This location is now closed!
Disclaimer: We received a free meal tonight as part of the Molly Cool’s opening preview. This meal was worth about $103.50 for 4 people. We paid for our own alcoholic beverages.
Following a suggestion by MSPD I was invited by one of the managers at Molly Cool’s in Lakeville to their preview night last night (thank you!) We had reservations for four at 7:20 and walked in to a packed house. In fact, the place was so crowded that I had to move across the “street” in another area of the parking lot to find a space.
A lot has changed from what everyone in our party remembered the space to be like when it was the Copper Bleu. Aside from the large gallon jugs of Tabasco adorning spaces where I believe wine bottles used to sit and the lack of colorful and soft chairs, there are many seafood related quotes adorning the walls–some of the many things which just felt out of place to me and detracted from what I remember being a really gorgeous restaurant. Honestly, Molly Cool’s is suffering from an identity crisis and while (according to my wife) it’s nothing like what we saw at Applewood Rustic Grille and it may very well have to do with the fact that we visited the Copper Bleu before it closed, there is definitely something wrong with the decor inside that made me somewhat uncomfortable.
Even though our reservations weren’t until 7:20 and we arrived at least 15 minutes beforehand, the hostess found us a seat that worked for my pregnant wife all the way against the back wall of the restaurant. This stunning seat offered an overall view of the restaurant and gave us the awesome opportunity to overlook a Quiznos, a tanning salon, and various other brightly lit strip mall shops. We sat down and were offered both the actual menu and the preview night menu. The full menu is similar to what’s offered at Stella’s Fish Cafe in Minneapolis but the prices are a little bit lower in what I assume is an attempt to appeal to those in the South Metro.
Tonight we had the choice of one bread option per table (Molly’s Jalapeno Skillet Cornbread, Gorgonzola Table Bread, Garlic Cheddar Cheese Bread, or Molly’s Popovers–regularly priced at $3.95), one appetizer choice per table (Bucket of Onion Rings, Hot Crab and Spinach Dip, Buffalo Shrimp, Sesame-Crusted Ahi Tuna), a choice of five different entrees that we could not repeat at the table (Salmon Oscar, Jambalaya, Shrimp Platter, 10oz Sirloin, Molly Cool’s Walleye Pike) and the chef’s choice for dessert. Due to dietary restrictions with the pregnancy we had a somewhat less sprawling choice than we started with but we ended up ordering the Jalapeno Skillet, the Hot Crab and Spinach Dip, the Salmon, Jambalaya, Shrimp Platter and Sirloin. Dessert ended up being mini-doughnuts.
The Jalapeno Skillet came out in no time at all. It was a pretty large portion of bread and was served with cinnamon/brown sugar butter and honey. You could see the fresh jalapenos baked in there and while I couldn’t really taste the spice I could taste the jalapeno flavor. And even though it wasn’t spicy tasting to me, one of dinner companions said that he could definitely taste the spice. While I don’t understand the jalapeno part at all, I really enjoyed this appetizer and felt that the portion size was definitely worth the $4.
Shortly after we finished up most of the bread (and took some home) our appetizer arrived. Also quite large, this was a nice portion of crab and spinach dip lined with plenty of bread for dipping. Another enjoyable dish but one where I felt the spinach vastly overpowered the crab. If you’re serving decent crab with your dip, why ruin it by pumping up Popeye’s arms? The most expensive appetizer offered (we didn’t plan it that way, I just noticed now) it was probably a bit overpriced for my liking but was definitely more than enough to feed four.
After an extensive wait, one which had me double-checking the time, our entrees finally arrived. My wife’s Sirloin steak with horseradish cream sauce was slightly undercooked (it was more medium rare than medium) and came with completely underdone green beans but had some pretty decent garlic mashed potatoes on the side. While her green beans and steak weren’t done to what we have become accustomed to, it is important to note that her dish was the only one that didn’t seem to have been sitting out for very long as at least her entire meal was at an even temperature. Unfortunately for the rest of us, we weren’t as lucky.
My Jambalaya which included Gulfport shrimp, chicken, Andouille sausage, Tasso ham and “a little” dirty rice came topped with a little surprise–a crayfish. Oooh, I fucking love crayfish. Before doing anything else I tore off the little guy’s tail and bit in and found the meat less than luke warm. My dinner companions must have seen the look of shock on my face before I even mentioned what was wrong because their facial expressions registered with a bit of wonder. The rest of my dish was both warm and hot. I ended up mixing it all together to try and even out the temperature, something which ended up muddling the flavors of the various parts of the dish a bit. I thought the Andouille was good and was definitely the highlight of the dish for me but even so, the rest of the meat options were tender and flavorful. My sole complaint about the dish was only that, if served to anyone else, it would be *way* too spicy but for me, it was just fine.
One of my dinner companions had the Salmon Oscar. While he said that it was cooked just fine, it was your typical fish dish ruined by sauces and blackening spices. I mentioned that I’m sure that the average person eating that dish doesn’t really want to taste the salmon and instead wants it doused in heavy sauces and loaded with spices just to kill the fish flavor.
Another dinner companion had the Shrimp Platter, a huge disappointment in my eyes and the eyes of everyone at the table. In fact my wife even mentioned that she was glad she didn’t end up with it. Battered shrimp dominated the dish but a nice little side of scampi was offered. Unfortunately three of us at the table agreed that the scampi sauce tasted off but it wasn’t anything which we could really place a finger on. One person thought it had very little garlic, another said it was like they prepared the recipe incorrectly, and I thought it was missing the wine I’m so accustomed to tasting. After tasting the shrimp laying in the sauce I was convinced that the fishy tasting flesh was the reason for the off taste. Disgusting.
Our dessert, something which could have washed the fish taste out of our mouths after the shrimp scampi debacle, was nothing more than mini-doughnuts. While beggars cannot be choosers, my friend suggested a bowl of some melted dark chocolate would be a perfect accompaniment to those doughnuts. Me? I found them greasy and boring. Perhaps with the suggested chocolate (or even some syrupy fruit) they would have been passable.
As MSPD suggested in the comments (which I have now moved below this post), I have some hard-to-hear suggestions:
1. If you’re going to call yourselves a seafood restaurant and serve fishy tasting shrimp scampi on one of the first two days you’re open (how could it be any fresher?!), then you have a lot of work to do. Honestly, that’s shit I’d expect at Red Lobster. Speaking of Red Lobster…the Shrimp Platter really had too much breading and too little “fresh” taste for a real seafood restaurant. Fishy shrimp in the scampi is fucking inexcusable–especially when you’ve had two days to actually serve food.
2. You’re a seafood restaurant that uses terms like “dayboat” and “fresh” yet neither the servers nor any signs that I noticed told us where your fish was sourced from. I want to know where you got that Ahi Tuna from and what day it was delivered and I’m sure I’m not alone.
3. The service, while excusable since it was the test run, was a bit overbearing. We felt like they were on top of us at all times and were clearing plates and cups a little too often. Some people don’t want to feel rushed when they eat and that definitely makes you feel like it’s time to get a move on. I don’t know if this was opening jitters and inexperience of the staff but it needs to be corrected before Friday.
—
Overall, I enjoyed my night out with friends. The meals were acceptable but certainly nothing special. I have plans to return to have some oysters and peel and eat shrimp at the bar but I really don’t see any reason to return for the other dishes we had tonight and I believe that everyone in my party agreed with my assessment there.
Have you ever eaten at Molly Cool’s or Stella’s Fish Cafe? If so, what did you think? Do you agree with my assessment of their food? Perhaps you had a different experience entirely? Perhaps you think I’ve been a bit too hard on them considering it was the preview and I didn’t even pay for my meal. Whatever you have to say about my experience tonight at Molly Cool’s Seafood Tavern in Lakeville, go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear what you have to say!
Address:
Molly Cool’s Seafood Tavern
17516 Dodd Blvd
Lakeville, MN 55044
Phone:
952-432-2722
See all the pictures from Molly Cool’s Seafood Tavern in Lakeville on Flickr here.
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September 17th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
I am doubtful that this place will be successful, though as a caveat I haven’t been to the Milwaukee location or the other restaurants the company operates.
On the plus side, there isn’t much for seafood around here besides Red Lobster, so a place that does seafood well would fill a niche. At the same time, though, the South Metro can only realistically support so many pricier restaurants, especially in this economy, and there are already a fair number of established ones.
September 17th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I hope it’s successful. I think it fills a need for a more casual environment in Lakeville. For those of us on the east side of Lakeville, it’s an option without pizza that is still within a few blocks (Think Ole Piper, Carbones, and Pilot Knob Pizza).
That said, I’m skeptical about the location. Honestly, how does any restaurant that charges $30 for an entree’ think it can draw people into a building surrounded by all the beauty of a bank, auto mechanic and children’s dentist office? At least a tavern implies that it will be more casual. But still!
However, I will most likely be a frequent customer since it is within walking distance of my house and looks likely to serve good beer. No offense to El Patio, but it does not serve good beer!
Tracy
September 17th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Their menu looks like an exact copy of Stella’s.
Awesome, I love Stella’s!
September 17th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
I hope it is successful as well, though the pricier it is the less chance it has. We will certainly check it out since we live just up the street at 170th and Cedar and we went to Copper Bleu since it was so close. We do need a decent sea food place over here. Since the closest is Red Lobster that might help it get business though the menu for Molly Cool’s doesn’t look as extensive. For me I just like the basics anyway. So having calamari, fried shrimp, lobster roll, shrip Po’ Boy is good enough for me.
It’s certainly better than having it sit empty. And as was mentioned in another thread, I am surprised half the copper siding didn’t go missing at some point! So I’m glad it survived long enough to get another restaurant to give it another go.
With it’s location I’m not sure that it will get much of a lunch crowd which always seems to lead to the demise of sit down restaurants around here.
Good luck Molly Cool’s I want you to succeed. I hope they show up in the Metro Dining Club program next year!
September 17th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Dude, you put “decent seafood” and “Red Lobster” in the same sentence, that’s not right.
September 17th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
To be fair, they were two different sentences ;-)
September 17th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Ha ha…well Red Lobster is the closest we get around here!
September 17th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
I was just at Sea Salt yesterday which isn’t the South Metro but is worth the short drive.
September 17th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Sea Salt…where is that?
btw..are there instructions on how to quote here..I can’t figure it out..ha ha..
September 17th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Sea Salt is in Minnehaha Falls park in Minneapolis (kinda near the airport).
September 17th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Molly Cool’s on twitter: http://twitter.com/mollycools1110
September 17th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
BTW, Andrew: http://www.lazylightning.org/burnsville-pac-main-stage-empty-through-2010#comment-27073 will get you started with the quoting. Please note that you need to change the [ ] to <>!
September 17th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Thanks!
ps..testing..sorry if this doesn’t work right.
September 17th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Way to go Andrew!
September 17th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
I’m not a fan of Stella’s but…I wish them luck.
September 17th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
MSPD,
I’ve never been there. What’s it about the place that you don’t like?
