Please note:
- 1. We attended two mostly free evenings as part of Morgan’s on Nicollet’s VIP and Friends and Family nights. VIP night was entirely free aside from alcohol and the Family and Friends Night allowed for some free and/or reduced price entrees. Please take what follows with as much salt as you feel is necessary following this government required disclosure.
2. This is a 1450 word review. If you’d like to skip the background and VIP night stuff and head right for the full menu review please do yourselves a favor and click here.
—
On both Friday and Saturday we visited Burnsville’s newest restaurant in town, Morgan’s on Nicollet located within the newly renovated Nicollet Inn (the old Holiday Inn space on Nicollet and CR-42). Splitting the physical distance between Chianti Grill and Porter Creek Hardwood Grill, Morgan’s on Nicollet aspires to be a gastropub serving up innovative twists on traditional pub fare while serving upscale craft beers and competing with the other restaurants of similar caliber in the immediate area.
Backed by the owners of Rudy’s Redeye Grill, both the physical appearance of the restaurant as well as the menu mostly mirrors what you’d see at their RRG locations around the metro. Dark woods, booth seating facing into the restaurant, and an extensive bar makes up the majority of Morgan’s on Nicollet. With capacity set at just over 170 and a bar which can handle approximately 35 patrons, this is a large space but certainly not the largest the chain owns. While the tables and bar dominate the majority of the space, a gas powered fireplace sits in the middle faced by a single sofa which provides an awkward seating area to wait for tables for only a handful of patrons.
VIP night:
Beer menu: as of right now, being that there is only one tap option which I would consider a true “craft” beer (Odell’s IPA), they have a lot of work to do. However, they are asking for suggestions on their Facebook page for what to rotate in so perhaps this will change in short order. While the beers are not your usual domestics, they are certainly not to the level I think they have hyped them to be.
Food: We tasted nearly every one of the samples provided on Friday and found them disappointing to say the least. The chicken and waffles, filled with dry chicken and a only a hint of maple syrup, were a huge miss for us but servers noted on Saturday that they were quite popular. Their crab cake was loose, heavily breaded, and dominated by a spicy “roasted tomato coulis” topping which left a spicy aftertaste for quite sometime but hid any and all flavor of the crab below. The rest of the options, especially the crab stuffed mac and cheese balls were boring, tasteless, and most importantly outside what I think needs to exist to compete in the local marketplace at this price level. We also were able to check out their their spinach salad which was provided with a syrupy bacon vinaigrette, a very meaty but overdone baked ziti, tender but tasteless and very saucy smoked blackberry BBQ riblets, and some corned beef hash which was more hash than corned beef. As we left on Friday night we were not looking forward to any future visits but with an invite to Saturday night’s “Family and Friend’s night” in hand we decided to head back again and see if Morgan’s could redeem themselves.
Our reservations were for 8:30PM on Saturday night. The restaurant was far less crowded than Friday night and there were several open tables when we arrived to find a 15 to 20 minute wait. We were eventually seated at a roomy booth and met our very friendly and fairly knowledgeable server who allowed us time to look over Morgan on Nicollet’s menu and then took our orders and went on her way.
We picked the steamed mussels appetizer which comes in a bleu cheese and bacon sauce with grilled french bread for $12. The Wife ordered the Smoked Gouda Meatloaf which comes with a red wine demi-glace, mashed potatoes and green beans for $15 (free on F&F night) and it came with choice of soup/salad and she chose their beer cheese soup. I ordered the 12oz NY Strip which comes with choice of vegetable and potato as well as soup/salad for $30 ($10 on F&F night). I chose the edamame succotash for the vegetable, after later learning they were out of grilled Brussels sprouts, a baked potato, and their French onion soup.
Starters:
The soups came out first and were quite good. The Wife’s beer cheese was a small cup but full of both beer and cheese flavor and was a nice starter to her meal. The French onion was cheesy and full of onion but was a little too sweet and the cheese didn’t carry enough flavor for me.
After a little wait we asked our server about our steamed mussels and she realized she had forgotten all about them. She arrived soon after with our dish and placed it before us. All but one of the mussels were opened nicely and we dug in. While the bacon and bleu cheese sauce was interesting, the aggressive bleu cheese totally overpowered the flavor of the mussels. The Wife noted that in Minnesota this was probably seen more as a positive than a negative. Overall the dish was good and we would both order it again in the future.
Entrees:
The Wife’s Smoked Gouda Meatloaf was portioned well for the price but she was disappointed there weren’t more mashed potatoes. The green beans were crispy, bright green and large but she did not seem terribly interested in them. The meatloaf itself was quite tasty and while the smoked gouda wasn’t terribly noticeable itself, the red wine demi-glace was the perfect compliment to the meaty treat on the table. Very similar to Rudy’s own excellent meatloaf creations, I thought this meatloaf wasn’t quite as good as those but we both thoroughly enjoyed her dish and I ended up eating the last little bit even though I was afraid it may have “put me over the edge” for the evening.
My NY Strip steak was ordered rare and arrived mostly medium due to the thickness of the majority of the steak with some parts medium rare to rare. The baked potato was not cooked enough and I didn’t eat much of it due to this fact. The edamame succotash was little more than a vegetable medley with edamame instead of lima beans. While the edamame over lima beans were a welcome change, it did little to make the dish any more attractive than the original. The Wife noted that two-thirds of my dish were not cooked properly and that if I hadn’t been paying $10 on a preview night I probably would not have been pleased with the $30 price tag. She was right as usual.
