Disclaimer: As part of Valley Tap House’s soft opening I was invited, along with my wife and son and some friends, to dine for free to give the new restaurant a test before it officially opens to the public. We received $35 in comped items (everything except our alcoholic beverages) as part of this event. Please take the following review with as much salt as you feel is required following this government mandated disclaimer.
—
Just over a year ago, Majors in Apple Valley closed its doors with no notice given to staff or customers who had party reservations for that day. Sitting vacant for almost one year to the day, many were wondering who or what would go in where Majors once stood. Thankfully the owners of the Lyndale Tap, a fairly popular restaurant in Minneapolis, decided to bring the same restaurant with a different name to the suburbs. With a much different menu and beer list than the vast majority of South Metro restaurants and certainly the ever-so-prolific chain restaurants in Apple Valley, many were looking forward to something new and exciting to be opening south of the river. New restaurant, right on 150th in Apple Valley? What more can you ask for?
The Wife, The Rooster, and I had reservations at the first slot on Friday night at 5:30. A few other readers were already seated when we arrived and were brought to our seats. While we were originally slated to sit at a circular booth it would not be comfortable with two children in high chairs (I didn’t tell the staff we had that requirement so it’s my fault) however they were quite accommodating and moved us to a nearby table which was much better suited for what we needed.
Our waitress was soon over and took our drink orders while we waited for our friends. I was incredibly impressed with the tap beer list and happy hour prices. While I’m sure that the price tags outside of HH (~$5) are within reason, they were steeper than I like to pay for pints. I ordered up a Lagunitas IPA and while it wasn’t my favorite IPA ever and certainly not my most favorite Lagunitas beer, it was good enough for the $3.00 I paid to drink it. While I loved the beer list, I especially loved that the waitress we had really knew the list inside and out and was able to make intelligent recommendations to expand others’ horizons. For the first night I have to admit I was impressed.
Appetizers:
Eventually the rest of our party arrived and we placed orders for Homemade Onion Rings, Louisiana Peel and Eat Shrimp, and Buffalo Chicken Wings. Because it was happy hour we were not only drinking cheap but eating cheap with half priced appetizers too! The Homemade Onion Rings ($4.48 HH/$8.95 regular) are described as, “beer-battered onion rings served with spicy ketchup and buttermilk dressing.” The Louisiana Peel and Eat Shrimp ($5.98/$11.95) are, “1 lb pit-spiced with charred jalapeno and tartar sauce.” The Buffalo Chicken Wings ($3.98/$7.95) are also available in dry-rub and sweet habanero and come with celery, bleu cheese dressing, and sit on a bed of slaw with buffalo sauce and bleu cheese crumbles.
Our food came out sort of haphazardly. We received the wings first, the shrimp several minutes later, and after much delay the onion rings came out last quite a while after the first two. In addition to the random delivery, none of the items, not just limited to the appetizers but throughout the entire evening, were at an acceptable temperature. Definitely some opening night jitters going on with the kitchen there but something which should be cleaned up in short order once they get everything going full blast.
The wings were nice and meaty and doused in sauce however the sauce didn’t carry the usual level of spice required of even plain Buffalo-style. While the meat tasted good and the sauce was ok, they failed to have any crisp to the skin which made them more like buffalo chicken than buffalo chicken wings. Everyone thought they were fine, including me, and for the price (for 10 wings) they were a steal. My favorite part was the buffalo sauce covered slaw they were sitting on. The bleu cheese was sharp, the sauce was tart, and the crisp from the slaw was outstanding. A really nice touch. I’d definitely order these again at happy hour prices.
The shrimp were soft and soggy. While the pit spices were evident, I could have done without them to be honest. The watery charred jalapeno tartar sauce was either overpowered by the pit spices or simply didn’t carry any of the usual tartar or jalapeno flavor. While I’m a pretty picky shrimp eater coming from the coast and eating similar buckets of shrimp every summer when I’m visiting, this was a total pass for me even at $6.
When the onion rings finally arrived they were big, plentiful and surprisingly lightly battered. The onions themselves were sweet and weren’t overly greasy. I am not much an onion ring guy but The Wife loves them. These were some of the tastiest rings I’ve had in a while on their own however the two dips did not do these perfect morsels any justice. The spicy ketchup wasn’t spicy and the buttermilk dressing was just as runny and boring as the shrimp’s tartar sauce fail. What these really needed was to be accompanied by a thick and creamy ranch that had just a bit of kick. Thankfully, because the rings themselves were able to hold their own without the sauce, I’d definitely go with these on a future visit for the $4.48 price tag without blinking an eye.
There were so many other tasty sounding options on the appetizer menu that I’d definitely want to explore some other items on future visits. The Beer Mussels steamed in ale and ancho chile and served with garlic sausage and a grilled baguette sounds incredible for $11.95. The Scotch Eggs served with pickled onions, homemade pickles, and three mustard dipping sauces for $7.95 definitely caught my eye and will be a must try next time. Finally, while a bit overdone lately and if done correctly, the Maple Glazed Pork Belly with spicy peach marmalade and grilled baguette for $9.95 would be like stealing from a meat market at happy hour. Mmm.
Entrees:
Much like the appetizers, the entrees offerings are not going to be found anywhere else south of the river. A slew of interesting pizzas ranging from the mundane Four-Cheese to the spicy Thai Chicken caught my eye. Even so the $8 to $10 salads seemed a bit much but the main entrees, burgers, and assorted other sandwiches comprise a wide range of flavors and definitely seem to be right on target for the local market.
We ordered burgers, sandwiches and kids meal pizzas, leaving the other items for another day. We picked up two kids meals which come with drink (milk), entree (pizza), side (roasted vegetables and fruit cup), and dessert (chocolate cake) for $4.95 each. While we actually received a full entree pizza instead to split due to kitchen error, this was quite a deal with a hearty amount of mixed fruit and a slightly strange roasted vegetable medley perfect for adults but not exactly well suited for kids under 3. By the time they got to the cake they were both stuffed so silly there was no choice but to box it up for later.
The Wife ordered a Tap House Burger with cheddar ($8.95) which comes with fried onions, lettuce, tomato, hand cut fries and refrigerator pickles on a Kaiser roll. From the single taste of the burger that I had, it was a burger. Nothing at all special there however it wasn’t unpleasant in the least. The Wife said it wasn’t the best she’s ever had but is comparing any other burgers to what you can get at The Nook really fair?
Our friends ordered The Philly ($9.95) and The Latin Pig ($9.95). The Philly is pit beef with melted white cheddar sauce, grilled peppers, onions and mayo. The waitress warned that the beef was a little more rare than most may prefer but when the sandwich arrived it did not appear rare at all. The Latin Pig, “pit pork drenched in mandarin hanabero sauce, avocado, fresh cilantro and mayo,” was loaded with avocados but according to our friends lacked any real depth of flavor which would have set it apart as “Latin”.
I ordered the Thai Dragon ($9.95) which was described as, “pit pork, sweet and spicy chili sauce, cilantro, red onions, bacon, and peanut sauce.” Instead of fries I ordered a side of horseradish mashed potatoes for $1.95 more. The horseradish mashed were great. Fluffy and yet dense, like all homemade mashed potatoes are, but carrying the distinct horseradish flavor in the background. While not as nose-clearing as I like, I’m sure it was plenty good enough for most. A really nice twist and one I enjoyed.
I took two bites of the Thai Dragon sandwich before declaring it a bacon and pork sandwich. Whether it was the strong flavors of the pork and bacon or the sauces themselves were lacking, there just wasn’t anything Thai about that sandwich at all. Just as I was finishing the second bite our waitress asked how it was and I told her it just wasn’t Thai anything. She suggested I try something else instead and while I never do that, I was a little buzzed from three great beers and was in the giving spirit of Christmas so I relented and went with her suggestion to try the Pit Pork sandwich.
Described as, “slow-grilled Berkshire pork, with buttermilk coleslaw and sweet habanero BBQ sauce,” this $9.95 sandwich was definitely better than the Thai Dragon and had managed to provide a nice crunchy texture from the slaw and a lovely BBQ with a bite aftertaste that had me clamoring for more. I don’t know if the Thai Dragon flop can be corrected as it seemed to have everything as intended but I don’t think I’ll ever bother to find out if it was because I’ll be busy wolfing down another Pit Pork sandwich instead. Mmm mmm.
—
Overall our meal, as mentioned in the disclaimer, would have come to $43.26 (with 3 beers) and our friends’, $39.28 (with 2 beers). Definitely reasonable for the amount of food ordered and the number of beers consumed. While others have noted that as the night wore on their service degraded, our server was prompt, knowledgeable, and overall wonderful. I am certain that once the opening issues are ironed out this will be quite popular with the locals as long as the prices remain low and the beer list remains as great as it already is.
Have you eaten at the Valley Tap House in Apple Valley? If so what did you think? What items did you order and what, if anything, would you want to try in the future? Were you impressed with the beer list? Would you like to see any other beers listed instead? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear what you have to say.
Address:
Valley Tap House
14889 Florence Trl
Apple Valley, MN 55124-4630
Phone:
952-431-BEER
Hours:
Monday to Friday: 11 AM – 2 AM
Saturday – Sunday: 10 AM – 2 AM
See all the pictures from The Valley Tap House in Apple Valley on Flickr here.
Dakota Complaints Map
Dakota Inmate Dashboard
Loading ...
October 4th, 2011 at 8:03 am
YELP. The site that won’t be named is YELP.
http://www.yelp.com
/YELP!
October 4th, 2011 at 8:15 am
will lyndale tap house be moving or will this be an additional location?
October 4th, 2011 at 8:19 am
Additional as far as I’m aware.
October 4th, 2011 at 8:40 am
Sounds like an ordinary bar enterprise with ordinary food moving into a place that has failed twice selling ordinary food in a sit down restaurant setting while trying to act like an ordinary bar. Brilliant move.
October 4th, 2011 at 8:59 am
When I first moved to the Twin Cities in the mid-1960′s Lyndale Tap was a “3.2 joint.” It catered to the young and had very lax id requirements, we frequented the place a lot. The place was a little rough but with cheap beer and music, what’s not to like.
Fast forward 47 years and the “joint” is now a “brew house” – a microbrewery. I haven’t darkened the door of the place since it morphed into its current iteration but it gives one hope to think we will have a microbrewery in Apple Valley.
The main question for me is: Can an inner-city establishment succeed in a suburban environment? It’s not the same clientele and should probably be marketed differently. And, perhaps most importantly, a pleasant staff and great service is a must.
October 4th, 2011 at 9:06 am
C&V, is it a must? Carbone’s and Wild Bill’s aren’t exactly known for their stellar servers but instead staff the place with attractive women and attract a clientele which favors late-night rather than evening dining.
While a microbrewery atmosphere does not mix well with the early 20-something crowd which used to frequent Majors and now hangs out at Carbones and Wild Bill’s, I’m willing to bet that they have to do something similar to compete in the South Metro.
October 4th, 2011 at 9:16 am
A pleasant experience and a great wait staff IS a must for us. With so many dining-out options available to us these days we just do not frequent a place that is mediocre more than once.
October 4th, 2011 at 9:39 am
I was just talking about that location the other day, saying I thought it was cursed. We’ll see. I wish them well, but I ain’t holding my breath!
October 4th, 2011 at 9:49 am
Some thoughts:
When I drive by the old Major’s, the building doesn’t evoke anything like a “tap house”. Who the hell names restaurants nowadays? “Zest!” “Enjoy!” “Valley Tap House” “Cuqui’s” “suchandsuch Grille/Tavern”? Uff da. I’d become a principal investor if someone came to me saying they wanted to open a south metro restaurant called “Big Suburban Retail Complex Restaurant”.
90% of the time, “great wait staff” and Minnesota are mutually exclusive. Unless I’m in one of the downtowns, I generally expect an 19 year-old starving Envision Academy grad who has never left Dakota County much less witnessed actual great restaurant service. If I experience a server with even a basic working knowledge of food, I consider it a miracle.
I suppose if Valley Tap House introduces a notable beer selection to Apple Valley, that would be a plus for a lot of people. Unfortunately for me, I don’t care about beer, so I’m not really excited about the sounds of this place. It may as well be Granite City Brewery in Eagan or whatever. Yawn.
October 4th, 2011 at 10:17 am
The Lyndale Tap House website doesn’t have the feel of a true “urban” establishment. It aslo states they opened in 2009. I assume that means they renovated, changed up the menu and added “house” to the name to make it a trendier place.