September 17th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
It is interesting to me that they are calling it Molly Cool’s instead of Stella’s since there is already a Stella’s in the Twin Cities. Maybe they are trying to make it seem more of an independent restaurant rather than part of a chain?
September 20th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
I wish them luck, and I’ll be an occasional customer, but I’m afraid that, like Copper Bleu, this may be a bit more upscale than Lakeville is ready for. No offense meant, but as someone else pointed out, Lakeville’s big draws are Ol’ Piper and Carbone’s. I’m not sure Lakeville is ready for a happenin’ place like this yet, and seafood in Minnesota typically only consists of Friday Night Fish Fry.
If they have a decent late-night happy hour, I’m there!
September 21st, 2009 at 11:03 am
The menu is a carbon copy of Stella’s, which I think is very good – but a little spendy. However, since we are in the middle of the country – and most of the seafood comes from one coast or the other what do you expect.
Unfortunately, Copper Bleu location will not have the view that Stella’s does – but 1/2 of the year it doesn’t matter. The ‘discount’ evenings for Crab and Lobster is a plus.
I think Lakeville has the economy to support what ever restaurant it chooses – sometimes you don’t want to have to drive downtown to get a good meal. Look at it this way- you won’t have to pay for the baby sitter for quite as long.
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:30 am
Molly Cool’s … good luck.
Sea Salt is one of the best restaurants in the TC in my opinion, too bad they arent open in the winter. **** simple food, fresh ingredients well done, priced right. (not to mention the countertop of over 50 bottles of various hot sauces.)
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:35 am
I ate at Sea Salt recently and enjoyed it–a lot. Unfortunately while my soft shell crab sandwich ($15) was exceptional, most everyone else in my party ordered the fish tacos and no one was at all impressed with those. YMMV.
As for the hot sauces: yes, there are 50 or so bottles with only 10 or so different types with the majority being similar in taste and burn. Nothing there stood out as interesting enough to piqué my interest. But I still thoroughly appreciated te effort none the less.
September 22nd, 2009 at 9:08 am
Sorry for the slow reply re: Stella’s, Bill. Simply put, the food at Stella’s isn’t prepared well, it costs way too much and they put the most cliche’ preparation of each fish on their menu.
In my opinion, and a lot of people probably won’t agree, the success or failure of 99% of seafoods/fish is in highlighting their subtle flavors, freshness and texture while doing the least possible amount of cooking/messing with it.
Rushing a grouper or flounder or diver scallop from the water to the plane to a restaurant in Uptown, Minneapolis then destroying it by “blackening” it (and, as Stella’s tends to do, overcooking it) is an abomination. What’s the point? You could take a fresh piece of grouper straight out of the water and a solidly frozen one thawed in a microwave, heavily blacken them and/or bury them in a heavy sauce like “creole hollandaise”, cook them to medium-well/well and serve them and I bet not a single person would be able to tell the two apart. Personally, I blacken fish at home when I’ve bought something on the cheap and left it in the fridge a day or two too long.
Stella’s, and now Molly Cool’s, are playing in a price point with some fantastic chefs. Go to Meritage in St. Paul and order whatever fish they have. Go have the $12 sea scallops appetizer at 112 Eatery. Go to Spoonriver and see the magic Brenda Langton does with fish and local complements. If you really like fish, go get the Saba Teishoku at Tanpopo (full light meal for $12!).
As for Sea Salt, leftymn, I’m always very hesitant when people say it’s “one of the best restaurants in the TC” without a clear explanation of what it is. It’s a quick-serve seafood shack in a park building.
I go there all the time and somewhat agree with the “simple food, fresh ingredients bit” but make sure to set an accurate expectation. I’ve heard a number of unsuspecting people be let down because they were led to believe it was a full-service restaurant.
Also, they have a couple of people there that are a bit less skilled with the food. I’ve been there enough times to consider tweaking my order based on who is standing back there. Even then, you can get a dud every now and then.
Hey…who kicked the ladder out from my soap box?!? Someone help me get off of this thing!
September 24th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
An article about this appeared in Thisweek: http://www.thisweeklive.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12134&Itemid=2
Nothing new in the article though. In fact, at least I spoke to someone familiar with the matter.
September 28th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
The Molly Cool website now shows the Lakeville location as “coming soon”.
October 2nd, 2009 at 11:08 am
Hello everyone,
Thank you for your questions, support, comments and opinions! We couldn’t be more excited to be opening in Lakeville, and we look forward to meeting you all very soon.
Please feel free to email or call me directly with any further questions. Contact information soon: http://www.mollycools.com
Please also feel free to stop down to the restaurant anytime and take a look around and get to know our concept and our company.
Janna O Assistant General Manager
Dave G General Manager
October 8th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Just checking in to see if you are still hiring at this point. Please let me know. Many thanks!
October 8th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Janna-
I live just up the street and am ready to come get me some shrimps! ha ha..
When you are planning on opening?
October 8th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Andrew, Thisweek reports that they expect to open 10/23: http://www.thisweeklive.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12461&Itemid=2
October 8th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Hmm….we’ll have to check them out for dinner on that Fri. night then! Now I just need them to show up on opentable.com so I can get my 100 points! :)
October 15th, 2009 at 9:44 am
The Molly Cool website still lists it as “coming soon”. I wonder if they are still on track for opening next week.
No listing on opentable.com for the Lakeville location yet.
October 15th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Hello South Metro!
We are on schedule!
The licenses are good, buildings been inspected and staff is training this weekend.
Doors open to the public at 4:00pm on Friday, October 23rd
OpenTable will be up and running after Tuesday, October 20th, Noon.
We have BRUNCH! Sundays 10am-2pm
All-you-can-eat Family-Style.
$14.95, includes a mimosa
$5.95 for the kiddies.
Hope to see you all soon!
Janna O’Meara
Assistant General Manager
952.432.2722
October 15th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Nice!
We’ll be making a reservation for 2 on Friday evening once opentable is available!
October 15th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
I know many people in the area are extremely excited to have a new and interesting restaurant coming. The brunch sounds great and we’ll be there with bells on as soon as we can!!
October 16th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Any chance you will invite anyone for the dry run? I am sure there are many of us on here who would love to come.
October 16th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
And many, including Bill I’m sure, that would be happy to give honest, constructive feedback instead of the mindless, “oh this is the best walleye I’ve ever had” hyperbole bit that 99.9% of south metro diners would spew no matter what was served.
October 17th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Wonderful idea, HONEST feedback is always necessary to make us the best we can be!
Our staff and investors invite a table each, to come in for a dry run on Tuesday and Wednesday, our ‘Friends and Family’ night.
If I do have openings available, I will post Monday – on a first-come, first-server basis.
Bill – I’ll open the invite to you first.
Take care all, hope to see you soon.
Janna O’Meara
October 19th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
I am just back from biz trip overseas that had its share of trouble, but some excellent food.
Sea Salt: i appreciate MSPD’s comments…. my preference in restaurants runs toward no pretenses, honest approach, fresh ingredients, well prepared. So I do agree with MSPD that you have to tell people to take Sea Salt for what it is, a counter service restaurant that is extremely casual , that will give you mostly fried fresh seafoods. I am partial to this style as it is what you can find at many coastal areas i have lived or visited…Oregon, Washington, Mississippi Gulf, California , or for that matter several small town joints on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan…. (fried lake herring or whitefish in Bayfield WI or Marquette MI, not to mention the smoked fish treats on these inland shores).
Its good to see the management take a pro-active approach to their opening of this restaurant. Good luck, and hopefully we see Bill’s report soon on the Friends and Family night.
October 19th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
was hoping for some whole bellied clams on the menu :(. Is there a brunch menu as to what is on the family style portions as well? didn’t see it.
October 20th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Molly Cool’s is showing up on Opentable.com now.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:29 pm
I have moved all the above comments from the old post to here for historical purposes.
October 22nd, 2009 at 6:30 am
A Review of Molly Cool’s Seafood Tavern: Lakeville, MN (http://tinyurl.com/kwjj8d)
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:56 am
I am amazed – 40 posts and no one has asked THE most salient question . . . Pepsi or Coke???????
Cheers
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:50 am
Who would have thought we’d hear Bill complain that a dish is too spicy?
I think it’s fair for you to be negative about the restaurant and call things as you see them but overall the issues you called out are correctable and I wouldn’t draw any final conclusions on this place yet. I certainly won’t be shocked if this place sucks but I would recommend people give them a chance to get everything working at full speed. After all, they aren’t even open yet.
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:55 am
It wasn’t too spicy for me, it was too spicy for anyone else who would have had some. I mean, if I can feel the burn then certainly others (especially in MN) will be really uncomfortable with it.
No final conclusion was drawn by me. It could be successful, I really don’t know. But for me, I won’t be running back there unless it’s for a pile of oysters and shrimp–preferably out on the patio, in the summer, with a bucket of cold beer on ice.
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:05 am
Hmmm…thanks for the insight, Bill. While I’ve been waiting to see what would open up in the old Copper Bleu space and think that the Twin Cities needs a great seafood restaurant, I’m hesitant to say this one is “the one”. Still a bit on the expensive side – at least with Stella’s you get the nice rooftop views (weather permitting). But then again, I haven’t tried Molly Cool’s.
I met with the GM of Stella’s a month or so ago and he stated that they get their fish flown in daily. I’d assume Molly Cool’s gets theirs in the same shipment, but perhaps they should advertise that.
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:27 am
Got to preview Molly Cool’s last night. RT @SouthMetroNews: Review of Molly Cool’s Seafood Tavern: Lakeville, MN (http://tinyurl.com/kwjj8d)
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:54 am
To give a little more information about the interior and how it has changed these are things we noticed, the beautiful walls, test tube lighting fixtures and tile backsplash behind the bar are all still intact. Tables and booths are different. The booths aren’t quite as lux as before which is fine and we noticed to our surprise that hiding under the condiment rack there was actually a hole in the center of our table that looked like it was meant for an umbrella. They have added a large flat screen TV to one of the walls in the dining area and they serve their beverages in those red plastic cups you see at lower scale dining establishments. The sauces on some of our plates were served in little paper cups, but that might not have been a planned thing. On the walls that don’t have the beautiful woodwork they have stenciled “cute†little sayings all over like “Hygiene is always on the menu†in bright red paint, they also added some large chalkboards to those same walls with writing in multiple colors like you’d see at a coffee shop. Both additions seemed really inappropriate for the higher class interior of the restaurant. As Bill said these inconsistencies in the atmosphere were not to the point where it actually disrupted my experience like at Applewood Rustic Grill, but we all definitely noticed and talked about the things I mention above.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:35 am
I have been to Stella’s a couple times and had great food and service each time.
We’ve got a group of 8 heading to Molly Cool’s in a couple weeks, hopefully they will have sorted out any opening glitches at that point.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:36 am
I sort of hoped the test tubes would have been replaced.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:34 pm
I’ll come out from behind the shroud of secrecy. My wife and I were the ones riding Bill’s South Metro fame to the “friends and family” night.