Dessert:
The Wife, always interested in after dinner treats, suggested we inquire about dessert. They were not planning on serving desserts that evening but they brought out a complimentary piece of carrot cake for us to enjoy. A delicate cream cheese frosting which did not overpower the rest of the cake, I enjoyed the little bits I tried which are usually way too sweet for me.
Service:
The service was very good for day -1. The server was bubbly, friendly, fairly knowledgeable and was willing to please. Aside from some very minor mistakes (forgetting about the mussels due to her concern over their lack of Brussels sprouts) there was absolutely nothing that could have been done differently here.
Overall:
A much improved experience from Friday’s VIP night. The food, service, and ambiance was pleasant enough to make us want to come back to enjoy a special occasion dinner. While the prices are a bit out of our range for regular repeat dining, we saw no reason why they would not be able to compete with both Chianti Grill and Porter Creek. While the location is tucked off The Burnsville Strip, if marketed properly they do have a shot of making it in this very difficult market.
—
Have you eaten at Morgan’s on Nicollet? If so what did you think? Based on the menu what would you order if you went? What do you think about the appetizers and entrees? Would those meet your definition of a “gastropub”? What beers would you like to see them have on rotation? Whatever you have to say about Morgan’s on Nicollet: A New World Tavern, go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Address:
Morgan’s on Nicollet – A New World Tavern
14201 Nicollet Ave
Burnsville, MN 55337
Phone:
952-435-2100
See all the pictures from Morgan’s on Nicollet on Flickr here.
Related posts:
Dakota Complaints Map
Dakota Inmate Dashboard
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September 23rd, 2010 at 9:01 am
Being a relative newbie to the area (2 years), I don’t have any sort of attachment to the Dakota County Steakhouse, but Rudy’s seems to have done well wherever they have set up shop and I don’t see this place as being any different in that aspect. My hope is that the Southside Tavern would have a better craft beer selection than the usual selection at the other places. Granted, I’m all for supporting local breweries like Summit, Flat Earth, Surly, etc., but if I have to look at one more tap row with Mich Golden Light, Miller Lite, Summit EPA, Guinness and Summer Shandy (or now Sam Adams Oktoberfest) as the seasonal offering, I will have to do my best not to vomit on the bar.
September 23rd, 2010 at 9:03 am
People cried when the Timberlodge shut down? I guess I could understand that if the building actually fell on them or something like that.
September 23rd, 2010 at 9:36 am
HIB went into foreclosure at some point this year and was sold in late July. The new owners were left with a HUGE mess in all respects yet were able to pull everything together and still put on a well-received event (25 year high school reunion) for us less than two weeks later. One of the managers mentioned that in the near future, they would be rebranding under the Best Western flag.
The food that was served at the reunion, and the next morning in the restaurant (which was a bit warm considering that the A/C had been out since Memorial Day and it was already pushing 90F at 9AM) was very good, as was the service by the catering/wait staff. I hope that this carries over to the new concept.
The menu items sound good to me, and hopefully they’ll place a number of ads to let people know it’s there. To be honest, I would not have known about DCS except for the Dining Monthly Cards!
September 23rd, 2010 at 9:52 am
Where I work in Burnsville, we eat out for lunch daily. That section of Burnsville (Nicollett & County 42) is a mess, and so we rarely go that way. If we do, we go the the North (Arby’s, Mickey D’s, etc.) but NEVER turn south off of Nicollett for Burger King, etc. It’s close to impossible to get back out of there. This place would never attract our business, just based on location.
I don’t know if the traffic around there gets any better at night, so I don’t know if it would be easier to get there at that time.
Yes, I know the hotel has a traffic light now, but that doesn’t change my mind.
September 23rd, 2010 at 11:04 am
I ate at the DCS once long ago, but don’t remember anything about it. I know they had live music there sometimes, and I wonder if they’ll keep that in the new incarnation.
I always forgot Timberlodge was even there. I would guess Outback probably drew a lot more people.
September 23rd, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Timberlodge was better food an service than I’ve had at Outback. But that is neither here nor there as I found both places to be nothing special. My wife’s fondness for Timberlodge was due to it being one of the extremely few places she could order a steak well done, no pink, and it would come that way the first time and not be a dried up piece of jerky.
I agree the location on the north side of Nicollet, right there is a joke. Impossible to try and go south nearly any time not necessarily because of the roadway, but because of the idiots on the roadway. Folks not using turn signals, some people putt putting along, while others are driving too fast. It can be nearly impossible to get the gap timed right before right turning traffic from the south blocks your way.
That said… I have been surprised at the number of decent restaurants attached to hotels and have been meaning to check more out.
September 23rd, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Mayor Kautz Caps Off Busy Day
(ThisWeek News) Burnsville, MN
September 23, 2017
It was all smiles yesterday for a newly re-elected and newly re-married Mayor Elizabeth Kautz as she held a joint legal wedding/swearing in on the recently expanded front patio of the Southside Tavern overlooking Nicollet Avenue and County Road 42.
Kautz and her new husband — divorcee and deadbeat former City Councilman Dan Gustafson — toasted with champagne, danced to the music of various starving Art and All That Jazz performers, and dined on handcrafted higher-end sandwiches late into the evening.