The menu doesn’t looks interesting. I am a sucker for BBQ. They also claim to have 28 beers on tap. Not bad assuming they are at lease 50% non-Miller/Coors/Bud/generic.
My speculation is that they will be able to bring in business, but might not be able to pay the rent. That is what seems to doom restaurants, particularly is a “good” location. Hopefully, they were able to get a nice deal given past failures.
We will try it at least once.
October 4th, 2011 at 10:18 am
Im actually excited about this! provided their food and service can keep up with the demand. I looked at their menu, They specialize in Pit beef but they also have things like beer mussels, a cheese plate, roasted beets salad etc… Im hoping it will bring a nice balance. My husband can still get his fill of meat and I can get something on the lighter, more imaginative side. The brew house piece does nothing for me but some friends of mine will enjoy that aspect.
October 4th, 2011 at 11:13 am
how bout a ‘name the shitty restaurant’ contest?
my entry would be ‘ death valley tap haus’.
bb
October 4th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
In honor of today’s Apple iPhone 5 non event (they released the 4S with better voice recognition WOOT! and you can now overpay for it on the Sprint network!) my entry is: The iTap2s
October 4th, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Enjoy!
What? You didn’t say “name A shitty restaurant”?? Oh.
The worst restaurant name I ever heard was the “Chow Box” in Wilmington, North Carolina. I’ll always regret that I didn’t have my camera ready to take a photo of the sign when we drove by.
October 4th, 2011 at 3:38 pm
I ate at the Lyndale Tap this summer for a Sunday breakfast. The wait for our food took forever, I didn’t mind too much as the waiter kept bringing complimentary Mimosas and said waiter also comped our whole meal. As for the food the breakfast burritos were pretty good but the fresh caramel rolls we waited for just might be the one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. If those are on the menu here in AV I’ll sure as hell be stopping by.
October 4th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
I always wanted to name a restaurant “I dunno”
Person 1: “What do you want for dinner?”
Person 2: “I dunno.”
October 4th, 2011 at 7:27 pm
Menu doesn’t do much for me but will try it once and go from there. Good to see something going into that space, too bad they missed out on the summer crowd and use of the nice patio.
October 4th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
I miss the Pickled Parrott
October 4th, 2011 at 11:02 pm
lemon zest?
son of a zest?
enjoy jr.?
how bout ‘whogivesafuckifyoueatmyburgersornot’
bb
October 4th, 2011 at 11:14 pm
I like the name. It just evokes an image of a good drinking hole to me. Maybe I’m just confusing it with Road House. That would be sweet. Especially if they had Dalton there kickin some asses when things got out of control.
October 4th, 2011 at 11:25 pm
…and the obligatory Facebook page is up.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Valley-Tap-House/217554621637641
October 5th, 2011 at 8:27 am
Is the Fu Xing restaurant still in business over on Rice street? I always loved that name.
October 5th, 2011 at 8:30 am
They appear to have renamed it to New Xing after moving: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/29/331458/restaurant/Twin-Cities/Roseville/New-Xing-St-Paul
October 5th, 2011 at 8:41 am
Wake me up when there’s a bar that has 50 beers on tap in our area. I know they exist in other cities…
http://www.beertravelers.com/lists/multis.html
October 5th, 2011 at 10:53 am
“Fu Xing Wong” <–my pick for new restaurant name.
As for the Valley Tap House…I would have considered at least trying it once but the facebook page made me reconsider. First, let me say, I don't consider myself a prude in the least…but if you're going to go that direction at least be clever about it. A chick in a bathing suit eating a big burger while sitting on a keg? And some pictures of some cows. Pretty lame. I'd rather see "Site under construction" thank half assed stock photos used to promote a new restaurant.
October 5th, 2011 at 11:35 am
[...] Table) starts its “Slice of Heaven” tour of shopping malls (AKA); the Lyndale Tap house branches out to Apple Valley; Wisconsinites will shed their button-down image and discover the joys of alcohol [...]
October 5th, 2011 at 5:28 pm
Sadly it sounds like another Dakota County establishment populated on Saturday nights with 20 somethings that wear sweatshirts, short and ball caps in February. There is a great restaurant scene in the Twin Cities and the suburbs get a collection of mediocrity that boggles the mind. In my dreams that is where the south Metro Pizza Luce would be going but then again they do have Scotch Eggs on their menu. I guess we’ll see…
October 5th, 2011 at 8:47 pm
It does kind of look like they’re going for the dudebro crowd, yeah.
October 5th, 2011 at 8:54 pm
I wasn’t super impressed on my one visit to the Lyndale Tap House as far as food was concerned, however they had a great beer selection.
I want to be able to buy a Fulton IPA on tap without having to drive to Minneapolis.
October 5th, 2011 at 8:55 pm
Dave, Farmington Celt’s had it on tap this summer.
October 5th, 2011 at 8:56 pm
So did the burger place in Burnsville which astroturfed me and I wouldn’t recommend to anyone except for HH beer.
October 5th, 2011 at 9:02 pm
Wow, any bar in Farmington would be the last place I’d even look. Good to know.
October 5th, 2011 at 9:21 pm
Well, the astroturfing continues this week:
After voting down 19 comments on this thread that he didn’t agree with, Tony Ostlund, General Manager of The Lyndale Tap House attempted to post this comment with the name of “Jason”:
Now he tried to post this one (as “Jason A”):
*shakes head*
October 5th, 2011 at 9:24 pm
It’s like you’re some kind of superhero…Astroturf Annihilator!!
I wanna see the costume ;)
October 5th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
Ha ha! Keep it up dumb asses. Fools are funny.
October 5th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
Seriously? When are these guys gonna learn?
October 5th, 2011 at 11:11 pm
Tony, for future reference, here is how it’s done…
Hi, my name is Tony Ostlund, I’m the manager at the Lyndale Tap House. We are really looking forward to bringing our great food and fantastic beer selection to Apple Valley. I’m excited to hear your thoughts and suggestions…
October 6th, 2011 at 10:25 am
I’m sure this childishness will certainly lift the location curse for The Valley Tap House in Apple Valley. Just because google searches for other restaurants in the area seem to drop this site at/near the top, doesn’t automatically mean the same fate will befall The Valley Tap House in Apple Valley.
The Valley Tap House in Apple Valley will probably do just fine, especially since nobody ever reads this site and will never see the insipid alienation of the local clientele before it even opens.
Or, so goes Tony’s thought process, anyway.
October 6th, 2011 at 10:28 am
Oops: http://www.google.com/search?q=valley+tap+house
October 6th, 2011 at 10:33 am
Pretty soon, searches for the former Major’s in Apple Valley will point here, too. You know, because people looking for a bar in the Apple Valley, Lakeville, Rosemount and surrounding south of the river region in MN will probably wonder what kind of bar is going into the old Major’s address. Then, they’ll stumble upon this The Valley Tap House in Apple Valley thread. They might just go to Panino Brothers instead. Oh the humanity!
October 6th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
Based on the photoshoot it would appear cheesecake will be on the menu.
Astroturfing is so asinine, especially on this blog. It might be viable on a yahoo post, but its just contemptuous here.
October 6th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
Ya know, when I spotted the dumpster outside the old Major’s site and dug a bit to find out what who was behind the renovation, I never thought we’d end up here – shitsville. Why the new proprietor would try and mess with his new clientele by being disingenuous and copping an attitude is beyond me. It doesn’t speak well for their future…
October 6th, 2011 at 4:01 pm
What is the deal with those weird photos on the facebook page? Oh look, a marginally attractive tattoo model with her feet on a keg. Food must be great.
October 7th, 2011 at 10:12 am
I just got off the phone w/the owner of Lyndale Tap and Valley Tap who called to apologize for the astroturfing. I’ll be updating the post details above with a little bit of what he told me during the phone call later but I wanted to personally thank him in public for having a standup operation.
Kudos to a company who knows when they’ve messed up and how to go about fixing it. I wish all other owner/operators did the same thing.
October 7th, 2011 at 10:44 am
My name is Gene Suh, I am the owner of the Lyndale Tap House and soon to be Valley Tap House. I would personally like to apologize to the readers of this news source for the actions of my General Manager. Let me first say that this is not how we conduct business, this occurred without my knowledge, and I have had a serious conversation with the above mentioned person about their actions.
I generally do not post on blogs or respond to critics but the opening of the Valley Tap House is very important to me personally and I wanted to express a few of my thoughts on the project. I wanted to bring a locally-owned restaurant/bar to Apple Valley that was unique and not a national corporate chain. I grew up in a suburb of MN and realize how lackluster the options can be at times. Generally speaking, the same dozen or so national chains tend to populate everywhere, hopefully we will bring Apple Valley something different.
The bones of the menu will be similar to the Lyndale location but there will be distinct differences. Our executive chef, Phil Dvorak, has quite a few changes he’s working on. A lot of times restaurants will take food straight off a truck, drop it in a deep fryer, and serve it. I can assure you that is not the case here – our fries are hand cut, sauces made in-house, and many ingredients locally sourced. It is chef driven comfort food. We will also have more taps than our Lyndale location. The number is currently pushing 35. Hopefully this will give beer lovers a selection of their favorites as well as new beers they’ve never tasted.
I am really excited about this project (I hope at least a few of you are as well) and understand that we can’t cater to everyone, but I look forward to hearing your thoughts, comments and criticism. Thank you.
October 7th, 2011 at 11:32 am
Thanks Gene. I don’t speak for really anyone here besides myself, but I very much appreciate your post. If you are as committed as you explain, and your food good, I will be the first to admit that I was dead wrong in my post above comparing the place to Granite City, etc.
In “real life” I’m as fair as you can get when it comes to restaurants, chain or independent. Yesterday, I had my 5th meal at Red Rossa, a Sioux Falls based small chain up by the Mall of America. They get their food from major suppliers, but like you say, they take the time and effort to put out a great product. They don’t pretend to be a Michelin-starred place. And, I continue to be blown away at how good a job they do, chain or not.
I hope you guys are more like that than a Majors or Granite City.
Best of luck.
October 7th, 2011 at 11:55 am
Gene, thank you for the post and the additional information. I look forward to trying your place when it opens.
October 7th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
Gene,
Thank you for the post. It’s nice to see there are still business owners that posses good ethics.
I will be happy to visit your establishment once it opens, and good luck to you.
October 7th, 2011 at 12:14 pm
Thanks for the post, Gene. You have gone a long way toward erasing the negative impression and reestablishing the anticipation for Valley Tap House coming to AV.
Good luck, we’ll give it a go.
October 7th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
What MSPD said.
October 7th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
geno,
bb
October 7th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Well done sir, Good luck in the venture, I will give it a try once it opens.
October 7th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
You know I was beginning to wonder, up until comment #28, why ever single comment had a “thumb’s down.” Bill, if you hadn’t cleared that up I seriously thought someone’s kid was just being a lame punk on here! Even though I was excited to see someone will be inhabiting that location, and I live only 1 mile away; I’m thinking that I will probably pass with those childish acts. Sorry Tony, no longer interested.
October 7th, 2011 at 6:44 pm
And perhaps I should have read further down the tread to see the apology before I posted at #53. Thank you Gene for apologizing, it takes a stand up business person to admit when mistakes are made. I appreciate your dedication to the south metro and hope you and your business will do well in Apple Valley–I will be giving it a try when it opens as well :)
October 8th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
Went to the Lyndale once. Liked it. It’s out of my normal traffic pattern, but I’d go back.
You won’t be able to replicate the sounds of Ducatis from across the street in Apple Valley :) [do I hear an Italian bike night anyone??? I thought I did!]
… but looking forward to the food and beer. Majors’ concept got stale after a while and Wild Bill’s just put the coffin nail in what was going downhill on its own inertia.
Any planned open date, Gene? Excited about something new filling a vacancy. A riding tide lifts all boats.
October 10th, 2011 at 11:56 pm
Greg,
We are aiming at late November or early December. As construction starts to finalize we should be able to nail down an exact date. When we do I will definitely post here to let people know.
I would also like to extend an invitation to the followers of this news source to partake in our “soft opening” once we finalize a date. Some of you may know what this is, others of you may not. In essence it’s a private opening where the staff serves family and friends to help train, get feedback, and work out any last minute kinks. The food is free as a thank you for helping staff train on “live customers” with the understanding that there will be some hiccups in food times and service as we get acquainted to our new surroundings. We will be doing two days of soft opening and I would be very interested in getting feedback from those that post here. When we finalize those dates and times I will post the details. Thank you all for your comments and criticism.
