Several years ago I gave a pretty decent review to the Roasted Pear in Burnsville. While the food we had there was in no way mind-blowing, it was decent; however, we never went back because it wasn’t really a place we ever gave much thought to. Tonight, after a nearby stop at the doctor for The Koala (no worries, just teething), we swung over to The Roasted Pear to cash in on their fairly extensive and reasonably priced happy hour specials.

We arrived at around 5:15 and found most of the restaurant empty. There were a few people at the bar drinking the boring domestics they had on tap and a few scattered tables, mostly around the outside of the restaurant, populated with people eating early. We ordered several items off the happy hour menu: the wings (buffalo comes on the side), the three sliders (pulled pork, cheeseburger, and chicken sandwich), a spicy giardiniera pizza with sausage, and an order of sweet potato fries. Their happy hour specials range between $4 and $7 and we ordered items from each level. FYI, their online menu seems a little out of date to what we were provided last evening and some of those options were either not available or were slightly modified from what you will see on their website.

The food was out in a reasonable amount of time and came to the table looking like what I would expect from a Sysco-truck-to-table restaurant. The sweet potato fries were abundant but obviously came from a bag. They were accompanied by ketchup and their ‘signature’ root beer ketchup. Now, I want you to stop for a moment and take some time to think about what just went through your mind when you heard “root beer ketchup”. Whatever shock or horror came to mind would never, ever, ever even come close to preparing you for the horrendous flavor which would erupt in your mouth when you dipped one of those previously frozen sweet potato fries in this disgusting concoction and then decided it would be safe to eat. I really have to wonder who thought that up and whether they actually ate the stuff afterward because, if they had, they would NEVER have served it to anyone. SO. UNBELIEVABLY. GROSS.

The Slider Trio were nothing special at all. I have seen previously frozen White Castle hamburgers which looked to be more appetizing than these three. While I didn’t bother to taste any of them, the overdone cheeseburger looked grey and droopy with a tiny bit of cheese; the chicken sandwich looked like a dried frozen patty; and while the pulled pork was said to be the best of the three, it looked like it came straight from a microwaved Lloyd’s bucket instead of from the corner of the wood-fired oven.

The wings were meaty but tasted off and had the texture of frozen wings defrosted and cooked in an oven instead of the crisp and flavorful wings they should have been either from the wood-fired oven or a grill. While the wings were edible, their version of Buffalo sauce was not. I don’t know how anyone could screw up Buffalo like they did but even though it looked like buffalo, it tasted like spicy tea and the weak bleu cheese dressing did absolutely nothing to save this eye-watering disappointment. It was right about this time that I realized why the restaurant and bar were empty…it’s because the place is horrendous. However, the pizza was the only decent item we had last night. While it was doughy, undercooked, and looked like a frozen Target-brand pizza, the giardiniera was not oily, the truly spicy pieces were large and could have been confused with being homemade, and the sausage was abundant. I enjoyed the pizza for $5 but they need to utilize that wood-fired oven to make the crust crisp and charred, not bring it down to its other miserable happy hour counterparts by appearing as a pale and sick previously-frozen pizza.

Overall Roasted Pear has really gone down hill in the last few years and we wouldn’t be surprised if they close their doors soon. The most surprising part of the entire evening was that not one single employee asked us what we thought of the food. While the service was fine, they spent most of their time huddled in the kitchen and service area chatting instead of trying to make the experience better. Great service when the place is empty is one thing but when the food is borderline inedible, it doesn’t make for a pleasant experience and more should be done to remedy that situation. Honestly, I’d rather have eaten at Ernie’s Pub. Yeah, it was really that bad.

Address:
Roasted Pear
14200 Nicollet Ave
Burnsville, MN 55337

Phone:
952-898-2800

Back in 2011, I tried Taqueria Hidalgo located in the same strip mall as Nha Sang and Tawakal across from the Burnsville Performing Arts Center. At the time, the restaurant was dirty, the service was terrible and my torta was miserable. The restaurant eventually closed but was later reopened as part of an expanded Hidalgo Market on the other end of the strip. Working nearby and always looking for decent Hispanic foods, we decided to give the new location a try.

The market is nice and the addition of the taqueria is a good one. There are a few booths and tables near the windows and several more towards the back. The place feels really open and they have retained the same feel as the original location by allowing you to watch as the cooks prepare your food. The menu is pretty standard fare and the prices are what you’ll find down the road at Taqueria La Hacienda #3. They have several lunch specials which include a drink and average around $8. We ordered two of these: their torta meal and their taco plate along with a chorizo quesadilla for The Rooster.

The chorizo quesadilla was decent. The chorizo flavor could have been more evident but it was definitely cheesy and carried a little bit of a kick. The beans, rice, and vegetables were abundant and fresh and while The Rooster liked the limes more than anything else, the leftovers I had for lunch a few days later were not bad at all. While quesadillas aren’t something I order, The Wife does. Compared to what you get a TLH#3, this one was pretty weak and we’ll probably order something else next time.

The taco plate was ok. They choose what tacos you get and rattled off the choices so quickly I didn’t catch the offerings. I asked if I could get a beef tongue taco and I was told only for extra. I had them add it on just to give me something to compare to. The beef tongue was good. While I’ve had better, the meat was tender and flavorful. Unfortunately, that was the end of the good about these tacos. The rest were fairly flavorless and the toppings were nothing to write home about. Their hot salsa was very boring and really needs some fresh peppers to make it pop. I would not be coming back here to have those again.

While the quesadilla and tacos weren’t anything special, I really enjoyed the few bites of The Wife’s Cubana Torta that I had. The cheese was thick and flavorful. The pickled jalapenos were done old school (cut lengthwise) and carried some excellent heat. The meat itself was thick and tasty and the bread was soft and moist. Overall, this was a pretty decent torta for Burnsville. While it’s no match in price or size for what you get down the road, it was good enough for us and one we’d order again if we couldn’t make the additional two miles to TLH.

Overall, Taqueria Hidalgo is much improved from their prior location just down the strip mall; however, there are still better restaurants serving the same menu in Burnsville itself. We’d come back if we were in the area but, honestly, save yourself the time and money and head over to TLH#3, you’ll be glad you did.

Have you eaten at Taqueria Hidalgo since they moved next to the Hidalgo Market? If so what did you think? Did you ever eat at their old location? What did you think about that? What other Hispanic markets/restaurants do you frequent in the South Metro? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Address:
Taqueria Hidalgo
12609 Nicollet Ave
Burnsville, MN 55337

Phone:
952-707-1140