Everyone always asks me to give restaurants a star rating when I review them. It’s not something that I like to do because it’s so very subjective and difficult to compare restaurants that are completely unrelated. Well, I figured that even though I won’t give a star rating, I’ll happily rank them for you–as of the review date, no subsequent visits have been taken into account here. The top and ends are pretty straight forward but it does get a little messy in the middle.
Without further ado, the 2009 Lazy Lightning top South Metro Restaurant List:
1. Perrons Sul Lago
2. BD’s Mongolian Grill
3. Ramy’s Pizza
4. Roasted Pear
5. Taqueria La Hacienda #3
6. Taste of Thaiyai
7. Tacolmeca
8. Baldy’s BBQ
9. Harry’s Cafe
10. Hoban
11. Savage Depot
12. Johnny’s Chicago Style Beef and Hot Dogs
13. Suzie’s Kitchen
14. Molly Cool’s
15. Pilot Knob Pizzeria
16. Cam Ranh Bay
17. Babe’s
18. Ansari’s Mediterranean Grill and Lounge
19. Anthony’s Parkway Grille
I’d just like to point out that for the first time since I’ve started doing restaurant reviews in 2005, not a single restaurant listed here closed after I reviewed it. A sign that things are picking up or a sign that the restaurants are getting better? You decide.
How would you rate the restaurants above? Do you agree with my choices for #1 and #19? Are you surprised that none of those reviewed have closed their doors yet? Whatever you have to say about my Best of 2009 list, go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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December 31st, 2009 at 7:30 am
2009 South Metro Restaurant Reviews/Rankings: http://tinyurl.com/ykbtzn4
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
December 31st, 2009 at 8:33 am
Bill,
Sulago is great and should be near the top, although I would put Enjoy! right up there too. I agree with Anthony’s and Molly Cool’s near the bottom. How about Applewood Grill which was reviewed here and now is closed? Probably a close battle with Anthony’s for bottom of the list. I don’t agree with all your reviews and rankings, but I appreciate the work you do and we have tried some places that we might not have otherwise, thanks to your reviews. Happy New Year!
December 31st, 2009 at 8:35 am
todd,
1. These are restaurants I reviewed in 2009 and were in the south of the river area thus ARG wouldn’t be listed here.
2. Thanks for the compliments and happy new year to you and everyone else too :-)
December 31st, 2009 at 9:00 am
19 South of the River’s restaurants ranked. RT @SouthMetroNews: 2009 South Metro Restaurant Reviews/Rankings: http://tinyurl.com/ykbtzn4
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
December 31st, 2009 at 9:43 am
The ones noted i have eaten at in 2009:
my order would be:
1 Taqueria La Hacienda
2 Hoban
3 Taste of Thaiya
4. Roasted Pear
11. Savage Depot
16. Cam Ranh
I do prefer ethnic food when I eat out so my first three are there because they are both unique SOTR and deliver good quality consistently … I have actually eaten about 4 times at Roasted Pear in past 3 months… I find it consistently good, just not outstanding, I have never left there thinking i just had something exceptional, but i was never disappointed either, ehh. Savage Depot makes good coffee, the staff is cheerful, the sandwich i had was so-so… so this is more due to lack of full menu. Cam Ranh is in one of its “down ” periods… i have eaten here many times in the past 20 years in its 2 burnsville locations… quality has been very inconsistent…i am not sure it is because of changes in management or kitchen staff… but i find lately they simply are not up to their past performance.
Other places i have eaten this year that i rate highly are : Junior’s Grill in Eagan, Doolittles in Eagan, Osaka Japanese in AV, and Buffalo Tap in Savage, and Houlihans in Eagan (i just find Doolittles and Houlihans to be a cut above in terms of chain food).
December 31st, 2009 at 10:00 am
Great post, but wow, I was confused by that list. I guess I should read closer. I wondered how those could be your top 19 places. Now I understand that it is only places reviewed in 2009.
Happy New Year to everyone!
December 31st, 2009 at 11:59 am
Chad,
I, too, made the same conclusion. This is not the “Top list of all SotR Restaurants,” but the “Top list of all SotR Restaurants that were *Reviewed in 2009*”
I get it now.
But, Bill, we lay this one down before you: Drop your current top ten on us. Go ahead. Bring it. :)
December 31st, 2009 at 12:00 pm
The ranking above was bad enough and it’s not exactly accurate. My top 10 restaurants would be more like a top 5 and that would be based on a lot more than just the food. I’ll give you my top 1 though: Satay 2 Go.
