Town Talk Diner

Visited on Sunday, August 8th

Erin's Review

Since our little Annie goes to bed pretty early (7:30 or so), it's pretty easy for us to go out to eat after she's in bed as long as we have someone willing to sit on our couch on the off chance she wakes up. We don't really take advantage of this fact too often, since we're either hanging out with the neighbors in our backyards, doing fun things like dishes or laundry, or most often just vegging out on the couch surfing the internet or something exciting like that :) On this night, Becca requested to babysit - since I am breastfeeding, it's just easier for me to have her come over and hang out awhile with all of us, me feed Annie and then leave after she's eaten so I don't have to break out the pump more than is absolutely necessary.

We got to Town Talk Diner around 7:30 that evening, and the bar was full - we had to wait a few minutes for a table so I enjoyed reminiscing about the child free lifestyle of actually going out to bars. It was kind of a foreign concept to be out at a crowded bar at night... Something we really should do more often given our close proximity to willing babysitters!

We were seated fairly quickly, and went back into the dining room which was a completely different vibe from the bar. There were actually quite a few kids and toddlers in the dining room, reminding me that not every child goes to bed as early as Annie - which is a nice glimpse into the future when perhaps we will be able to take her out past 5:30pm. There wasn't a lot of decor, but it was a fun and open space.

Since it was pretty busy, we did have to wait a bit to order and get waters - not too long, maybe 5-10 minutes. I considered one of Town Talk's "adult malts" but decided to go with a cocktail given the happy hour special. I went with the Water Tight, which had watermelon juice and basil and I don't even remember what kind of liquor. It was okay, but not fruity enough for me :) We also ordered crab and artichoke dip, which actually came out before the drinks, as they take awhile to "craft", which the menu notes, and the server pointed it out as well - a little overkill, but I guess it prevents people getting pissed their drinks are taking so long.

The dip was quite good - I was expecting something creamy and cheesy, but there actually wasn't much cheese in it. A LITTLE disappointing as I am a cheese lover, but the artichokes were delish. I was starving, so we polished it off pretty quickly, and the server was happy to bring out more crostini.

I chose the Begnaud Burger as my main course - it is a corned beef patty with gruyere, saurkraut and thousand island dressing on a pumpernickel bun. I love burgers, and this was a great twist. Pretty much anything with gruyere is just fine by me. It was huge, I definitely couldn't finish the whole thing even with my newly huge appetite, but I put a pretty good dent in it. I also liked the fries, but not NEARLY as much as Ben did, apparently.

Town Talk closes at 9 on Sundays (which we didn't think to check before leaving) but they didn't kick us out, and the bar was still hopping when we left at like 9:15. We were never rushed at all, which was nice. I really enjoyed the food and atmosphere here, and would definitely return!

Ben's Review

When Groupon offered a $30 coupon to Town Talk Diner for $15, I knew I had to snatch it up. We managed to get over there on a Sunday night for dinner, leaving my sister and brother-in-law to watch over Annie as she slept.

We knew that Town Talk was well known for their specialty cocktails so we wanted to make sure to sample a couple at least. Each of the specialty cocktails are in the $8-$9 range so I knew the $30 would only be covering a portion of the meal. To my surprise, they have happy hour on Sunday nights and all the cocktails were $6, not a bad discount! I started off with the Blood and Sand (their drink menu online doesn't list this one, but it had scotch and some orange juice, amongst other things) while we waited for our appetizer of crab artichoke dip.

The drink was good, but being used to drinking most liquor just on ice makes mixed drinks taste weak. I still like ordering different stuff when I'm out though; no sense in ordering Jameson on ice when I can get that at home anytime.

The crab artichoke dip was damn tasty, and the server even was kind enough to bring us more bread after we devoured the first round. I wanted to get a (beef) burger for my meal, but I couldn't resist the brat burger with spicy sauerkraut with the garlic fries (holy shit I love garlic fries).