To set things up: In several years of posting my layperson’s opinion on various restaurant fora, I’ve worked to establish a reputation as fair, honest and especially forgiving of new places. I want new restaurants to succeed if for no other reason than selfishly wanting more and more options. I also hope I haven’t become a “food snob”, although sometimes I fail miserably at not letting my love of restaurants and fantastic experiences over the years make me jaded. But I don’t want to pretend to be a “critic”.
Like Bill, I of course won’t write off a place before it is even open. I felt pretty privileged to even be invited along. As Bill mentioned, we also were limited to just a tiny portion of the menu and, honestly, it might have been the dark and damp corner of the menu. But in the spirit of why they hold these events, there are a few things I want to add because clearly they are monitoring the conversations out there.
Bill hit the nail on the head with the space. Probably the greatest asset (and I’m not talking $$) of Copper Bleu was the atmosphere. It wasn’t dumbed down for the suburban location and actually had a nice feel and urban vibe with some intimate touches. When we walked in, I was immediately struck by the absence of all of the best features — it was as if Copper Bleu held a garage sale when the left, sold off everything of monetary and/or aesthetic value, and left an empty shell. Molly Cool’s then went to the deep discount, big box restaurant supply store and tried to fill in the gaps. Plush chairs and booths were replaced by cheap wood chairs and awkward banquettes. Looking across the sweeping dining room, it was a sea of dirt cheap Coca-Cola red plastic glasses like you’d see in a pizza joint and bar rags on tables where napkins should be. The interesting contemporary blond wood that dominated Copper Bleu had cutesy quotes haphazardly stenciled over it. The lighting was harsh, although they started playing around with the dimmers during our meal and it got a little better.
The one thing that can be perfect and fully in-place from day one is the atmosphere and decor and, like Bill, I was confused by it.
The lack of focus carries through to the menu. Some of the forgiveness that comes with a new place is traded in since they are executing a concept and menu virtually identical to Stella’s and the other location(s?) of Molly Cool’s. Bill had tuned in to a server at the next table talking about his life in another city which clued us in to the fact that some of the staff might be seasoned staff from their other location(s) there to help get things up and running.
As mentioned, we weren’t ordering from the full menu, but it was there on our table. My comments above re: Stella’s bear repeating (as Bill did). If you are opening a seafood restaurant and especially one that claims to fly things in daily, the hallmark of your menu HAS TO BE a solid offering of excellent fish and seafood preparations.
The top/center of the menu comes closest to achieving that, but is limited to a small handful of fairly pedestrian items with price tags ranging from $18 for a piece of “Norwegian salmon” (sidebar: how the hell do you get salmon, caught off a line, off a boat in Norway, through customs and flown in to Minneapolis in a time period where it can be called “dayboat fresh”?) and up through the $20s. Below that, you have “Molly’s Signatures”, the seafood items of which are listed as being blackened, stuffed/sauced or crusted which, in my opinion again, are good ways to ruin fresh fish.
The rest of the menu is a mish-mash of the same things you can order at restaurants that don’t claim authority in fresh seafood like Rudy’s Redeye Grill/Axel’s, Jensen’s Supper Club, etc. for prices in the $8-10 for appetizers and burgers/salads/walleye sandwiches and $15-25 for entrees.
If they don’t have plans to offer a GENEROUS list of daily specials, they need to. The focus needs to be on their fresh fish and CAPITALIZING ON their supposed ability to source it fresh/daily.
I’ll be totally forgiving of the execution of the food. As Bill mentioned, three entrees including mine were served at room temperature (or “cold” as Bill stated for some of his dish). They’re ironing things out.
My “Salmon Oscar” was a generously cut portion from the thick end of the filet. The salmon itself was cooked nicely — grilled and not overdone. But it was dusted with very aggressive spices/seasoning and buried in a thick, tart hollandaise sauce (which had more spices/seasoning in it) which obliterated any fresh quality of the fish. Because the filet was thick, I was able to get some bites without much of the sauce and seasoning, which led to my next criticism: $19.95 for a very average fish. For $19.95, there needs to be a piece of “dayboat fresh” Copper River salmon or something more extraordinary. True, I was eating something I normally would never order at a restaurant, but I can’t help but think the grade of salmon is indicative of what the rest of the regular menu is going to hold. Very average ingredients with preparations that diminish, rather than enhance, the featured product. Hopefully the execution will save the day.
My wife’s shrimp plate was uninspired. If you’re an authority on fresh seafood, one of the three offerings HAS TO be devoid of heavy grease- or butter-based preparation. Instead of redundant coconut shrimp and beer-battered shrimp, one should be replaced with a peel-and-eat version, ceviche or another preparation that liberates the quality of the shrimp from its shameful captivity.
Unlike Bill, I thought the mini donuts were actually kind of fitting if they’re going for a seafood “shack” twist. But the twist has to carry through to a dipping sauce or something. Masa and Barrio in Minneapolis take an ordinary churro and make it out-of-this-world with their dipping sauces (Masa’s Mexican chocolate dipping sauce should be stolen and served next to these donuts).
My concerns when I heard this was a Stella’s spin-off weren’t soothed at all last night. Ignoring the typical service and cooking growing pains, I would recommend they really review the focus and leverage their fish and seafood (in freshness AND RECIPE) to distinguish themselves from the Axels, Enjoys and Rudys of the south metro.
I would also urge them to get as much constructive feedback as they can to significantly hone in the atmosphere.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I read this review with a great deal of reluctance. In all honesty, I dont think its at all fair to review a place for the public on the dry run, pre opening meal. In my opinion, you should have attended and provided this feedback to the management, and offered to visit again in a month or two for a follow up meal with a promised review.
I think the feedback is very important, but I am willing to bet that the very negative tone of the review will take dollars out of the restraunts pocket from the very start. They hold test runs to get this kind of feedback, and to fix these problems. Not giving them the chance to do that was a disservice imho.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
I can’t win.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Well, in the spirit of honestly, I thought I should share my honest opinion. I generally agree with you and I respect your opinion and reviews of eating establishments a great deal.
In this case I just thought you were out of bounds a little bit.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:29 pm
I will be trying it anyways. I think Bill did a great job calling out that it was a free meal and that they are still working out kinks. Looking forward to trying the lobster roll. Now just need to wait until monday when BD’s grand opens.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:56 pm
I can’t speak for Bill, but two things that I want clear from my crazy long post:
- I very much encourage everyone to try the place themselves.
- I meant for my comments above to be honest suggestions from the customer perspective to help them make it a great restaurant, not to influence people to go or not go there when it opens.
Although I think they wanted people to make notes/suggestions on the back of the menu, none of the staff actually instructed us to do and nobody asked for feedback (other than the busy server asking the usual “how is everything?”).
When I’ve participated in a pre-opening “friends and family” night for another restaurant (as an actual friend of the owner’s family), we were asked while still at the table for our input.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:02 pm
I think I have always been quite clear when I either recommend or suggest you stay away. If what I wrote above was somehow confusing please let me know so that I may alter how I do so in the future.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:09 pm
I guess I’m reiterating what I already commented but I think what you wrote is fine I would just urge your readers to not jump to any conclusions quite yet . I wasn’t telling you not to draw a final conclusion but instead was telling those who read your post. This is probably getting close to common sense territory but who knows…
MSPD – That’s too bad they didn’t specifically and actively seek your feedback after the meal. I would think that would be a huge benefit to this type of event.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:17 pm
I looked at the back of the menu we were to order off of last night and saw that there was a place for limited comments but the page was over 1/2 full with space for you to put down your e-mail address to sign up for them to communicate with you.
Oh and we looked at the weekend brunch menu. It is $15 and isn’t even remotely close to what you can get at other restaurants in the area for just a few dollars more. Enjoy!, which I don’t typically recommend to anyone, has a $21 brunch with a laundry list of breakfast and lunchish items to nosh on. Molly Cool’s menu last night (and this is by memory so please forgive me) was eggs, some sort of breakfast meat, mimosa, and a few other things–none of which I felt was worth the $15 nor were what I want to consider “brunch”.
Perhaps it’ll be much different in practice but after all their excitement earlier in this thread (in fact, I didn’t approve at least one of the comments about it from their staff because advertising is not free here) I just didn’t think much of what they were offering. YMMV.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Imo people come to the website because they expect to find out something about the restaurant before going, particularly when it is new.
Waiting a couple months to post a review means that the readers aren’t getting what they were looking for when they came here if you ask me.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:51 pm
I guess I can appreciate a pre-review, especially if a future review shows something changed. I do find it hard to believe Bill claiming that no final conclusion was made by him, even though he said this:
Looks like a conclusion to me, at a minimum, on a portion of the menu. Regardless, such information is valuable, and I don’t know why there would be any reason to expect the information to be held in confidence. Especially not when inviting a person who makes a habit of posting his thoughts publicly on a regular basis.
Interesting review. Unfortunately for me, I’m a more picky sea food eater than I am land food and my wife hates sea food. Maybe if they had a good halibut I could get the wife there for a steak. It would be great to see a southern sea food restaurant catch on. Sea food in general seems to have suffered in the south metro.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:58 pm
For the record here’s what I mean when I say I didn’t give any suggestion on what others should do, I have something very specific in mind.
For a positive review:
For a negative review:
—
Perhaps from now on I should put it in bold, underlined italics right at the bottom of the post just so no one confuses my meaning further. What do you think?
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:52 pm
I think my point is misunderstood. I think your “review” should be honest and direct. I dont, however, think that its fair to review a place that is doing a dry run to prepare for the opening. I had assumed, perhaps incorrectly based on what MSPD said, that you were invited to give them a chance to practice for real customers, and to solicit feedback and hopefully smooth the actual opening to provide a better experience for paying customers.
In fairness to everyone, a review based on practice is pointless. Just as you all claim people want “to find out something about the restaurant before going,” you also run the risk of totally missing the target if you go back in two months and find out that it was in fact a few simple mistakes that led to your disappointing visit. The servers get comfortable, the cooks learn thier job and improve thier timing, and some of the suppliers are changed or corrected for the food, and you might have a totally different visit in 6 weeks.
Its not a new concept. In fact, usually a place does not even have a “Grand Opening” until they have been open for several months. They proceed with a soft opening until they get the kinks out. Any review of this period would be like judging a sports team based on what you observed at a preseason game. You may be able to draw some conclusions on how the Vikings will look in January based on an August game, but the chances of you being accurate are pretty low.
Have you ever watched a little kid practice for a Christmas program? You sorta cringe and think, oh my, this may not go well. Then on the big day, wow, all that practice paid off and they nail it.
Bill knows this I am sure, but just to clarify, I have no connection with this place and I probably wont visit, as I dont really like seafood. I just dont think they got a fair shake at all.
The only post at this point should have been: “Thanks MSPD for getting us invited to the trial run for McCools. We visited last night and provided some very constructive feedback to the management. I am going to make a return visit in a month or two and see how things are going. Best of luck, and look for an honest review sometime after the doors open.”
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:26 pm
I get where you’re coming from Chad. The only thing is, in some aspects they’ve been running this performance for years, just in a different theater. Yes, give the actors time, but the script and the plot are all pretty much plug and play.
