Archive for the ‘Bars and Pubs’

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Apple Valley Businesses Hate Cedar Transit Plans

Published April 23rd, 2008 in Apple Valley, Bars and Pubs, Restaurants, South Metro | 4 Comments »

From March on, Apple Valley business owners have been up in arms over preliminary plans to convert Cedar Ave into a highway which would include some different ideas for how mass transit would flow alongside regular traffic especially during rush hour.

The Apple Valley Chamber of Commerce met with Dakota County officials to try and persuade them to consider the “damage” they would do to businesses if they altered the way Cedar currently is (congested and miserable, especially on days with any type of precipitation — frozen or otherwise) to something that was more traffic friendly (anything is better than what it is like now — a vast parking lot caused by long traffic lights). In the Star Trib article linked above, there were some comments from other businesses such as Old Chicago and Valley Pontiac Buick GMC which are joining 15+ others under the group name of “Save Downtown Apple Valley” (if someone wants to register savedowntownapplevalley.com for me, I’ll be happy to have the domain point here — hey, after all it has a much better ring to it than clappingforcluelessness.com). I couldn’t be more pleased because I wrote up a little something before about how the Apple Valley Chamber of Commerce President agrees that the intersection of Cedar and 42 is the real Apple Valley downtown area and not 153rd and Galaxie. I’m so glad other businesses agree with me. I just wish that the City Council would too!

Now, while I agree that changing the traffic patterns, while excellent for the residents, may cause some problems for local businesses, I personally couldn’t care less if Old Chicago suffers. I thought what Michael Regnier, a regional manager for Old Chicago, said was hysterical and even made me seriously wonder if he had ever been to the Apple Valley Old Chicago or put any thought into what he was saying to the Star Trib when he said:

“We could lose our patio, or have buses screaming along 10 feet away from it,” said Michael Regnier, regional manager for the Old Chicago restaurant chain, with a unit located near the intersection. “And if we lose access points, it’ll kill us. We might as well open a heliport to fly people in. If it takes too long to get to us, they’ll go to Famous Dave’s instead.”

Now, I don’t know about any of you but their patio is already 10 feet away from the road where buses and cars already “scream by” on a daily basis — especially when people attempt to run the cautions to avoid being stuck in the Cedar/42 “parking lot”. Also, Old Chicago has no direct access off of Cedar or 42 so people have to drive to 147th and Glazier or Garrett and Glazier and then drive two+ blocks to get to the location. Then to go so far as to say that people would rather go to Famous Daves instead (who don’t serve pizza or beer on tap and might require waiting at yet another traffic light) is just fucking ridiculous. If anything, those people would instead go to Applebee’s or BW3 instead of coming back around to Old Chicago being that those two establishments offer beer on tap and are closer to the intersection of 147th and Glazier… If people are getting to Old Chicago now, they’ll get to it in the future too. Let’s cut out the poorly thought out comments shall we?

I believe that the County, the City and the businesses need to meet somewhere in the middle on this one. We obviously need much better transit options and much less congestion but we also need to support business owners, especially the local ones that are located in Times Square shopping center like Bucky’s Diner and Osaka to name only two.

Apple Valley’s Enjoy! Restaurant Burglarized

Published April 22nd, 2008 in Apple Valley, Bars and Pubs, Police Calls, Restaurants, South Metro | No Comments »

From the South Metro Police Blotter at the Star Tribune here.

Burglary. The manager of Enjoy Restaurant reported that someone entered the restaurant during the night and stole two cash registers. There was no sign of forced entry and it is believed that a door may have been left unlocked. The case is under investigation.

Perhaps the thief got overcharged for his drinks and wanted to get the money back without having to wait 10 minutes?

Moe’s: Mounds View, MN

Published April 18th, 2008 in Bars and Pubs, Restaurants, Reviews | No Comments »

Out with Chuck at Moe’s in Mounds View, MN for beer and burgers before I leave the north-end of town for good!

We arrived around 6:30 to a restaurant that was fairly empty for prime dinner time. There was a large, very large actually, table in the center of the dining room that was filled with some sort of after work crowd and the bar was crowded but they stuck Chuck and I, maybe rightfully so, in the back corner away from everyone.