The events were momentarily interrupted, but not marred by a gruesome crash in the newly opened 16-lane roundabout adjacent to the restaurant. The crash claimed the lives of several individuals when an SUV driver was momentarily blinded by the new massive decorative lighting fixture attached to the large “Burnsville — Pedestrian Friendly and Green” sign in the center of the roundabout and plowed into a group of children and their parents trying to walk across Nicollet Avenue.
Also killed in the accident was 106 year-old Councilman Charlie Crichton. When word spread of Crichton’s involvement in the accident, Mayor Kautz immediately issued an Executive Order increasing the max tax levy for 2018 to 48.7 percent and waved at the help for another craft beer.
Ironically, the crash may have been avoided had all of the lanes of the roundabout been fully paved but weather and other constraints like low motivation and union regulations have delayed the laying of asphalt and other details like smoothing over the manhole covers that protrude four inches up into passing motorists’ tires.
In related news, City Engineer Wolf Larson announced that Burnsville has awarded Palda and Sons, Inc. $12,500,000 for early completion of the roundabout project.
“The pavement that’s there is as smooth as glass…whenever it is that they open it to traffic” Larson said proudly, “and the project was only 179% over estimate.”
Additional layers of blacktop will be laid “when we get around to it” according to the City and lane striping will occur shortly thereafter when pigs fly and monkeys shoot out of my butt.
September 23rd, 2010 at 7:16 pm
Well everyone saw the divorce from his second wife coming…especially after the bankruptcy proceedings left her to work for VenuWorks at the BPAC to support his drinking habit while he did nothing but live off his stipend from the City of Burnsville’s taxpayers.
September 24th, 2010 at 9:49 am
Dakota County Steakhouse was ok, but nothing special. I like Rudy’s in general, so I have great hopes for this place.
Not sure what the traffic complaints are about. Drive to the north end of the lot and use the traffic light. Its certainly safer than trying to cross three or four lanes of traffic to go the other way.
September 24th, 2010 at 11:28 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Duke Powell, LazyLightning.org. LazyLightning.org said: Southside Tavern: Burnsville, MN http://ow.ly/2Itrw [...]
September 24th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
I will wait and see a review from the erstwhile Bill Roehl in regard to the Southside Tavern after it opens. At this point I would be skeptical. The DCS was nothing special. But I also have seen some good hotel-restaurant combos in the metro lately.
There is apparently a new gastropub type restaurant in Bloomington at 8405 Lyndale Ave S., the Purple Sandpiper… the website is encouraging. look it up on google i dont want to be accused of shilling! we were going to go last night as we were in the neighborhood but the gloomy weather enticed us to go home and sautee some italian sausages with onion and marsala instead.
they are showing ambitious entrees in the $12-20 range for dinner, and they also have a $35 and $45 per person tasting menu that looks ambitious.
September 27th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
I also don’t get the traffic problem comments. Is it that hard to go to the light that amazingly stops traffic on Nicollet so you can turn the desired direction? Not that hard to accomplish…
October 27th, 2010 at 7:31 am
[...] Burnsville’s business area adjacent to the famed Heart of the City took another hit following the closure of Timberlodge Steakhouse when Hooters closed its doors this week as [...]
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:07 am
I asked about updated information on this restaurant and was provided with the following:
1. They’re looking at an updated opening of 4/5/2011 (as they obviously missed the 2/1/2011 date I wrote about back in September).
2. They have hired the GM from Enjoy! (Julio Pitre) to head up the restaurant.
3. They’re going to be offering samples of the upcoming menu at the Bite of Burnsville on March 3rd.
4. They have have a new tentative name (updated from Southside Tavern) which they are 99% sure will be Morgan’s New World Tavern.
April 14th, 2011 at 11:15 am
From an e-mail I received from their Marketing guy they are having an open house for the public on 4/21/2011 from 4 PM to 8 PM.
April 14th, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Guy walks into a bar and sits down. From behind him, he hears a voice that says, “Hey, nice tie!”
The guy turns to look, but there’s nobody else in the bar. Thinking he imagined it, he goes back to his beer.
A few seconds later, he hears, “Hey, nice shirt too!”
Again, he turns, but there’s nobody there.
A few more sips of beer, and he hears, “Hey, nice shoes!”
For a third time, he turns around, looks under tables, around the corner, and just can’t figure it out.
The bartender says, “hey buddy, what’s up?”
The guy says, “I swear I keep hearing these voices, but I can’t figure out where they’re coming from”.
Bartender points to a bowl at the end of the bar and says,
“Oh…must be the beer nuts. They’re complimentary.”
April 14th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Morgan’s New World Tavern…. nothing at all on google search other than this esteemed blog mention.
Is Dan Gustafson involved? (just kidding)
April 22nd, 2011 at 8:41 am
Morgan’s will be having a VIP night for those interested in tasting the food and seeing the new beautiful decor on 4/29 from 5-9. Post on our Facebook page, facebook.com/morganstavern to be added to the list. We will be posting the new menu today!
P.S. Dan is not involved:)
April 22nd, 2011 at 8:49 am
Went yesterday to check out what was going on. A couple of things to note:
1. There was a temporary sign out front which said, “Morgan’s on Nicollet,” and appeared to be the name for the restaurant. I don’t know if it’s final. My wife agreed with another individual there that it sounded like a furniture store and not a restaurant.
2. They will have a fairly impressive rectangular bar. The staffer on hand showing me around explained that this was because for businessmen looking to have a beer are also looking for conversation and staring at a wall as with most bars just isn’t conducive to that. When I asked how many people it would seat I was told ~35 but he wasn’t sure.
