Just as I did in 2009, 2010, and 2011; I ranked the restaurants we visited in 2012. I have provided a South Metro ranking and a ranking for those North of the River as well.
PLEASE NOTE:
1. These restaurants were ones we visited and reviewed in 2012 only. They are not comprehensive across the 7+ years the site has been reviewing and they are not meant to suggest these restaurants are the best or worst in the area overall. They’re simply a 1 to 33 ranking of those we visited and reviewed in 2012. If you fail to understand this please realize we will ridicule you mercilessly.
2. Aside from Copper River which I reviewed twice in one year; I have visited some of these restaurants on more than one occasion but I took only the first visit for the review into account during the ranking.
3. While the top few and bottom 10 or 11 are pretty set, those which appear in the middle are more squishy.
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Restaurants North of the River:
1. Cafe Lurcat
2. Butcher and the Boar
3. Crave at MoA
4. RedRossa Italian Grille
5. Pizzeria Lola
6. Cheeky Monkey Deli
7. iPho by Saigon
8. Northbound Smokehouse and Brewpub
Restaurants South of the River:
1. Copper River Fish & Chop House (second review)
2. Technique
3. Tawakal
4. Spice Thai Cafe
5. El Parian
6. Nha Sang
7. The Buckboard
8. Burnsville Ale House
9. Panini Grill
10. The Rack Bar and Grill
11. Wicked Palate Food Truck
12. Classic Saigon
13. Saigon Palace
14. Black Stallion Saloon
15. Byblos Lebanese Grill
16. Betty’s Cafe and Pies
17. Pita Plus (closed)
18. Piccolo’s Pizzeria
19. Lone Oak Grill
20. Steak America
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Going back over the list of the 32 restaurants we reviewed (some are not listed here because they don’t fall into my definition of NOTR/SOTR such as Tonka Bay or Cannon Falls) I was shocked at just how many were absolutely awful experiences. 11 of the restaurants across the 32 were borderline miserable with several of them being completely and utterly inedible. Moving my workplace from downtown Minneapolis to Burnsville had really affected the reviewing this year, much to my dismay, but at least some of these, while disgusting and expensive, were fun to write about.
It takes a lot of work to end up at the bottom of the Lazy Lightning yearly review lists and with such competition it was a battle to determine some of these. But, no matter how I ran the numbers and no matter how many times I read through the reviews, two restaurants stood out as the worst reviewed this year. First is Northbound Brewpub in Minneapolis. Not only was the food miserable to eat and we got the stinkeye from the chef, they earned a big F- in their handling of the situation on social media–seriously, get a big clue and grow up. However, Steak America reigned supreme as the single worst restaurant of the year, and, of all time. Yes folks, Steak America is the WORST restaurant ever to disgrace the Minneapolis/St Paul Metro Area. Considering the tough competition over the last 7 years, that’s quite an accomplishment. FWIW, Steak America refused my offer to deliver a bowling trophy I found at Goodwill topped with a piece of beef jerky covered in gold leaf. They took particular offense to my calling it the “2012 Disgusting and Lazy Restaurateur Award”. I thought it would go great on their fireplace mantle, how about you?!
What do you think about the rankings here? Do you agree with how the restaurants you tried yourself rank above? What restaurants would you like to see us hit in 2013? Which ones do you think you’re going to try? Whatever you have to say about the 2012 Restaurant Ranking List go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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December 26th, 2012 at 9:32 am
I’m now convinced I need to get out more!
My conundrum is I prefer to support local business, yet I live in Eagan, land of all things chain.
December 26th, 2012 at 9:49 am
Well done, Sir!. Although I suspect the 15,16,17,18 and 19 could simply be tied for 2nd to Last?
Steak America’s parking lot has been quiet every time I go by it in the evening.
December 26th, 2012 at 12:25 pm
Ks, my first suggestion is Junior’s but I see you’ve been there. Have you tried El Parian and Andiamo?
One great thing about Eagan…we have freeways that facilitate easy travel to other cities.
December 26th, 2012 at 12:42 pm
mulch,
I think you must be mistaken. I have it on good authority that this place is so successful that they are already working on franchising it.
lefty
December 26th, 2012 at 2:27 pm
Thanks Ozzie! Yes on both – I left a comment on the Andiamo thread regarding the noise..we go there quite a bit (for take out!) which works well. And yes, Eagan is close to just about everything so though I would prefer to spend my $$ really locally, Mpls/St. Paul and surrounding cities comes in a close second.
December 26th, 2012 at 2:35 pm
ks: you are in easy driving distance to places up and off Cedar in South Minneapolis, RedRossa at the MOA, and within 10-15 mins of places in St Paul (the Nook, Shamrock,Roosters BBQ, etc. ) I have never been to El Parian but its on my list. As is take out from Tawakal.
December 26th, 2012 at 3:11 pm
mulch,
Our last visit to RedRossa was so lackluster I actually complained to the company. There were four tables in the entire place, our server refilled our drinks once, and the food was meh at best. Their reasoning was they don’t even want to be open on the weekends anymore.
While it won’t stop me from going back (they offered me a gift card I never redeemed, oops), I don’t foresee them lasting much longer–in fact, their district (r regional, whatever he is) manager said they’re finding it much more difficult to operate in this market than in their SD outfits.
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As for other places: Fat Lorenzo’s right at the end of Cedar by Lake Nokomis and El Parian for sure. I was there somewhat recently and had their Tacos Parian. I’m sorry but there are few places I’ve ever been that serve better fish tacos. NOM.
January 6th, 2013 at 10:05 am
Lies! Obviously, you’re an old, fat, perpetually-masturbating person with an agenda! Obviously. (Or something like that.) Now shut up and enjoy your überfries.
January 6th, 2013 at 6:10 pm
“perpetually-masturbating”…..now there’s a very distubing image. I can’t unthink it now.
January 9th, 2013 at 9:58 pm
Great list. Would love to see you try The Buzz Cafe in Burnsville. I just bought a groupon for there and heard on the third sunday of every month it is all you can eat waffles for $5. apparently they have a bunch of different kinds.