Tavern on the Ave, St. Paul

I’m writing this as more of an event recap than a bar review, but I’ll do what I can do cover both.

I attended <a href=”http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=420189470″Tippy Cup Thunderdome this past weekend. The jist behind this is that my friend BP and his crew have been hosting a Tippycup (aka Flip Cup aka Boat Races) tournament for the last few years. This year, he decided to make it charitable by setting up the whole day as a fundraiser for The Highland Friendship Club, a local organization that works with teens and young adults with disabilities. I’m all for supporting a good cause, especially one in my own backyard, so I bought my $10 with pride.

Tavern on the Ave, St. Paul

The folks at Tavern on the Ave were awesome enough to allow the group to rent the upstairs space for the tournament. The Board of Directors did a bang-up job keeping everything organized, making sure we bought raffle tickets, and keeping the games moving along. Here are the fearless leaders:

Tippycup Thunderdome Board of Directors

From what I understand, the event made major dollars to donate, and I’m proud to have been a part of that!

As for the place itself, Tav on the Ave is a great, great bar. I don’t remember the service being particularly great or bad, so I’m sure it must’ve been just fine.

The set up is great – it’s a huge place. The bar is surrounded by a few high-top tables and is neighbored by a dining space of sorts. Towards the back, there’s another section of tables that end at a smallish dance floor under a decent-sized stage at the back of the room. We heard cover band “In the Fields,” later in the evening. They were talented enough, but the set list was just like any other cliche wedding DJ’s set list of songs like “Brown Eyed Girl,” and a couple of different Journey and Bon Jovi songs. Unoriginal, but entertaining.

The walls are lined with Buck Hunter, darts, and other good bar arcade games. There’s a cozy section tucked under the upstairs room with 3 pool tables that always seemed to be buzzing. The crowd it attracted was fantastically mixed with imbibers young and old.

The place is about a mile and a half from my current place of residence in St. Paul, and is about 4 blocks from the house of a close friend and my current [new] squeeze. I think that means it’s a place I should return to, often, and get to know the bartenders a little better!

Juicy Lucy Review – The 5-8 Club, Cedar Ave, Minneapolis

Paul and I are on our quest for the Twin Cities’ Most Delicious Juicy Lucy Burger.

Tonight, we hit up The 5-8 Club, in South Minneapolis at Cedar and 58th (just barely north of the Cedar Ave/Highway 62 interchange).

I’ve passed this place a million times, especially leaving softball games, and we finally decided to check it out.

A lofty claim… let’s see if it stacks up!

 

This is Paul. He has beer, so he’s happy:

 

This is the menu. This is where descriptions of Heaven live.

So far we’ve taste-tested The Nook here in St. Paul, as well as Matt’s Bar in south Mpls at Cedar and 30-something…, so that’s where our comparisons will be made towards.

The 5-8 is a bit bigger and spacier than the other two. There’s a dining area when you walk in the door, and a bar area in the back with 6 or seats actually at the bar, and another 6 or so 4-top tables. The main dining area was probably twice this size, with booths and tables that could probably seat a room of 50-60 people. By comparison, I think The Nook has a total of 10 tables, and Matt’s probably has 15 or so.

It was nice not to have to wait though, like we did at The Nook awhile back. We ordered a pitcher of Minnesota’s own Summit EPA (one we can always agree on, but that’s especially nice in the Fall season with it’s beautiful amberish richness) right away, then ordered our Juicy Lucy’s.

This is me being really excited about the beer, and getting even more excited about the burgers:

You’ll notice my iPhone (which was on, because I was playing with it) next to my arm. One of the things I love most about Paul is that he validates my nerdiness. He just bought his iPhone, and we spent a solid 15 minutes comparing apps to see if we were missing anything good.

One thing I did really like about The 5-8 (and The Nook does this too), is that you can pick your cheese – the choices they offered were American, Bleu, Pepper, or Cheddar. I love a little kick in my mouth, so I went with the pepper jack (The Nook calls this option the “Paul Molitor”). Paul opted for the classic, American cheese (which is the default at Matt’s. Don’t even try to argue).

