different server noticed our pizzas just sitting under the heat lamps (where Erin had noticed them long ago) and brought them out to us. It was annoying for Scott and Christie to have their food sitting in front of them while we were still waiting for ours. Furthermore, we had paid for the food and left a tip before we received any service. This is kind of crappy because theoretically, no individual server has any reason to try and give you the best service possible. I think in the future at these kinds of places I will not tip on the initial purchase and then leave a tip at the table.

Even though it took awhile, my pizza was still really good. The pizza I got is not on their menu online anymore but it had a combination of some veggies, some meat, and blueberries. The blueberries were a little weird to have on a pizza, but they were good, when I could keep them from rolling off my fork. I ate my whole pizza and some of Erin's (I wasn't really that hungry - it just tasted good).

I think I would go back to Birchwood for breakfast, I get the impression that breakfast is their sweet spot. I had a good time at dinner, but it didn't knock my socks off.

• Service: I have to say the service was poor because our food sat, waiting to be served, for several minutes while our friends already had their food.
  
• Food: My pizza was great and Scott and Christie both enjoyed their food as well.
  
• Drinks: Small but satisfactory beer list, something for everyone. They also have several wines. Per their liquor license you need to order food to get served alcohol. I wouldn't come to Birchwood just to drink anyways, it's not that type of place.
  
• Ambiance: Very casual and relaxed, you could sit there for hours and use the free wi-fi and I don't think they would care.
  
• Price: We got a great deal with our pizza and beer special and the prices otherwise are reasonable for organic and locally grown ingredients.
  
• Convenience: Plenty of on street parking as Birchwood is tucked away in a neighborhood.

Deets
Birchwood Cafe
3311 East 25th Street
Minneapolis

The Nook

Visited on Sunday, May 25th

Ben's Review
Erin and I initially tried to hit up Skinners on Sunday night of Memorial Day weekend to get some nachos and pizza. We got to Skinners around 8:30 or so and ordered two beers. Then I asked for a menu to get some food and the bartender (Mr. Skinner?) told me the kitchen wasn't open that day. Bummer. We were starving and we just got a beer, so we downed the beers post haste to find someplace that had food.

After some quick deliberation we settled on the Nook on Hamline Ave. across from Cretin-Derham Hall. It was surprisingly (to me) busy for a Sunday night, the place was nearly packed. We got a table right away though, towards the back of the restaurant.

We each ordered another beer (Element 115 for me) and some cheese curds as an appetizer. The cheese curds were real greasy, more than cheese curds are supposed to be. I could only stomach a couple of them, they were just too much for me. Again following Erin's Dad's advice of "when you're at a burger place, get a burger" I ordered the Cusburger that was a bacon cheeseburger with sliced green pepper on top.

My burger was excellent, as expected. On the way into the restaurant I saw them making fries and I noticed that they were the "homestyle" fries that I don't like so I wasn't expecting to like the fries. I was pleasantly surprised though, because the fries were also very good. Not as greasy as the cheese curds and they had good structure.

One thing that was a little odd was that at a certain point, maybe a little after 9pm they turned the music WAY up and started playing a strange mix of music. There was a Buffalo Springfield pop remix followed by several Metallica songs. It was weird.

I did like the abundance of flat panel TVs throughout the bar, and they've got a lot of local historical stuff on the walls, newspaper articles, local sports stories, lots of Cretin-Derham hall stuff (Joe Mauer and Matt Birk both have burgers on the menu). The decor is cool, it gives you some reading material too :)

• Service: Service was OK, I recall having to wait awhile a couple times for a refill or the bill.
  
• Food: Great burgers and fries, cheese curds were too greasy.
  
• Drinks: Decent amount of taps, with a couple micro brews on tap as well (Flat Earth, Summit).
  
• Ambiance: The weird music aside, I like the atmosphere at the nook, its a cozy neighborhood bar with a lot of history.
• Price: Our total was around $35 before tip I believe, pretty standard.
  
• Convenience: Parking can be tough if you go on a weekend night, there's only street parking available.

Erin's Review
First, I'd like to express my extreme displeasure at Skinner's for not having their kitchen open last Sunday. It was a weekend night because of the holiday, so it was really strange to me that it was closed, especially since the explanation was nonexistent. Very sad. We went there once before and I was impressed with the food there - it was a step above normal dive bar food.

By the time we finally decided on and arrived at The Nook, I was ravenous, and halfway drunk from chugging a beer on an empty stomach. We ordered the cheese curds right away so that we could get some food in our bellies. I really enjoyed them. Ben is not a good judge of cheese curds, I don't know if he's ever really had more than one or two. I'm guessing no. He hates the State Fair and tends to get a little bit of an upset tummy from greasy food so take his judgment for what it's worth. I, on the other hand, quite enjoyed the cheese curds. They were nice and hot and delicious.

We actually have been to The Nook once before, prior to starting this blog, so this wasn't really a new dining experience. I ordered the same thing I had last time, the Juicy Lucy. I just love them, so ordering anything else really isn't an option for me. This one didn't disappoint. As I mentioned in the Groveland Tap review, this is my favorite Juicy Lucy that I've had. I also liked that it came with fries! I didn't really like the fries that much - weirdly enough. I guess Ben and I have opposite fry tastes. I thought these were really dry. I like lots o grease I guess!

The Nook is a pretty small place and has kind of an odd vibe. The waitstaff at The Nook is pretty young (perhaps that is why their website is a MySpace.com page), and thus the music selection reflects that - there was a lot of loud rock and rap when we were there, which didn't seem to fit with the "neighborhood bar" feeling of the place.