A couple other clarifications — I didn’t get us invited. The entirety of my involvement in this whole thing is in the comments above. I simply suggested Bill is a good candidate because he gives honest feedback (which he did). They invited Bill and I was fortunate enough that he shared the extra seats with my wife and me.
To me, and again I can’t speak for Bill, that says it all.
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:24 am
[...] Roehl disembowels Molly Cool’s Seafood Tavern (”disgusting,” “a huge disappointment,” “ruined by sauces and [...]
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:51 am
Who cares…it’s a blog, he can write whatever he wants. I personally appreicate the honesty, because 98% of the time I try the places you guys rave about, and I like them as well. Dry run, 2 months, 4 months…this is a chain that has been around awhile, either they have it together or they don’t. And by the decription of the interior alone, it doesn’t sound like a place where I would drop any of my hard earned cash.
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:44 am
After ready all this I think I might have to get a burger when we go there tonight…
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:46 am
Andrew,
Try something else. It would be interesting to hear what someone else has to say about the food–especially someone who might not be quite as critical as I am.
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:37 am
I was there last night. They had a sort of extended happy hour event where they were handing out hors d’oevres – so I can’t comment on the real menu, but I did enjoy what I ate, especially the ahi tuna with greens and tomatoes with a wasabi vinaigrette. Also tried some mussels, beef tenderloin, and fried shrimp with pineapple marmalade. Normally, I hate marmalade, but it was okay.
I enjoy sauces and such, so I probably come at it from a different direction than Bill does. If I wanted plain food, I could very easily cook it at home.
Didn’t get a good look at the furniture. It was supposed to be an invitation event, but no one was paying attention to if you had been invited and/or rsvp’d, so it was completely packed, and you had to trade places to even move. Quite a few of the people I was talking to left to go to Porterhouse, as it was just too crowded. I heard from a couple of people that there was a really good bartender (Angela maybe?), and there was one that was not so good.
I agree with Bill on the decorating. I hope they get rid of the white walls, red words, and giant tabasco bottles – it just doesn’t work.
I do plan to go there, give it multiple tries, and attempt to give constructive feedback. I liked the food at Copper Bleu, but they had significant service and management issues – and completely ignored feedback. Hopefully, Molly Cools will be more receptive – I do want them to succeed.
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:41 am
I guess for me, I didn’t read anything that makes me want to try it out, though curiosity will likely get the better of me at some point.
I see Chad’s point that a review from when they are fully underway could be more accurate in certain respects, but at the same time, they should already have their act together and they will realistically not be able to change a lot of things at this point (at least not for a while). So your guys’ reviews seem fair to me.
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:16 am
I just quickly skimmed back through Bills review. I counted 19 more or less separate negative items. Of the 19, 16 appear to be things that can be easily fixed.
To much spinach in the dip…….
Food not all the same temp……..
Servers being OVERattentive……..
Food to spicy………
Food took to long to prepare……….
Dessert needed some kind of sauce…….
Etc, Etc
Almost everything on the list is reflective of the reason places do test runs and have pre opening service nights to practice. I look forward to and respect Bills reviews. I just dont see how this one is helpful at all, other than making me hope he does in fact go back in 6 to 8 weeks and posts another review.
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:23 am
Chad,
It was meant to be constructive feedback. I gave that to them. Yeah, it was negative and there were very few positives, that’s just how I am–deal with it. Now that said, because I offered 19 different items (of which apparently 16 can be fixed) they have a good head start on shit they can do before they open their doors tonight. Woohoo, the invitation for feedback worked.
And Chad, if I go back again in 6-8 weeks it’ll be to have oysters and peel and eat shrimp or maybe a ‘po boy. Based on our budget, which is even more limited than ever before, I just can’t afford two entrees that are $20+ a piece so be glad that I was able to give a much better cross section of the food that they offer with this review. That said, the “review” will be a comment under this thread and I’ll be more than happy to do that–just for you.
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I’m not a foodie by any means so I expect I’ll think the food is fine. My wife will be a bit more discerning. I’m interested to see the decor changes, though it won’t make me go there or avoid it no matter what’s on the walls. I’m more concerned with service (I hate waiting “forever” for my entree like at Enjoy) and price.
Prices will most likely put it out of reach for a place we visit on a regular basis. There are a lot of other places we get discounts, 2-1 etc that we tend to frequent.
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:47 pm
I don’t want Bill to get killed over everything. Wendy, I’m the one who made the comments about sauces. Read my third paragraph in comment #22 — it’s not quite as simple as enjoying or not enjoying sauces.
I would also encourage you to look at the photo Bill took of my salmon — it is buried in hollandaise (not “delicate”) sauce.
I also “enjoy sauces and such” in their proper context. I don’t routinely pay $20 for a piece of fish that I can’t taste. Do you?
I also take credit for the dessert sauce comment in Chad’s post. See, I don’t hate sauces! Desserts at their Milwaukee location and Stellas run $6.95 to $10.95. There needs to be more to this IF it is a standard dessert menu item and it’s more than $3.95.
Chad, they found Bill here and THEN invited his feedback BASED ON THE WAY HE CONDUCTS HIMSELF ON THIS BLOG. He gave them exactly what they asked for. 16 of his 19 sensory experiences were negative. He listed them.
I just don’t see how you can NOT see this as helpful to them. It’s what they said they want. They gave him an invitation and it would be stupid of them to expect him to not post his reactions.
If there’s anyone they could have a beef with, it’s ME since I’m not the one THEY invited. But hopefully I was crystal clear that I was typing constructive, honest feedback, in the context of a restaurant not yet open, and not conducting some kind of “restaurant review”.
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Sorry MSPD – wasn’t looking to pick a fight or anything….
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
I don’t think anyone is fighting. I think defensive is more appropriate.
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:57 pm
I’m a newbie to this blog…do all SOTR restaurant openings generate this much discussion?
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Not all but some. Here are the top 10:
178 – Ramy’s Pizzeria: Apple Valley, MN
107 – Ansari’s Mediterranean Grill and Lounge: Eagan, MN
93 – Panino Brothers: Apple Valley, MN
89 – La Luz Cafe: Apple Valley, MN
74 – Molly Cool’s Seafood Tavern: Lakeville, MN
54 – The Savage Depot Bistro: Savage, MN
50 – Anthony’s Parkway Grille to Replace Benchwarmer Bob’s
45 – Applewood Rustic Grille: Burnsville, MN
39 – Ronin Sushi Cafe: Lakeville, MN
35 – Johnny’s Chicago Style Beef & Dogs: Apple Valley, MN
35 – Pardon My French: Eagan, MN
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Wendy, no fight at all. When I post here, I may as well be talking with family. I respect your opinion.
I’m passionate about food and restaurants so I’m going to be passionate in my talk about them. I’m the biggest fan of restauranteurs, chefs, etc. especially in my community.
To me, food is something to be honored. It is not a finite resource. Fish is probably one of the best examples, not just for conservation reasons but also its subtlety and its capturing of the essence of its habitat of the honorable nature of food.
A single tuna will routinely fetch $10,000 at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo. Fish is food, but for thousands of years has been honored also as an artform and a important aspect of culture.
We don’t honor food and food ingredients enough in my opinion. I try not to criticize or tell people their opinions aren’t valid, but at the same time it’s hard for me to accept that potential being ruined.
I’m OK with a restaurant taking a farm-raised salmon and burying it in seasoning and sauce if that’s what complements it to enhance its flavor or, an minimum, makes it palatable. Food is also a basic necessity as much as it is art/culture/honor. But if someone pays $20 for that, I flat out just think they’re being duped.
As I always say, it’s just my opinion for whatever it’s worth.
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Argh…it is not an INFINITE resource. (Or it IS a finite resource).
October 23rd, 2009 at 6:34 pm
I blame the Food Network and Top Chef for the negative reviews. Damn that Tom Colicchio! everyone is a foodie these days.
October 23rd, 2009 at 6:41 pm
To sauce or not to sauce…
MSPD, I think your point about the sauce can be described by my basic food philosophy: You can do ANYTHING, as long as you do it RIGHT, meaning attention to detail, freshness, and flavor.
There is no “IN” food or “OUT” food; there is no one way to prepare or eat anything; there is only what tastes good.
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Went to Molly Cool’s for dinner tonight. I was looking for the giant Tabasco bottles but couldn’t find them. Are they around the bar area? That was packed when we got there (4:30pm) so I didn’t really see anything in that area.
I had forgotten about the bottleneck at that area where you “check in” for your reservation. So that was still annoying.
Ok..that huge ‘Hygiene is on the Menu’ sign does have to go. What the fuck is that??? Otherwise the stenciled sayings can stay or go…though the wife got a chuckle out of the ‘if your on fire, stop drop and lobster roll’. I thought the chalk boards were fine. The music was a bit too loud. We were near the back close to a speaker, but it needs to be turned down a couple notches. It was a bit hard to hear each other over it.
They obviously are going for a more causal feel with the red plastic glasses and dish rag napkins. Neither bothered me any. And someone asked about Coke or Pepsi. I had a beer not soda, but they are Coca Cola glasses so I would assume that is what they serve.
Service: The one guy was fast with water. Waiter came over fairly quickly after that. Gave us time to look that the menu. Then we ordered our appetizers. They were a bit slow to come out and the waiter came by to let us know they would be out soon, but never took our entree order.
After he came around again my wife asked him a question about the menu to remind him we had not ordered our entrees yet. I don’t think he was a seasoned waiter and since I’ve had more than one first day on the job dealing with the public I’m giving him a pass. They were quick to remove plates when we finished but I didn’t feel rushed at all.
While waiting for our appetizers the waiter asked if we wanted to try complementary oysters. They are free during happy hour on Friday (they call it Oyster Orgy). I’ve never tried raw oysters since I always figured they would be gross. But for free why not…well I found I liked them. Actually all I tasted was the stuff you put on it. My wife said it’s called minuet and normally it’s a liquid but they served it like shaved ice. Anyway, I thought it was good. It also came with cocktail sauce but I liked the frozen minuet better (and I like cocktail sauce).
And backing up, right before the oysters were brought out they gave us the 1/2 pound of peel and eat shrimp we ordered. On Friday it’s $3.95 during happy hour, normally $9.95. My wife found one that didn’t seemed to be cleaned good enough, but I didn’t see any bad ones. The cocktail sauce was good and my wife who normally doesn’t like cocktail sauce really liked it. It comes with a bit of horseradish in it.
As we (mostly me) were finishing the shrimp the Calamari came out. We both thought it was very good. Has cornmeal in the breading that my wife thought was really good. It was a decent portion and cost $8.95.
For entrees my wife ordered the Salmon BLT. She said it was “cooked to perfection”. I’ll have to take her word for it as I don’t like fish so I wouldn’t know. It was priced at $7.95 which I thought was reasonable. She ordered fries and they had malt vinegar which made my wife happy.
I ordered the Lobster Roll. I really liked it. It was very creamy which maybe some wouldn’t like and came on a toasted brioche roll. It had a bit too much shredded lettuce for me but I usually take off about 3/4 of the lettuce on any sandwich I get when I eat out. So while I liked it, the $16.95 price would likely keep me from ordering it again. But I wanted to try it once! I also had the fries.