October 11th, 2011 at 9:23 am
count me in as someone who 1)likes beer 2)likes food 3)lives in AV desperately looking for a “neighborhood bar”!!!!
October 11th, 2011 at 9:30 am
Wow, free food from Gene Suh! Somebody tell Sparksals!
October 11th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
free food, lefty, ummmmmmmm.
bb
October 11th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Ryan M: Might I suggest that all of your qualifications are met by a visit to Panino Brothers.
October 11th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
jorn, might I suggest that he may have assumed “friendly and reliable service” was a given in his requirements and that is definitely not met by PB.
October 11th, 2011 at 1:15 pm
Gotcha. I understand PB has failed on that front for some/many. They’ve always been good to me. It might be that I have only once NOT sat at the bar.
October 11th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
The only reason for PB’s continued existence is that they happened to be located in a hotel (and who stays there anyway? – I’d love to know what the avg occupancy rate is for that place is). It’s certainly not their food.
October 11th, 2011 at 2:11 pm
nurd,
It’s a very nice hotel compared to the alternative at the corner of Cedar/42 and plenty of people do stay there (we held The Wife’s baby shower there in 2009 and my family has stayed there when they’ve come to visit) but with Burnsville’s average hotel occupancy rate hovering around 50%, I can’t imagine it’s the only thing keeping PB afloat.
October 11th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
I refer to Burnsville’s occupancy rate and originally wanted to make a comment which linked it to AV’s suggesting they were similar but I forgot.
October 11th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
Bill:
Yes, the hotel looks fine, I guess I was wondering more along the lines of why here in the middle of suburbia, did they choose to build it. It just seems out of place where it is.
I’m guessing they (the hotel/developer?) must of received some sort of assistance from the city/feds to build it so they could begin work on their phony downtown.
Oh well it was probably cheaper to build than HOC.
October 11th, 2011 at 2:53 pm
nurd,
From my secondhand understanding of the development plan for that clusterfuck, it was supposed to go in the middle of the triangle across the street from what it is currently located.
I’m not aware of much city-offered financial assistance for the hotel itself but being that Apple Valley had only one other hotel within the city’s limits which was (at least for our wedding in 2005) booked forcing people to Eagan, I’m guessing it made sense for them to build there.
October 21st, 2011 at 3:12 pm
jorn,
walking distance, and my wife and the kids have been there numerous times. to the point where we overdosed on the buy one get one free panino’s. I have had better than decent service, and with a great happy hour. In fact, the wife just mentioned she wouldn’t be home for dinner, and I think i’ll be heading to PB for dinner tonight with the kids!
October 21st, 2011 at 5:18 pm
Ryan M:
What are the parameters of the BOGO at PB? I might actually go back and try it for that price. That way, the wife and I will feel that the wait for food and spotty service was worth it.
I know I’ve hammered on PB’s before in this thread and I should just get over it, but it’s just so-so, and I have tried the Buffalo Panino and it was ‘meh’
Is it because it’s more of a bar than a grill and so the quality standard’s are held to lower thresholds then would otherwise be the case?
Bill: Have you been there recently or regularly since your review? Has your impression changed at all?
jorn: I’m just the opposite of you — I don’t think I have ever sat at the bar so maybe that’s the trick.
October 21st, 2011 at 5:21 pm
I won’t go back there after how I was treated. I thought maybe I would but every time I think about it I get pissed off.
October 23rd, 2011 at 12:22 pm
well, surprise surprise, service was spotty, not at all terrific. I did get a beer and two panino’s for 12 bucks, so I’m not going to complain. I knew what to expect. Nurd, if you go to PB website, then add /coupons.html you’ll find the coupon.
October 23rd, 2011 at 5:32 pm
Bill I’m curious to know what they did to piss you off so bad?
October 23rd, 2011 at 5:48 pm
Read the thread.
October 24th, 2011 at 4:26 pm
I had lunch at PB a couple weeks ago. The Buffalo Chicken Panino was ok. The Brat and Sauerkraut Panino was very good. Cant remember the name they use on the menu, but it was terrific.
Food service was slow, but the waitress was friendly and kept our drinks full. It was better than most of my previous visits.
October 25th, 2011 at 11:13 am
This business venture is destined for success. The current owner(s) have discovered why the 3 previous tenants had failed at this location – they failed to paint the building in a dull, bluish gray. I did confirm that this was the future home of the Valley Tap House by looking through 15x magnification binoculars at the banner printed in size 10 font flapping at the top of the roof.
October 25th, 2011 at 11:25 am
How long until the free food extravaganza at the VTH?
October 25th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
Ha Ha Sean L, I had the same exact thoughts!
November 1st, 2011 at 7:05 am
Joe Sensers in Eagan has closed. They cited the “poor economy” for the closure. Interesting they closed, as they were a going concern for quite a few years and they were definitely a no frills operation.
November 1st, 2011 at 7:10 am
“Poor economy”. Speculation all over is that they closed due to the hit and run.
November 1st, 2011 at 8:08 am
Not a big loss in my eyes. I worked by there for a few years, and was not impressed by the food at all. Way overpriced for what you get.
November 1st, 2011 at 8:10 am
Their main draw was how many screens and different games were available at any given time. That and those very tasty and very filling bloody marys ;)
November 1st, 2011 at 10:30 am
I always thought the Joe Sensors in Bloomington was far better than the one in Eagan in terms of food quality.
November 1st, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Lawyers ain’t cheap these days.
I thought I’d read somewhere that Joe Sensor doesn’t really own the restaurants anyway. At most he may have a 10% stake in them, he’s more of a (damaged now) brand-name and other investors own/manage it.
I think the reason has more to do with Lockheed closing and now Delta’s presence will start to dwindle once they pay the state back their loan from the ’90′s and start shifting their operations to the union unfriendly South.
So I would guess it was a combination of a strange location, not really good food, and the prospects of a lower economic demographic in the coming years (replacing 1000′s of engineering and high tech jobs with 100′s of low paying service jobs for the retail development that they are planning/fantasizing about) perhaps combined with the lease expiring made this a good time to exit the Eagan market.
November 9th, 2011 at 11:04 am
http://thevalleytaphouse.com
Says opening December 5. I hope they do a good job of the local craft beer selection. Flat Earth, Fulton, Surly, Harriet, Lift Bridge, Brau Bros.
November 9th, 2011 at 11:07 am
Thanks for the update on the opening date and I definitely agree on the local crafts. Surly will be tough unless their relationship with Lyndale Tap will negate the waiting list for the new location.
November 10th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
I hope the current paint job on the building is just primer. Not much of a fan of the “I’m Too Tired to Kill Myself Grey”
November 10th, 2011 at 1:17 pm
Stout’s pub had Bender out of the gate so the existing relationship thing could be a possiblity.
Also Stout’s Pub pig wings = awesome.
November 16th, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
November 16th, 2011 at 8:28 pm
AubB, and you’re affiliated with the Tap House folks how?
November 17th, 2011 at 10:55 am
Sounds like another “conversation” is in order.
November 17th, 2011 at 11:00 am
I have edited Sean L’s comment above to remove BBcode and add HTML blockquote tags instead.
November 17th, 2011 at 11:38 am
AudB, welcome to LazyLightning!
I’m excited about your enthusiasm for the Valley Tap! “Gastropub with a contemporary edge”….just this week, I think I’ve had a couple other friends use that choice of words. Spot on.
And what a cool coincidence that you hang out/dine in both Uptown and Apple Valley so much!!
What other places do you enjoy around Uptown and AV? I’d love to get a sense for if our palates/taste in restaurants are similar.
November 18th, 2011 at 10:48 am
I think AudB is off busy being hip. Sooper dooper hip.
I, too, am eagerly awaiting his/her/its return for more fantastic reviews and input on all things Twin Cities’ Burb Couture.
November 22nd, 2011 at 8:39 am
Looking forward to the promised soft opening invite. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink…
November 22nd, 2011 at 9:31 am
MSPD- Moto-i, The Independent and Amore Victoria are favorites in Uptown as well. I haven’t seen much beyond chains in AV and probably won’t make it down much but it’s cool to see local places expand, particularly into the suburbs. Being I live in a suburb with limited options (Wayzata), I can hope we’ll start seeing more local joints closer to home.
November 22nd, 2011 at 9:40 am
Oh and Sean, I’m definitely neither a guy nor a manager of anything. I just read the Star Tribune’s article earlier this month on several new bars opening up in the metro area, including Bar Louie and Erik Forsberg’s unnamed pub to come by next year. Downtown and Uptown have ample bars/clubs/restaurant and it’s nice to see local places making their way out to the suburbs.
November 22nd, 2011 at 9:56 am
Cool Aud. Thanks for the info.
December 1st, 2011 at 3:22 pm
Website now says Dec. 12 to open.
December 6th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Dear Readers of this news source,
You are cordially invited to this weekend’s soft opening for the all new Valley Tap House located at 14889 Florence Trail, Apple Valley, MN. We are seating every half-hour starting at 5:30 till 8:30 both Friday and Saturday nights and will be pouring drinks until late. Please RSVP in the next two days to this reply chain with date, time, and number of people in your party. I will personally do my best to accommodate all time requests. Thank you.
December 6th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
Gene,
Can we email you instead of RSVP here (if so, provide contact address)? Some of us would like to maintain the balls that being anonymous grants us. And others fear that revealing our true names might publicly out how incredibly lame we are in real life.
Thanks,
MSPD
December 6th, 2011 at 2:35 pm
Instead of pasting below, even though I’d love that, per MSPD’s suggestion please click the URL below and enter the information. I’ll send the results to Gene directly (without your e-mail address).
[Removed link to signup form now that it's closed.]
That work for you Gene?
December 6th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
If you’re ever looking for a weekend bartender I’d be interested. Bill can vouch for me. ;)
December 8th, 2011 at 9:37 pm
The signups are closed. Thanks everyone!
December 9th, 2011 at 5:05 pm
So were we going to be contacted? Or did I sign up too late?
December 9th, 2011 at 5:08 pm
If you didn’t get any e-mail from me you’re in for the time you signed up for.
December 9th, 2011 at 8:17 pm
Tap beer list:
Miller Lite
Leinenkugel’s Honey Weiss
Flying Dog Raging Bitch (10oz)
Flying Dog Doggystyle Pale Ale
New Belgium Fat Tire
New Belgium Snowy Day
Finnegan’s Irish Amber
Tyranena Rocky’s Revenge
Magic Hat #9
Crispin Cider
Rogue Hazelnut Brown Ale
Brooklyn Brown Ale
Lucette Shining Dawn
Dark Horse Scotty Karate Scotch Ale
Bell’s Two Hearted
Fulton IPA
Lagunitas IPA
Lagunitas PILS
Boulevard Wheat
Boulevard Tank 7 (10oz)
Shocktop Wheat
Stone IPA
Stone Arrogant Bastard
Stone Ruination
Stone (something or other, picture is messed up–anyone?)
Summit EPA
Summit Winter
Stella
Guinness
Schell’s Snowstorm
Goose Island Honkers Ale
December 9th, 2011 at 8:19 pm
Um, yes, I can live with this list!
December 9th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
No Surly, will not be visiting anytime soon.
December 9th, 2011 at 8:25 pm
I like Surly, but I really don’t get the level of adoration that would make someone avoid a restaurant when 31 other options exist. Besides, from what I understand a lot of places want Surly and can’t get it yet because of demand. It just doesn’t seem to me like a litmus test worth applying.
December 9th, 2011 at 8:35 pm
The other beers were definitely worth trying. I had the Lagunitas IPA (B+ BA rating), Raging Bitch (A- but C+ from The Bros) which was not my thing at all–I likened it to aftershave, and Dark Horse Scotty Karate Scotch Ale (B+).
The Lag IPA was just ok for me. There are a lot better IPAs out there. I was hoping it would match their Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale that I love so much. It didn’t.
The Raging Bitch just wasn’t my thing at all.
The Dark Horse was quite good. Probably the best Scotch Ale I’ve had to date but I’ve only had 7 to 10 of them in my life (including this one) so I’m not as well versed as I am in the IPAs.
—
Overall I was really impressed with the beer list and the prices–especially HH prices.
December 9th, 2011 at 9:37 pm
I had the Dark Horse too. I really enjoyed it. For
me Scotch Ales are either really good or really bad, Dark Horse was really good. I was really happy with the beer list. Good beer, good appetizers, this could be my place.
