5th- pairings food and wine bar, minnetonka, mn
12th- vincent a restaurant, minneapolis
14th- smashburger, golden valley
20th- steak escape, eden prairie
28th- el azteca, apple valley

5th- pairings food and wine bar, minnetonka, mn (b-)

a recently opened place, just near where eden prairie and minnetonka meet, that reminds me a bit of what france 44 tried to do- have a wine store with a cafe and food store. this one appeared to be the opposite of what they planned, with more emphasis on the food, with a smaller wine area (which seems a bit after-thoughty). the seating area outside is nice, with couches and all. the inside seating area is very d'amico and sons, with a few tvs tuned to the food network. they have live music on saturdays, too.

i have mixed feelings about this whole set up- the flow of the place is odd (we got trapped for several minutes when trying to leave as a large party entered and there's only the one door) and if someone orders a hot entree (i got a pizza) and someone a cold one (mom got the salad sampler platter), one person eats well before the others (the pizza came when she was 3/4ths done), so i am not sure how that is supposed to work (the salad ordering is away from the hot food ordering but i think you pay in the same place, but you would think someone would mention they could bring it to the table the same time as the pizza?). the one deli case of cheese and meat seems a bit lonely off to the side, with a few browsers and fewer purchasers. it' mostly imported items. there's also some crackers and chocolates (more local ones there)..

i have mixed feelings about the food. the three salads in sampler (pick three of the salads they have that day for $8.50) that mom chose were semi-decent-sizes scoops. she chose a not very thrilling chicken pasta salad with some walnuts and smoked bacon it it, an above average but needed a lot of seasoning potato salad. both needed a bit more seasoning, especially the potato salad.

there was also a lesser scoop of fruit 'salad' which was some not quite ripe pineapple, not sweet watermelon, a few grapes, a few blueberries, and uninspiring canteloupe. no dressing or anything, it was just cut up fruit. you get no bread or crackers with it. it's not something i would order, no matter what the salads. mostly due to the lack of bread, admittedly. she wasn't extremely enthused, and liked the sandwich she had there a few weeks back better.

my pizza had the makings of a great one, but it got lost in topping overkill and needed editing. the duck confit pizza with "with slow-roasted, all-natural duck, goat cheese, butternut squash, door county tart cherries and arugula" (regularly $9.95, but since i got there during 'happy hour' when pizzas are half priced- between 4-6 pm i think- it was $4.98. math! odd they didn't seem to mention happy hour in the venue anyplace i saw).

since i didn't read much of the board menu description after duck and goat-cheese, i had forgotten the squash and arugula by the time the pizza got there (and mom was mostly done with her food). and i wish they had forgotten the same when they made the pizza. especially the squash- the weirdly large chunks tasted like not much of anything and added only color to the pizza. the argula wasn't that welcome either. i don't want a salad on my pizza. on the side, sure. i do realize a lot of places do this, but it thrills me not at all.

but the rest of the pizza was quite flavorful and harmonius, if a bit underseasoned. and i really like the crust. the pizza is done in a wood-fired oven, but the crust is thin but not cracker-thin (a la punch). i think if i had gotten the wild mushroom one or left the squash and salad off this one, this would be a solid candidate for my favorite pizza still in town, especially for the uber-reasonable happy hour price. but i just don't get the added veg. especially the squash. why?

since it was counter service, i refilled my own water. but some of the floor staff (they deliver things, take used dishes and the like) is more on the ball than others. several walked by without looking when i was trying to flag someone down for a box for leftovers.

anyway, the place has some potential once it's around a bit longer. though i will say it was fairly crowded there with everyone from couples to people working on projects to families- it looks like it fills a non-chain casual non-fast food dining niche in the area for sure.