And as I am writing this I’m thinking the the menu indicated the Lobster Roll comes with coleslaw and a pickle spear. I didn’t get either one I just realized. Not a big loss since I was plenty full anyway and I didn’t even notice since I was pleased they didn’t skimp on the fries.
One thing I noticed was they had no crab legs on the menu tonight. We weren’t going to order them in any event, but I just thought I’d mention it.
I expect the service will improve with experience. The wait for our appetizers was longer then it should have been but not terrible.
My suggestions: turn down the music and take down that Hygiene sign.
My wife (who is much more of a foodie than I) has already picked out what she is having next time, so I guess we’ll be going back! :) As long as they keep serving free oysters and $3.95 peel and eat shrimp during Friday Happy Hour that’s probably when we’ll go.
And, as we live about 1 minute away, we are both pleased the building is no longer vacant. It was pretty full when we left and we’re hoping the restaurant is successful!
October 24th, 2009 at 8:10 am
Sandy – I don’t disagree and I like your food philosophy but I think what MSPD was also saying is that food should be priced appropriately for what it is.
I’m intrigued by this Oyster Orgy. Hopefully they know how to properly shuck an oyster unlike what I’ve seen before at Stella’s.
October 24th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Did Andrew and Bill visit the same restaurant?
October 24th, 2009 at 10:13 am
It would seem I’m easier to please. I don’t mind going to Red Lobster either. ha ha…
October 24th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Andrew, thanks for the great review.
Chad, *shrug* he had all different things than we did and openly admits that he’s easy to please. I don’t see what point you are trying to make except that you didn’t agree with my (or MSPD’s) review. We get it. Let it go. Cool?
October 25th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
I took my family out for the dinner there last night and we really enjoyed it. I had the Grouper, which was perfect, other entrees, Ravioli, Salmon and coconut shrimp, all very tasty. Price was reasonabe, service was very fast. I’m not a huge fan of open air seating but the bulding is very interesting and it was overall a very enjoyable dinner. As for being in a parking lot, they’ve done a great job landscaping the pato area which is all you can see from the inside. Highly Recommended!
October 25th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
I forgot one thing. For those of you who have been to Molly Cool’s and also had been to Copper Bleu when it was open, I need you to help settle a bet.
Are the benches used for Molly Cool’s booths the same as Copper Bleu and just reupholstered or are they completely different benches.
October 25th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
The Wife says they’re different, I think they’re reupholstered based solely on this photo: http://www.linternaute.com/sortir/sorties/resto/decoration/selection/07/plus-beaux-restos-du-monde/15-page.shtml
October 26th, 2009 at 10:32 am
[...] no plans on reviewing BD’s Mongolian Grill because it’s a chain, after reviewing Molly Cool’s Seafood Tavern in Lakeville the other day and taking an inordinate amount of flak for my very constructive [...]
November 4th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
so… went to vip night…. not bad had a fun time with friends… did not each much food… So my husband and i got a baby sitter for are not out…was looking forward to see what this place was all about. long story short because we just got married I didn’t renew my license at my birthday a few weeks ago and they denied me service because my license was expired. after asking for the manager and telling our story, she said that “sorry, this is our policy” many of you think that that should be the way it is; but I think that managers need to take every situation and make decisions based on its merits rather that being so black and white about a ‘POLICY”. Needless to say we were forced to leave and went to our home town ‘porterhouse ” and had a nice meal with wonderful service and great food. maybe we are being too old fashioned and still believe in a business that runs upon the premise of good customer service and doesn’t make such big deals out of little things… really, little things. maybe it is a sign of the times. I would rather patronize a place thats management has the ability to make judgement calls rather that the “by the book” mentality. for what its worth…..
November 5th, 2009 at 8:26 am
Just a little clue-in to “hey what the heck”: There’s another organization that has a pretty black and white policy and won’t give a shit about your lame excuse for not renewing your license. It’s called the Lakeville PD. Try your song and dance while you’re getting handed a $200 ticket for driving without a license and see what kind of “old fashioned customer service” that gets you.
You wanted to score alcohol without proper ID. As someone who cares about their community, I applaud them for running a responsible business.
Note to Porterhouse management: You’d better get your act together. Losing your liquor license for a few days because you were careless about IDing would suck for you.
November 5th, 2009 at 9:51 am
You must not pay attention to the Lakeville City Council meetings. Several times a year I will see businesses getting penalized for not going “by the book”. Lakeville PD conducts checks to make sure they are. Hell, I don’t even know what the law is on using an expired DL for buying alcohol. But it’s a good policy anyway.
As a Lakeville resident and someone who lives just up the street from Molly Cool’s, I am very glad they did not serve you.
November 5th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Most responsible business managers/owners would not have served any person with an expired license. Some staff are told to card everyone at the table if anyone at the table orders a alcoholic beverage. In today’s age I can’t tell a 16 year old from a 34 year old. Why would anyone take the risk of selling to a minor? Just because you “hey what the heck” is an idiot and let her license expire she is bad mouthing the business that would not serve her? She is seriously a freaking idiot. Maybe Porterhouse didn’t card her, but if they did and served her anyway, shame on them. We will be reading about them selling to underage kids soon mostly likely. What an ignorant citizen. Quit breeding.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Just a question on the expired license issue (I don’t know the particulars of the law)….but for the purposes of verifying your age, what does it matter if the license is expired? It doesn’t change how old you are. It obviously is illegal to drive with an expired license, but doesn’t it still validate who you are and how old you are?
If I’m missing something obvious here, please go easy on me!
November 5th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Jason,
Let’s say that I lose my license and go get a new one. Three years later my 19 year old brother finds it wedged between some old magazines I was storing under my mattress for safe keeping. He then takes this license and uses it for nefarious purposes unbeknownst to me…
That’s one great reason why.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Bill, good point. Thanks.
I guess I was thinking more along the lines of the license being expired by maybe a couple months rather than years. But I guess if a restaurant is going to protect itself against the situation you describe, their policy will have to prohibit ALL expired licenses.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Oh come on Bill. That same thing could happen with a valid license. You could even purposefully give your license to your brother for his use. Gasp!
November 5th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
In my opinion it makes the law easily enforced and takes the onus of interpretation out of the equation.
No valid ID, no alcohol…period. Once you open the door to a recently expired license vs. one that expired six, 12, 24 months ago, it becomes a burden on the restaurant to draw the line of what to accept.
You get every idiot like “hey what the heck” coming in and pressuring you to bend the rules just so they can have their precious drink. (Because heaven forbid she has to go a couple hours/eat a single meal without booze…but our culture of alcoholism is a different discussion)
November 5th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Honestly I wish a bar would have told me that my DL was expired before I ended up with a $177 + the cost of replacement fine for driving with it. Whenever I saw people in the news getting pulled over for an expired DL I thought, “dumbass,” and yet there I was with the same thing.
I look at my ID on my birthday ever year just to make sure it hasn’t expired now.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
jf, it was just one small and quick example. There are many reasons why it’s a good iea not to allow it to happen–I was just too lazy to think about them.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Bill, it was a small and quick example, but also a straw man.
MSPD, laws like this have done nothing to prevent our “culture of alcoholism” and never will. Anyone who can’t see that is ignoring reality.
November 5th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
“Three years later my 19 year old brother finds it wedged between some old magazines I was storing under my mattress for safe keeping.”
I think the better question is, Billy, what kind of magazines were these exactly, and why on earth would you hide them under your mattress? hmmm? ;) Maybe this explains why your vision is failing?
November 5th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Another reason for not accepting a “Valid” and “Current” license is that the State of Minnesota also has the ability to print restrictions on your license such as no sale of alcohol even if you are of legal drinking age.
Being a former bartender we were trained to card everyone. If you go to a bar and you wonder why they turn over your license and look it, it is to look for any Restrictions on the license. Go ahead, look at your license, it more than likely says Restrictions: None, well this is why it is important for bar and restaraunts to only accept Valid and Current licenses and why an expired license is not valid even if by a few days.
http://www.nvo.com/beaulier/bcardrestrictedlicense/
November 5th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I know Bill it is also a pet peeve of yours that establishments like Blue Max scan you license. These restrictions are also identified on the barcode and will alert the seller of alcohol to any restrictions in addition to validating your age. These businesses are eliminating the human error element from calculating an age and checking for liquor restrictions and simply just scan everyone’s ID. I see this practice growing to many more establishments such as MGM, Haskell’s etc. So in short, when you get carded it is not just for your age anymore, it is to ensure you do not have any restrictions of alcohol sales to the customer.
November 5th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
You can’t prevent 100% selling to someone who is underage. They might have a fake id, using another person’s id, getting someone else to buy the booze for them, stealing it, etc. You can use a few common sense techniques to avoid selling to a minor, and one being if a license is expired, you can’t buy any type of alcohol at Molly Cools or anywhere. The license isn’t valid. What part of expired don’t you understand. You legally can’t drive with it, what would make you think you can buy booze with it? Since establishments use ID’s to validate age, a normal process would be to require the actual ID to be valid. If you don’t have a valid ID, then see if your passport will work. This whole argument about a person being denied booze anywhere because of an expired ID, and then writes on a blog to complain about it is poor idiotic. Molly Cool’s did the right thing, and their actions should be applauded. Technically liquor stores don’t have to accept foreign ID’s for sale on booze either. How in the world are they to verify it’s a legal ID? If the person looks 50, most likely they won’t get carded. But if the server/cashier is questioning age for any reason just make sure you have a valid ID, period.
November 5th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I always thought that liquor stores who scan licenses are doing so because they have been caught being naughty and they are on some sort of probation. I’ve lived in this area for quite a while and MGM goes through periods when they scan and periods when they don’t.
November 5th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
I wasn’t claiming that they did.
November 5th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
MSPD – fair enough.
JaLurker – Hey citizen, don’t try to pass off your personal logic as common sense. I can use a few common sense techniques to determine a person’s age. One of them being to check his or her id and another being to look at them and say “yeah, you’re 50, you can drink.” There are other ways too.
I think Molly Cool’s made a smart business decision so I don’t blame them for that. If they lost their liquor license, it would likely ruin them.
I do think it is unfortunate that any restaurant is forced to be the enforcer of rules that they didn’t create and if they don’t enforce them it will certainly mean the end of their business (at the gunpoint of the Lakeville PD in this case).
November 5th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
My personal logic seems to be policy at Molly Cools. If a person is clearly 50, yes, they should get served. It’s the tweenties age group which are the most likely to get carded at a bar or liquor store. If that carded person has an expired ID, and the server is questioning the age of the person at first glance, they should not serve them. It’s really a pretty straight forward smart policy. It’s all defined in the MN State Statute which defines the legal drinking age, which I may, or may not agree with. What is think is idiotic is a person who posts on a restaurant review they didn’t get served because of expired license, even complains to a manager for them to bend the policy. Now that..woudl be a lack of common sense.
November 6th, 2009 at 9:32 am
I’m enjoying the points you guys are making. If I was running a restaurant, I would employ a no-exceptions ID policy. You order alcohol, you produce a valid ID whether you’re 21 or 121. No ID, no booze.