Here’s the guts and glory of his gooey burger:

The burgers are topped with onions if you want them (get them fried!!!) and pickles. The buns were OK. We could’ve requested that they were toasted, but we didn’t. They were tasty and slightly sweet, but didn’t hold up well against the greasy, juiciness of the burgers.

We both opted for the basket versions of the meals; I got onion rings and coleslaw. Paul got fries and coleslaw (and I ate both slaws…mmmm). The fried side options were fries, rings or JoJos (potato wedges). I couldn’t decide, so I asked the waitress, who recommended the rings.

Here’s my basket pre-ooey-gooey goodness of melty pepper jack cheese:

 

Here it is again after a bite into Pure Deliciousness (vegetarians and vegans, shield your eyes):

 

The final verdict? While The 5-8 does grill up and stuff a fantastic Juicy Lucy, we’ve agreed that both The Nook and Matt’s Bar top it so far.

On what grounds? The vinegar-soaked fries at The Nook are a compliment to the sandwich that’s really hard to beat. And at Matt’s? Just a plain ol’ juicier Juicy. And that’s what wins in our book.

Mmmmm… happy foodie.

Il Vesco Vino – 579 Selby Ave

The road to… a successful food blog? … is paved with good intentions. Or something. Or whatever I should say to note that this gem hasn’t been off to the start I intended, but here I am! And bearing morsels of St. Paul fare for your hungry little tastebuds.

My recent taste adventure was with former colleague and still friend, Danielle. She’s (pretty much) shacking up with the bf on Cathedral Hill, and I’m about a mile the other way on Selby across from Lexington. So this little Italian place made perfect sense, being just about halfway in between us.

We sat outside, so I regret that I can’t even tell you how cute the inside is. But I hear it is. The outside porch was adorable. Tucked under trees and behind a (lattice?) fence, all of the wire tables were topped with umbrellas. The bar was in the back, and had a friendly-looking crowd drinking rosés and martinis bellied up.

A quick note on the service – I say quick, because good, friendly service doesn’t need a whole lot of explanation. Our server was attentive, friendly, knowledgeable, patient with our no-need-to-rush-through-dinner attitude, and cheerful. Those who brought our food were polite, asking if we needed anything else and if everything looked good. Those who cleared our plates were timely, friendly, and completely unintrusive. Great service.

And on to the fun part – the food and wine! I ordered the rosé:

ROSE WINES
Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo, Barone di Valforte 2006
$10 for a 250 mL “quartino” which is the equivalent of a glass, plus a little mini-bottle to refill for a second glass. Kind of a steal, basically $10 for two glasses.

My favorite part of the dinner was our appetizer – or “fritti” as they title the starters. I am on a mission to find the best places in the Twin Cities for crab cakes and calamari. Here, I tried their calamari and I believe it is right up there towards the top.

- quick fried calamari with lemon & seal salt, to be exact. It was thick pieces, not the flimsy stuff you see sometimes. It was cooked PERFECTLY, tender, not too rubbery, and was breaded just lightly so as not to taste like onion ring batter, but more like tempura batter. (Which reminds me, my other favorite local calamari – so far – is at Sushi Tango in Calhoun Square, Uptown. YUM!) Either way, EXCELLENT, I’m actually craving it right now.

Finally – the main course, their Parma Pizza was awesome. I can’t find it on their online menu, but it had Napoletano-style crust with the little bit o’ EVOO, fresh mozzarella cheese (are you drooling yet?), and thinly-sliced prosciutto on the top. So delicious, not at all heavy, fresh and flavorful – it was fantastic.

I want to go back. I will order more of the calamari, and perhaps try one of their pastas this next time around.

A little piece of Italy right here in St. Paul? Buon appetito!