The food took a little while to make, which was fine by me as we were enjoying an evening out sans Annie and Town Talk has a good atmosphere for hanging around with a cocktail and having some conversation (probably conversation about Annie). I was eying up the table next to us because the guy had a PBR tall boy and I had noticed that they are only $2 during happy hour and that sounded like a good accompaniment for my brat burger, but I held off knowing that I would want another cocktail instead and that's what I was there to do!

The food came out and it looked delicious. The burgers were huge and the fries were hot and plentiful. The spicy sauerkraut on the brat burger was fantastic and the garlic fries were amazing, I can't get enough of those things. They reminded me of the truffle fries at Capital Grille which are also awesome. Oh, and the brat burger comes with bacon, a concept I had never considered before. Obviously the bacon works really well on top of a brat.

I couldn't help being amazed at Erin's burger and how well it had been cooked. It was perfectly medium from top to bottom, completely evenly cooked. I couldn't get over it and kept wondering out loud how the hell they could cook a burger medium without overcooking the edges. Then Erin reminded me that she had ordered a corned beef burger and that's just the color of corned beef. Oh. Right. So THAT'S how they do it.

After the awesome burgers I settled on the bacon Manhattan as my post meal drink, which features "bacon washed bourbon" and a bacon garnish. I have tried bacon infused vodka and it is disgusting, but since this was "washed" and not "infused" I thought I would be safe, and I was right. There was just a subtle bacon flavor to the drink and the cherry liqueur blended nicely with it. I actually forgot to eat the damn garnish, but I had had enough bacon with my meal that I wasn't too distraught over it.

Total bill after using our $30 coupon was $17, plus $3 for a tip made the total $20 for the night, not bad! (Just kidding, we tipped on the original amount, don't worry, I'm not a total prick).

Town Talk Diner was awesome and I commented to Erin that many places we go to we always say "it was good, but I wouldn't go back over trying a new restaurant", but this is a place that I will definitely go back to, it was great.

• Service: Excellent service, they kept our waters full and took care of everything we needed.
• Food: Great food, I can't wait to get those garlic fries again.
• Drinks: Full bar with good selection of beers and a fun list of cocktails. We didn't sit at the bar but they are also known to have knowledgeable bartenders.
• Ambiance: On a Sunday night it was still reasonably busy, just busy enough to give the place some good energy, but not so loud you couldn't have a conversation, great balance.
• Convenience: Located on Lake St. you could take the bus, light rail, bike, walk, or drive.

Deets

Town Talk Diner

2707 1/2 E Lake St

Minneapolis

Citizen Cafe

Visited on Wednesday, December 23rd

Ben's Review
As our Christmas present to each other, Erin and I went out to breakfast on the 23rd (which is actually Erin's birthday but many places weren't open on the 24th or 25th). After scouring our list for an acceptable breakfast place we decided on Citizen Cafe on 38th St, near Hiawatha.

I called a little after 10 to make sure they were still serving breakfast. They stop breakfast at 11am so we hurriedly hopped in the car to make sure we didn't miss out. Getting there at 10:30 on a Wednesday was no problem, especially since the route has us going through mostly side streets (we even caught a green light crossing Hiawatha, a Christmas miracle!).

Citizen Cafe is s smallish place and we almost drove by it as it was covered in snow on this day. When you walk in you can go straight into one dining area or through a door to your left into another, smaller dining area that faces out a window towards the street. It was nearly empty so we had our choice of tables and Erin chose the smaller area in front that we had to ourselves and the two friendly servers who would hang out nearby. The place is decorated simply and sparsely, matching the website and the starkness of the communist nature of their logo and posters. In the room we were in they had a huge blackboard that was beautifully drawn with their menu and artwork.

The breakfast menu has some of the standard items like steak & eggs, egg sandwich, and eggs, meat, and toast, but it also has some more interesting items like the chef selection of cheese with house-made sauces and an assortment of delicious sounding potato scramblers. Eggs benedict is only available on weekends which is usually a good indicator that it is going to be damn good.