They have made some improvements with the layout since the last time we were there (can't really remember when, sometime in early winter of this year). The bathrooms now have a wall in front of them, so there isn't a table right outside the door of a one person bathroom. The doors aren't exactly "solid" feeling either, so this is a great addition, especially with their abundance of greasy food. Someone who will remain nameless had a bit of a bad reaction to the Friday fish fry he had last time we were there, so he choose to run across the street to the Oasis gas station instead of using the bar's bathroom lest he ruin the dining experiences of the people sitting right outside the men's room.

This place is a fun neighborhood bar, and as Ben said, it has a lot of history - there are tons of articles on the wall, and it was featured on some TV show, so it's worth it to go at least once. If I lived near there, I'd go quite often.

(any bar with this sign in it is alright in my book)

Deets
The Nook
492 Hamline Ave. S.
St. Paul

Highly recommended for the burgers!

Groveland Tap

Visited on Sunday, April 27th with Scott

Ben's Review
My co-worker Scott called us up to see if we wanted to get a late lunch at Porky's. It was a little chilly for Porky's so we settled on Groveland Tap instead. It was busier than I thought it would be for a Sunday afternoon. It's a small place but there were still around fifteen people eating and drinking.

I made the quick decision to get the Red Hook Black Hook (which sounds like a beer that Dr. Seuss would come up with) after learning that they were all out of the Rush River Bubblejack IPA. Erin got her usual diet coke and Scott pulled through and got a beer even though he was still under the weather from the night before. I was expecting the Black Hook to taste like a black lager, like the 1554, but it was more like Guinness. It's dry and malty, not a whole lot of hops to speak of. I doubt I'll order one of these again, but I'm glad I tried it.

In typical fashion, I couldn't decide what I wanted to eat. Erin was pushing the pepper jack juicy lucy, but I wasn't sure if I wanted a sandwich or a burger. The burger won out in the end, and I upgraded to get the fries as well ($2 extra, but I'm a high roller like that). Scott got the pork sandwich also with fries.

The burger had pepper jack cheese and jalapenos in between the meat patties, and it was pretty damn good. I had to give a couple bites to Erin, cause she got the bland American cheese on her juicy lucy :). The fries were also pretty good, albeit not a huge portion, but that's probably a good thing. I think I'll usually eat as many fries as they'll put on the plate so the less they give me the better, it's not like I went home hungry.

For dessert our server mentioned a deep fried PB & J sandwich that sounded tasty. Its kind of like a Monte Cristo sandwich but with grape jelly and peanut butter instead of meat. I thought it was a good dessert, but I don't have much of a sweet tooth to begin with so we didn't even come close to finishing it all. The one change I would make would be to use strawberry jelly instead of grape.

The ratings:

• Service: Service was average, Erin had to beg with her eyes to get a refill of soda :)
  
• Food: All the food was great, its a typical bar menu with burgers and sandwiches.
  
• Drinks: They have a great tap beer list with plenty of micro-brews. I don't THINK they have a full bar, but I could be wrong.
  
• Ambiance: Pretty quiet neighborhood bar, no loud music or anything, at least on a Sunday afternoon. All the people seemed friendly.
  
• Price: The price was right on - not cheap, not expensive. The burgers are $5-$6, beers are $4 or so.
  
• Convenience: Groveland Tap is right at the intersection of Fairview & St. Clair, so it's not really convenient to any major roads and there's no parking lot. We found a spot on the street with no trouble though.

Erin's Review
I thought Groveland Tap was a fine place for lunch, but certainly wasn't anything special. It is kind of hard to rate a bar on ambiance when you go there in the middle of the day - I have no idea what it would be like at night, but it seems like it would be quiet. There didn't seem to be any area for live music or anything like that. It was pretty much your average neighborhood bar. I think they only have wine and beer here, but like Ben, I'm not really sure.

I had heard this place had good Juicy Lucy's, so I knew right away that I'd order that. I am always kind of annoyed when a sandwich doesn't come with SOMETHING - chips, fries, whatever. I understand the upgrade charge if you are getting something more, but really - I think a burger should always have some kind of side dish. I figured since Ben got fries and I usually only eat about 1/3 of the amount I get that I'd be fine. Scott has an unnatural hatred for fries (and pancakes) so I also got to have a few of his. I got what I wanted, but I felt slightly cheated by the lack of side.

(My burger looks so lonely)

I thought my Juicy Lucy was average. I've now had a Juicy Lucy at Matt's Bar (good), the Nook (great), and Tuggs (if you count their stuffed burgers as a form of Juicy Lucy - it was okay but way too expensive). I thought this one was better than Tuggs (in terms of value mostly), but worse than Matt's and The Nook. I'd probably order something else if I went back. The deep fried PB&J that Ben wanted was okay, but not good enough to ever want to order again. It was mostly the novelty that appealed to him, I think.

I know Groveland Tap also owns Edina, Longfellow, and Highland Grill, some of which are on our list, so it will be interesting to compare this place to their other restaurants when we go there. I don't have much else to say about our Groveland Tap experience - it was a quick lunch on a blah Sunday... nothing special really. I probably won't go out of my way to go back, but if someone else wanted to go there, I wouldn't try to convince them otherwise.

Deets

Groveland Tap
1834 St. Claire Ave
St. Paul, MN

Recommended if you're looking for a nice neighborhood bar that isn't grungy and has pretty good food.