Today we met one of my oldest friends along with his wife and infant daughter for breakfast this morning in Maple Grove. They were in town for a wedding in Cambridge and asked if we could meet up somewhere half-way. I asked for some recommendations in Maple Grove and Kate suggested three squares restaurant (a Blue Plate Company establishment) as they had a couple of vegetarian options which was something that my friend specifically asked about.
Three Squares is located along “Main St” in Maple Grove, a typical fake downtown created by a city council thoroughly convinced that if you line a street in the middle of a desolate farm field with a bunch of shops that all look somewhat similar, people will feel at home wandering down through it and into the parking lot of a movie theater. Unfortunately, while it seems to have attracted plenty of shops and left few retail spaces open, it still feels more like Main Street in Disney World than small town America.
Three Squares is proud to display several reviews in the local media on its website and on its walls as evidence of its success and attempts to lure people in an attempt at stating that it sets itself apart from the fake atmosphere and chain-restaurant hell that surrounds it elsewhere in Maple Grove. After looking at the menu and eating at several other Blue Plate restaurants, I figured that this would definitely be a decent place to eat some good breakfast.
I called just before 8 AM and was told that they allow you to call ahead an hour beforehand to put your name in for priority seating. I called back at 8:30 and set us up for a 9:30 breakfast. We left the house and drove the 40 minutes and arrived to find the restaurant with plenty of open spaces. After watching a rude and nasty bitch demand that she be seated in the bar, which was not staffed at 9:31 AM, come back and whine to the staff that she had not been waited on by 9:34 AM, my friend and his family walked through the door and we were seated ourselves–in the furthest corner of the restaurant in a tiny dark nook off the bar. Ugh.
We looked over the breakfast menu (usuals, waffles and pancakes, and sides) and after narrowing it down to the Meatloaf Hash and Eggs and the Breakfast Burrito, I asked the server for his recommendation but unfortunately, as is true in too many places, he just said that he loves everything on the menu something which irks me to no end. He did mention that the burrito is huge so I settled on that. I suppose it better be huge to make it worth $11.45! My wife ordered the Farmer’s Breakfast, my buddy ordered the Fresh Strawberry French Toast, and his wife ordered the short stack of Oatmeal Flapjacks.
Our food came out with my friend’s strawberry french toast leading the way. An impressive pile of french toast with a gluttonous mass of whipped butter melting in the corner. After eating some he remarked that it was, “bready,” but being that it was made from ciabatta, I guess that comes with the territory. His wife’s short stack was also quite large and suffered from being, “too eggy,” to the point that she felt that she could actually taste the eggs. I tried neither the French toast nor the pancakes so I am happy to take their word for it. My wife’s Farmer’s Breakfast was also a large portion and looked like a heart attack on a plate. While she said it was good, when I tasted it I found it to be bland and boring. It fit the description just fine but it just wasn’t really my thing and I was definitely glad I did not order it. My Breakfast Burrito was large, just as the server promised it would be. Unfortunately it sucked, hard.
The Breakfast Burrito is described as “roasted pulled pork, black bean salsa, hash browns, Tillamook cheddar cheese and scrambled eggs rolled in a grilled flour tortilla. Topped with house made salsa verde, lime sour cream and salsa roja on the side.” Unfortunately the pork inside might as well have been cardboard as it was completely without flavor. It was tender but that’s because it was basically mush. The only discernible flavor was the salsa verde that was lumped on top. I couldn’t taste the lime sour cream nor the eggs and if I hadn’t seen the cheese I wouldn’t have known it was in there. Only after dousing the entire thing with Tabasco was I able to stomach the monstrosity. After finishing it I ate some more of my wife’s meal to wash it down. Ugh.
The total bill for the four of us was about $47 before tip (there was a side of yogurt and a fresh fruit cup for the baby) and to be honest, the meal was a bit more expensive than I would like to have paid for a completely mediocre breakfast. Being that I have come to expect more based on my experiences at other Blue Plate restaurants, this was a huge disappointment. While I don’t doubt the superiority experienced by other reviewers, I certainly didn’t have the same experience they did during my excursion to Three Squares today and I definitely will not make it a habit to return for breakfast again. Perhaps this is why MSP Mag’s review said that they ordered the Crispy Wings at 10:30 AM? Even with the completely mediocre and overpriced breakfast, it was great to see my friend and his family today and I enjoyed myself.
Have you ever eaten at Three Squares in Maple Grove? If so, what did you think? What did you order when you went? Perhaps you haven’t been there for breakfast and have some opinions on what to order for lunch or dinner? Whatever you have to say go ahead and comment on and let everyone know what you think!
Address:
Three Squares Restaurant
12690 Arbor Lakes Parkway
Maple Grove MN, 55369
Phone:
763-425-3330
Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 7AM – 11PM
Friday-Saturday: 7AM – Midnite
Sunday: 7AM – 9PM
See all the pictures from today on Flickr here.
Related posts:
Dakota Complaints Map
Dakota Inmate Dashboard
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July 18th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
I’ve eaten there and had some really quality meals, as well as some just fine meals. I like the turkey burger there, and the sweet potato fries are really good. The bar has a ton of beer on tap, and that’s quite nice. They have a really cheap Happy Hour.