Bon Vie

I’m making it a mission to try all of the breakfast/brunch cafe-type places in St. Paul as long as I’m living here.  Today I met former colleague and (still) friend Danielle at Bon Vie at 518 Selby just east of Selby and Dale.  It was AWESOME.

Service: SO friendly and fun.  The first server that came over was a guy, who when he noticed that I came in after he’d already gotten Danielle’s coffee, looked and me and said, “Hi!  I haven’t said hi to you yet!  Hi to you!”  And I laughed and said hi and ordered my cappucino.  We had a different server come over to take the food orders and they kind of tag-teamed the rest of the meal for us.

Beverage: Cappuccino – so very tasty!  And in a big cup

Food: Apple Cinnamon Pancakes, Bacon, Fruit.  OH MY GOD the pancakes were SO good!  They were sweet and hearty and had cinnamon-drenched apple pieces all throughout.  It came with a whipped sweet creme of some sort on top and for the most part, I opted for that instead of the maple syrup they brought with it.  For the most part…   There’s something to be said for maple with the cinnamon and pancakes. 

All in all, it was awesome.  I noticed a “Ask Your Server About Our Quiche of the Day” signed as we were signing  our tabs, so I made a mental-note to do that next time.

There will absolutely be a next time.

Tavern on Grand

Ma and Pops live in the ‘burbs. One of the Groves, to be exact. I realize that my home in St. Paul isn’t that far from CG, but sometimes it’s hard to get there on the weeknights (when I work late-ish) or on the weekends (when I’m back at work or recovering from work by reclaiming part of my social life). So, I haven’t been home in weeks and the folks had been giving me a hard time about never seeing me, etc.

I suggested that instead of me making the trek out to CG, they come out to my side of town one of these days. I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly, but Dad told me to set a date, so I did.

Tuesday, April 1.

I sent them links to menus for both the Bonfire and Tavern on Grand. I’d really rather they came to Bonfire one night while the pianos are dueling, so I was leaning towards Tavern and was glad when they picked that.

I was first introduced to Tavern sometime in college. Steve’s parents took us out there one night for dinner. They’re known for the walleye, as the sign over the door and giant neon sign in the window would indicate.

I’ve been back a couple of times since I moved to St. Paul and have always been pleased.

So here’s how it went:

Beer: Surly Furious (note: they do not have Finnegan’s)
Never mind the Sierra Nevada glass – I just Google-Imaged “Surly Furious” and found one that showed the color of the beer.
*Note: SF is a Minnesota beer. Support local brewers! Drink local beer. Except now, according to this website it’s getting picked up by a big-time beer group for national distribution! Way to go, Surly.
Appetizer: Tavern Skins (Potato Skins)
Dinner: Blackened Walleye Sandwich, Tavern Fries
Service: She handled all of our questions/ridiculousness, my favorite being this convo:

Waitress to me: How would you like the fish? Blackened, fried, or grilled?
Me: What’s your recommendation?
Waitress: If you like spice, I’d go with the blackened.
Me: Let’s do that.
Waitress (to my sister): And for you?
Miranda: I’ll have the walleye sandwich also.
Waitress: And how would you like that done?
Miranda: (obviously having missed the just-previous conversation) Ummm… medium?

Laughter erupts as we clarify that we’re not talking about how the fish is cooked but how it’s prepared/served.

Anyway, here’s what I think.

I loved the Surly Furious. I’ve had a Surly before and remember liking it, but I liked this one. Mom said it was bitter (and nasty, actually), and Miranda didn’t like it either. But they’re Honeyweiss and Mich Golden drinkers, so that makes sense. I loved it. Lots o’ flavor without being too heavy.

The apps – these are some BIG potato skins. They were cooked just right, skins done enough that they were just barely crispy on the edges and could be bitten through. The tomatoes on top of the cheddar and bacon was a nice fresh-ish touch.

The blackened walleye – REALLY good, though I didn’t catch so much of the spice the waitress had warned me about. The fish flaked off in nice little pieces. It was served on a hoagie-kind of sandwich with lettuce and a tomato (which I picked off because I wanted to taste more fish than veggie).