December 31st, 2009 at 3:53 pm
I can clearly see that I will need to get out more in 2010 as I have never visited any of these places. Ethnic food scares me, because I am not sure of what to order.
December 31st, 2009 at 3:54 pm
TD,
Just pick shit at random. Seriously, you’ll end up finding that you enjoy the food a lot more than you would have ever thought and your horizons will forever be widened. It’s when you get lost in the details that you forget about what an amazing adventure food can really be.
January 1st, 2010 at 3:35 am
I’m really surprised Roasted Pear made it so high. The night I went wasn’t great. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t stand out and didn’t make me want to go back.
Seeing BD’s Mongolian Grill make it so high on the list makes me really, really want to go there now. I love Mongolian grills and haven’t tried it yet.
Of those on your list, I most frequently go to the Savage Depot. I don’t need more menu options since I’m happy with what they’ve got and the atmosphere is great. I love the local brews too.
January 1st, 2010 at 6:40 am
Roasted Pear was ok when we went. Problem with the list, as I stated already, is that there are a bunch of different restaurants and it’s tough to compare them fairly. It’s basically a crapshoot after #2 and #18.
As for Mongolian BBQ…there’s a lot of nostalgia there for us but on the night we went the meats were really good and the service, while overbearing, was great.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:47 pm
I’ve only tried a few of these; this year my wife and I stuck to our longtime standards for the most part. We like Ansari’s quite a bit, though, and have been there multiple times (it helps that it’s close). I really liked Hoban too. Ramy’s was good, but more of a place that I’d go to if I were in the area than something I’d go out of my way for.
December 23rd, 2010 at 10:54 am
[...] as I did in 2009, I ranked the restaurants we visited in 2010. While in 2009 I only did South Metro restaurants, [...]
September 12th, 2011 at 1:31 pm
Man Bill… I am aghast that you selected BD’s Mongolian for No. 2. Have you been there? Corporate Mongolian cuisine? C’mon dude…
I hope people see that before they read too deeply into your self-proclaimed food critic title.
And PS. Khan’s. Ever heard it?
September 13th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
This is how I responded to Toph’s comment via e-mail:
His reply:
Typical douchebag.
September 13th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
For every restaurant there’s a critic. For every critic there’s a critic.
Corporate does not by definition equal bad. Local does not by definition equal good.
September 19th, 2011 at 12:02 am
Hehehehe… Resorting to name-calling. Now THAT’s typical.
Obviously no credentials to back your ass up. Figured as much.
Oh yes, next time I see you, remind me to punch you in that loud mouth of yours. :-) Good day Bill.
September 19th, 2011 at 7:55 am
Yes, Toph, because someone touting Khan’s is certainly a person with vastly superior opinions on restaurants. Nothing like filling a bowl with slices of frozen solid proteins and having them cooked to shoe leather. Mmmm…now THAT’S worth noting!
Would it be that hard to disagree with Bill’s list without being a total asshole about it? I think BD’s being that high on the list is ridiculous too. As is Ramy’s and Baldy’s BBQ and a few other places I’d shuffle around. But I’m not going to be a dick and start slamming him and saying he claimed to be a “food critic” any place.
“Typical douchebag” might be name-calling, but it’s also calling a spade a spade.
Good day Toph.
September 19th, 2011 at 8:04 am
MSPD,
When I add in future visits, which are not incorporated into my rankings above, there would be a few shuffles here and there. However when looking at a single snapshot in time for a single visit, my rankings still are quite valid.
But hey, this is why I don’t like ranking shit. People get confused, restaurant owners use the ranking as part of their marketing by saying, “we were a top 10 restaurant,” and you get douchebags who think that because they have worked for 20 years in an industry that they have a better opinion about food than someone who has been eating it for 30+.
September 19th, 2011 at 10:30 am
I am not sure I get the whole put a smiley face after saying he is going to punch you in the face bit. I think Toph needs to put down the vodka and go to bed at midnight and not drunk dial the board.
January 25th, 2012 at 7:02 am
[...] as I did in 2009 and 2010, I ranked the restaurants we visited in 2011. I have provided a South Metro ranking and a [...]
February 10th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
I found a big black curly hair in mt scampi 1/3 of my way through the meal (scampi) @ Sul lago. The Chef came out of the kitchen and said “what do you want me to do, you ate half so I will only charge you for half…”
Gee thanks- never,ever,ever again would I go there. I have never been able to get that image out of my head. The corpusle was still on the end of it.
hmmm
December 26th, 2012 at 7:02 am
[...] as I did in 2009, 2010, and 2011; I ranked the restaurants we visited in 2012. I have provided a South Metro ranking [...]