But in general, the breakfast is pretty expensive. The serving sizes are huge, though, so it’s not like you’re not getting your money’s worth.
All in all, it depends on what you’re looking for. It’s better than Perkins and Champps. It’s worse than your quality Minneapolis restaurants. It’s about the same as the other Blue Plate Restaurants I’ve been to.
July 19th, 2009 at 7:47 am
I agree with Jason. Three squares is my breakfast and happyhour default working in the suburban hell that is Maple Grove (I appreciate you likening their “downtown” to downtown Disney: commercialism at its best. Sadly for breakfast I have yet to find anywhere better than 3 squares, as I try my damnedest to stay away from Perkins (at least 3 squares coffee is better). Lunch in “the grove” is a different ballgame.
Sorry you breakfast sucked!
July 19th, 2009 at 7:51 am
lets make that sorry “YOUR” breakfast sucked.
July 19th, 2009 at 8:52 am
[...] what is your favorite meal? On Saturday I met up with an old friend and his family for breakfast at Three Squares in Maple Grove. Many of you know that while my wife absolutely adores breakfast, I’m not much [...]
July 20th, 2009 at 7:03 am
[...] name like Eversharp, this shop has gotta have some cool knife-related stuff going on, Three Squares serves up “a huge disappointment” to Bill Roehl, a new national website that helps connect local growers and customers, and gorgeous [...]
July 20th, 2009 at 8:08 am
Bummer, I had the breakfast burrito at Longfellow Grill (also a Blue Plate company restaurant) a couple weeks ago and it was fantastic.
July 23rd, 2009 at 3:36 pm
I have always had great food there and semi-decent service. I think it is expensive but I have always been willing to pay that much for the breakfast burritio because everytime I had it, it has been fantastic. My firends and family love going there and everyone has always thought it was great. Maybe you expect too much? It’s not a fine dining restaurant it’s defiently inbetween, but I wouldn’t recommend a better place in that catagory in Maple Grove. Your experience started out shitty because of the bitch that wanted to start drinking at the bar, it sounds like everyone you were with had something to pick apart and complain about, too eggy or too bready maybe you’all should just chill out and stop complaining so much. I had been a server for probably 8 years and there was always that table that would just sit there and scowl and complain about everything. I was to the point where why the eff do you even come back in here? Some people jsut like to complain.
July 23rd, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Jen,
I don’t know what you want me to say. I am not picky (I love Ramy’s and White Castle–not that either are in the same bracket food wise but they are both inexpensive and you get what you pay for) but I do expect a much better result when something sets you back nearly $12 for breakfast.
I cannot speak to the two friends who ordered what they did as I didn’t taste them myself so I was doing what I could to give a well rounded review of what we experienced last weekend. But for what I had, if you can honestly say that a tasteless wrap stuffed with meat that is soggy and falvorless is somehow worth that kind of money than I really do not know what to tell you.
Now, I realize that some people either don’t care that much about what they put into their mouths or just don’t have a palate that can discern between what’s good and what’s not but I can. That said, I don’t know if my experience was due to an off-day, a new cook, or just a random fluctuation in the force but I stand by what I said today just as I did on Sunday when I wrote what I did above.
Now, as far as the complaining goes… While you apparently have some problems with people speaking their minds, I don’t. In fact, as someone who has worked in the food industry, you should know that criticisms (however they are said) are good. People should take them to heart both on the eating and creating sides to make sure that they understand food and customers better.
As for your last point that you believe some people just like to complain–well, in my case, I’d much rather give an absolutely raving and wonderful review to a place than come back here and write that the food was fucking atrocious. Why? Because I generally pay for the meals I write up out of my own pocket (in this case, my friend graciously paid for our breakfast together) and I don’t have some corporate sponsor or other entity paying for what I eat. If I leave there after shelling out $15+ for *breakfast* and it sucks, people are going to hear about it because I’m damn certain that they don’t want to make the same mistake I did.
I’m glad that you enjoy this restaurant and I know plenty of other people do as well. Thank you for sharing your sentiments but please, for future reference, don’t attack me personally over what I said just because you disagree–especially when you give nothing more than “I have always had great food there,” because, well, that just doesn’t help anyone.
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:38 pm
The only part of Jen’s retort to your review is that it is the best place to get breakfast in Maple Grove. It’s a sad and very fucking true statement. The only time I would ever even ALLOW myself to eat at Perkins is if I am drunk… but I’ve done a lot of crazy things under the influence of alcohol.
Now that I’ve put in my two week notice as my job I can outwardly say: Maple Grove is a piece of shit suburb in all regards. Man of the people that live there suck, the restaurant situation SUCKS (again, I heart Curry Up) and it looks like Disney Land meets the Stepford Wives.
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Kate, and that’s why it’s so expensive. They have to pay the high rent to stay there.
BTW, good luck at the new job!
March 13th, 2012 at 4:19 pm
How come Jen’s review disappeared?