Running a restaurant (which assumes I would hire people skilled in their craft, be it front-of-house or bartender), I would apply some latitude and might offer the following approach. From those on here that drink more, let me know how this would fly:
“I am sorry, but we follow a strict ID policy. That said, Bob the Bartender is a magician with drinks, and I’d be happy to comp your non-alcoholic drinks tonight. Bob makes an outstanding virgin mojito, (insert a couple of other interesting drink ideas).”
Maybe the people still walk but they can’t then piss and moan on the internet like a four year-old about poor customer service.
November 6th, 2009 at 9:46 am
MSPD,
Back several years I was sitting at your favorite bar, being tended by your favorite bartender, and they recently started enforcing a “no ID, no booze” policy for everyone regardless of age. This wasn’t any big deal for me but it really pissed off a certain regular drunkard who owned a nearby apartment complex. He was so annoyed that he voiced his dislike of the system and said that he knew the Legion wouldn’t do that as he walked out the door to go there instead.
The next time I was in there the “no ID, no booze” regardless of age thing was no more.
November 6th, 2009 at 10:53 am
My reaction in that situation: Go ahead and walk. But this is probably why I’m not in the restaurant business…I don’t compromise on basic, fundamental obligations.
Besides, he probably went over to the Legion a couple times, saw their one sucky TV, grumped about not being able to get wings or whatever drew him to BWW, got tired of sitting around with a bunch of bitter codgers like himself, and was back in his normal spot at BWW shortly thereafter.
I don’t know what BWW’s policy is but I am not carded there. I wouldn’t mind one bit if I was. I do, however, see Denny carding every single person he serves, young and old, if he doesn’t recognize them. He also, without fail, gets the IDs of everyone if a single person comes to the bar and orders multiple drinks. Last time I was in, a girl (about mid-20s) said she was getting drinks for her mom. We all could see that she was telling the truth, but he still had her go get her mom’s ID.
Again, I’d be interested — what if Denny had said to the drunkard, “Listen, next time you come in, bring your ID and I’ll comp your first drink for your ‘inconvenience’” Would that have made the drunkard any less pissed/keep his loyalty?
November 6th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Just like anything else, people do not like change. If you implement a no ID no booze policy and do not effectively communicate the rationale behind why you are implementing the policy people are going to walk. If you give factual rationale for the policy, with this policy there is a very low likelihood of serving a minor, we conform to checking for liquor restrictions for those who should not be served, I personally believe that people will understand that you are only doing what is necessary to be a responsible business and not taking any risks with these peoples favorite business being shut down for any length of time. If these patron do not share this goal of keeping their business open and law abiding so be it but I would not be willing to gamble my business on being caught in violating the law. For regulars that you know that live at your bar the frequency of carding could be cut back to less frequent so it does not become insulting and “sold” as only looking out for the welfare of your clients and helping those who have restrictions or problems with alcohol and being socially responsible. Make the carding experience a positive experience showing your focus on abiding by the law and being a socially responsible business. You need a personable and knowledgeable bartender and waitstaff that is empowered to make decisions and use some of the items MSPD mentions above, hey here is a free soda, O’Douls etc when you run into conflicts. Or even if they ID checks out fine, hey would you like to sample this new beer or liquor, so that a customer that still does not like the fact that you carded them, even for the legal and social responsibility reasons does not feel that they were singled out or does not like that fact that you are simply abiding by the law.
November 9th, 2009 at 6:24 am
We made it to Molly Cool’s on Friday night. The place was packed. Luckily we had a reservation because the wait for tables was over an hour.
I have a thing for ahi tuna. It’s hard for me to pass it up when it’s on the menu. I like it seared and very rare/raw. I had tried the same dish at Stella’s a few months back and it was actually one of the best tuna steaks that I had ever tasted and perfectly prepared with maybe 1/4″ of cooked meat around the outside.
I had planned on ordering something else at Molly Cool’s, but once the server came around to me I had changed my mind and went with the tuna steak. When it was served I knew right away that it was overdone to my liking. It was thinner than the steak I had at Stella’s and cooked about 3/4″ in on all sides. Although I was a bit bummed at first it did taste great and overall I was very satisfied with the meal. Next time I’ll be very clear to the server that the tuna just needs to kiss the pan for a few seconds on each side.
I never really got around to talking to the others in our party to find out if they enjoyed their meals. It seemed that everyone was happy.
We’ll certainly be back for more. I’d love to try their brunch.
November 9th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Greetings!
We have two (2) EXCITING announcements:
1. The ‘Hygiene is always on the menu’ canvas has been taken down (and proudly displayed in our brand manager’s home kitchen)
2. We will be open for LUNCH every FRIDAY at 11am, starting this Friday, November 13th!
Keep in mind also, we are open for lunch every Saturday at 11am, featuring our normal dining menu, and Brunch on Sundays 10am-2pm.
Janna
Assistant General Manager
Molly Cool’s Seafood Tavern
November 9th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
I am glad that sign was taken down, I thought it was pretty dumb. Otherwise I didn’t have any other problem with the decor.
I think that is good they are adding hours! Though we will probably still come for the Friday happy hour specials. Maybe this Friday we’ll stop in again!
November 11th, 2009 at 9:10 am
I stopped in last night to check out their Happy Hour, which they finally posted on their website. 2 for 1 tap beers (not much of a selection, in my opinion) and some other specials.
The bar side was basically full at 5:30, so I thought that was a good sign for them. Found an end seat at the bar, and ordered a beer. Staff seems a bit disorganized still, and not sure what or where their place is. (“How do I turn up/down the music?” was one question that I heard from a non-experienced server. That’s the sort of thing that should be known to all by now, I would think, but I’m probably being too picky.)
One thing that was a disappointment to me was the lack of steamed clams or the equivalent. I know I’m not in Maine or Portland, but steamers are a pretty common menu item at lots of seafood restaurants, and I think they make for a good bar appetizer. They pointed out that they have raw oysters, but that ain’t the same. I ended up with “Prince Edward Island Mussels in a champagne cream sauce” which was OK, but I was surprised at how many empty shells I got! There were at least 8 empty shells in the bowl, a fact that I pointed out to the bartender. She laughed, and gave me a Halloween-sized 3 Musketeers bar.
A bit weird, overall. I’m glad there was a crowd, and I’ll likely go back at some point, but this won’t be a regular hang-out for me. Not that I have one now, but if I did, it wouldn’t be here.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Haha… it’s always funny at places with music. Half the place will want the music turned up, regardless of high it currently is turned up, and the other half will want the music turned down, regardless of how low it already currently is.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Mikeh,
I thought the volume was nearly unbearable when we were there for the opening night. I just don’t think the acoustics of the place are meant to house music in the bar while allowing for a nice quiet dinner w/friends in the restaurant.
November 11th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
I thought the music was a bit too high when we there, but honestly I don’t think they intend for this to be a “nice quiet dinner w/friends” type of place.
November 11th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Dave, yeah, I understand that but there’s a happy medium that should be reached between enjoying a bar atmosphere and being able to talk to those at the table without cupping your hand over your ear.
November 11th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
I’m not saying it’s one way or another, I just find that there are always folks that think it’s too high, as well as those that think it’s too low.
One of the problems restaurants have is that they rarely work with audio specialists when hooking up music systems. Thus their hacked together systems don’t really sound that good at low volumes, so they over compensate by turning it up.
Best thing to do at places where it’s too loud is to tell them. If enough folks mention it hopefully they will turn it down.
November 12th, 2009 at 9:30 am
That is pretty shitty customer service.
November 12th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Thanks for the review, Bill. We enjoy reading your site and checking out the local food joints.
I hope you don’t mind if I share our experience.
My husband and I went to Molly Cool’s on Tuesday night. Since I was meeting him after work, I showed up first and grabbed a table. The server was quick to check with me and came back a few times to see if my husband had finally arrived and explained that she was checking back often because Happy Hour ended in 15 minutes and she wanted to be sure to get us some specials. I was pleased with that. As I had nothing else to do but look around as I waited I took in the decor. I couldn’t put my finger on what was bothering me, but the jarring contrast of the kitchy sayings on the wall with the gorgeous lights and woodwork didn’t do it for me.
We picked the crab cakes for the appetizer and they were pretty good. Not too dense and breadcrumby. I thought they were a little overdone, hubby thought they were fine. What I didn’t like was that they were swimming in a pool of lemon basil beurre blanc. I wouldn’t have minded a couple drizzles or a separate dipping ramekin, but it was just too much for me (and I LIKE sauces – just in moderation). I did like that they were served on a bed of spinach. I ordered broiled salmon with wasabi ponzu sauce, rice pilaf and salad. The husband ordered blackened ahi (or maybe mahi, I can’t remember). My salmon was perfectly done. The sauce was glorified soy/tamari and wasabi, but it complemented it well and was served on the side. The rice pilaf and green beans were good and served at the right temp. I never did get my salad. (The waitress gave me a gift card when I told her about this — nice!.) The husband’s dish was served on mashed potatoes and had caramelized onions and bleu cheese. He seemed very happy with it. I tried a bite of his fish and it was fine, but I preferred my salmon. I did think that it was odd that my dish came with a seasonal vegetable and salad, while his dish just came with mashed potatoes. We ended up sharing my green beans.
Overall, we were happy with our experience and will give it another shot in the future, although we may stick to some of the less expensive items. The tab can add up very quickly.
November 14th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Attn nerds: stress test my httpd: http://tinyurl.com/c8mbx8 http://tinyurl.com/5wkwa4 http://tinyurl.com/kwjj8d — open all at once please.
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
November 21st, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Hey turkeys!
We are OPEN on THANKSGIVING at 4pm with our normal dining menu, and Happy Hour ’til 6pm!
Reservations encouraged.
Janna
AGM
952.432.CRAB
November 21st, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Janna of Molly Cools in Lakeville has opted not to pay for future advertisements on the site and thus her posts about specials and happy hours will now cease.
November 21st, 2009 at 5:47 pm
It agonizes me to see two parties so close to some sort of agreement, both enjoying each other’s services and see both parties walk away without any benefits of the other. I think Molly Cools has benefitted in a good portion of business from this blog and I think we all know that Bill is not wavered in his reviews under any circumstances so I am not concerned about any bias. I personally think you both should strike up a deal of sorts. Bill gets a monthly $20 credit or gift certificate for Molly Cool’s and Molly Cool’s can post weekly specials, happy hour specials as I know I would be interested in these details. The dollar amount can be hammered out between the two of you and the credit would be spent at Molly’s so it sounds like a win – win to me. I have to admit I have been to three restaurants that have recently been reviewed by Bill in the last three weeks as we visited Baldy’s last night, met the owner and had a great time and spent a good amount of money this week there….
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:23 am
I agree with Thought Leader. Please reconsider. I LIKE coming here and seeing what is going on in local restaurants, including things that the restaurants themselves say.