3. The entire capacity for the restaurant will be 171.
4. They will have private booths (similar to what Rudy’s has with the red curtains), a large 12 person table by the front window overlooking the parking lot and Taco Bell, and four booths in the back along with the usual array of tables.
5. They have an estimated construction completion date of early May (~5/1). I don’t believe them.
April 22nd, 2011 at 9:09 am
I am keeping my fingers crossed only because I am an HGTV and Restaurant Impossible addict.
April 26th, 2011 at 10:52 am
1. They’re opening 5/2/2011
2. Here’s a copy of the menu: http://midwestmenus.com/file/morgans+on+nicollet+menu%2833764%29.pdf
Thoughts on the menu?
April 26th, 2011 at 10:58 am
Looks like a decent menu. I’m not sure how many $30 steaks or $24 racks of ribs will sell in a forgotten corner of Burnsville, but they’ll figure that out.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:13 am
That menu looks pretty aggressive. I haven’t seen chicken and waffles on many menus before, but since I just got done watching the HBO version of Mildred Pierce, the timing is sort of ironic to me. A lot of the sandwiches and appies have some decent takes, I think.
Never been a big fan of going to a hotel restaurant in a suburb, but if early reviews are good at this place, I think it might be worth the trip. I agree too, that they are not going to move a lot of the more expensive items on the menu. I just can’t do 30 bucks for a NY strip steak as long as Byerly’s has Prime NY Strip available for 15-18 dollars cooked on my outdoor grill.
April 26th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
A little on the pricey side. Not sure they can convince the suburbs to spend Enjoy type money at a hotel restaurant, but that seems where they are going.
I will stop by to try a burger at the very least, and am hopeful that they will have great prime rib.
April 28th, 2011 at 10:46 am
i would agree the menu is aggressive. The prices are on the high side for Burnsville, but if they can actually perform on them it might work. $16 for fish and chips, a pub food staple , would have to be extremely good to keep me from going to the Anchor and waiting for 45 mins to be seated. $9 for a bacon cheeseburger isnt really out of line , prices at Chammps certainly are near that. i hope they succeed, anyone hear the beer selection?
May 1st, 2011 at 7:15 pm
I visited on Friday and Saturday and will have a review up on Monday morning.
May 2nd, 2011 at 7:11 am
I have moved the comments from the preview post under this one for historical purposes.
May 2nd, 2011 at 4:14 pm
I’d say thanks for “taking one for the team” on this, but damn…another cut-rate meal for Mr. Blog Star.
Anyway…”we saw no reason why they would not be able to compete with both Chianti Grill and Porter Creek” is an encouraging assessment, not that I’m in love with Chianti and haven’t gotten in to Porter Creek yet. Either way, it’s nice to not hear that it’s Molly Cool’s north.
May 2nd, 2011 at 7:40 pm
Yay, another option in the South Metro :) Ryan and I jet down to Rudy’s from time to time, so this would be another quickie dinner spot for us someday.
One thing I noticed immediately is that the carrot cake seems to be a perfect size. Not a big slab of cake and nothing too tiny – it seems managable.
I LOVE mussels, but not sure if I would order them here… then again, I do love me some blue cheese.
May 3rd, 2011 at 8:45 am
Bleu cheese and bacon sauce…on mussels? Intriguing.
I guess this shows why you usually shouldn’t judge a restaurant on only one experience.
May 3rd, 2011 at 8:48 am
jf, depends on the experience. The first night we received single bits of appetizers as they floated around. There were numerous ways in which that could have affected the items themselves.
To name only a few:
1. Temperature.
2. Downsizing to appetizer level (chicken and waffles into a sandwich sized portion).
3. Single item of a whole dish (chicken toastada on a single chip)
4. Service was limited to people walking around with trays and a buffet, not direct 1:1 table side service.
—
So being that there were so many differences from the actual way the restaurant was going to be run it just didn’t seem to make sense to judge them based on VIP night.
May 3rd, 2011 at 4:47 pm
Check Ihop!
http://www.easyir.com/easyir/prssrel.do?easyirid=4004912BBDCCAE2C&version=live&prid=730901
May 5th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
We also went to the friends and family night – full disclosure – my son works at the hotel.
Wife had the Pork Chop which was really good – I’d definitely order that myself in the future. My young son had ribs and he enjoyed them but he enjoys all ribs. They did look pretty tender. I had the walleye which was good but nothing really special. I actually liked the edamame succatash quite a bit. There was some sort of sauce that made it much better than I was expecting. The garlic mashed potatoes were aslo quite good.
Server wasn’t that good but it was quite busy and he was obviously new so I’ll give him a pass. That said, he should really learn what they have on tap and he brought my wife the wrong vodka drink.
The restaurant itself was much nicer inside than I expected. It was larger and more upscale than I was anticipating.
I’m not a huge fan of Chianti Grill but I’d probably rank Porter Creek ahead of it, mainly because I like the ambiance better there (especially in the summer when you can sit outside). Food wise I’d say it’s right on par with Porter Creek. I do think the location will hurt them as you don’t expect that kind of place tucked inside a Best Western and there isn’t much visibility to it.
May 6th, 2011 at 9:57 am
We will try it out, altho one tap beer doesn’t sound promising. I would go for the current IPA but anything else may limit my drinking options if they do rotate. If they don’t have adequate tap, we probably wouldn’t stay.