Our server immediately took our beer orders and we both ordered a 22 oz Guinness. He came back with those and asked what we were wanting for our entree. I didn’t spend too much time looking over the menu because I was in the mood for a burger. I just couldn’t get my mind off the excellent one that I had at Bucky’s Diner and wondered if I could find another burger that might have a shot at evening out my rave review of the Bucky Burger. I ended up going with Moe’s “Flaming Lips” Burger, with a shout out to Aaron, which is described as a hand patted stuffed burger with a kick! Stuffed with pepper jack cheese and jalapenos, then brushed with made from scratch buffalo sauce and served with lettuce and tomato on a Kaiser bun for $9.49. Now, not nearly as inexpensive as what they have at Bucky’s but whatever, it sounded pretty good. I was offered numerous choices for sides including fries, jo-jo potatoes, coleslaw, or cottage cheese. Almost in passing, just before I was about to order cottage cheese, the waiter offered asparagus as a side. Interesting enough so I took that.

The staff was quite friendly, with several of the servers swinging by the table to ensure we were happy with our beer levels, wanted to know if we needed anything or just to chat. There were plenty of them around for such a slow night so maybe they were just trying to pass the time but they did honestly seem interested in at least doing their pleasantries.

In what seemed like a short time, I didn’t bother to check my phone, our meals were out. They were hefty in size and weight and we were offered two different kinds of mustard (either regular Heinz or Grey Poupon) and we took them up on the offer for both. I was absolutely stunned at the size of the asparagus dish. Normally when you get an asparagus side, you’ll end up with six or less stalks and they’re normally soggy messes. These were huge (they are almost in season I suppose), abundant, and crispy. I went sans Hollandaise and put salt and pepper on top instead.

After slathering the bun of my burger with Grey Poupon and ketchup, I took a bite and found the middle to be almost lacking any noticeable pepper jack cheese but filled with plenty of fresh cut jalapenjos. When they mentioned on the menu that there would be peppers I was truly expecting canned or jarred peppers so the fresh ones were a nice touch. I had asked, as usual, to cook it as low as they’ll permit and the waiter did admit that they normally prefer to cook them medium to medium-well (as required I guess) but my burger was still a little pink in the middle around the peppers. Perfect — for the nanny state.

I enjoyed the burger and the asparagus and while it was good, it certainly didn’t match up to what I had at Bucky’s last weekend. I would certainly return to Moe’s if I was in the area and probably order another burger but their prices were a bit high (I think the bill for the two of us with four beers between us was around $45) so I certainly wouldn’t be going out of my way to return.

Thanks again Chuck for dinner, you rock.

Address:
Moe’s
2400 Highway 10
Mounds View, MN 55112

Phone:
763-786-1800

See all the pictures from Moe’s on Flickr here (camera).

Panino Brothers: Apple Valley, MN

Published March 30th, 2008 in Apple Valley, Bars and Pubs, South Metro | 51 Comments »

As promised Kim, Aaron and I headed over to Panino Brothers in Apple Valley located right next to my absolute favorite landmark, the dreaded roundabout at 153rd and Gallivant Pl, and under the relatively new GrandStay Hotel.

All three of us visited Panino Brothers on their opening night, Friday March 21st, and enjoyed the atmosphere so much that we decided that we had to return just to check out their famed “panino” sandwiches which is their signature menu item. Knowing that Panino Brothers offers a lunch special, every single day, from 11 AM - 2 PM, we figured that we could get more bang for our buck if we ordered their Panino Ino sandwiches at a reduced rate ($5.50 for the sandwich, drink, chips or fries, and a pickle instead of the usual range of $7.95 to $9.25).

