Following suggestions from numerous people on this site and from the Minnesota Monthly Burger Kings list, Kim and I headed down to King’s Place in Miesville, MN before a long hike (2+ miles plus creek wading and hill climbing) to check on a geocache of mine in Dakota County’s Miesville Ravine Park.

We arrived before noon and sat at the end of the bar so that I could get shots of the grill and rest of the restaurant. While I was writing about the menu I was asked by an older gentleman behind the bar if I was planning on opening a restaurant. Everyone on staff was busy prepping food or making drinks. I did see someone quickly scarfing down a meal and heading straight back to work.

I took forever looking over the menu. It’s honestly really difficult to pick a single burger from among what seems like a never ending list of tasty sounding murder patties. After asking the waitress what she liked best, I agreed with her and went with the Bases Loaded which is described as bacon, cheddar, swiss and pepper cheese, jalapenos, sour cream, and salsa for $5.00. The Bases Loaded is one of their most expensive burgers which range in price from $2.75 to $5.00 for the original size but you can make them 1/2 lb for $2.50 more. Kim almost immediately decided on their Knight burger which is topped with bacon, cheese, mushrooms, onions, lettuce, tomato and mayo for $4.35. The house specialty is the King Burger which is proudly displayed as being priced at less than $6 even if you get a side of fries. If you’re not a tasty murder type, they have a variety of other items available including chicken dishes between $6 and and $6.75, a variety of standard sandwiches priced from $5 to $6.25, salads in the $7 range, and some pizza for less than $7. An excellent bar food menu that’s extremely reasonably priced. In addition to the burgers we also ordered some sides. Kim went with their seasoned fries and sour cream for $2.95 and I chose the battered green beans served with ranch for $5.75 after Kim suggested them to me knowing I’d probably like them more than she ever would.

I ordered a Hamm’s (which I had never tried before) and sat at the bar taking photos and watching them grill burgers with heavy iron keeping them on the grill, much like Junior’s Grill, while toasting the buns as the fryer did its thing. Our order was up in less than 10 minutes and arrived at the bar quite simply with the towering burgers speared with a toothpick to keep them together and were set alongside baskets of our fried choices. My “Bases Loaded” was fucking excellent. The jalapenjos were spicy and the rest of the burger near perfect. While they didn’t ask how I wanted it done it was just under medium and just a bit above what I’d consider medium-rare. While not how I’d normally like my burger done, it was so messy with the salsa and sour cream that it ended up fine for me today. Kim’s Knight burger was also tasty but I thought mine was far better. She didn’t bother to taste mine so she can’t say but when I asked how it compared to Bucky’s Diner, House of Coates, and Juniors she said she wasn’t sure about Bucky’s but it was much better than House of Coates (I completely agree), and if it was just a bit bigger (perhaps if she upgraded to the 1/2 lb?) it would have been better than Junior’s too. She did say that it was well worth the trip and one she’d be more than willing to make again. I am in full agreement! I have a feeling we’re going to drag Josh out here on one of those chilly fall days for some beer and burgers.

The sides were good with my battered green beans and ranch taking the top place of any fried side I’ve ever had, including my favorite fried green tomatoes at the State Fair! Kim’s waffle fries with seasoned sour cream was good (the seasoning was great even with the green beans) but it was no match for the green beans. While I was eating them, one of the guys behind the bar asked what I thought and I said they were great. He said that when they first came up he wasn’t quite sure how he would like them but he seemed to agree that they were pretty fucking tasty. While my first words were “green beans” (honest truth), Kim is not normally a fan but these she was happy to scarf up!

When King’s Place was rated one of the best burgers in the state, they weren’t kidding. Overall, King’s Place comes highly recommended from both Kim and I (as well as plenty of others on the site) and I can promise you that we will be back, braving the longish drive, for more. It’s good enough that I suggest that you go out of your way to get down there and try them. Even though we have eaten burgers elsewhere, this place has it all: a wide ranging menu including 30+ burgers, a full bar, and a staff of friendly people who make you feel right at home even though you are clearly not from anywhere near Miesville. Yum!

Address:
King’s Place
14460 240th St E
Hastings, MN 55033

Phone:
651-437-1418

Grill Hours:
Closed Monday
Tues - Thurs, and Sunday: 11 AM - 10 PM
Fri - Sat: 11 AM - 11 PM

See all the photos from King’s Place on Flickr here.

While I have known of Mainstreet After Hours in downtown Lakeville for quite some time, I was reminded by a reader of the fact that I should get out there and review them and being that Kim was up for it tonight, we headed out to strike yet another one off the list… There was no one inside at 5:45 when we arrived although this location seems more like a place to come for a late night glass of wine and a snack than a place to come for dinner. The sister coffee bar was open and was also empty this evening.

The decor is dark woods deep reds but is quite warm. They have three LCD panels around the place and all three were tuned to different stations and the radio was tuned to 105.1. I was in the middle of whining that I missed Drive 105 (which has been unfortunately replaced with Love 105 much to nearly everyone’s dismay) when the bartender/server asked if I would like it changed to something else. Kim then told me that is why I shouldn’t be so loud. There was plenty of light coming in from the multitude of windows. We took a look over the menu which is dominated by a decent wine selection and various beers. The “small plates” range in price from $2.99 to $9.99 and encompass a variety of options that had a little of everything from olives and cheese plates to pizza and salads. We ordered four: the BLT Pizza, Antipasto Kabobs, Brunkow Horseradish Spread, and the Grilled Veggie & Cheese Antipasti Sandwich.

The helpful and friendly bartender who was also doubling as the waitress took our order and double checked it as she entered it into the computer. After letting us know that our choices would be up soon she proceeded to dust and then clean just about everything in the place including the blinds and wine racks behind the bar.