Atmosphere: I love the feeling in there. The bar, tables, and chairs on the bar side are a rich dark wood (don’t know what kind, but it’s pretty and proud-looking). The booths are pleather red, but seem to fit. All in all, it feels like going up to the cabin.

Anyway, I’ll – of course – go back. Whether just for drinks, or for a date (ha!), or just because I like it. I’ll definitely go back.

Uptowner Cafe

Ok, so this isn’t really a bar, but it’s a St. Paul establishment that really deserves some attention.

I’ve been to the Uptowner Cafe twice now. The first time I came with my roommate the Sunday morning after St. Patrick’s Day. There is no “hostess” or reservations – you just walk in, hope a table’s open, and sit where you please. If there are no tables open, you stand in line with the rest of the hungry locals and watch the eaters like vultures until a table opens. Before the friendly servers can clear the table, you swoop in to a booth – if you’re lucky – or a table. Or, there are 5 or 6 seats at the “bar” you can hop on.

Anyway, we walked into a packed place, but I caught the eye of a girl I went to high school with and had seen a few weeks prior at a wedding. She was having breakfast/brunch with her man-friend, saw Bang and I waiting for a table and invited us to join them. So we did. I had pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. I almost always have to get bacon. Anyway, the pancake was a bit maple-ish and REALLY tasty. Eggs are tough to screw up and these were just fine. The wall we were sitting by was covered in colored-by-crayon pictures done by kids and adults alike. Our new friend Juan drew his own picture of the state of Minnesota pointing people to the Uptowner Cafe in St. Paul. Clever; I loved it.

So, my second visit was this morning. Friend (exbf? – I hesitate to use that term because it was 3 years ago and for a summer, but either way, at one point he was dubbed my boyfriend, whatev) Paul and I decided to catch up over brunchfast, and I suggested the Uptowner. He brought me a paper so I could start the crossword and he could look at the comics. The service is really great there; our waitress was really friendly, always refilling my coffee at exactly the right time. I had a veggie omelet which was awesome mixed with their delicious hashbrowns. The crowd kind of ebbed and flowed, we got there just before a huge crowd, and I felt a little bad about sitting at the table when we were done eating just to keep perusing the paper, but then the crowd thinned out and there was even an open table or two.

All in all, another positive experience there, and I intend to make that a regular thing.

The Lexington

The beer:
They have LOTS of them.

The food:
SUPER tasty. I had the crab cake appetizer in some schmancy sauce that was awesome. I could dedicate a whole blog to my expertise on crab cakes in the Twin Cities. It’s my ambition to try everybody’s.

The service:
Mediocre. We’re in a bar that’s known for it’s older, boys’-club-of-Old-St.-Paul clientele that seemed hardly excited or even pleased that three 20-something ladies showed up for happy hour during the “dinner hour” (remember, old folks eat early). The waitress seemed impatient with us, almost as if she just *knew* we weren’t going to spend any money. (And while no one ordered prime steak cuts or bottles of wine, we all had a couple of beers, a couple of apps, and Erin even had the almond-crusted walleye. I think it was walleye; she’ll have to tell you that.

The price:
Not cheap.  The food quality was worth it, but no happy hour special (that I remember?), and at this point in my life, not something I can do on a regular basis.  I think for my two beers, my crab cake app (which was 1 cake), and my contribution to the shared beans app, I dropped just about $30.

At Kate’s recommendation, we had the green bean appetizer (YUMMY!). To my own desires, as I mentioned, I had the crab cake. I could’ve had three more. Delicious.

Here are photos:

This is right inside the door. Again, I should’ve taken more pictures, but the restaurant side is to the left and the bar side is to the right:

The sign on the outside:

Hello world!

Doni, Erin, and Kelly take you in and around the bars in the St. Paul neighborhoods!

Accomplished together:
The Lexington

Enjoy!