The restaurant wasn’t terribly busy, being Sunday at noon on one of the first nice spring days of the year, so we walked the length of the restaurant and chose to sit in a very sunny corner that overlooked the traffic circle of death and offered a terrific back-warming experience. Immediately our server, Kristen Kristin (I was corrected on 4/11 by Kristin; I’m owned!), came over and took our drink orders. I took a quick look over at their large selection of 30 beers on tap, I chose the Schell’s Dark and Aaron took one of the same. Kim was looking forward to ordering a Sprecher Root Beer and that’s exactly what she did. In short order our drinks were back on the table and I commented to Kim that at least she appeared to be drinking beer for once ;-)

I asked Kristen what she recommended as far as the paninos go and after admitting that she had only tried about 6 of the 20 different paninos her favorite, so far, was the Caesar Cardini (chicken, swiss, parmesan, and mozzarella with romaine lettuce, tomato and Caesar dressing). After some hemming and hawing, I ordered a “Buffalo Chicken” (chicken, swiss, mozzarella, PB Buffalo sauce, celery and bleu cheese) which is listed in the menu as a PB favorite and one that our server had recommended and then I also chose “The Von Braun” (sliced bratwurst, sauerkraut, swiss and mozzarella with spicy mustard). Kim chose to go with a “Steak & Cheese” (marinated steak strips, swiss, mozzarella, and cheddar with lettuce served with a side of steak sauce) but went sans steak sauce. Aaron didn’t see anything that caught his fancy on the panino list and chose their $7.95 garlic cheese bread appetizer with a side of marinara.

While our paninos were being prepped, we chatted at length with our server about the restaurant, the fucking roundabout and all the cars that travel the wrong direction down the one-way street (we saw two failed attempts at head-on collisions today during the hour we were inside) and various other crap like us being camera toting geeks (not her words heh).

Now for the most anticipated information ever to grace my website…the paninos! According to their menu a panino is literally translated as “a little bread” but another possible translation defines a panino as an Italian word meaning both roll and stuffed bread. They say, “put simply, it is Italian for sandwich”. To me, it looked like a fat tortilla or pita shell rolled and stuffed full of meat and cheese. Something like a cheese and meat stuffed breadstick that had been torn open — well sorta. They were warm and soft and heavy as can be. I was surprised by the weight as I picked up The Von Braun.

Being curious, I unrolled The Von Braun panino half-way and peered inside. Nothing out of the ordinary in there, lots of meat, sauerkraut and mustard. I took a bite and found the spicy mustard to not be spicy enough for my tastes (to be honest, I’m a picky bastard when it comes to mustard and I’m partial to horseradish mustard so it just tasted like any old mustard to me so YMMV) but the sandwich was quite nice. I wouldn’t order that particular one again but, to be fair, it wasn’t listed as a PB favorite and one of the reasons I specifically chose it. Later, Josh — the owner, came out and mentioned that it is on the menu to cater to those that might be really into their brats (Wisconsinites staying at the GrandStay perhaps?!). My choice not to eat it again wasn’t for any other reason than I have so many other options to choose from and the fact that the Buffalo Chicken panino was just about the tastiest buffalo chicken sandwich I’ve ever fucking had.

Now, for me to claim something is the “tastiest sandwich I’ve ever fucking had,” has got to stand for something. I have eaten buffalo chicken sandwiches of all shapes, sizes and types at local places, chains, made them myself and never had something quite like this panino before. As I said above, the bread is soft and warm and is filled with cheese, meat, bleu cheese and celery. Josh mentioned that all of their sauces are homemade including the buffalo sauce and the bleu cheese which is Josh’s own recipe. To me, the buffalo sauce was a little muted but my taste buds are fried from all the hot shit I’m happy to burn them with (think blow-torch hot) so I am not the best judge there but the bleu cheese sauce was fuckin’ killer. I’m a big bleu cheese fan and this was quite a bit better than anything I’ve had before. The PB favorite Buffalo Chicken panino comes with the Bill Roehl stamp of approval; take that with how many ever grains of salt you choose :)

I took a couple of bites of Kim’s Steak & Cheese panino and found it to be even heavier than mine were. The steak was tender and the overall sandwich was great. Looking back, I would have liked to have tried the steak sauce now knowing that it would have been made by the brothers themselves… I didn’t eat enough of it to recommend it but I’m sure Kim will chime in later with her experience.