December 10th, 2011 at 7:37 am
Went with 2 friends. We had three different IPAs and they were all pretty good (Fulton, Lagunitas, and Stone) as usual. Had the pretzel sticks appetizer at the request of one of my companions, and it was fine but came with a vinaigrette and Alfredo sauces to dip in, which was decent yet strange.
I had the Thai Dragon sandwich, which is pit beef with a peanut sauce, onions, and bacon. It was fine, but something of a strange taste. The beef had a pretty good flavor but was a little tougher than I would have expected. My friend had the plain pit beef sandwich and he had similar thoughts. The fries were okay, but the seasoned salt they used was quite heavy. The third member of our group had the halibut tacos, and they looked pretty good (though fries with tacos seemed strange!) but she reported that they’re better at the Lyndale location. We split a piece of chocolate cake which was pretty good and definitely worth the $5 asking price if you’re looking for something like that (I normally don’t order dessert), but something you’d at least want to split. Quite rich and a good sized piece.
Service was spotty. Our waiter seemed like a good guy who cared about our experience, but he was distracted and we didn’t see him much. I bet if you were seated at one of his tables a month from now it would be a good experience. Our orders were taken in good time and he had a decent knowledge of the menu, but it took a while to get our appetizer and he had to run back and get the sauces he forgot. It took even longer to get our meals, but he did apologize and tell us about five minutes prior that they were about up. Again, while we received what I’d consider fairly poor service, the staff clearly cared and was just getting their feet under them.
I think I’ll give it a try in a month or two and see how things are. It definitely had promise and this type of place is hard to find in the ‘burbs.
December 10th, 2011 at 6:29 pm
Wireless PW goodbeer (choose Valley Tap House SSID) we’re finishing up. All in all food was good. Had a slight issue with the chicken wing appetizer ( one of the wings was slightly pink in the joint but the others were ok but slightly cool)
Pics to follow
December 10th, 2011 at 7:43 pm
The chicken wing appetizer…
December 10th, 2011 at 7:45 pm
The Thai Dragon sandwich presentation…
December 10th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
And the “Monster” chocolate desert…
December 10th, 2011 at 7:47 pm
We were there at 5:30. The service was very attentive and friendly. Mike the assistant manager came by and chatted for a few moments. He definitely knows his beers and asked our opinion about a couple of them.
We had the pit pork sandwich with a sweet habanero bbq, as well as the pit beef sandwich. They were both good, but I wasn’t fond of the horseradish (that’s just my preference though). The garlic sausage bites was a nice appetizer, but I couldn’t actually taste any garlic. For dessert I tried the turtle popcorn with bacon. It seemed intriguing in theory, but was pretty awful in reality. The popcorn seemed like the little bits that are at the bottom of the container and the bacon just made it kind of soggy.
The happy hour looks fantastic, so we will definitely be back. I especially like that they include all of the tap beers in the 2 for 1 special.
Bill and Gene, thanks for setting us all up with the opening!
December 10th, 2011 at 7:53 pm
All in all not too bad considering that I had 4 beers (the wife was driving) and the traditional Pit Beef sandwich along with the above pictured Chicken, Thai and Chocolate desert for a grand total of $15.80. (Yes I tipped our waitperson on the full value which I figured would have been around $42.00)
December 11th, 2011 at 12:40 am
We were there Saturday night around 6:00. We were seated right away and our server/waitress came to our table shortly after. Our server let us know that for the soft opening guests they gave each table an appetizer, each person an entree and a desert to share. Non-Alcoholic beverages were also included, but if you wanted beer or other alcoholic drinks, you had to pay for them.
We debated our choices and looked around. According to the sign on their door, they had opened at 5:30 and it was busy. Invited guests were sitting at tables in the dining room and around the bar. They were also allowing those uninvited to sit at the bar. A couple of times, there were a couple of groups of people lurking/waiting to grab seats at the bar which was kind of annoying but not terribly so.
We ordered the Louisiana Shrimp appetizer which was a pound of heavily spiced peel and eat shrimp. The shrimp themselves were good. It was a little messy trying to peel the shrimp and probably a little more work than I would like to put in to eating something like that. If the shrimp were a little larger, I think it would have been a little easier and I would have enjoyed it more.
I ordered the Steak Frites and my friend ordered the Roasted Chicken. I liked the Steak Frites which is a 12oz Ribeye rubbed with their house “Pit Spice” and topped with blue cheese crumbles and some sauteed vegtables.
My only complaint about my entree is that I don’t think that I was asked how I wanted my steak done. When it came to the table, it was a bit on the medium to medium well side, which was OK but I usually request medium rare. The hand cut fries that came with were excellent. I don’t even think I used Ketchup on the fries, I just ate them plain or mixed with some of the “juices” and blue cheese that ended up on the plate.
I didn’t hear any complaints about the chicken, but I’ll leave it for my friend to give his own review on that if he wishes.
For dessert there was a choice of 5-6 things, a Chocolate Cake, Fresh Baked Cookies and Ice Cream, a cobbler of the day, one other item I can’t remember and Turtle Popcorn with Bacon. The popcorn sounded interesting, but we chose the cobbler, which was apple and pear.
The dessert came out and it wasn’t what I would call a cobbler. It was apple and pear pieces in a sauce topped with a biscuit and ice cream. The biscuit tasted a little “Bisquicky” but all in all, it was a nice ending to the meal.
They did change the layout a little from when Majors was in there, adding some walls to separate the main dining area from the bar and overall decor changes.
During the time we were there, our server checked on us regularly and other staff members were around, clearing plates and assisting service when needed.
We enjoyed our food, I think this is a place we will visit from time to time.
Thanks again to Gene and his staff for hosting this, and thanks to Bill for helping to get the list organized for this event!
December 11th, 2011 at 7:06 pm
I had an 8pm reservation on Friday and my wife and I were seated right when we arrived at 7:50. We ordered some beers and the Stampede Fries. Greg joined us a few minutes later.
The server never told us that any “rules” of the evening and we really had no idea that our food was going to be comped.
The fries came out fairly quickly and were very tasty, but the Beef Jus that is poured over the top made the fries quite soggy and the fries that were on the bottom of the pile turned to complete mush.
I ordered the “Latin Pig” sandwich, which looked awesome based on the menu description.
It was a good sandwich, but I guess I was expecting more based on the description. It wasn’t spicy, and the flavors all became one. It could have used some sort of a cool crunchy slaw and some more heat.
There are several other items on the menu that I’d like to try and I’ll certainly be back to enjoy more beers. The service was a bit sketchy, but it was the first night and really can’t complain too much.
Edit by Bill to fix blockquote tags.
December 12th, 2011 at 6:37 am
I’ve moved the comments from the preview post about Valley Tap House under the actual review for historical purposes.
December 12th, 2011 at 8:50 am
This will be a perfect place for my husband to take his dad and brothers for a beer when they visit. I see many happy hours in our future! I want to try that monster chocolate cake, but maybe not after eating appetizers and dinner – that was just too much food! I too was ivery impressed with our waitress!
December 12th, 2011 at 8:52 am
We went Friday at 6. We had 4 of our 5 children along, and we were meeting our 22 yo niece and her BF. We were seated at the tall tables by the bar which I thought would be a prob for the 21 month old, but she did just fine with a booster. The stampede fries were huge and awesome. We went with the sliders for our appetizer (the stampede fries were niece’s). For kids we had fish and chips, and cheeseburgers. They were all excellent and eaten well. The mixed fruit cup was a strange mix of chopped apples and grapes and strawberries, my kids picked out all the grapes and strawberries and left the apples. My husband got a steak,(which I hadn’t seen in my haste to order before the kids got restless), and I got the Cuban. They were both excellent, with tons of fries. We ended up boxing up fries, we ate everything else. My husband’s steak was HUGE, with bleu cheese and red onions and something chopped on top MMM. My Cuban sandwhich was excellent with ham and pork and cheese and yummy sweet something else on there. My 21 month old would have got a free meal too but that would have been ridiculous with the amount of food already there and she got plenty to eat. My nieces boyfriend got the Latin, they tried to bring us a plate of mussels and a burger that we hadn’t ordered. The only huge complaint was that my nieces food didn’t come until we were all done, and she had ordered tacos. They looked wonderful and she seemed to be enjoying them as we left, our kids were beyond done at that point, playing with the interactive jukebox and photo booth, and getting harder to contain safely at the tall tables. I am SO grateful as this would have cost us 68.00. My husband ordered a beer called “dark horse”, I think, and I ordered sangria. I was super buzzed halfway through the sangria. (we don’t get out much)
Thanks to Valley Tap and thanks Bill !!!!
December 12th, 2011 at 9:06 am
Everybody likes the Scotty Karate eh? I had some of that in bottles last year and couldn’t finish it. It’s been a long time, but I remember the high alcohol content and hops seeming out of place vs. other scotch ales I’ve had. Try Brau Brothers Bancreagie and let me know what you think.
Lots of great choices on that tap list. Doolittles has been a bit of a default for my family the last few years. Sounds like this would also be a good option.
December 12th, 2011 at 9:52 am
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
December 12th, 2011 at 10:09 am
Question: There are a lot of references to “pit” this and “pit” that. Did they install a pit/cook with wood in there?
And we need to tag this one for future astroturfers. I think it’s a pretty good move by Gene to not only right the wrong of the early deception by his coworker, but to throw open the soft opening to a local blog community — people that are sometimes shunned as a bunch of fringe, extremeist curmudgeons with some sinister agenda (e.g. the way we are seen by numerous Burnsville City government/Council people).
December 12th, 2011 at 10:09 am
JTL, thanks for the suggestion. Know where I can pick some up other than Blue Max where I will not shop?
December 12th, 2011 at 10:11 am
The menu (and I believe the neon sign in the bar-side windows) call it “Pit”. I didn’t tour the kitchen any more than what you can see from the entrance area so I can’t say for sure.
December 12th, 2011 at 11:41 am
Cellers in Eagan has it.
Aparently this year’s “Snowstorm” from Schell’s is also a scotch ale. I’ll have to try that one before it’s gone.
December 12th, 2011 at 12:03 pm
Thanks Bill. I guess I’m hoping Gene will respond and clarify what “pit” means.
December 12th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
How come you don’t go to Blue Max?
December 12th, 2011 at 1:06 pm
They scan IDs. No one should buy from any business that does.
December 12th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
I live about halfway between Blue Max and the Lakeville municipal store. I try to hit both, but always hate not giving my business to the other because of how much Bill hates both. Though one time Blue Max scanned my ID and it turned my family into warlocks, which was a bummer. Luckily I dumped my imperial IPAs on them and they turned back into beer-soaked humans. That was an expensive lesson on ID scanning.
December 12th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Patrick, Lakeville stopped scanning IDs a few years ago. I prefer patronizing them as they are the closest to my house.
December 12th, 2011 at 1:17 pm
I also love that the city is in the retail liquor business!
December 12th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
Patrick, not my city. I don’t care what Lakeville does. I generally don’t patronize Apple Valley’s stores because I want them to go out of business.
December 12th, 2011 at 2:31 pm
Sounds like a good option if we’re down in AV. Just curious, what were the veggies that came w/ the kids meal? it’s so rare that any (other than maybe corn) are ever offered – so, good effort on their part I guess!
December 12th, 2011 at 2:40 pm
Erin,
Roasted veggies and peppers which were soft and easily edible for a child, just not something the majority of the age ordering off the kids menu would likely eat.
I couldn’t tell you exactly what they were as I only had one bite, the place is very dark and hard to see as it is, and specifics are not listed on the kids menu.
December 12th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
I like Blue Max for their kick ass selection of single malt scotches. Sometimes they will throw some of their 12YO stuff on sale at a decent price.
December 12th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
n52, sometimes when you’re at a bar hot chicks will come up to you and hand you a free Zippo lighter or beer stein if you give them your ID to scan too. Doesn’t mean you should do it.
December 12th, 2011 at 4:15 pm
OK, now we’re just getting absurd.
December 12th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
No, but if she gave me her phone number I probably would ;-)
I get your privacy concerns with the scanner, but I don’t don’t agree that because they scan my ID they don’t deserve my business. Oh well, more scotch for me then!
While I don’t know why they decided to go with checking all ID’s I can only guess that they got caught in a sting operation and got burned. And as a small business they can’t afford to get shut down for a week and pay a fine because some clerk was negligent so they choose to implement this system to limit their exposure.
To me this is a small battle and I’ll take my chances with the scanner. If you don’t have at least some sort of basic credit monitoring service set up (it’s not that expensive) then you shouldn’t be surprised if you get burned – that’s what you need to do these days to protect yourself. Have you never purchased anything online with a credit card?
