3rd- fuddrucker's, st. louis park
5th- jewel of india, minneapolis
11th-lone spur, minnetonka
12th- panzanella bread company, shakopee
17th- panera bread, woodbury
17th- sophie's embers, st. louis park
24th- d'amico and sons, eden prairie

3rd- fuddrucker's, st. louis park (b)

no points to anyone for not noticing (or if they did, not telling me) that october 04 read november 04 through the whole of the month.

anyway, depressed as i was over the election results, my craving was for a place where i could dump warm cheese sauce over a bunch of food, so this fit the bill.

fries and a chicken sandwich. and as gross at it may seem to some, i did dip some pickle slices in the cheese, too. because i can. and i like it. so there.

not the best food in the world, but it was warm, edible, and covered with cheese sauce (not the best in the world, but it suited).

because of the craving, it rated higher than last time. still much the same as always. order in line, go sit down. except now they have beepers for the food instead of the constant calling of names over the loudspeaker. to make up the volume difference, they upped the music a bit.

they seem to have fewer tvs now, and the tables are mostly arranged for groups of 6 or larger, which is interesting. catering to the large family demo, maybe? they seemed to have more games for the kids, too.

 

5th- jewel of india, minneapolis (b+)

they were less organized than last time. when we got there at 11:30 the food wasn't out yet. napkins came midway through the meal. and last time we paid at the table, this time we paid in the back. water wasn't refilled as promptly, either. food was still good, but nothing had paneer in it. still affordable, and this time we managed to spot their parking lot, which was nice (though the construction in front of it was not happy).

11th- lone spur, minnetonka (b)

since mr. bad restaurant karma stayed home, dinner went well. since i had a random craving for a margarita (never had a craving for one before, really), i had one. raspberry. it was ok. could've used a bit more blending, but it was freshly made.

mrs. bad restaurant karma had some kind of salad with turkey. didn't look good to me (or, from what i tasted, taste good either). the turkey was sliced deli meat. the salad would have been so much more improved had they swapped it for the smoked chicken they have there. otherwise, it was a fearful pile of iceberg with mounds of said turkey, cheese, black olives, mushrooms, broccoli crowns, and a few red onion slices and a few tomatoes. came with toast. not great toast, but toast nevertheless.

fajitas with the aforementioned chicken are what i had. kind of like the red pepper burrito only different. could've sworn i've been back here more recently than last year, but nope. came with a good amount of lettuce, and needed more guac, sour cream, cheese, olives, and salsa. the filling and the number of tortillas i got came out evenly, without overstuffing, which worked out well. (well, i did plan a bit, but still...) i had double the beans instead of rice (i don't like most rice in texmex or mex places), which needed more of a flavor shot somehow.

service was decent. and despite the crowded parking lot, the restaurant was ok, there was no wait (there's probably people in the bar, which is nicely closed off from the restaurant, so you don't get smoke drift).

12th- panzanella bread company, shakopee (b+)

instead of going with my usual thought (bread company, better order a sandwich), since what i really wanted was mac and cheese, i got pasta (closer to mac and cheese than a sandwich... that was my line of thinking. though i am surprised they don't have plain old mac and cheese).

i went with the chicken pesto linguine. had some artichoke hearts (canned) in it, but the sauce was fresh and pretty good, the pasta was cooked to the right degree. they either needed more artichoke hearts in it, or none. and the dish could have used something crunchy (like pine nuts, it cried out for those suckers practically). it came with a tasty roll, though a side salad would not have gone amiss. it was good and all, but for some reason it seemed spendy (at least for a place where you order at the counter and they bring you your food). not a lot spendy, just kinda. even though everyone who got something there had a big old pile of food.

the bread from this place makes really good toast, too. their slicers cuts it on the thick side, which helps. and from what i have sampled, their muffins are tasty and not all sugary like some can be.

17th- panera bread, woodbury (c)

i'd rather go to panzanella for samwiches. so i had the salad here, which really wan't all that much better. asian chicken, it was supposed to be. it was a pile of romain with a few chicken chunks and almond tossed in, plus a heap of fried noodles that got soggy quickly in a mandarin orange dressing. i was not impressed. i was rendered less so by the sandwich at the table next to us, which had extra protein in the form of a bug. the person got a new one, plus a cookie. so they do get points for that.

it's not great, but passable, and i'll pass the next time. i think i'll go for soup and a bagel, maybe, if i go here (well, panera again, i don't forsee having to be all way the hell in woodbury again any time soon).

17th- sophie's embers, st. louis park (c-)

was my baked potato served half raw?

yes it was.

were the green beans rubbery?

indeed.

was there a lettuce end in the salad?

naturally.

was the 'salad' a bunch of lettuce (romaine, if you want details), one tomato wedge, and three rings of red onion?

kinda pathetic, but yep.

was a sandwich served randomly with gravy all over it? (note: yes, it was a meatloaf sandwich, but not described as having gravy on it)?

you betcha.

was i with mr. bad restaurant karma?

yes i was.

(though the server was actually pretty good, and mr. brk did like the sandwich, in as much as he likes anything, when a new one was served sans gravy... as for my meal... well, the salmon didn't suck. i got it without the hollandaise, however. that seemed a bit scary in more ways than one. i should have stuck with breakfast or something they can do less damage to... i was contemplating a chicken sandwich, but i was scared to see what they would do with fries. anyway, at least my breakfast was tasty. one out of three is... better than none out of three.)

24th- d'amico and sons, eden prairie (d-)

though i am not a foodie, i am pretty sure that linguini with basil pesto does not tranlate into a having a quarter inch of olive oil at the bottom of your bowl or plate after it's served. unless something has gone horribly wrong. (which of course it did. (yes, mr. bad restaurant karma sharing the wealth).

the stuff tasted like grease. not basil. not pasta. not pine nuts. and not even particularly tasty grease (like butter and some of your better olive oils). so i sent it back (i don't go for replacements on most things 'cause sometimes they just send back the same thing, and if it went wrong once, it probably will again., baked potato notwithstanding) and asked for a chicken sandwich.

the best thing the sandwich can be said about it is 'it came with a decent bag of potato chips.' (too cold, tasted like nothing, was missing cheese, had two tiny slices of sad tomato and two leaves of spinach, the chicken was unseasoned, etc.) it was slightly less crappy than the pasta (when asked if it was, that was my reply) in that it wasn't awful, it just tasted like nothing. after eating part of the chicken sandwich, all i could think is... i really want some chicken, that would taste good right about now.

i also had to inquire as to getting back the price difference between the less spendy sandwich and the pasta, which is not a good thing. we did get some free cookies out of the ordeal, but really... they weren't worth it. (country chocolate chip, which tasted like butter, nothing but... nothing against butter, love the stuff, but the only thing that should really taste like pure butter is... butter. not cookies. even butter cookies tasted less like butter than this cookie, for that matter.... the walnut chocolate chip was odd-tasting and had no walnuts).

no idea what happened here as restaurant-going experience. perhaps i should just eat the pizza. not the salads. not the sandwiches. and most definitely not the pasta.

mr. bad restaurant karma liked the lasagne (as much as he likes anything), and mrs. liked her salmon entree in yogurt and cucumber sauce. they ordered about two minutes after i did at the counter, but they asked about getting their food 10 minutes or so after i got mine. not a good scene.

i had to go home and eat something to get the taste of this place out of my mouth. blargh.