Aaron mentioned that his garlic cheese bread was good but when I asked if he thought it was worth the $7.95 sticker price he just shook his head. It had a couple of pieces and a nice sized cup of marinara and while I didn’t try it, I must admit it at least looked pretty ;) I would honestly suggest you skip all of the appetizers and instead stick to the paninos but if you insist, at least you know the garlic cheese is pretty good :)

Josh mentioned that this summer they will have a fenced patio where they will be offering food outside. I hadn’t noticed the concrete slab out there because of all the lingering snow, but today the snow was gone and the thought of a patio was definitely nice. It will be an awesome spot for Kim and I to take a walk to, have a snack and a beer and enjoy the first neighborhood bar in all of Apple Valley. Finally, someone who fucking gets it! Unfortunately it took a restaurant owner who was previously located way outside the metro to bring a non-chain that could really be successful to Apple Valley.

As we left the restaurant, Kim was whining that she was full. As soon as I got into the car I started complaining too. Man, those paninos are filling and tasty. This might seriously ruin my diet ;-) This is fair warning, if you’re looking to eat light or are on a diet, I do not suggest ordering a full panino — the panino inos will be more than enough for you.

I must admit that we were offered a handful of poker chips which can be redeemed for free Panino Brothers’ menu items as part of our visit and while they weren’t left on the table, I want to be clear that Kim was the one who took them and not me. I don’t want anyone to think that I can be bribed into giving a review of any kind except by giving me great food the first time out.

I really think that Panino Brothers not only gets it but is one of the top locally owned restaurants in Apple Valley and they have only been open for a little over a week. This family owned business is only going to get better IMHO. Their staff is friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and great. I must admit that I’m nearly in love with the entire idea. If you’re looking for a good beer selection, pretty decent food and a nice place to hang out this is for you. Just remember, this is mostly a bar and if you’re not into that type of establishment, it might not be your thing. While there is definitely room for improvement as there always is, Panino Brothers comes highly recommended by me and I definitely give them two thumbs up. We both feel that Panino Brothers is well on its way to becoming one of our top restaurants but it will take just a few more beers to make certain ;-)

See all the pictures from today on Flickr here (camera).

Expensive Scotch

Published February 9th, 2008 in Bars and Pubs, Metro | 13 Comments »


Glass of 12 year old Glenlivet Scotch at Stephano’s in Burnsville, MN
For the Republican National Convention, The St Paul Grill has snatched up four bottles of Macallan 55-year-old single-malt scotch whisky which they will serve in one ounce glasses at $525 a shot.

Now, I love scotch — I mean, I really really love it but there’s no way I could see myself putting down $525 but maybe I could beg Kim into giving it to me as an anniversary gift! What do you think honey? ;) I mean, you bought me a bottle of 18 year old scotch for our wedding, why not pony up a couple more dollars for this? Pretty please? heh.

Aside from the article going into how expensive the bottle is ($12,000), how rare it is (420 were made for world-wide distribution with 8 going to the “central region” of which The St Paul Grill got 4), and how it scored a 95/100 which is the highest score ever it doesn’t mention that a 60 year old bottle of Macallan which was bottled in 1986 went for $54,000.

Do the people who purchase these rare bottles actually drink it (like it’s intended for the Republican National Convention) or do they covet the unopened bottle like some vintage Coke can with their favorite football team’s stats on the side?

There were two cherished quotes in the Pioneer Press article:

1. “In all, eight bottles of the scotch were made available to Remy Amerique’s central U.S. region, stretching from the Dakotas to Ohio, Deshon said. Of those, four were set aside for Minnesota. At least one was snapped up by Chicago; another disappeared somewhere in Ohio. Minneapolis got squat.”

Coming from the Pioneer Press, I’m not surprised they mentioned it…

2. “Eighteen- and 25-year-old (scotch) - you’re splitting hairs. At 50, you’re just showing off. It’s not gonna get you any drunker.”

Obviously, “Mark”, a seemingly drunken Phoenix salesman who uttered the above gem, doesn’t drink scotch and was probably happily sucking down one too many Bud Lights on his expense account while offering his outlook on fine alcoholic beverages.

If anyone wants to donate $525 to the site for the purpose of me trying out a glass of this scotch, please contact me and we’ll make arrangements ;)

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