If you’re really concerned about privacy, I’d take a look at the Patriot Act of 2001 which really took away a large chunk of our civil rights and yet nobody seems to care about it.
I respect your position to not patronize Blue Max but I will choose the benefit over the risk as cheap single malts are few and far between (even at Blue Max).
December 12th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
n52,
I respect yours too. Just remember we can vote for elected officials who will overturn ridiculous laws. We can vote with our feet to stop businesses from ridiculous business practices just as well, if not better.
December 15th, 2011 at 7:56 am
Stopped in last night around 5pm for Happy Hour, and the place was packed! I got the last seat at the bar, squeezed in between a couple of big guys.
2-for-1 beers, so I had a Stone Ruination. Got the menu, decided to order the onion rings.
Noisy place, but at least it has life. Sat and drank my beer, then got the 2nd one without having to ask, which is always good. Then problem #1 arose. The glass and the beer tasted like sanitizer. Really strong, and totally undrinkable. Now, this happened to me on Friday night as well, and I got the server to bring me a new beer. He kinda looked at me like I was some sort of idiot, but he took the beer to get another. Last night, I debated whether or not to say something, thinking maybe it was me. After a few minutes, I asked the bartender for a new beer, because this one tasted like sanitizer. He grimaced, and said that I was like the 5th customer that had complained about that same thing, and they knew their dishwasher wasn’t working right. Are you fucking kidding me? Then stop using it, or at least rinse every piece of glassware off in a sink after it comes out so you’re not serving sanitizer instead of beer!
Got my second beer, and proceeded to wait about 30 minutes for my order of onion rings to come out. They were good, the sauces were OK, but it took forever to get them.
Still have some early-opening issues to overcome, but based on the crowd in there last night, it looks like they’ll have a decent run for a while.
December 17th, 2011 at 10:15 am
I stopped by last night at 7:15 as well. Was with my son and said I didnt think they had done that much advertising so perhaps we might get in , hopefully at the bar and order something to eat. The parking area which is shared with several businesses was jammed. Found a spot and went in, the place was similarly full. We could not find 2 open spots at the bar and the wait for a table in back was 30 to 45 mins. We were hungry after shopping for 2 hours and decided not to wait so moved on. The place was very noisy both from piped in music and the general crowd noise. My son said he wouldnt want to eat in the bar area as it was simply too noisy/busy. The back section looked quieter but the place is definitely skewed toward the bar as the space devoted to the bar is much larger than the eating section (although i didnt go all the way into the back to check it out) and given the fact it is a Tap House specializing in beers this makes some sense i think.
I think it might be a good place for a lunch with a good beer, particularly midweek as it wouldnt be as noisy or crowded. I wouldnt go on a weekend in the evening based on what I saw last night, but thats my own preference. The demographic in the bar was definitely about 25-30 years old. I asked my son if they were cutting into Wild Bill’s crowd but he (being 23 years old and having been to said establishment a few times) said WB is essentially a “college bar” in the suburbs , he didnt think there would be much filching of customers as the WB crowd is interested in cheap beer and bodies, lots of them. I would suspect some of the more discriminating WB customers would give Valley Tap House a try.
We were thinking of the Rack Shack before we gave the Tap House a try. We ended up at the Rack Shack in 10 minutes , I had never been there but he had (and of course many on this blog have recommended it) and I was very happy with it. when we started to order i noticed they had tap beers , they had a seasonal winter ale from Summit as one of the 3 beers. Asking about the Winter Ale the counter server immediately offered me a taste of it. I always like that approach, basically it costs the establishment nothing, but makes the customer feel like they truly care that the customer gets what they want. I had the brisket (no burnt ends left sadly but what did i expect at 7:45?) and found it excellent, I could quibble about minor details compared to barbecue i have had in the South, but hell, it was pretty damn good for Burnsville. In fact I found their entire format very well thought out and done. Tried most of the sauces, they also seemed to have put some time into that. Certainly nice to see the mustardy and sour types of sauces from the Southeast there, not something you typically see in the Midwest.
Next time i will ask for extra pickles. Have a good weekend all.
December 18th, 2011 at 2:22 am
Don’t waste your time. Staff and manager are slow and rude. Nothing special about this place.
December 18th, 2011 at 8:16 am
Trevor,
I have a hard time believing anything said by anyone posted immediately after bar close.
December 18th, 2011 at 8:26 am
I was there yesterday afternoon and in my experience I did not find this to be the case at all.
We had issues with food quality though and both the manager and server were very attentive to our concerns.
The kitchen staff at this point is not very good (at least on a late Saturday afternoon). First off, they sent me the wrong order, and my wife’s burger that she ordered medium was well done and very dry so both of those items went back.
When we received the reorder we noted that the quality of the fries left a lot to be desired as they were somewhat soggy. I can’t say that my order (the Pit Beef traditional) or my wife’s (The Bacon Blue) were anything to write home about compared to what we were served last weekend at the soft opening.
They comped us a free dessert for the trouble so we ordered the donut holes. Well some of them were not cooked all the way (there was runny dough in the middle of them – some of them were cooked correctly though).
We pointed this out to the manger as well and he offered to exchange that but we were in a hurry and chose to get our check and go.
I’ll try this place again in about a month from now to see if they can iron this stuff out, but right now this place seems a lot like the old Majors was in terms of food quality.
Maybe I’m expecting too much. Is this a bar with dining room attached and is more of a after work place to grab some drinks with buddies or are they trying to make their food the centerpiece? Or a little of both?
Am I expecting too much from a place that’s been open for just a week?
December 18th, 2011 at 8:31 am
1. I edited n52′s comment above to fix the hanging blockquote tag.
2. No, you’re not. Service issues are completely acceptable early on. Thus the delivery of the wrong order is understandable. Even the cooking of medium -> well done and soggy fries may have been an issue with the service as they may have let the items sit around for too long before delivering them to you (I would also argue that ‘Minnesota Medium’ is dry anyway).
But the fact that they were nothing to write home about is an issue which needs to be rectified. For a place as big as it is paying as much rent as it is a month they need to have both the bar and the dining room churning out money to survive. If they’re not, they’re not going to last very long.
December 18th, 2011 at 8:36 am
@ Greg, that’s gross. Good that you let them know so enough noise might make them fix it. My other pet peeve about most restaurants is glasses and dishes that are either dirty or smudgy or spotted. On the rare occasion that I get a sparkling clean wine glass, I make a comment to the server how much I appreciate someone polishing my glass before they poured my wine.
I ate at Valley Tap House for lunch this week. IMHO, nicer atmosphere than Lyndale Tap House, and the Pizza was pretty good. Great prices and service, but food portions are HUGE. Not much to pick from for the “healthy eater”, but that is typical in most suburban restaurants. I need to try one of their salads next time and see how those are.
December 18th, 2011 at 9:43 am
OK Bill, it’s the next morning and I repeat my statement. Waited 10 minutes to get waited on and then another 5 to get a drink. Ordered a pizza and was told that something in the kitchen wasn’t working so I couldn’t get a pizza.
The manager there is extremely hostile and rude.
December 18th, 2011 at 9:56 am
Trevor,
1. The next morning doesn’t matter. Anyone at a place at bar close has a different world view and one that I’m not generally interested in hearing. But I’ve been there too–many times–so I get it.
2. If the place is as packed as everyone above has been saying it is in the first week, I am not surprised you had slow service.
December 18th, 2011 at 3:40 pm
I tried to stop in and watch the Packer game today (don’t hate me, I grew up in Wisconsin) but unfortunately they don’t have NFL Ticket??? That surprised me, given it is football season and many of us would rather watch anything other than the Vikes. The hostess did say that “they” didn’t pro-rate it, but they’ll have it next year??? I’m guessing “they” is DirecTV. Begs the question though, you’re talking a few hundred bucks to not get NFL games??? Oh well, Wild Bills has it, so that’s where I went.
Although disappointed I couldn’t watch the game, the place was packed. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to head over there with the fam and try it out.
December 18th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
We were there Saturday around 4:30pm. Pretty early for a dinner rush, but the bar was packed, so we sat in the restaurant. We waited almost 10 minutes to be greeted by our waitress, but that was the worst of the service.
I did have to send back my beer since the glass was glazed with some kind of residue that you could scratch off with your fingernail.
We had the Cuban Pit sandwich, which was fantastic. The fries, not so much. They were extremely salty and seemed like the same preseasoned ones you see in so many places.
All in all, I see it as a tremendous improvement over Wild Bill’s and I’m thrilled to have a choice for a decent happy hour. I love Carbone’s but it’s nice to have another option.
December 18th, 2011 at 6:56 pm
Ryan M,
DirecTV Sunday Ticket for a business is a hells of a lot more expensive for a business than a home. It is a very prudent decision for a brand new place to not pay for the full year for the four weeks that they would get, two of those weeks being Christmas eve day and New Years day. As well, they are getting a ton of freebie business with the open during that time anyway.
If they say they are getting it next year, not sure what your problem is.
Also. ha ha, Packers lost.
December 19th, 2011 at 9:07 am
I went there yesterday for lunch. We were seated almost immediately, I wanted to sit in the restaurant, my husband wanted the bar—Vikes were on. They were able to seat us in the restaurant in front of tv which made both of us happy. The waitress came right over and took our drink order, coke for him and a water with lemon for me. Drinks cam back correct, and quickly. No problems with dirty glasses or drinks tasting with sanitizer.
We ordered a mug of Chili (only $2 during games and happy hour), the Cuban and the Pit Beef. As we were waiting I looked at our waitress and she came right over and asked if she had forgotten anything, and then she said, I’ll bet you wanted your chili before your meal, let me go get it. She came back with both our sandwiches and the chili since they were all ready. Oh yeah, when we ordered the chili, she advised that it was sorta spicy.
I thought the chili was great, it came in a big mug and had green onions and cheese on the top. I was the right amount of spicy for me, my nose ran a little bit and my forehead got hot. Probably not spicy enough for some, but definitely too spicy for others (here in MN, anyways)
I would definitely order the Cuban again. And truth be told, I LOVED the fries, they reminded me of the fries you get at state fair or the varsity, granted they could have been a little crispier, but I didn’t get that they were pre-seasoned at all.
My only complaints would be the amount of onion on each of the sandwich. On the menu the pit beef is described as coming with shaved onion, in actuality it came with a huge slice. Same with the Cuban.
We did have to wait quite a while for our bill. When the waitress finally came over, she took our card, and came back with not only the receipt for us to sign, but also our original bill, which NEVER happens and something I always complain about.
I watched alot of the other plates come out, and the kids mac and cheese looked really good. It wasn’t that boxed kind that most restaurants serve.
One other thing I wants to point out is my water glass was refilled 5 times, and the last time it was refilled the server apologized for having taken so long. I drink tons while I eat and one thing I am always very happy with is a server that keeps my glass filled without my having to ask. We always tip accordingly.
All in all, good prices, some small hiccups. But we will definitely be back.
December 19th, 2011 at 9:20 am
I have modified the ratings on lefty’s comment above due to someone attempting to game the system with multiple negative votes (7 to be exact) from non-US IP addresses.
They have been banned from using comment voting from here out.
December 19th, 2011 at 9:23 am
I have also modified Ryan M’s comment above (lowering the score by 7) to account for the same IP range’s gaming.
December 19th, 2011 at 9:48 am
That makes sense. I was just assuming you had way more Packer fans reading this blog than I would have guessed.
Gaming the system is pretty stupid anyway. It is not like I get paid for my thumb ratio or something (or do I get paid for that?) I once accidentally thumbs upped one of my own comments when using an iPad that I don’t normally use. I still feel guilty about that one.
December 19th, 2011 at 9:56 am
lefty, I’m more concerned about legitimate comments being hidden due to artificially low ratings than people voting their own comments up on the other two or three IPs they may have access to.
While I removed the up ratings from Ryan’s comment, it was more because I was annoyed by the gaming than because it really needed to be done. However because yours was hidden that was important enough for me to take a look at it.
—
As an aside, the negative votes were never intended to be for comments people didn’t agree with. They were meant to avoid having the community see comments which were inappropriate or trollish which I may have normally let slide due to my generally relaxed moderation preferences.
Stop fucking voting down shit just because you don’t like something and save those votes for when it’s really important to hide a comment.
December 19th, 2011 at 10:26 am
No you don’t.
Thumbsing down can be therapeutic. And, yes, I love saying “thumbsing”. Totally made up word.