May 6th, 2011 at 9:59 am
sparksals, they have more than one tap but they were not falling into the craft category they claimed they would. There was Fat Tire, Guinness, Schell’s, etc, etc, etc but only the IPA was of any worthy note IMO.
May 6th, 2011 at 10:04 am
We stopped in this week for dinner. Overall a decent meal, but not worth the cost. I was hoping for something I might compare to a place like Redstone, as prices and menu are somewhat similar, but they came up a short on the first visit.
The fondue, for what its worth, is not fondue. Its nacho cheese dip with bacon, in a bowl, served with soft pretzels and broccoli. After 5 minutes at the table the cheese had cooled and hardened and was nearly inedible.
We will give them another shot in a few weeks though. Nice place inside, they have done a nice job with the space. Service was good as well.
May 6th, 2011 at 10:50 am
Oh, that’s better, Bill. I must have misunderstood that . I just looked over the menu and the appetizers, especially look very pricy. Salads and sandwiches are a tad on the high end, but not as high as everything else. This certainly won’t be a regular stop for us, which is a shame b/c as we all know, those types of places are a rarity in our metro area.
May 12th, 2011 at 6:24 am
[...] tip our total came out to be $59.60. Just for a frame of reference, the meal we had at Morgan’s on Nicollet, had we paid full price, would have been $55.65 before tip. While our meal at Burger Jones included [...]
May 19th, 2011 at 1:48 pm
Morgan’s is on Crowd Cut today, $20 for $40. I know Bill hates these deals but thought I’d pass along the info.
June 15th, 2011 at 9:13 am
[...] Morgan’s on Nicollet: A New World Tavern [...]
June 16th, 2011 at 8:11 am
[...] early May The Wife and I attended two preview nights at the South Metro’s latest restaurant: Morgan’s on Nicollet. Morgan’s is an updated space in a newly renovated hotel and provides both out of town [...]
June 27th, 2011 at 10:47 am
So, since Lazy Lightning was kind enough to subsidize my dinner with Mrs. MSPD the other night, I should return the favor with a report. First, thanks again Bill for these giveaways.
We went over on Saturday night, right around 5:30ish. There were 4-5 other parties of 2-3 at booths and the bar was empty. They’ve done a nice job with the decor — the restaurant still has the feel of a hotel restaurant, albeit a nice one.
Same with the menu — in both interest level and price, it reads like a “nice” hotel room service menu. No influence per se…safe appetizers, a couple $25+ steaks and a handful of burgers. It looks like they broke the link to their menu and I can’t find another one.
My wife decided to go with the appetizer-salad combo: Scallops with a bourbon somethingorother with corn relish, and an apple-walnut-brie salad. Not feeling adventurous, and deciding against furthering my search for the South Metro’s best burger, I chose the 12 oz prime rib.
I’m not an alcohol connoisseur, but I know enough/have enough dining experience to give a place a pass/fail grade. The two things that jumped out at me from the wine list — it pretty much covered the varietal spectrum (good); there were a LOT of high-priced wines on there (and by high priced, I mean $50+ per bottle). I also glanced over at the bar to see what kinds of beers were on tap and I saw a lineup of the usual stuff I would see anywhere.
Since neither of us were drinking Saturday, I didn’t scrutinize, but having heard Morgan’s and “gastropub” in the same sentence a lot, I was a little unimpressed. If *I* can recognize all the beers, you haven’t really come up with anything interesting.
Food:
Bread basket — the bread was clearly made that day. I summarized it was made there, Mrs. MSPD wasn’t sure. I always think I’m right, so let’s say it was made there that day. It was room temperature — served warm, it would have been a 3 out of 5. I’ll give it a 2.
Scallops: When this plate came out, I was optimistic about the meal. It was visually pleasing and the scallops were large. The look of the dish reflected effort and skill which is something that I base my restaurant opinions on. However, the scallops had very minimal sear — it’s like a good steak: one of the appeals of a great scallop is the crunchy sear with a buttery, fresh interior. It’s not that hard to sear a scallop and being that the restaurant wasn’t busy at all, I would have liked them to pay closer attention to detail.
On taste, they were good. The scallops were fresh and not overdone. The corn relish was very good. I didn’t detect any bourbon anything. All in all, a 4 out of 5. The highlight of the meal.
My Caesar salad was served with her scallops. I had asked if they had anchovies and the server said she didn’t think so. To my surprise, the salad had anchovies on it (good!). The rest was your everyday Caesar salad. Lettuce and croutons tossed in a store-grade Caesar dressing.
The thing about Caesar salad is that with very little additional effort and cost, you can make an actual Caesar salad (with the egg, anchovies, dash of citrus and Worcestershire, etc. and house-made croutons from day-old bread or whatever). I’m pretty sure even at Le Cordon Bleu in Eagan, it has to be in the core curriculum during the first month.
Again, it’s that simple but important attention to detail which differentiates good restaurants from blah in my opinion (and I don’t claim to be a chef or qualified food critic). “Caesar salad” – 2 out of 5 and that’s generous due to the anchovies.