I went with a potato scrambler that appears to not be on the menu anymore, but it had cubed potatoes, pulled chicken, some veggies, melted cheddar, with a fried egg on top. While all of the individual ingredients tasted great, the dish as a whole lacked consistency. I think it needed more cheese to let everything gel together, as little of it stuck together, making it frustrating to eat (everything rolled around on the plate).

Homemade and local food lovers will like Citizen Cafe as they use locally sourced products and everything on the menu is made in house. In spite of this the prices are still reasonable, the eggs benedict are even under $10 which is getting hard to find. I think we will find our way back here on a weekend after the baby is born so Erin can give the eggs benedict a try, it's at the top of her list of things she misses due to the pregnancy.

• Service: The service was great, both servers were friendly and knew when to leave us alone.
  
• Food: Excellent scramblers, I just wish they had loaded it with more cheese.
  
• Drinks: We just had coffee and oj, but they also have beer and wine, though I didn't inspect the list at all.
  
• Ambiance: This is a laid back place, there was a group of six people hanging out and another couple came in with newspapers in hand, they don't seem to mind if you take your time.
  
• Price: Great prices, especially given that everything is made from scratch and with local ingredients.
• Convenience: Close to Hiawatha and the buses and they also have a parking lot.

Erin's Review
It has been tough for me to choose breakfast places I actually want to go to on our list - if we DO go, that sacrifices the "first" time where we will write a review, and in the past 8 months, I have been strongly advised against my favorite breakfast food - eggs benedict - due to the raw egg yolks in hollandaise sauce. Sometimes I will ask if the eggs in the sauce are pasteurized - I've only found one "yes" so far - Red Stag Supper Club. Mmm boy, those green eggs and ham were DELICIOUS. Most restaurants just can't tell me for sure, so I don't take the risk. At Citizen Cafe, at least they only serve eggs benedict on weekends, and this being a Wednesday, I didn't have to feel like I was missing out!

It took us awhile to get going that morning - Ben wanted to wait until he was "really hungry" before leaving, and I also made him go to Caribou to get my free birthday drink for me :) I'm actually pretty sure they stopped serving breakfast at 11:30, and that we got there at like 11:20 because I remember it being much more rushed than Ben describes - I think we left our house about 30 minutes before they stopped serving breakfast. Not sure how strict they would have been with this, but a couple that came in closer to noon did get the dinner menu.

When we arrived, I chose to sit in the room facing 38th Street (I think) because it had more windows and more light for photos :) We were all alone for a bit, which was just fine with us. After we ordered our drinks, the server brought out a small plate of pumpkin bread and scones which were both tasty.

It looks like the menu has changed since we went - I got the brioche french toast, but it was served with berries, not foster style. It reminded me a lot of the french toast we got at our B&B when we went to London last May - delicious! I ate every single bite. It seemed like a much more reasonable portion than most places, either that or I'm just eating way more right now :) I also got the fresh squeezed oj, which was a reasonable $2, unlike some other places we've been...

Citizen Cafe was an awesome breakfast spot - I'd definitely like to return on a weekend, post-baby, to enjoy the eggs benedict, or for dinner - they have a lot of great options on the menu. The ambiance and service were wonderful - it was close to empty when we were there, so it's hard to judge how it would be if it was busy, but everyone was very friendly and attentive.

Deets
The Citizen Cafe
2403 East 38th Street
Minneapolis

Longfellow Grill

Visited on Thursday, April 16th with Kate and Kyle

Ben's Review
Summit released their new beer, Horizon Red, to a few places on April 16th. I sent the list of places to Erin who consulted with Kate and came up with Longfellow Grill as the spot for dinner that night.