December 19th, 2011 at 10:45 am
Sadly, MSPD, your hobby of thumbsing people/animals/objects *sideways* is not available on this board.
December 19th, 2011 at 10:51 am
Richard Gilewitz made an album called Thumbsing. I have no idea who he is, he’s just the only result in the top 10 on Google for “thumbsing.”
This comment has nothing to do with the Valley Tap House and is borderline trollish. You should probably try thumbsing it down.
December 19th, 2011 at 12:03 pm
Ouch jorn.
Joey, I guess I learn something new every day. As usual, it’s completely worthless information, but…
December 19th, 2011 at 7:09 pm
Geez Bill, I’m so illiterate about what happened here. I thought there were many people that were expressing their feelings but are you saying something different? The only solution is to eliminate the “thumbs voting” and let comments stand on their own merit. Then, maybe, there would be more comments for or against any one particular comment.
December 20th, 2011 at 7:55 pm
Our family visited the Lyndale location a few times, and really enjoyed the fresh ingredients, and unique offerings. (They even did a decent version of posole…almost as good as homemade.) The Valley location has a more family friendly/restaurant atmosphere. The caprese sandwich was really very good. VERY fresh and pleasant. My 12 yr old son really liked the chowder, and like any pre-teen, can be hard to please. Great, classic margarita, and nice selection of beer. Will definitely return. Oh yeah, I’m also under ordes from the kids to mention this location also has the photo booth/kiosk. Keeps ‘em busy so the adults can enjoy a pre-dinner drink. :)
December 20th, 2011 at 8:54 pm
“Stop fucking voting down shit just because you don’t like something and save those votes for when it’s really important to hide a comment.”
To be blunt, Bill, that’s a foolish expectation. It really is.
December 20th, 2011 at 8:57 pm
To be blunt, sandy, it’s my site and I set the expectations.
December 20th, 2011 at 10:41 pm
But you can’t control the actions of others, especially when they might not have read enough of your site to even know that this is how you intend the thumbs to be used….and if they have read it, how many of them will comply?
December 20th, 2011 at 10:43 pm
sandy, I’ll turn it off if I determine it’s not doing what I expect it to do. I run A/B tests and overall tests of different functionality all the time. This would be no different.
December 20th, 2011 at 10:52 pm
Lefty, my problem was I had to go to Wild Bills to watch the game :)
I guess I didn’t know that directv charged so much for establishments, but it certainly makes sense and I can now understand why it wouldn’t be worth it. I may have been deflecting my frustrations from that crap-tacular packer game.
I am looking forward to getting the family over there. I also appreciate a place that doesn’t dump kraft macaroni in the microwave and charge 5 bucks for it.
I also feel somewhat important that mine and lefty’s comments have created a bit of a stir…certainly wasn’t the intent.
December 20th, 2011 at 10:55 pm
Speak for yourself Ryan. Lefty always intends for his comments to cause a stir ;-)
December 21st, 2011 at 9:10 am
Apparently so. Even a completely innocuous comment about Thai food on today’s post gets a thumbs down within 5 minutes. Not that I really care, but what is that about.
December 21st, 2011 at 9:50 am
Thai food is never innocuous.
December 21st, 2011 at 10:55 am
First, I had dinner at the Valley Tap House with my wife and son a few days ago. It was ok. Probably slightly better than ok considering they have only been open a week.
A few very minor service issues. We ordered a fruit cup with the kids meal and were brought fries. Quickly fixed. We ordered a cookie with the kids meal and were brought a Chocholate Chip hockey puck. This was not fixed. Seriously, the waitress even commented on the crunch texture when my 4 year old said he had to use his “side teeth” because it hurt his front teeth. Not super cool, but not a big deal.
Food was served fairly quickly, and everything tasted ok. My wife had a salad, which was large, but not obnoxiously big like someplaces, and it tasted good. The bacon on it was crispy, but the Avacados were not ripe, which annoyed her a little bit.
I had the cuban, and was surprised to see it served on a hamburger bun. It was loaded up with things, but I thought it was not very good. The meat was decent, but the onions, pickles, and whatever the mustard sauce they were using really did not go together in my opinion. I wont order it again, but as noted in the original review, there are many great looking items on the menu, and we will certainly try this place again in a month or two.
One last note, as I dont think I mentioned it above, bu tour server was friendly and did a nice job overall.
On to the Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down drama! Fun stuff. I love the thumbs up and thumbs down options, but I confess to using them to express my like or dislike for a post. I would hope they remain in place, and we are allowed to use them in the current fashion, as it gives some of us “active” posters something fun to do, thumbs downing Leftys posts.
December 21st, 2011 at 11:37 am
First I give you the directions for how to make a perfect steak, then I go to bat for you when you have a not perfect anniversary dinner and this is how you treat me?
The nerve…
Did you ever use those steak tips by the way? C&V thinks they are the bomb!
December 21st, 2011 at 11:47 am
That would be unfortunate. Many of the world’s greatest inventions happen from completely unintended consequences.
Joking aside, I enjoy the thumbs-up/down for all of the various motivations. I think it is serving its purpose to moderate out really terrible comments. I think it is also taking on a bit of a life of its own which is good.
I don’t necessarily use it to express my like/dislike of the content like Chad said….I’ve thumbsed-up things I disagreed with completely and didn’t like, but that was presented with good supporting fact, well-articulated, etc. If someone is just outright stupid, inarticulate, or a knucklehead, I give them the thumbs down whether or not I support their position.
And Bill just gets an occasional thumbs down because I know he watches practically in real-time and I love to piss him off. I especially enjoy thumbsing him down when he is complaining about the thumbs-up/down feature.
December 21st, 2011 at 2:00 pm
lefty,
I did use them, and they are the Bomb. Quite honestly I need to use them more often, as we often have a freezer full of Iowa beef.
And I seldom give you a thumbs down, unless the chance arises to pile on a comment that others have already jumped all over!
December 21st, 2011 at 2:04 pm
I didn’t realize you had. I may have to find them and post them over on the Kowalski’s expensive beef page, or maybe I should do a guest blog. :)
December 21st, 2011 at 2:05 pm
I’ll be looking for a slew of guest posters for mid-June when the baby comes.
December 21st, 2011 at 2:29 pm
That works for me. I will do a lefty’s Perfect Steak blog complete with pictures of the process and a picture of my bare belly after the steak is inside it.
December 21st, 2011 at 2:31 pm
Yeah, I am sorry, I should have mentioned it. Its a process, which can be daunting, but when you just enjoy the process, have a drink, and cook up some great cuts of steak, the results are amazing.
December 21st, 2011 at 3:08 pm
God help us.
December 21st, 2011 at 3:17 pm
MSPD,
Bill can attest that I am not the fattie you have imagined. Given my new diet and exercise regimen, I am in my best shape maybe in the last 20 years for me.
The trouble with this becomes the likelihood that in June I will probably be a big fatso again.
lefty
December 21st, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
December 21st, 2011 at 3:54 pm
Ok, can we please get 5 people to dislike MSPD’s comment #185? If anything warrants being hidden, that photo does.
December 21st, 2011 at 4:29 pm
Now THAT is the record fastest to five!! Too bad many of the lady readers are going to thumb it up back so we have to look at it.
December 27th, 2011 at 10:03 am
Ate here the other night – I was really looking forward to a medium rare pit beef sandwich. Once the food arrived I assume I must have misread the menu as what I got wasn’t close to medium rare. Flavor was good but should have been sent back as it was over cooked / sat under the heat lamp too long. I will give them a couple more weeks before my next visit but, for what appears to be their signature dish, I expected better execution.
January 2nd, 2012 at 9:12 pm
A hilarious review on Urbanspoon:
Hey, I’m all for strongly worded opinion but “too many other great places in the area?” So awesome..
January 5th, 2012 at 7:32 pm
I brought my two kids (3 and 1.5) in today for some happy hour apps and a few items off the kids menu…not to mention a beer. I went with the garlic sausage bites and the pub pies, the kids went with shells and cheese and the old stand by grilled cheese. I enjoyed my apps. The garlic sausage bites were sliced garlic sausages covered in sautéed onions and peppers with a stone ground mustard and “refrigerator” pickles. This was right in my wheel house and enjoyed it ( must be the Wisconsinite in me). The pub pies were an interesting fried puff pastry with braised beef, peas, potatoe and carrots stuffed inside, served with aus jus and maple vinegrette. I enjoyed it most with the maple vinegrette. Happy hour provided half price apps until 7 PM, so not a bad way to sample their non-traditional fairs.
The kids meals were a pleasant surprise. The shells and cheese was homemade, not Kraft from a box, which is my pet peeve when going out to dinner. The fruit cup was very good, as the kids devoured it. Much like the shells and cheese, the grilled cheese had a homemade flair.
My two hang ups on the kids menu…the “roasted vegetables” we’re actually sautéed onions, peppers and cherry tomatoes in olive oil and butter. I enjoyed them, kids wanted nothing to do with them. Second thing, I appreciate that the kids meals come with desert, but please, don’t bring the desert out with the meal….there was no way the kids were giving up their cookies before it was finished.
I can’t recall the beer I had, something I hadn’t tried before. Loved the options, but hate when it is two for ones and both come out at the same time.
All and all, I enjoyed the dinner date with the kids. I look forward to exploring the menu further.
For a Thursday night ant 5, the places was pretty busy as well. Nice to see
January 9th, 2012 at 8:28 pm
Went there tonight for happy hour and dinner. Beer selection is nice. Ordered the pit pork sandwich. I asked the server how spicy the sweet habanenro bbq sauce was, she said pretty spicy and I could get it on the side. I’m a wuss when it comes to spicy foods, and it was indeed hot. When I asked for a side of a different sauce, I was told this was all they had. Common sense would tell me that offering a variety of sauces would please more customers. There was also a distinct lack of buttermilk cole slaw on top of the sandwich.
Might be a decent place for happy hour and deep fried snacks, but sadly that might be it.
January 12th, 2012 at 10:57 pm
The Current Wife and I finally made it to VTH tonight. The place was PACKED, SRO! We met another couple there at 6:15. Thanks to Open Table we got right in.
Service was attentive, knowledgeable and pleasant – all of which was/is expected. Happy hour pricing was in affect so we took advantage – beer for my buddy (I don’t know what he ordered) and the house wine for my Current Wife and me. The wine was just this side of of acceptable; but for $4/glass it’s OK. I know, life’s too short to drink cheap wine.
The spouses had the Cashew Chicken Salad sandwich – loved it; and the Pit Burger – hated it, didn’t finish it, “it was crap.” My buddy had the Pit Pork, he loved it and kept repeating “the food’s great,” I ordered the Thai Dragon, which I thought was very good and a huge sandwich. I liked the sauce a lot, the heat hit my “just right” zone – unlike Bill, I don’t like incredible high levels of heat. The cilantro was fresh and very evident. The side of sandwich pickles and onions was a good accent. About half way through the sweat was starting to run – as I said, the heat was just about perfect for me.
The obligatory Management Visit occurred about 2/3 into mastication (I’ve got kids older than this guy). We all nodded and mumbled and he smiled and left. No the person eating the crap burger didn’t complain – she’s much too demure for that to occur.
All-in-all a good experience. We’ll try it again – brunch maybe…?
January 14th, 2012 at 1:38 pm
Went with Dave & his wife for late-night happy hour on Wednesday night. Nice choices for $5 pizzas, albeit a bit out-of-the-ordinary. Good beer specials, too.
Waitress was just so-so, we had to ask for beer menus, etc., and it took a little too long to get beer, even with the place not very busy.
Unbelievably, one beer came out tasting like sanitizer again! Are you fucking kidding me? Seriously, get the fucking dishwasher fixed or replaced. Since Day 1 they knew it was a problem, and yet it still remains a problem. Really disappointing. To me, that shows really poor restaurant management. That’s a pretty basic function of a restaurant, and if you can’t get that right, I don’t hold out a lot of hope that you can get much else right in the long run.
January 25th, 2012 at 9:59 am
[...] Burger Time: Apple Valley, MN New Restaurants in the South Metro Minnesota State Fair Bingo Cards Valley Tap House: Apple Valley, MN Zest Bar and Grill: Eagan, MN Rack Shack BBQ: Burnsville, [...]
January 28th, 2012 at 11:39 am
According to their FB page they’ll be adding Surly to their happy hour specials next week.
January 28th, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Nice, I wonder which flavors? Sanitizer, or Surly’s latest, Dish Soap.