The salad Mrs. MSPD ordered was simply an abomination. It was a massive plate of chopped iceberg lettuce. There were about 5 walnuts, several strips of rind-on brie (fine for cheese connoisseurs, but most people, especially south metro-ites would bristle at the rind and discard all of the cheese), and a little cup of what looked like poppyseed dressing. I don’t think there was anything “apple” about it, contrary to the menu. Everything about it was a colossal fail. This is June in Minnesota for chrissakes. Get some GREENS in there. There’s even a branch of the St. Paul Farmer’s Market RIGHT HERE IN BURNSVILLE once a week.
Granted, he’s a very adventurous eater, but I guarantee if I asked my 9 year-old son to make his Mom a salad using only the ingredients in our fridge right now, he would have blown that thing right out of the water. This was a minus-1,289 out of 5. Chefs should be fired on the spot for sending that kind of salad out of the kitchen.
My prime rib. On the plus side, it was a generous “12 oz.” I would say probably 16 oz. The cut was good, with marbling, etc. It was cooked medium-rare which was my ask.
The description says “herb/sea salt crusted”. There really wasn’t any crust or sizzle to the outside and I needed to grab the salt shaker twice. I also like the jus to reflect pan drippings and a concentrated briny/meaty flavor. Unfortunately, it was just kind of watery. Also, I like the option of horseradish with prime rib — it’s kind of standard I think, but I wasn’t asked and I didn’t ask. Probably my bad but it was another small touch that was lacking.
All in all, the prime rib was fine. I’d say 3 out of 5. I chose the baked potato and asparagus, both of which were OK.
The dessert list had about 8 options, some of which sounded interesting but we were on our way to a movie and Mrs. MSPD wanted her Junior Mints.
Tab came to $46 (I think). We had a pleasant meal and the servers were genial.
Here’s the thing about Morgan’s: It was originally described as sort of a “gastropub”. That means all sorts of things, but it implies interesting beers and dishes that reflect a twist on “pub fare” with skilled chef influence. It isn’t that.
Their Facebook description is: “Morgan’s is mostly American cuisine but with touches of the old world pub classics like Corned Beef and Cabbage or Sheapards Pie as well as new world flavors, like the Jameson Pork chop or Guinness Braised Pot Roast, that are always changing.” It isn’t really that either. That description implies a couple of interesting “Daily specials”.
The latter sounds exactly like Houlihan’s which I think actually does a good job at “American cuisine with touches of old world pub classics”.
I’m not sure they’ve honed in on their niche very well and at the price point they’re playing in, that doesn’t bode well. They don’t have the uniqueness of Porter Creek and Chianti Grill who I imagine are their prime competitors. They don’t execute the “pub fare with a twist” which actually would be unique in the south metro. It didn’t have a homey/personal vibe that would make you forget you’re in a chain hotel. In fact, Rudy’s Redeye (with which I think they share a pedigree) does a much better job in Lakeville of executing a “restaurant attached to hotel in suburb” concept.
Two things that would make me want to go back: (1) A post on their Facebook page that goes something like this: “OK, we’ve refined the menu — scaled it back and told the chefs to make each dish look and taste like you’re auditioning to cook at a top-end restaurant. And we’re really paying attention to detail now”. (2) To see if the burger is any good, since there isn’t a good burger within 3 miles of my house.
Anyway…hopefully that “review” does justice to the generosity of the gift certificate. I appreciate that Morgan’s donated the gift certificate to LazyLightning and hopefully the honest feedback is a worthy “thanks”.
June 27th, 2011 at 11:00 am
Not sure if Morgan’s is going to say thanks, but I will.
Thanks for telling me to never try this place (not that I really go in that direction to eat in the first place).
June 27th, 2011 at 11:47 am
Thanks for the review MSPD. Your experience was very similar to ours. Certainly not bad, and the captive audience of road warriors staying in the hotel with expense accounts will find it adequate, but I dont see them drawing a lot of business from the surrounding community if they dont make a few changes.
June 27th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
Thanks for using the word “jus” correctly! Hubby and I went to one of those opening night things with the free appetizers and not free drinks; our impression from that limited exposure pretty much agrees with your review.
June 27th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Hopefully I was honest and constructive. Restaurants are a tough business — certainly not one I would like to be in. But often times it’s a “forest for the trees” proposition. Eat at 20 restaurants, then eat at your own. You’ll see where you’re good and where you can use help. It’s that simple. I think if they did that, they would see the need for a bit more refinement and to find a more unique niche.
If the chef that made the scallops — who demonstrated his or her potential to source ingredients and construct a dish — sat down and got served that heaping mound of iceberg lettuce, I guarantee there’s no way that dish ever leaves the kitchen again. Like I said that salad was a fireable offense for a “cook”.
Anyway, from the sounds of it, the people behind the place and the hotel in general are hardworking, good people with good intentions. I hope they are continually evaluating/re-evaluating themselves at Morgan’s and I hope they succeed.
June 27th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
Tks for the review MSPD… have been thinking about going as well, but might wait to see if things improve. porter creek remains the best choice here for above chain dining… and I am not as impressed with it as i used to be.
Had a very nice dinner at Pizza Biga (attached to Turtle Bread on about 48th and Chicago) the other night, no wait, great service, a very good (and under-rated pizza) and excellent salad , i had a Bell’s lager, (they had that and one other choice which was Rush River Unforgiven Ale which is a favorite of mine but wanted to try the lager) and my wife had a $6.75 glass of Martini California chardonnay which was nearly 10 ounces it seemed…
Walked next door to the Pumphouse Creamery for outrageous ice cream, and then picked up a piece of raspberry pie to go at Turtle.