Eventually our food came out and all except the kabobs were presented in a pretty straight-forward manner which surprised me for this place. While the kabobs were also nothing special to look at, for some reason they took a better photo than everything else. After taking some pictures of the food, none of which turned out all that great, we dug in.

The Grilled Veggie and Cheese Antipasti Sandwich is described as roasted red peppers, artichokes, pickled jalapenos, and provolone grilled on a panini press to create an extra savory sandwich. The sandwich was spicy due to the jalapenos but I really think it could have used something else to make it a bit more exciting and flavorful. Overall the sandwich was almost tasteless aside from the jarred jalapenos and I couldn’t say that it was anything even remotely close to savory. At $6.99 it was priced fine but I would skip it if you happen to visit.

The BLT “Pizza” was more of an open faced sandwich which included a special sauce which we determined to be simply mayonnaise. The bacon was real but was crumbled into tiny and overcooked pieces resembling large Bacos. Kim was completely unimpressed and I can’t say I thought it was priced appropriately at all. The bread wasn’t even warm so I put this inline with a leftover BLT made at home and left to sit on the counter instead of the fridge. $7.99 for $2.00 worth of BLT, give me a fucking break. When I posted the photos to Flickr, a childhood friend saw this particular one and said, “What the hell did you eat tonight? It looks like ass. Did a four year old get loose in the kitchen?” I didn’t see who was working in the kitchen but perhaps that does answer some of my own questions!

The Brunkow Horseradish Spread is listed as soft raw cow’s milk spread with natural flavorings from Wisconsin which is served with crackers and bread. It came in a deep bowl surrounded by a few types of crackers but now that I look at the menu I realize it did not come with any bread as promised. The horseradish flavor was quite subdued and needed to be kicked up about 10 notches for my liking but I’m crazy with my desire for it to clear my nostrils. Even though it was more or less so-so, I agreed with Kim when she said that the portion provided went a long way. It wasn’t bad but I’m not quite sure it’s worth the $8.99 price tag, especially when it’s not served with any bread.

The Antipasto Kabobs were described on the menu as meats, cheeses, and olives seasonally stacked on a skewer and plated atop a light drizzle of olive oil. While I didn’t remember as they were delivered, we were offered a single chunk of cheese, two slices of pepperoni (one peppered and one that appeared to have the peppercorn coating removed) and two olives drizzled with olive oil. The cheese was so-so but the pepperoni was good, especially on the slices that were sporting healthy doses of peppercorn. The olives weren’t anything special and I’m not sure what benefit the olive oil added other than something to make the dish greasier than it had to be. Kim said it was completely overpriced and didn’t seem at all impressed. Now that I realize that it was one type of cheese and more or less one type of meat and it was supposed to be “meats and cheeses” I am even more annoyed and agree that it’s definitely not worth the price of $8.99. Yeah, I suppose they were two different types of pepperoni but they didn’t taste any different aside from the pepper, boo.

We tried a good cross section of the menu items tonight and while this is mainly a wine bar, the food offerings could be beefed up a bit (literally) and perhaps paired with wine suggestions on the menu itself. When it was all said and done we paid $35.12 before tip and only had water to drink. Overall I just wasn’t impressed with the food or the prices and I probably won’t be back because it’s just not my kind of place but I could see it being ok if you were in downtown Lakeville and wanted a quick drink and a snack. Otherwise, if you’re not into wine or overpriced appetizer plates, head somewhere else — there’s a few bar options nearby that will probably be better and more reasonably priced.

If you’ve eaten at Mainstreet After Hours, please post what you think below especially if you have experience with their wine and/or beer selections!

Address:
Mainstreet After Hours
20788 Holyoke Avenue
Lakeville, MN 55044

Phone:
952-985-7650

See all the pictures from tonight on Flickr here.

A few years back, I gave a quick and dirty review of Steamer Seafood Company located in Coligny Plaza on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. At the time I did a quick and dirty review and pretty much summed it up with “While it’s not my number one choice for eating out on the island, if you happen to be in Coligny Plaza and you’re looking for a quick bite to eat and some beer, this might be your place.”

Well, Kim and I decided to check it out two years later while shopping at around lunch time. We walked in and found a good number of people inside trying to beat the heat with some air conditioned lunch. Steamer Seafood Company has, at some point in the last two years, updated their outdoor patio and expanded it. They offer music 7 nights a week and have a decent beer selection but apparently all in bottles, nothing on tap.

Kim and I were dying for some seafood and Steamer Seafood Company boasts that they have a great raw bar and that’s exactly what I was looking for. Kim and I ended up ordering three appetizers including shrimp/crawfish bucket, Oysters Rockabilly, and their Garlic Mussels. While this ended up being an expensive lunch (just under $32), Kim felt that it was so good that we should make this an annual tradition.

The bucket of shrimp and crawfish seriously seemed endless and they were both tasty. While the shrimp was large and the crawfish was plentiful, I would have liked to see a few more shrimp as the crawfish just takes too fucking long to work with. The garlic mussels were our favorite and not only were there a shitload of them, they were tasty as hell covered in plenty of butter and garlic — mmm. The Oysters Rockabilly (their take on Oysters Rockefeller) were good but I let Kim eat the majority of them.

I still stand by my comment that it’s not my favorite place on the island to eat, but it definitely has improved in the last two years and I am willing to up my previous review to a “we’ll be back yearly” rather than “just eat there if you happen to be in the area.”

Address:
Steamer Seafood Company
17 Lagoon Rd
Hilton Head, SC 29928

Phone:
843-785-2070

See all the pictures from Steamer Seafood Company on Flickr here.