Longfellow Grill is the third Blue Plate restaurant we've been to (Highland Grill and Groveland Tap being the others). All of the Blue Plate restaurants have a similar vibe and menu style, but the menu items themselves are different, which I appreciate. We arrived a little before six that night and the place was packed. It was a beautiful spring day so the patio was full as well, in fact the wait time for the patio when we got there was nearly an hour, as opposed to fifteen minutes for inside. We put our names on the "inside" list and hung around outside while we waited.

After we were seated our server told us that the number 4 news was there that night, along with one of the Summit founders, to cover the release of the new beer. We got a pitcher of the beer right away, and Erin even tried it out (she liked her Mich Golden better). I really like Horizon Red and I will add it to my rotation of beers from the liquor store. I felt like it was hoppy, but still a beer that I could drink a couple of in a given night.

I was debating between a burger, which looked really good, and the slow roasted pork shoulder with creamed corn and garlic-asiago cheese mashed potatoes. As usual, Erin knew what was best for me and told me to get the slow roasted pork, and that I could try a bite of her burger. This turned out to be a GREAT decision as the pork, corn, and potatoes were unreal. Everything came together so well that I could have mixed it all up into a pork-corn-potato paste and it would have been delicious.

We stayed for a little while longer and had another beer before we all retired to our house for a cigar and Jameson (me and Kyle) and wine (Erin and Kate). All in all a good night :)

• Service: Our server was awesome and a really funny guy.
  

• Food: Excellent pork shoulder, Erin's burger was just OK.
  

• Drinks: Good beer and wine selection, no booze.

• Ambiance: It was busy on a Wednesday night and the place had an upbeat mood, I liked it.
  

• Price: I thought the prices were spot-on for the food you get. My pork was $14 and the burgers range from $8-$12.

• Convenience: You'll have to park across the street in the neighborhoods, and turning left onto Lake sucks at this spot, luckily we head east onto Marshall instead.

Erin's Review
We met Kyle and Kate right after work on Thursday, and had originally intended to walk around taking photos before eating. However, I was beat from a long day at work and Kyle and Kate were starving, so we just headed inside right away. I'm not sure if this is normal or was due to the Summit release, but it was packed. We got a table inside pretty quickly but would have had to wait awhile for a table outside.

Once we got in, we ordered a pitcher of the new Summit beer, and watched the taping for the news. Kyle ordered a pork quesadilla for the table, which was good but nothing that outstanding. I think that pretty adequately sums up Longfellow Grill for me - it's good, solid service and food, but nothing great. Ben's meal was definitely the best of the bunch.

I ordered the "Grill" Burger (not sure why there are quotes there, but that's what it said on the menu) and again, it was fine. Not cooked medium as I specified, but oh well. I enjoyed the fries although they didn't seem to be freshly cut.

The service was great - our drinks came quickly and the server was knowledgeable and funny. He only seemed to get a little less chatty after Kate sent back a glass of wine that was apparently bad. I'd say stick with the beers at a place like this.

As Ben mentions, this is the 3rd Blue Plate restaurant we've been to, and I haven't been overly impressed with any of them. They do all seem like very family friendly locations.

Deets
Longfellow Grill
2900 West River Parkway (at Lake)
Minneapolis

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

Sea Salt Eatery

Visited on Thursday, June 26 with Scott, Mike, Dasa, and Tomas

Ben's Review
My co-worker Mike lives near Minnehaha Park so we arranged to have dinner after work at Sea Salt Eatery which is located near Minnehaha falls in the park. We drove to Mike's house after work and hung out there for a few minutes. Mike's wife is from the Czech Republic and they had some Czech liquor that we tried; it was clear, plum flavored, and about 100 proof. Scott, Mike, and I all had a shot before heading to the park.

We walked from Mike's house to the park, stopping at the falls to take a couple photos (you can't really pass that up if you're going there). The previous day I was a little worried that the weather wouldn't hold up; Sea Salt is an outdoor restaurant so if the weather is bad you don't really want to go. The weather turned out to be beautiful that day, however, I should know better than to trust weather forecasts at this point.