No wonder i am underimpressed by most of the choices SOTR…
++(note we had intended to go to the Town Hall Tap but the wait was 30 mins on a rainy Wednesday night at 8:00 pm)
June 27th, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Well said, Mulch…
“No wonder i am underimpressed by most of the choices SOTR…”
It isn’t snobbery, it’s the want of yummy food SOTR. It just isn’t here. I think that places like Morgan’s and Porter Creek are more interested in owning/running a restaurant than in creating and selling delicious food.
June 28th, 2011 at 7:31 am
Sandy, I think the market is here for creative and delicious food, there are outposts of delicious food here (Tacqueria la hacienda, Satay to Go, Ronin, Juniors, etc.)
but the “step up” range from these modest type of places has not yet occured. Porter Creek is definitely a step in the right direction, the food is actually decent and some of it is excellent. my main complaint of late is that the servers hover a bit too much …. when that happens i get the feeling that they are essentially wanting to “turn the table.”
July 14th, 2011 at 11:15 am
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time and effort to not only come into Morgan’s on Nicollet to experience the restaurant, but also to write a review.
We haven taken great consideration into all of your post! It is our personal goal to pay very close attention to detail and make everyone’s entire experience an exeptional one!
Again, Thank You for your feedback as it is you who will ultimately help us succeed!
July 20th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
A friend and I went to Morgan’s on Nicollet on Monday. They had these fish and chips and shrimp cocktail for $2.00 so I figured I’d try them. I can honestly say I was blown away. I am used getting well, poor quality food when it’s free or near free and I can say this food was great. The shrimp cocktail especially. I went on to try the pork chop which was awesome as well. Both my friend who had the steak oscar which she loved agree that it is a place we would recommend. It’s slow there but, I can see this place getting busy. Good experience for me.
July 21st, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Nice or Morgans to leave a follow up comment. Its great to see a place try to take feedback and use it to improve.
Not so excited about the post from Biz, but whatever.
July 21st, 2011 at 7:49 pm
I saw the $2 deal and am curious.
July 22nd, 2011 at 9:10 am
Praising the shrimp cocktail at a restaurant is like praising it’s water.
August 12th, 2011 at 10:27 pm
We have been there several times. But twice now they have “ran out” of shrimp cocktails. Even though the place was empty !
I think they have “ran out” of money to fund this experiment. This place has some issues ! They could be packing people in, “at least for happy hour” which could lead to repeat cutomers, which leads to more “main menu” diners…. I ordered a burger once and the pepper shaker had cinnamon in it ! It did not matter, the burger sucked anyway ! The soup had so much salt in it, you could not eat it. Sorry ! We will not come back unless things get fixed.
January 25th, 2012 at 7:03 am
[...] Ramadan Restaurant and Grill 2. Andiamo 3. Bella Pizza 4. Valley Tap House 5. Morgan’s on Nicollet: A New World Tavern 6. Burger Time 7. Reno’s Pizza 8. Burger Jones 9. Las Tortillas 10. Zest Bar and Grill 11. [...]
February 6th, 2012 at 1:23 pm
I am curious about the $2.00 shrimp cocktails. Sounds just Las Vegas enough to lure me in.
I got their food one time only as take out. It was very good, but not terribly memorable.
I will be more than happy to dine-in though if the $2.00 shrimp cocktails turn out to be a reality.
February 6th, 2012 at 6:13 pm
I have to admit, we have been back several times since my last post.
We only go there for the Happy Hour. You can’t beat the $2 shrimp cocktail or the $2 fish ‘n chips ! They have a good house wine and a few good craft beers on tap. I did hear last time we were there that they may change the H/H menu soon. So, hurry in for the $2 specials.
I keep trying to like them so, last time I ordered a Reuben that I heard was very good. The meat was thin, tough and when I opened it to look at it, I saw it was grey in the middle. I sent it back and had one of the H/H specials.
February 11th, 2012 at 5:30 pm
Thanks for coming back Ron and sticking with us. We did just launched a new happy hour menu on Tuesday. As predicted, the $2 prices couldn’t last. Here is the new menu:
$4 Sloppy Turkey Sliders, Sweet Potato Fries, Shrimp Cocktail
$5 Fish & Chips, Potato Skins, Buffalo Chicken Wings
$6 Pizza (Pepperoni, Sausage, Deluxe or Veggie)
$3 Rail Drinks Domestic Pints*
$4 Glass House Wine
$5 Jameson & Opulent Drinks
$6 Signature M-tini and Cosmos
***$1.50 off all other drafts***
*Select Domestics – Miller Lite, Michelob Golden Light & Morgans
Monday-Friday 3-6pm
February 17th, 2012 at 10:25 am
My wife and I went to Morgan’s last night on a whim. We really weren’t looking for too much, mostly to just get out and have a good meal. We wanted to try something new. Doolittle’s / Chianti Grill are our normal places to go when we feel like this.
It was a Thursday at about 6:30 when we got there. I was greeted by the bartender (he might have been the manager) and given a table by the windows and door. I gotta say the little fireplace area was a fun touch and can see myself sitting there enjoying a beer & dessert some time. The bartender and waitress were very fun and helpful. Definitely, a big plus for the place.