January 29th, 2012 at 10:47 am
Yeah, but do they have Golden Tee, because a 48 oz Surly Smoke and shooting +20 makes for a kick ass night out? (So I hear)
January 29th, 2012 at 5:55 pm
Heh. I believe they do have GT, yes. Mmm Surly.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:41 pm
Just so their Golden Tee Machine does not reboot unexpectedly mid game, I am there!!!
January 29th, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Heh.
January 30th, 2012 at 12:41 am
Will the Valley Tap House sell you a frosty 23 oz Surly Smoke and then change their policy without notice or reason and not sell you another but sell you an 8 oz Surly Smoke in a low ball non frosty glass for just about the same price as the 23 oz????
February 4th, 2012 at 10:13 am
Well surprise, surprise. Went over last night with Mrs. MSPD and Mrs. MSPD’s 5 year-old twin (our daughter). Friday night, very crowded and very loud. 30 minute wait. OK.
First up, the kids’ menu shells and cheese. Very good for a kids’ menu. They actually use cheese not Velveeta or Kraft (which is good because the kids get bummed out when places offer Kraft mac-and-cheese…what can I say, they’re little food snobs). The salad that Mrs. MSPD Jr. chose was also above-average quality. Scoop of ice cream with chocolate syrup for dessert.
Mrs. MSPD had the Greenway Burger which is their black bean-based veggie burger. This was also above-average. Mrs. MSPD is very discerning when it comes to fries and she loved them (as did I). Clearly cut in-house, never frozen.
I had the Lyn-Lake which is the one with bacon and egg on it. Ordered medium-rare and it was spot on. Huge bonus points – the egg was perfectly cooked…just a tiny bit of runny yolk. Thick cut bacon. Very fresh ciabatta bun (not normally my preference, but since it was fresh it was good). The beef had good flavor, the patty was hand-formed and thick, juices were running onto the fries….it was good enough that I texted Bill as soon as I got the grease off my hands.
I’m almost shocked to say, but outside of the Gold Standard (Nookie Supreme at the Nook), this was as good a burger as I’ve had in a long, long time. The people in the kitchen seem to give a shit, not just churning out averageness. I told Bill it was a 90 on a 1-100 scale. That’s saying a LOT for me. (Bill asked me what number I gave the Nookie Supreme, and I said 462.)
Hopefully it wasn’t a one-time miracle.
Service was fine – timing was good during the meal but it took a long time to get the check. Understand since it was p-a-c-k-e-d.
Music was annoying and ridiculously loud. Maybe their homage to Majors. I think I’ll go on a snowy Tuesday night next time or something.
Tab was $24, which was nice. (2 meals, 1 Diet Coke, 1 kids meal). I thought it was a great bargain.
All in all, I was very pleasantly surprised. If our next visit is as good as the first, we’ll make this a regular stop.
February 5th, 2012 at 2:38 pm
@ MSPD Based on your glowing review my wife and I decided to give the Tap another shot after eating there about 6 weeks ago and finding it lacking.
I don’t know what Valley Tap you were at yesterday but the one I went to still serves crappy food. We both ordered burgers and they were at best mediocre. They still don’t know how to prepare French fries as ours were a soggy mess and both our burgers were ordered medium and came out well done. I had them remake mine, but even so they were not anything close to great.
Needless to say I won’t be back. I guess maybe I should go when it’s busy as the afternoon cooks suck.
February 5th, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Visited the Valley Tap last night with my brother and his wife, with each couple bringing an infant along. I’d been wanting to try it for a while and MSPD’s review helped push me over the edge.
Being a Saturday night, I expected it to be busy, and we were told there was a 45-60 minute wait. No big deal since both infants needed to be fed. An hour later our buzzer went off and we were seated.
Our waiter was friendly and gave his honest opinion on the menu. I got the Lyn-Lake that MSPD had raved about. My brother had a chicken sandwich and our wives had the Thai Dragon.
The first food comment was from my brother, who said the fries were the best he’d ever had. I didn’t elevate them to that level (granted, I have more culinary options since I live in a town that has more than 8,000 people), but they were good and I didn’t feel that they suffered from sogginess like what Nurd52 reported.
As for the main dishes, nobody disliked their food, but nobody raved about it either. My burger was ordered medium-rare and came somewhere between medium and medium-well. My wife took a bite and while she prefers medium-well, even she noted that it was overcooked. It was pretty dry too. It wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t beat anything you’d find at Outback.
The most annoying part wasn’t even the mediocre burger. Our waiter stopped by 2 minutes after we got our order and asked how everything was. At that point I ordered a Summit Oatmeal Stout. He returned to the dining room at least 3 times (that I noticed) without bringing my beer. By his 4th return he stopped by our table and started clearing plates, as I was the only one still eating. He mentioned, “Oh yeah, the Stout for you.” I told him that at this point, he could forget it. He said, “Well, I already put in the order, I just have to get it.” I didn’t protest, figuring that since he’d been responsible for the oversight and I’d made it clear that I didn’t need it at this point, he’d just take it ofg the bill. Nope, when we got our bill the beer was on it and he never so much as apologized for the fact that I didn’t get my drink until everyone at my table was done eating.
The guy was nice enough and even told us he wouldn’t bother ordering the “turtle popcorn with bacon” that someone at our table inquired about. I always appreciate honesty like that.
But the mediocre burger (I’d rate it around a 6/10, though if you like your burger overcooked with relatively low moisture, you’d probably rate it higher) and the oversight from the waiter were pretty disappointing. I’d be willing to try it again, but I’ve said that about a number of other establishments that I’ve never returned to again. It’s certainly not a plave I’ll be running back to. I will say that I felt like the prices were pretty fair. While the beer is overpriced ($4.50-6 on tap), that’s not out of the norm and $24.75 for 2 entrees and a beer didn’t seem bad. But average prices for average food aren’t enough to make me return or recommend it to anyone else.
Oh, and as MSPD noted, the music is LOUD. Overall the environment is nice, but the music was way too loud for my tastes.
February 5th, 2012 at 4:47 pm
@Joey what did the fries look like? Because the ones that were served to us were a little too brown on the outside, and totally mealy and mushy on the inside and dripping with grease. It ruined the meal for me.
This place is turning into Pannini Bros (although with better beer). It obviously doesn’t matter to them that they are inconsistent, as they were 75% full on a Sunday afternoon and as long as there are suckers willing to put up with the food, I guess there is no incentive to improve their product.
I will say that it was not loud when I was there, however we sat in the dining area, but the bar area wasn’t bad either.
I didn’t think the service was stellar either as the waitress was pretty scarce after she took the order.
Like you, I was not approached by any manager to take anything off the bill.
Ruby Tuesday or Wild Bills up the street has better food AFAIC.
But hey they got Surly so it’s all good!
February 6th, 2012 at 9:39 am
Wow Nurd52 and Joey, I’m bummed out. It sounds like I may have been on the lucky end of inconsistency. Obviously I’m not an ambassador for shitty food — I always hate when I post about a great experience and it persuades people into lousy ones. Can’t win ‘em all I guess.
February 6th, 2012 at 9:57 am
Don’t worry MSPD.
I once ruined Chad’s wedding anniversary. Eventually you get used to letting people down after you have done it enough.
February 6th, 2012 at 10:25 am
MSPD: Despite your review, my intentions were to someday go back and see if they changed for the better. Your review just pushed us over the edge as we were debating where to go for lunch that day, so I said “hey let’s give the Tap another shot”.
February 6th, 2012 at 10:29 am
I was also planning on visiting at some point and was more or less reminded by MSPD’s review of that. I would have visited either way.
February 10th, 2012 at 10:06 am
I give the Valley Tap House the lefty Seal of Approval.
I met a friend for beers last night and during the course of beer drinking I tried the Trio of Sliders from the appetizer menu. It was a turkey sloppy joe, a shaved pork with cole slaw and a veggie burger with some refrigerator pickles on the side for 8 bucks or so.
While I quite liked all three of them, I thought the black bean veggie burger was the best of the three. It is a rare occasion when the non meat item is my favorite.
I was there from about 5:30 until 9 and was able to try 4 of their beers from their mostly great beer list. 2 for 1 until 7 pm was a pleasant surprise.
Too bad they don’t serve Surly yet.
February 10th, 2012 at 4:53 pm
Yes, they have Surly, I was just there on Tuesday to enjoy some Hopslam and noticed they had 2 Surly’s on Tap, Bender & Cynic Ale.
I got charged for both of my Hopslam’s, even though I was there during Happy Hour. Bummer.
February 10th, 2012 at 5:26 pm
I didn’t see Furious on the menu. Thus…no Surly
February 10th, 2012 at 6:36 pm
FYI, Furious is NOT the only beer Surly makes.
Although, I can’t imagine why Valley Tap chose Cynic Ale as one of their 2 Surly choices, that one’s a bit uncommon. Maybe that’s all they could get to start.
February 10th, 2012 at 7:19 pm
I personally don’t much care for their Cynic Ale honestly but I’m not as picky as lefty as I’d be fine with drinking Bender.
February 10th, 2012 at 8:24 pm
I like Cynic Ale, it’s just not normally on tap. It’s also better in the summer, I think.
Hops lam was nice o tap, too. Smaller serving (10 oz. glass) but damn tasty. So was the Stone IPA I had after that.
February 10th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Yeah Hopslam is 99/100 on BA. I really want to try it myself.
February 11th, 2012 at 4:05 pm
I like this place. I think the food is good. The price is right, that’s for sure! There isn’t a lot on the menu that’s over 10 dollars, and all their sandwiches come with fries! You don’t have to pay more to upgrade to them! Their beer selection is outstanding. You certainly get a lot of bang for you buck there, which is a big reason why I will continue to go there.
February 13th, 2012 at 10:04 pm
I’ve been there several times and the service is fantastic! I will never complain about 2 for 1 on Bender! Of course, Furious would be great.
February 13th, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Mopey
What did you order? I ask because I think their food sucks. Where the fries good? Or do you go for the beer? I have had shitty food the last 2 times I was there so I I’m not understanding all of the raves here. I can only guess that this place turns into some sort of meat market after 9:00pm and that’s the draw.
February 13th, 2012 at 10:16 pm
A neighborhood birthday gathering found us at VTH on Sunday evening. 2nd time in. Consumed a Bacon Blue Burger, not bad, good in fact. The only downer was the doughy bun. Prepared nicely (medium-rare), good amount of decent blue cheese, bacon was average. Service was average. Nice “on-the-rocks” double vodka (rail, single pricing) during happy hour. We’ll return sometime, eventually.
February 14th, 2012 at 3:42 pm
Nurd, I have had the pit beef sandwich and the pit burger there. It was the 1st time I had ever had a pit sandwich and it’s not really my thing. That style of sandwich, I mean. I thought the pit burger was pretty good. A hamburger topped with some of the pit beef. I was pleased with that. My wife has had the Latin pig pit sandwich and she loves it. She hasn’t tried anything else. She declared that her favorite right out of the gate. Their fries aren’t the best. As I have said before, I think Old Chicago has really good fries. The thing I like about the Tap House is that just about everything is under 10 dollars and you don’t have to upgrade to fries. A lot of other places around here charge you to upgrade to fries and before you know your sandwich is climbing over 12 dollars. I want to go there more since I know some of the staff. I want to try some other things, especially their appetizers. It’s no secret, their beer selection is really good and that helps. I have no idea what happens there after 9:00 pm. I am never out that late. I am usually in bed by 9:00 pm on workdays because I work early hours. That’s why happy hours work best for me. I am usually there by 3:30 pm and gone by 6:00 pm. Even on weekends when I go out I prefer to go out early and be home by 7:00 pm or 8:00 pm. I always heard that Wild Bills was the place that became the meat market in the evening. That and Bogarts has always had the reputation of being Cougarville…..
February 14th, 2012 at 5:32 pm
“Upgrade to fries”?
Upgrade from what? I would like to know what is lower on the scale than French fries.
February 14th, 2012 at 5:36 pm
Ozzie, A lot of places serve their burgers and sandwiches with chips. You have to pay an extra $1.50 or so for fries.
February 14th, 2012 at 6:25 pm
OK I guess I gotta go to this place when it’s packed to the gills in order to get decent chow. I’ve been burned on Saturday afternoons twice now so maybe if I change the time I go it will be OK.
Would it be better if I sat in the bar and ordered?
I should try to track when the positive review people went so I can re-create the conditions in which:
1). The burger came out perfect.
2). The Pit beef sandwich was actually served medium like it says in the menu.