12th- vincent a restaurant, minneapolis (b)

been a while since i was here... but alas, i needed some of the sweet corn veloute. it's that time of year. since the place was uberpacked (remodelling vs. a concert at orchestra hall) and we wanted to order during happy hour, i was forced to sit outside. at least it was shady. but still, too many distractions, and the busses and smokers out there, not so plesant.

so yes, i had a bowl of the sweet corn veloute ($8). it was on the upper end of good, the whole 'summer in a bowl' thing. and i think it is worth the $8 for not the hugest bowl in the world. alas, it took two tries to get bread with it- service was distracted (and a lot of them looked very new since i was here last) and a bit rushed. and i think they hadn't planned for the mad crowd.

my dining companion went for the decent enough tartine ("cantal cheese, sauteed mushrooms,pine nuts and a drizzle of honey," $4 during happy hour). it was three slices of baguette in an open-faced grilled cheese. it was fine, not great. the flavors were all fine and such, but i think it needed just a touch of... something else. herb, maybe. it was missing the thing that would've brought the honey, mushrooms and cheese together. and for something billed as a tartine, it was rather tall. tartines are supposed to be, per the menu, "a thin open faced sandwich." these were about a half-inch or more thick.

and of course there were fries ($3.50 during happy hour). alas, the fries were the disappointments this time. they had probably sat around a bit too long before being served, and it made quite a bit of difference. plus it was rather a smallish serving size. which was fine considering the state they were in. just saying there used to be more. they were adequate, that's all.

so yes, except for the soup, i wasn't thrilled with things this go around.

14th- smashburger, golden valley (b)

at the overly packed (even early) smashburger, i will say the burgers were the star of the experience. mom thought they were among the best in town. she went with the classic version, though without cheese ($4.99 for a 1/3 pound burger). the kids meal version was also good (but not quite as good as the five guys, apparently... though that may be because you get peanuts there... according to the kids meal burger eater).

even the smashchicken ($6.49 for a create your own- aka i got blue cheese, plus $.99 for mushrooms) sandwich, though not actually smashed was very good. a bit spendy for the mushrooms for what you get, but it was real chicken, tasty and juicy. not typical fast food at all, or even fast casual. plus all the veg seemed very fresh, no sad tomatoes and such. and hey, i liked it better than five guys just for non-burger menu options alone.

then things fell down. the smashfries ($1.79 for a side order, vs. $1.49 for regular) have rosemary, garlic, olive oil and herbs. they don't have crispness or much flavor, even with the garlic and herbs. though they were a bit better than the lackluster regular fries that came with the kids meals.

and in the kids meals, you do get real chicken in the chicken fingers, but i guess they aim them at very small kids, as you only get two not so large ones. ($3.99 for a kids meal, with fries and a small beverage). the haagen dazs chocolate malt ($3.99) wasn't so great either- it has some weird aftertaste, and didn't taste like chocolate.

it's an order at the counter and your food is brought to you place. no one appeared to be in charge of crowd or table wrangling (like perhaps asking the one person sitting at a four top to maybe move to a two top while hoards of people looked for places to sit). that needs to be worked out a bit. though the food did come quickly, we had to ask for the drinks. i think going during maybe less crowded hours and not ordering the fries (or malts) would be not such a bad idea. or getting the stuff to go.

15th- dixie's on grand, st. paul (b)

another group for dixie's, though this time we had no gift card or certificate. most of us (2 kids, 3 seniors, 1 adult) split the bbq sampler platter ($38.95, which is quite reasonable for the number of people it feeds), for the ease of ordering. i remember splitting it four ways and having lots of meat leftover last time. we still had leftover meat this time also.

but this time the platter was better. the ribs (baby back and spare) were falling off the bone tender- so much so that even though the rib-eating people have generally small appetities, they cleared off all of them, and that was not an insignificant pile of food.

the chicken was much improved- the roasted was bigger and more flavorful (again the thigh and drumstick, of course). the cajun was less burned, though not at all spicy. it was grilled chicken with a small bit of seasoning. and the pulled chicken wasn't bad either and had no bones about it this time.

no one went for the pulled pork or the random dish of chili again (not on the menu still). there were two coconut shrimp, too. large ones. and the four sides that it came with were still smallish (maybe everyone could have a bite, perhaps, of most of them or you pick and choose) and mostly average. we chose the skin-on mashed potatoes with cream gravy (eh), corn on the cob (the most decent of the lot), succotash (i didn't taste it but thought green beans were odd in it) and the not inspiring french fries. i did like the baking powder biscuits with butter and honey that came out first, but the buttermilk dressing coleslaw needed a bit of seasoning.

the platter dissenter among us got the portobello mushroom sandwich with lettuce and mayo ($10.95) plus a side of southern-style (read: chock full o'bacon) green beans (along with a glass of aquanias wine for $8). they liked the sandwich, not so fond of the green beans... probably because of the excess bacon.

service was not great but not bad. decent for a larger group, i guess. it helped that one person took charge (did the ordering, etc). it also helped they left water and such on the table, of course.

the main challange was getting near the place- the parking in the area sucks.