My wife and I both got soup as an opener. I had the Beer Cheese, she had the Chicken Dumpling. I very much enjoyed mine. There was a good beer and cheese flavor, plus a little kick of red pepper. The flavors mixed nicely together and the soup was thick enough to make me “lick of the spoon” after each spoonful. My wife enjoyed the Chicken Dumpling soup. She specifically enjoyed the flavor of the broth. I wasn’t impressed, but that may also be because the Beer Cheese soup overwhelmed it.
For a main dish I got the Stuffed Reuben Burger with french fries. I wasn’t in the mood for steak*. Basically, it’s exactly what the name says. Two burger patties stuffed with reuben fixings. I asked for medium rare. It was very good. They got the medium rare just right. The outside was nicely seared, but the middle was still pink and juicy. Of course this could have been because of the Reuben stuffing. I couldn’t really see where the pink of the hamburger ended and the pink of the corned beef began. The flavors mixed nicely together. I could actually taste the hamburger, corned beef, swiss cheese and sauerkraut. Although the corned beef was bland and not as flavorful as I’ve gotten used to living in St. Louis Park for ten years. Warning: if you do order this, take the first bite slowly. The juices in the middle squirted out and went half way up my arm. Fortunately, I rolled up the arms on my shirt before digging in.
My wife ordered the American Dip with onion rings. This is Prime Rib with cheddar on a hoagie roll. Unfortunately, I was too absorbed in my burger to ask for a bite of hers. Although it looked like she really enjoyed it. The Prime Rib was nicely juicy. Not so much as to ruin the hoagie and make au jus irrelevant, but not so dry and stringy to make the sauces necessary either.
Where the meals really put the place over the top was the sides. Both our sides were amazing. The french fries were done just right. Crunchy on the outside and creamy smooth on the inside. This is something that is so often overlooked in restaurants that when one does it just right it totally makes the meal. The onion rings were amazing both in appearance and taste. When the food was brought out I was worried I had made the wrong choice by not getting them myself. They looked like something out of a magazine. Little bits of bread crumbs coated to entire outside of the rings. None of them were stuck together. They each appeared to have been fried individually.
I think we will be back. The menu has enough variety that I can go there a couple more times and I won’t get the same thing. I really want to try the Corned Beef Hash after having the burger. I think this will make or break the place for me. Frankly, I can see myself eating almost any of the entrees. Price was reasonable.
Portion size was ample. I wasn’t able to finish (not a rare occurrence for me). One thing I enjoy when going out is having to make a decision on which will be my next bite and if another bite is worth the “to full” feeling. In this case the burger normally won out and it was hard not to take the fourth too much bite.
The one thing I wonder about is if the place is wasted by preparing slightly bland food. I think if the food was punched up a notch it would be a great restaurant, not just another suburban place. To me the Beer Cheese soup, fries and onion rings were done so well they overshadowed the comparatively bland burger. For example, the burger was perfectly seared and presented, but the corned beef was really bland.
Morgan’s seems to suffer from what a lot of suburban restaurants suffer from; try have something for everyone and cater to no one. If they dropped (or pared down) the steaks, wraps and apps and focused more on the “old world” aspects. I think they would have a much nicer place. The apps list seems to be particularly disjointed.
* Frankly, my wife and I don’t do steaks in restaurants often. We love a good steak and have perfected making them at home (grill in summer and cast iron pan in winter), so unless I’m going to a Morton’s, Café Vin or something we’ve heard stellar reviews about we tend to avoid steak when going out.
February 17th, 2012 at 12:54 pm
When we went to one of their grand opening shindigs, we spoke with one of the people brought in for the remake/opening. He was pretty forthcoming about how disappointed he was in the menu; he said something about how everyone working on it wanted different things and it turned the menu into something too large and disjointed.
February 17th, 2012 at 2:29 pm
Thanks for the great review David. Lots of good info. I may give them another try, as I love Beer Cheese soup.
February 19th, 2012 at 8:33 pm
I doubt I will ever go there again now that they changed the happy hour menu. Sorry, but Porter Creek is much better, same pricing, and 3 times the ambiance.
I gave them many chances and every time I ordered something on the regular menu, it sucked.
Apparently, David N; thinks that making french fries and onion rings makes for a gourmet meal. Eleven long paragraphs to tell us his burger sucked !
A menu that has a variety of items does not make it “disjointed”.
Enjoy the corned beef hash, put some hot sauce on it. LOL
February 19th, 2012 at 11:11 pm
Well it does for me!!! ;-0
February 20th, 2012 at 9:27 am
Ron P.
I think it is safe to say that Morgan’s is not going to miss you.
lefty
March 19th, 2012 at 7:04 pm
We’ve been 4 or r times and went back to Morgan’s this past Friday night. We’ve been happy to see the number of guests increase over time. The food is ok. One of the reasons that we have gone is to encourage them to stay open in this restaurant wasteland.
But the service – YIKES! It’s just a series of very small things that add up to a less than satisfying experience. Every time, yes every single time, we have visited we get seated, get menus and the server comes to take our drink order and we have to ask for the wine list! Is it that hard to remember after you’ve been open for this long?
I ordered a dinner which comes with and salad and an appetizer. The server asked the order in which I wanted them to come. Pet peeve of mine – you should know the correct order to serve the courses!
After seeing that there were 4 or 5 St patrick’s weekend specials on facebook I asked our server what they were since he didn’t offer them and I had to pry to get him to mention more than 2 of them.
Thankfully we didn’t have the excruciatingly long wait for our food that we experienced previously.
Just get some of the small details corrected and they can turn a so-so experience into something good!