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:42 am
I am happy to allow any restaurant owner to respond to criticism, answer questions, etc. What I will not allow is this website to be used as an advertising platform free of charge. Molly Cool’s scratched my back and I gave them plenty of scratching back. Unfortunately I can only go so far. They just weren’t willing to make a deal.
BTW TL, I don’t want credit at a particular restaurant. That doesn’t pay my electric or Internet bills, fill my gas tank as I drive to Savage or Lakeville City Council meetings, and it certainly doesn’t help me review a new restaurant :-)
Wendy, I promise that the posts about restaurants will continue for as long as it possibly can although the baby might have something else to say about that heh.
November 24th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Leave the baby in the car. Duh.
November 24th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
They are free to use their own Twitter page to post their special to their hearts’ content.
I finally un-followed them there since most of their posts were about their Milwaukee store. Duh.
November 24th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Restaurants are a great training ground for kids regarding socialization and how to act in public. The looks of shock and horror from the other customers are priceless, too.
December 3rd, 2009 at 5:22 pm
We treated our family of “10″ to dinner at Molly Cool’s. We all agreed that our meals were very good…no complaints. We’re going back tomorrow night and hope we’re as pleased this time. We had three appetizers and each had a meal. We actually were impressed with the mini-donuts because we thought it was quite clever. We were very well taken care of and couldn’t have been more impressed.
December 18th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Attention Molly Cool’s: If you call yourself a seafood/fish place, I hang my head in deep despair when you use the phrase “Walleye Pike” on your menu.
I’m just sayin’ ;)
December 29th, 2009 at 7:32 am
[...] Applewood Rustic Grille: Burnsville, MN (now closed) 2. Molly Cool’s Seafood Tavern: Lakeville, MN 3. Minneapolis Metro Holiday Light Display Map 4. Giuseppes: Burnsville, MN 5. Pardon My French: [...]
December 31st, 2009 at 8:40 am
[...] 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 [...]
January 16th, 2010 at 10:55 am
My wife and I finally got around to visiting Molly Cool’s last evening. We were quite underwhelmed.
First, the good. They were very busy; the lobby and bar area were packed, by the time we left there were tons of people waiting. We had reservations for 6:00 and were promptly seated. The service was attentive.
Now, everything else. The decor is… odd. What is this place, anyway? They have much of the refined decor of the late Copper Bleu, including the great paneled walls and fancy lights, but then give you red plastic drink cups and dishrags for napkins. They present themselves as a fine seafood restaurant, but then heavily push so-so appetizers and fru-fru drinks instead of the fish.
As to the meal, a tad disappointing. The Cajun meat bite appetizer was okay, but didn’t taste Cajun; it had lots of spices, but wasn’t really spicy. The clam chowder was great, maybe the best part of the meal. The salad was a salad, with the dressing served in a paper cup. (Again, incongruent with the positioning — and the price.) My wife and I both had pan-fried scallops, mine with the Wasabi/Asian sauce, hers with hollandaise, I believe. The scallops were big, almost too big, but not the best quality and not quite properly cooked. In addition, there was no real cooking mastery here, especially with the sauces always on the side; it was closer to Applebees or Ruby Tuesday than McCormick & Schmick’s.
In short, this was not a fine dining experience — although the prices were in the fine-dining range. We paid $95 with tip; that included one glass of wine and no dessert. What we got was a $50 dining experience, at best.
Like I said, it was underwhelming and overpriced. I doubt we’ll be back — which is a shame, since the area truly needs a good seafood restaurant.
January 16th, 2010 at 11:11 am
My family joined our neighbor’s family for a meal at Molly Cool’s recently; 4 adults, 3 kids in all. Bill saved me a ton of typing, because despite having different food, my review would be the same.
They were very busy, yet we were seated promptly (at our reservation time) and the service was very friendly.
The general consensus was that the food was “just okay.” In fact, we’d rate it no higher than what we’d get from Red Lobster. And, like Bill, I found the use of paper/plastic waaaay of for what they were trying to portray with the prices. When I order a lightly seared ahi tuna, the sauce shouldn’t arrive n the side in a paper cup.
“Never again,” my wife said as we walked to the car. “That was no where near worth what we were charged.”
I couldn’t argue.
My rating for Molly Cool’s can be summarized with: Meh.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
I realize that I credited Bill with Michael M’s review. Woops; sorry Michael.
So, if we want seafood but don’t want to cross the river, what’s the recommendation these days?
January 29th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Going to Molly’s tonight. Group of 12 for the BD of one of my wife’s friends. Will be interesting to see how the service and food is with a larger group.
January 29th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Drive west to Seattle.
If someone held a gun to my head and said, “eat seafood at a restaurant in the south metro”, my first choice would be I Nonni in Lilydale. You don’t have to drop a ton of money — just get an appetizer and a Primi and you’ll be out for the same price as the crap at Molly Cool’s. Or, if price isn’t an option, I’d order the sea bass.
Although I haven’t eaten seafood/fish there, I would guess Perron’s Sul Lago in Prior Lake does it well.
Otherwise, sushi at Ronin. Or Kami if Ronin isn’t open.
All that said, when I want to eat seafood/fish near home, I do it at home. Buy from Kowalski’s, Byerly’s or Valley Natural, depending on what’s convenient at the time.
November 22nd, 2010 at 8:26 am
Had a horrible time at Molly Cool’s last Friday night. Even though they seemed to have numerous wait staff, our appetizers took 40 minutes. The spinach/crab dip was molten lava. I was so hungry at this point that I put some on the little toast pieces and placed in my mouth and IT BLISTERED AND BURNED THE ROOF OF MY MOUTH. I spent the next hour, while we waited endlessly for our food to arrive, scraping strips of hanging flesh off the inside of my mouth. I understand that you want things hot, but you don’t expect to be maimed. My spaghetti shrimp scampi was bland and flavorless. And they forgot the salads that went along with some of our meals. Will never eat there again and hope they close.
December 3rd, 2010 at 1:47 pm
12-2-2010 4 Adults 55-61 yrs old – Lakeville Minnesota
We had a bad experience last night a Molly Cools, stared out that the Thursday night special “All the snow crab you can eat” that‘s on their website (you can find it under “drinks”) is no more. Manager said it’s been gone for 6 weeks, we asked why is it still in your ad, he said they can’t get anybody to change it – BUNK. It’s just a PDF file. Anyway, we ordered other things. King crab legs came out of kitchen cold, I mean refrigerator cold. One of the snow crab dinners was also cold. I ordered the crab combo. 1 small cluster of snow, 1 king leg, 1 SMALL blue crab, looked like a crayfish, 1 crab cake. $22.95 not a good deal at all. The best part about it was the server Karen and the drinks.
Sorry Molly, you aint gonna make it in Minnesota with those problems. And you’ll never see us again.
December 20th, 2010 at 7:57 am
According to Lakeville Patch: http://bit.ly/hwjnhD Molly Cools notes that the restaurant is no longer owned by the failing Premier group but is managed by the same individuals who have been there all along.
The best quote from the article is this one:
More like somewhere between Long John Silvers and Red Lobster on a night where the tank is empty and the fish has been sitting out unrefrigerated for 3 days.
December 20th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Your treading on thin ice legally… Do you have proof the fish sits out unrefridgerated for three days?
December 20th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Jim, I hope you’re not serious but just in case you are:
December 20th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
“To wait an eternity” is a little different than saying a resteraunt has fish that sits out for three days…I think. We just disagree on this I guess
December 20th, 2010 at 11:14 pm
It was clear I was joking Jim. Sorry you don’t understand sarcasm.
January 25th, 2011 at 7:28 pm
We ate there for lunch back in November using a groupon or living social coupon. My husband had mussels and the clam chowder and thought they were much better than anything available at red lobster.
I had fish fry which was nothing special and kind of expensive for lunch. We had scouted out the menu online before going there and were disappointed in that the online menu wasn’t available. We were told by the server that “they need to change that on the website”.
It seemed that they had all kinds of good happy hour type deals even on Sundays but maybe those are no longer available.
April 23rd, 2011 at 9:07 am
Molly Cool’s in Lakeville, MN, is one of the worst ‘seafood’ restaurants I have had the misfortune to experience. The shrimp was ‘fishy’ and the fried calamari was terrible. It was like they didn’t bother to clean the squid (or whatever that was). Finally, besides the unprofessional service from our ‘waitress’, we tried the clam chowder as suggested by a friend who ate there. There is more taste in an unripened watermelon than Cool’s clam chowder. Just bad all around. You will eat MUCH BETTER at long John Silver’s, or having a McFish sandwich at McD’s. Too bad.
May 29th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
Former oceanaire manager,taking over at molly cools.Give it little time,things will be better soon
May 31st, 2011 at 9:33 pm
That would be nice. I haven’t eaten there, but I won’t based upon the comments here. There are bad things said about Molly’s from people OTHER than Bill the Curmudgeon. Wow, it must be pretty bad. It would be nice if a restaurant would open in the south metro that doesn’t dumb down everything and then excuse it by saying we can’t support anything better.
June 1st, 2011 at 8:00 am
Molly Cool’s hiring someone that used to work at Oceanaire at is pretty much like saying that Burger Time hired somebody that used to work at Burger Jones.
Did Molly Cool’s hire the guy that looks like Dan Ackroyd? He is from Eagan, and he was not at Oceanaire the past few times I have been there.
June 4th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Molly Cool’s has a lot of work to do even with the new manager:
From: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/29/1477515/restaurant/Twin-Cities/Apple-Valley/Molly-Cools-Seafood-Tavern-Lakeville
June 6th, 2011 at 7:28 pm
The reviews on UrbanSppon are hilarious, especially the one with the mini-donuts.
June 6th, 2011 at 7:37 pm
Dan, the best thing is that Molly Cool’s rating is higher than Burger Jones in Burnsville: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/29/1594448/restaurant/Twin-Cities/Burger-Jones-Burnsville
October 6th, 2011 at 10:21 am
I just realized the “Oyster Orgy” prices are .69. Stay classy Molly Cools.
December 17th, 2011 at 6:36 pm
Heard a rumor last night that Molly Cool’s has been sold and will be reinvented once again.
December 21st, 2011 at 4:49 pm
From Facebook post. Molly Cools is closing Dec 31st. And will be reopening in late January as Copper River Fish & Chop.
December 21st, 2011 at 5:42 pm
The Wife just said, “that’s a really dumb name.”
December 21st, 2011 at 6:57 pm
Not getting much love on FB either.
December 21st, 2011 at 11:50 pm
I like the name… have been in there a couple times over the last few months and the food has been very good… i hope they do well. New management and cool from ocean air… It will be nice to have a quality seafood and steak resteraunt south of the river… give it another try with an open mind..
December 22nd, 2011 at 6:21 am
Oh I’ll try it again but it better not simply be a new menu and a different name.
December 22nd, 2011 at 9:21 am
I’m not sure it’s worse than “Molly Cool’s”.
December 22nd, 2011 at 11:57 am
My inlaws just moved into the neighborhood behind this place. Hope it’s good. Anyone been to that mexican restaraunt?