3). The fries (yes I know they’re bad for me but I like ‘em!) are at least edible and not the friggin greasy, mealy mess that I was served the last 2 times I was there.
4). Be checked on by the waitress at least once every 10 minutes so I might be able to perhaps order another beer and thereby increase my bill and therefore her tip.
February 14th, 2012 at 9:35 pm
Do you guys ever eat vegetables?
February 14th, 2012 at 9:37 pm
I eat things that eat vegetables. Does that count?
February 14th, 2012 at 9:43 pm
Had Caramelized Brussels Sprouts W/Walnuts & ham at Tilia today> Delish! Oh, and scallops! Double Delish!
February 14th, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Joey, actually that does count for something!!
C&V, YUM, I’m jealous. We caramelized some at home on Sunday – with sweet onion petals, toasted walnuts, and little cubes of butternut squash.
February 15th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
Sandy, maybe the burgers came with tomatoes?
February 15th, 2012 at 3:45 pm
Fries come from potatoes which are vegetables.
February 16th, 2012 at 6:52 pm
Tonight I headed to Valley Tap for happy hour. I wanted to try the burger for myself and see if anything had changed since we were there during VIP night. Here are my obs from tonight:
1. We were there at 5. Place was busy but not packed.
2. Music wasn’t bad in the restaurant part and wasn’t awful in the bar at least at 5.
3. The appetizers we ordered were hit/miss. The pretzels were terrible. They were hard and the sauces were disgusting. At $2.98 I’m not going to complain too much.
The Scotch Eggs were ok. I wasn’t blown away and the yolks were a little underdone compared to others I’ve had but the mustards were nice and they were an ok app overall especially at 1/2 off. The homemade pickles weren’t impressive for me but I really liked the pickled onions. Yum!
4. I asked for the IPAs on their beer list and he listed off a bunch but included a Belgian Strong. I didn’t recognize it (or realize it was a Belgian) so I asked for that. Once it got to the table I realized it wasn’t an IPA. He argued with me but I prevailed. They delivered two samples (Fulton and Bells) and I went with a Sweet Child of Vine instead (2 for $5!)
5. The Wife ordered a chicken salad sandwich. It was a fucking beast but she wasn’t really hungry tonight. She saved the rest for tomorrow. I didn’t try it.
6. I ordered the Blistered Hipster. First off the menu, like so many, warns that it’s really hot and you’ve been warned. I just laughed it off as typical stupidity. I ordered it medium rare and asked that it really be cooked medium-rare.
The burger came out and was perfectly cooked (nice crust on the meat and completely and beautifully pink inside) and completely loaded with the three pepper relish. One bite impressed me. The meat tasted nice and the peppers were hot. By bite three I was sweating and cursing under my breath.
After I finished the whole thing I was raving on Twitter about it and said it was the second hottest restaurant item I’ve ever had (behind Girvan). There had to be something seriously hot in that relish. I asked the waiter what was in there and he wasn’t quite sure but said he believed it was a red chili, jalapeno and ancho. With the head I was experiencing I figured the red chili was a ghost but wasn’t sure because it had to have been fresh due to the flavor. He came back to say it was ancho, ghost, jalapeno and a chili oil.
Let me tell you. This stuff was outstanding. I was blown away and begged that it never leave the menu. Great flavor, amazing heat, and an awesome burger. While this was no Nookie Supreme, it was quite possibly one of the top 5 burgers I’ve ever had.
—
I was disappointed a bit w/the apps but the burger was fantastic and the heat was great. The service was a little shitty but I’ll deal for $2.50 Fulton and a great burger.
And yes N52, the fries weren’t the best but thankfully I could care less about fries.
Chiliheads, get out there now. Good stuff that Blistered Hipster. They should consider putting it on the wings!
February 16th, 2012 at 7:14 pm
“He argued with me but I prevailed.”
How many times has that phrase been repeated? ;)
February 16th, 2012 at 7:16 pm
I have to say your experience makes me want to revisit it, though probably only during happy hour. Also, it sucks that your service wasn’t great, as that was my biggest complaint. You’d think after great food, that would be the next priority for a restaurant. Has anyone felt like they had great service here?
February 16th, 2012 at 7:18 pm
Been there twice, both times service was acceptable – not exceptional. Same as the food.
February 16th, 2012 at 7:20 pm
I mean the service wasn’t “bad”. It took about 10 minutes for our server to get to our table after we were seated (and it wasn’t that busy) but I have no idea if he had tables outside the back corner we were in.
Aside from not realizing that a Strong Belgian isn’t an IPA (probably 50% of people ordering wouldn’t know the difference) I can’t say he was a bad server. He just screwed up the beer, argued with me about it but later rectified it completely!, and took a bit to get to the table.
While not good service I wouldn’t have made much comment about it except for the beer.
February 16th, 2012 at 8:05 pm
If I had been served decent food there I could have excused the fries as well, but I can’t seem to catch a break that way so I will go during peak periods as that seems to be the key to getting a properly prepared burger (or any other dish for that matter).
Glad it was good for you.
February 17th, 2012 at 9:42 am
Bill,
I did not anticipate that review coming! Since I had a decent experience there already, I think I want to try that burger you had. I rarely look at burgers on a menu that have “a bunch of stuff” on them so I am glad to know it is there.
Thanks for the tip!
February 17th, 2012 at 7:08 pm
Bill, I was there yesterday at 5, too. I had the pretzel sticks and I really think they were reheated! They were hard and chewy. However, I really enjoyed the chicken wings. Meaty and flavorful (not at all hot, or course), and a great price during happy hour.
2 appetizers and 2 rounds of beers for less than $20!
I’ve had both hit and miss service there, but all in all I am happy.
February 20th, 2012 at 12:48 pm
I just returned from a lunch with my wife and two kids (3 and 1.5) for a second go-round. We were quickly seated and our waiter was quick to ask for drinks. My wife couldn’t decide after her two beer selections were out…he suggested a sample for her, nice touch, often not given. Worst part, my wife went with a bottle of bud light.
We went with the pretzels, a sausage-mushroom pizza and the thai dragon sandwich. I wish I had read the above posts regarding the pretzels…agree 100%. Not the highlight.
Pizza was decent, and at 5 bucks for lunch, a steal. The sauce seemed homemade, the mushrooms fresh (sliced baby portabellas?) all on a nice thin crust.
The highlight for me was the thai dragon sandwich. After one bite, i opted for the knife and fork method as this was seriously messy. A ton of meat, two nice slices of bacon, sliced red onion and a thai sauce I really enjoyed. A bit sweet with a tinge of heat.
After my first experience (post above) I was happy to see that overall, things seem to be improving for Valley Tap House. I’ll be excited to enjoy a summer day on the patio for a lunch priced beer (3 bucks for all taps) or 2-4-1 happy hour prices.
February 24th, 2012 at 10:27 pm
Went to the Valley Tap for the first time tonight. Our bartender server was Sarah and she was slow to greet us, but one she finally did the service was good. We had the wings and they were great. I liked the mediteranian pizza and it was good with their blue cheese dressing on it for added flavor. The atmosphere was nice and people varied so I think the appeal is to a variety of ages which is good. I like the decor and can hardly wait for the patio to open in the spring. We will be back a nice place. :)
February 25th, 2012 at 10:20 am
Pam C., welcome to Lazy Lightning.
Question – what is on their Mediterranean pizza? Does it actually come with blue cheese dressing or was that just your creation? Kind of unusual, but I just might have to try it.
Thanks for the comment.
February 29th, 2012 at 3:33 pm
Just checked the place out on Monday night. I went with a friend, and we both had the same thing. We didn’t do any appetizers, just the entree. We had the Philly pit sandwich, and we both thought it was tasty. The meat had good flavor, the bread was delicious, and loved all the melted cheese and peppers. It was a messy sandwich and basically forced you to eat the sandwich without setting it down. The fries were cooked well, and had a really good flavor.
The service I thought was fine, I wouldn’t say exceptional, but did a nice job. The server was always by when our drinks were running low. I’ll definitely be back to try the blistered hipster.
I’m very happy to see Fulton on their tap list. Excellent local brew.
March 4th, 2012 at 1:11 am
Tonight, I had a very positive experience at the helm of Mike. Mike was the most attentive bartender I have had in months. Excellent service. But, I was with a friends of mine who needed a plug up their asses and was the first time ever in my 40+ years of life on this planet that I was ever told that if we could not control our farting that we would be asked to leave.
March 4th, 2012 at 10:30 am
W T F?!
March 4th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
One more reason I like VTH.
March 4th, 2012 at 12:36 pm
Oh my fucking god is that funny. I literally cannot stop laughing right now TL.
March 4th, 2012 at 5:45 pm
1. Gross.
2. Mopey is going to start his investigation tomorrow to unmask all of you and get the whole story, by interviewing all VTH bartenders (while drinking, of course).
3. Just in case you didn’t get the message: ewww gross.
March 19th, 2012 at 11:22 pm
Tried the VTH tonight. Onion ring were good. Not so much the pretzel sticks, Pit Philly and Pit Pork sandwiches. The pretzels were tough and both the sandwiches had NO taste at all. It was like eating paper. I very much doubt that they saw any of the “hand rub spices and three days of marinating” that are described on the menu. Will be back to the bar for the beer selection which was pretty good, but NOT the food.
March 20th, 2012 at 5:24 pm
I made a return visit for lunch a couple of Sundays ago. I was really happy with the pit pork sandwich I had. I’d order it again, though sans cole slaw since it’s just not my thing. The service was excellent though. I’ll be going back and would like to try a few other items on their menu.
May 15th, 2012 at 8:58 pm
Stopped by for happy hour. Needed just a small bite and ordered the pork belly. I generally don’t care how trendy/not trendy a food is, if I like it and I’m in the mood for it, I’m good with it… so long as it is well prepared.
This pork belly was quite good. Both crunchy/browned and tender/melty, it was nicely flavored. The peach (?) salsa it was served with was only O.K.; it was mushy and could have used more zip. I make a rhubarb/hot pepper sauce for pork belly that we really like.
The grilled bread was ho-hum, plain, dry, and pointless-maybe a rub with some fresh garlic or something could have saved it? It didn’t work to either top it with the belly or to use it to soak up the juices; it was just an odd man out on the plate.
Great job on the pork belly, the accompaniments needed help. It was, however,a great deal for happy hour and they are probably the only place SOTR that offers it, despite its enormous popularity for about the last ten years.
We will return to try some other things the next time we want something out and don’t want to cross the river. We won’t expect an amazing experience, but I think it will be better than most of the other restaurants in the area.
May 17th, 2012 at 2:48 pm
On my last visit a couple of weeks ago I did try the Thai Dragon and I thought it was tasty. The bacon was overdone, but other than that it was a good sandwich.
I have much preferred their pork sandwiches over the beef sandwiches. The “Pit Beef” has not had much flavor when I have had it there or at their other location on Lyndale.
I love their hand cut fries. I also like that their happy hour goes until 7:00 PM.
June 27th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
I’ve eaten at Valley Tap House about 20 times now and each time I have been overwhelmed at the food. I love the Chili and dry rub wings! I get the Chili first and have a very very hard time eating all the chicken. Their recent Pig Roast was especially good! I’m going back again tonight-you can not beat their happy hour. The food is unlike anything in the South Metro.
You can not go wrong here-also Pizzas are $5.00 at lunch!
June 27th, 2012 at 4:48 pm
Michael, what are some of your other favorite restaurants around town?
June 27th, 2012 at 7:33 pm
I smell astroturf.
June 27th, 2012 at 7:40 pm
Nils, if it is, they didn’t learn their lesson the first time. Although I don’t think it is.
June 28th, 2012 at 8:14 am
That would be a silly astroturf in what is a generally pretty good review and comment section already.
I have been here 4 or 5 times now and I would generally agree that the food, service and value have made it a regular destination when wanting to go out for a bite and a beer. I would generally agree with Michael’s assessment.
December 31st, 2012 at 7:29 am
[...] Fair Bingo Byblos Lebanese Grill in Burnsville, MN The Rack Bar & Grill in Burnsville, MN Valley Tap House in Apple Valley, MN Zest in Eagan, MN Spice Thai Cafe in Lakeville, MN Wicked Palate Food Truck in Burnsville, MN [...]
February 26th, 2013 at 7:02 am
[...] to the Apple Valley Chamber of Commerce, Minneapolis’ Crooked Pint Ale House is joining Valley Tap House in building a sister location in Apple [...]