20th- steak escape, eden prairie (b-)

they're getting a bit of an upgrade if only because most of the food in that particular food court is between bad and inedible (eating post-work, pre-movie at a mall, not a lot of choice about the venue). mc donald's is a no from the outside, sbarro i didn't find appealing (and usually don't, though i don't recall having eaten there). manchu wok looks bad, i don't eat at subway if i can help it, i ate at little tokyo here once and won't again, and the last time i went to a baja sol it was similarly horrid. though apparently we could've gotten chicken tenders at the movie theater (which seems odd to me).

i was half-thinking i should run to target for a pretzel, but remembered by long-ago lunch at steak escape wasn't so bad. so i had thought i had ordered the grand gobbler- more or less a turkey philly. it turns out i didn't order it right, so just got the 7" turkey sub ($4.59 i think). way better than subway. the turkey was decent enough for cold cuts. (if it was grilled does it make it warm cuts?) the veg were nice, too. no sad tomatoes or brown lettuce. i couldn't taste much cheese on it, but it tasted fresh, and i can't stress how important this is in this context- it didn't suck.

instead of fries (i couldn't remember if they were good or not, and i have decided to try not to order or eat crap fries) i went with a cup of the tomato basil with ravioli ($1.89 i think). the rainy cold day also was part of that decision for sure. the soup is marked as a low fat vegetarian option, but there was a bit of cheese in the ravioli. it was a good sized cup, too. i would've liked it a bit hotter, but for soup from the food court from hell, it was well-seasoned and not horrible.

we started coming up for slogans for this place as i was eating (i was the only person who went for this option), such as 'steak escape- it sucks way less than anything else here!' or 'steak escape- less likely to make you hurl!' was it a great meal? of course not. a bit above average in the circumstances is sometimes all you can get.

28th- el azteca, apple valley (b-)

boy, that was one quiet, whispery server. i could barely hear them over the loud music in the place. like most suburban mexian places (including the el loro/toro/etc. local chain that has a location in apple valley) they could turn the volume down a notch or twelve so that you may converse without screaming. though . not sure if i could still hear the server if they did. besides quiet, though, service was fine with the water refills and such.

the food was a bit better than the el loro/toro/etc. chain, though the tortillas, in chip and regular form, needed way more salt. and this was coming not just from me, but from the person i was eating (tacos de pastor, about $9.50 i think) with who rarely salts food. they had said theirs was missing something... and after eating some chips and tasting the tortillas, i knew it had to be the lack of salt. healthier, sure, but the chips were still decent without and not at all greasy. they were served with a decent chunky mild salsa and the ranch-dressingesque sauce that was better than most.

i got one of the featured dishes, sausalito enchaladas ($9.99). they were listed as spinach and pobalno peppers and chicken enchaladas in a cream spinach sauce with fresh cheese and sour cream. they were rich, but the spinach cut that down nicely. though more spinach (or maybe some internal sauce) may have kept the meat from drying out a bit too much (the tacos de pastor also suffered a bit from the dry meat, maybe if it had the pineapple chunks listed on the menu more prominent, that would've improved too).

the beans (from the choice of rice or...) and creama salad (a few bits of lettuce, a tiny bit of tomato and some sour cream, i believe) that came with the dish were... there. not sure why the crema salad was. as a whole, the dish was a bit different that what you see in most mexican places around. and very holiday-esque when i put the hot sauce on it..

besides the food, the decor seems nicer than the el loro/toro/etc places (and many other, plainer, mexican restaurants), and less plastic. i'd add this place to the second-tier rotation for apple valley restaurants, mostly because of the non-standard dishes on their menu. i'd like to see how they do a dish like fish tacos before i make a final judgement on the rotation.

 

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