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:01 pm
JTL, of course. It’s 1.5 to 2 steps down from most other stripmall Tex-Mex places around but if you’re desperate enough for crappy Americanized Mexican, it’s definitely better than Teresa’s.
http://www.lazylightning.org/el-patio-authentic-mexican-restaurant-cantina-and-grill-lakeville-mn
http://www.lazylightning.org/teresas-mexican-restaurant-lakeville-mn
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:04 pm
My wife likes El Patio but I think it’s way too bland, even for MN.
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:08 pm
If they’re not that great, it would probably hinge entirely on how cheap their happyhour Margs are.
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:08 pm
I live just up the road from Molly Cool’s so I’m glad it will be reopening as something. I don’t like having vacant buildings in my neighborhood such as Kowalski’s large empty building off 160th St.
December 22nd, 2011 at 5:53 pm
I am amazed that no one has moved into the old (new?) Kowalski’s yet. There must be something that could go in there that would be a perfect fit.
December 22nd, 2011 at 7:33 pm
Trader Joe’s would make a killing there.
December 22nd, 2011 at 7:42 pm
An employee at the Trader Joe’s in St Paul told me they wouldn’t come to Lakeville because they couldn’t sell alcohol.
December 22nd, 2011 at 9:22 pm
I’ve heard that too. But, it would be a “perfect fit”.
December 22nd, 2011 at 9:27 pm
Why is it a “perfect fit”?
December 22nd, 2011 at 10:49 pm
Because their target demographic is a budget-conscious suburban soccer mom who thinks shopping at Trader Joe’s makes them cool and savvy. If that doesn’t spell Lakeville/AV/Burnsville, I don’t know what does.
(p.s. I know dozens of soccer moms who are constantly driving to St. Paul to Trader Joe’s and blathering on and on about this product and that. My sister-in-law even drives down from St. Cloud frequently to shop at the Maple Grove location. It’s like a cult following).
December 22nd, 2011 at 10:51 pm
Sorry…meant dozens of “south metro” soccer moms that I know that drive all the way up there.
Anyway, sit at a little league game with me some time…you won’t go a single practice or game without hearing someone going gaga about some TJ’s experience.
December 22nd, 2011 at 11:03 pm
I am a south metro soccer mom, and I do like Trader Joe’s.
December 23rd, 2011 at 12:05 am
Is Trader Joe’s the Banana Republic of grocery stores?
December 23rd, 2011 at 6:01 am
I like Trader Joe’s soy and flaxseed tortilla chips and the packages of peeled garlic they have. I package is just right for a batch of my homemade hummus!
December 23rd, 2011 at 9:37 am
Nurd, isn’t Banana Republic pretty expensive? Maybe a glorified Old Navy (products are in-house brand, priced between low-end like Marshall’s and higher-end like Gap). I don’t know if there’s a great correlation. Maybe one of the south metro soccer moms like “Dave” can draw a better analogy.
December 23rd, 2011 at 9:47 am
Think a separate store for Aldi’s “natural foods” section. Mostly in-store brands no more healthy than any other processed-organic food distributor with a PR campaign which has brainwashed the public into thinking its worth driving to get instead of going to your local grocery store or coop.
I’m not sure there’s really many similar stores.
December 23rd, 2011 at 10:41 am
For some reason people seem to think that Trader Joes is 100% organic wonderfully healthy food. While they do have a fair amount of items that fit that description, it is not that different than any other grocery store to me. They have a lot of self branded product and some items that are unique to them and they are great marketers, given that I have never seen one advertisement for them yet so many people think it is the bees knees.
I have been getting more devoted to Whole Foods of late when looking for quality fresh produce and meats.
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:20 am
Lefty, why there instead of a coop?
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:22 am
Trader Joes would be a great fit in Lakeville. The place is somewhat interesting to shop in, and the liquor section inexpensive with some nice options.
Thankfully, neither I or my wife think its worth driving for, but as noted by others, they seem to have an incredible following in a Every Day I Need Attention sort of way.
While we dont shop there, I do find it interesting to stop by once or twice a year to pick up something new and different to try.
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:30 am
Whenever I’m driving past the one on Randolf I stop in and stock up on Edamame and Nan.
December 23rd, 2011 at 1:48 pm
There are certain products that are cheaper/better/unavailable elsewhere that Trader Joe’s offers. Same with pretty much all others stores, as well.
December 23rd, 2011 at 2:02 pm
Bill,
What coop would you recommend? I guess the answer to your question is that Whole Foods is very convenient for me to go to. I don’t have any allegiance to it.
lefty
December 23rd, 2011 at 3:50 pm
lefty:
You didn’t ask me, but the best co-op is probably The Wedge on Lyndale near Franklin, although Mississippi Market on West 7th in St. Paul is good as well. Which Whole Foods do you shop at?
December 23rd, 2011 at 3:57 pm
The meat/seafood counter at The Wedge is particularly good for a co-op. Their shortribs are delicious and an amazing value.
December 23rd, 2011 at 6:03 pm
Regarding Trader Joe’s, one of the more interesting things in the otherwise pointless Lakeville liquor study and the ensuing discussion was the exploration of TJ’s coming to Lakeville and if alcohol was a factor. From what I recall, TJ didn’t rule out Lakeville for that reason (they’ll build a store in a place where they can’t sell liquor if the market is right), but because it didn’t quite fit the demographic profile they look for when siting a store — sure, soccer moms shop there, but they are not their main customer base.
And before someone says “but they’re in Maple Grove and Woodbury”, those suburbs both have smaller average household sizes and higher median household/family income.
December 23rd, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Sandy,
I have been going to the new one near Ridgedale of late. I generally get lunch there one or two times per week, and when I do, I usually grab some veggies and/or meat and fish if I am planning on cooking that night. It is a beautiful store to be sure.
December 24th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
@MSPD
Sorry, bad analogy I guess.
December 25th, 2011 at 9:12 am
Getting a Trader Joe’s south of the river would be nice – I don’t care which burb gets the store, we’re there. About 60% of our grocery budget is split between TJ’s and Costco – the other 40% between Byerly’s and Target.
As to Molly Cool’s closing and reopening as something else… never been there so don’t know what I’m missing. If we’re going out for dinner we usually head into Mpls or StP. Not too many south of the river restaurants deserve our dollars, IMHO.
December 25th, 2011 at 3:39 pm
I want Copper Bleu to re-open! I was never disappointed by their menu or quality of food. Oh yeah, and I still have a $50 gift card that I got stiffed on. NOT HAPPY about that.
December 25th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
As per Sean L.’s example, one should never buy gift cards from a restaurant, for him or herself, or even more so as a gift. The only exception would be if you get an incentive like a $125 for $100 and you know you are going to eat there in January (and plan on spending $125 or more).
There are too many stories about places shutting down and consumers getting the shaft.
December 25th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
We just went to Molly Cool’s on Sat afternoon to use up a $50 gift cert we had been given. There was one person at the bar and no one else in the restaurant the entire time we were there. Anyway, service was pretty fast. I’ll try the next incarnation once it opens.
January 14th, 2012 at 2:27 pm
Post on FB indicates the reopening is the week of Jan 23rd.
January 20th, 2012 at 8:16 am
So far the pictures of food at Copper River Fish & Chop are fairly impressive and the chef they have listed (doesn’t mean he’ll be in the kitchen all that often) is a decent one (Gary Stenberg).
While the name is silly at least the menu appears to be shaping up nicely. They’ve piqued my interest.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Copper-River-Fish-and-Chop/224488534300309?sk=photos
January 20th, 2012 at 8:28 am
Its a very unique building, and would be a good home for a nice place to eat. I will be shocked if its any different than Porterhouse, Porter Creek, Enjoy, or Chianti Grill, but one can hope.
January 20th, 2012 at 8:31 am
I want to try the ‘Angry Lobster’. I asked about an opening date and didn’t get a specific day. The answer, “we are shooting for next week!!!”
January 20th, 2012 at 1:18 pm
“…paired with locally sourced ingredients.” Well, I suppose that’s true, SYSCO is sorta local.
January 20th, 2012 at 1:27 pm
Yeah, it does not say locally grown. Locally sourced…………..grown in a lab in Tiawan.
January 20th, 2012 at 1:34 pm
Yeah I ignored all that. The CHB bit is the same line that we got from Zest. Who cares?
January 20th, 2012 at 1:59 pm
Its Friday, and I am slow on the best of days, but CHB?
January 20th, 2012 at 2:01 pm
“Certified Hereford Beef” basically the next big marketing push in beef like “Angus” was a few years ago.
Here’s one of Seth’s comments about it on the Zest thread: http://www.lazylightning.org/zest-bar-and-grill-eagan-mn#comment-113601
January 20th, 2012 at 2:12 pm
I can’t believe I only got one thumbs up on my CHB burger options. I hurted my brain coming up with those.
January 20th, 2012 at 2:23 pm
Most of your comment hurt our brains. Consider it a gift.
January 20th, 2012 at 2:29 pm
I walked right into that one. Ha Ha.
January 20th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
““Certified Hereford Beef” basically the next big marketing push in beef like “Angus” was a few years ago.”
The whole “Angus” thing is a rerun, anyway. “Black Angus” was a big deal on menus in the seventies.
January 22nd, 2012 at 7:19 pm
Reopening Jan 26th at 4pm per FB post, with a new name of course.
January 22nd, 2012 at 7:20 pm
Copper River Fish and Chop House’s new signage is quite a bit more noticeable than Copper Bleu or Molly Cool’s ever was.
February 2nd, 2012 at 2:47 pm
Well MSPD, it’s no Trader Joe’s: http://www.thisweeklive.com/2012/02/02/family-leisure-to-move-into-old-kowalskis-site/
http://www.familyleisure.com/
February 2nd, 2012 at 2:58 pm
Family Liesure is the new name for Watson’s. Yawn.
February 2nd, 2012 at 3:25 pm
Wasn’t that the same place that closed down to make way for the expanded AV transit station?
February 2nd, 2012 at 3:38 pm
It was Tearitup.
I do not miss those ads.
February 2nd, 2012 at 4:24 pm
Oh yay! Let’s all rush over and not shop there.
February 2nd, 2012 at 6:07 pm
I never saw anyone actually shopping at Watson’s. The only people in the parking lot were there for the transit station heh.
February 2nd, 2012 at 6:16 pm
When is the review coming for Copper River? I want to find out how overpriced it is!
February 2nd, 2012 at 6:20 pm
Next week. Probably Monday.
February 3rd, 2012 at 8:20 pm
Uh Oh…wife’s BFF went there last night for her birthday. Said she won’t be back. Even had her entree comp’d. Scallops were gritty and the tuna tartar had mayo in it which I guess is not normal. Wife says her friend is pretty easy to please and doesn’t mind paying for a good meal. But her friend said it was like Porterhouse prices with Applebee’s quality food. Was going to go there next Friday for our Valentines dinner but decided against it now.
Her friend said it was a pretty similar menu to Molly Cool’s but with higher prices. Not looking good…
February 4th, 2012 at 8:54 am
That space is probably a better fit for someplace like Family Leisure than a grocery store. The access and visibility are much less likely to be issues.
I thought the Watson’s ads were tolerable, so long as they were muted.