At Sea Salt you order inside the restaurant and get your drink, and then they bring the food out to you when it's ready. As we waited in line I scoped out the menu. The seafood tacos sounded good, but I was concerned that it wasn't going to be enough food. I asked the cashier how big they were and decided to go with a catfish po' boy. Mike had ordered some clam fries for the table to share so I didn't order any other side dish.

I had heard that they had Surly on tap here, but the taps that I saw were only Summit Pilsner, Summit EPA, and New Belgium Skinny Dip. I was a little disappointed, but I can always fall back to Summit, no big deal. So we headed out to our table beers in hand to wait for our food. Eating outside in Minnesota in the summertime is great, especially in the evening when it's not so hot anymore. I don't even recall any mosquitoes that night, which is pretty amazing.

I was a little skeptical of the clam fries, but those things are GOOD. And there were plenty for the five of us to eat. My catfish po' boy came out and I was stunned at how big it was - there were three huge catfish filets on a long hoagie bun, it all barely fit. After allowing Erin to photograph my sandwich I dove in, and it was great.

The bun was soft and the catfish was lightly breaded and not greasy, it was fantastic. Mike ordered some tacos and they also looked good, they were loaded with cilantro. All the food we had looked so FRESH, I was impressed. Mike said they go there a lot, and I can see why, especially when it's only open a couple months out of the year.

After we finished our food Scott and I went inside to get another round of beers and as we walked in from the opposite side we saw something we had missed earlier - an extra set of beer taps with the Surly beers :) They had Furious, Bender, and Bitter Brewer with the signature Surly tap handles. All of sudden, the meal just got better; Scott, Mike, and I all got a Furious and Erin had another Skinny Dip (she's not much for the hops).

I give Sea Salt two thumbs up for the food, the beer selection, and the reasonable prices.

• Service: Service was good, I like, that they bring your food out after you order it.
  
• Food: Fantastic sea food, Erin even liked her oyster.
  
• Drinks: I liked the beer selection, make sure to ask for the Surly if you don't see it, it's there :)
  
• Ambiance: Right in the middle of a park on a nice summer evening, it doesn't really get better than that.
  
• Price: For our beer and food, our bill was around $35 which I think is great for fresh seafood.
  
• Convenience: There's some pay parking spots in the park but you can park on a side street and walk a bit for free. If you're going here it must be a nice day so walking shouldn't be a big deal.

Erin's Review

As with most places on our list, I was very excited to try Sea Salt Eatery. I love seafood, and I love things that are fried, so it seemed like it would be right up my alley. As usual, the weather forecast for last Thursday had changed approximately every 5 minutes in the 24 hours preceding our dinner. Luckily it ended up being beautiful and sunny.

When we got there, the line wasn't that long and there were quite a few open tables. By the time we left, it was pretty packed, so I was glad we got there when we did. I was having a bit of order indecision. I've never had a po'boy, so I decided to go with that in the spirit of trying something new. I'd also never had crawfish, so I figured why not. I threw in one oyster on the half shell to see how that was as well.

We took our beers outside (in the absence of any light beer, I ordered the Skinny Dip) and waited maybe 15 minutes for our food. The clam fries came out first, and they were great - fried but not greasy and very fresh tasting.

When our food arrived, I was surprised at how big our po'boys were - they were HUGE. My oyster was very large as well. In fact, it was so large I was not sure if I would actually be able to eat it in one piece. Luckily, I perservered and overcame the oyster. It was fresh and delicious. I'm actually not sure if I've had an oyster before, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but this one tasted great.

(Luckily Ben grabbed my camera to capture my oyster eating experience)

My po' boy was very good too - the crawfish were apparently pretty big, and the bread was great.

I definitely enjoyed Sea Salt and would love to go back. It seemed fairly reasonably priced and the atmosphere was great, very casual obviously, and the staff was friendly.

Deets

Sea Salt Eatery
4825 Minnehaha Ave.
Minneapolis

Highly recommended on a nice summer night