Twin Cities Restaurant Scene – Is it just me?

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

Grouse, did you guys happen to be drinking the same tap beer? If I had to guess, I’d color you more in the bourbon category than beer but you never know.

No beer ordered at all. Mrs Grouse is very healthy conscious and doesn’t drink at all. Other couple had cocktails and wine. You are correct, I had Wisconsin old fashioneds.

A doctor friend also said norovirus. Nobody sick enough for e coli. I did not call DoH, hopefully the manager does her job and takes this seriously.

BTW Mancini’s is a favorite of mine, but it’s a bit old school carnivore for Mrs Grouse. We go but not very often, haven’t been in about 2 years so it’s definitely time.

Dutchboy wrote:

You will see a BUNCH of restaurants close after the Christmas party season. Many are just barely hanging on.

Hit Arbys or MCDonalds, you will get what you expect and not be disappointed.

Both False.

I will say there has been a recent food movement from downtown to the burbs.
A lot of great restaurants owners operators have moved operations in one way or another to suburbs vs downtown Saint Paul or Minneapolis. Hard to survive on dinner alone. Not much of a lunch crowd anymore in the business class area of both cities.
Food cost are up everywhere so can’t really complain about that.
There are great spots popping up or have been up in most suburban cities lately.
As far as service in this industry it has basically completely changed over during Covid. Most good people left and it has been a struggle for all to replace people that were in the industry for years.

About the closest my FW and I get to downtown anywhere is Porterhouse in Little Canada. We’ve had some meh meals right after Covid but it seems like they have a solid staff now. The last few times we’ve gone have been good.

I don’t eat out a lot at sit-down restaurants.

I do enjoy Texas Roadhouse for the price, quality of food, and complimentary buns with cinnamon butter. Those things are insanely good.

A brazilian steakhouse like Fogo or Rodizio is solid too but a bit on the pricey side.

Call me crazy…but I’d rather light the charcoal and spend $200 a night on a fishing destination Airbnb

Backstory:

The Boys and I just got home from Deer Camp at Grandpa’s, and the FIRST thing Mom said when we got home was “We need to start looking for a place to book for our 4th of July salmon trip”

You can’t make that $hit up…God I LOVE my wife

Glenn, 6 beers and a burger, a 7 course meal!

mxskeeter wrote:

Glenn, 6 beers and a burger, a 7 course meal!

This won the internet right here.

mxskeeter wrote:

Glenn, 6 beers and a burger, a 7 course meal!

Grouse, you ever been to Holman’s Table in St. Paul at the airport? Never been disappointed down there. Have been to Moscow on the Hill a couple of times this fall and was good too, but holy hanna it’s heavy food. El Cubano and Taco N Madre over in WSP/West Side are good too. Those are some of our favorites along with others already mentioned in the area.

Erik Swenson wrote:

Grouse, you ever been to Holman’s Table in St. Paul at the airport? Never been disappointed down there. Have been to Moscow on the Hill a couple of times this fall and was good too, but holy hanna it’s heavy food. El Cubano and Taco N Madre over in WSP/West Side are good too. Those are some of our favorites along with others already mentioned in the area.

I wonder if that’s the same elcubano that was in Camden. She had that little shop right on lyndale next to dq. It was a awesome hole in the wall.

I hear about good restaurants but they are always far away or in the metro. Im done with downtowns. Especially mpls. I can say I went to 6Smith in Minnetonka earlier this year and it was fabulous. One of those very expensive places but it was worth it. Especially since work payed for it….

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Am I just on a year-long bad luck streak? Or is something broken with the restaurant scene in the TC area?

No, something is broken in general across the MSP/StP restaurant scene. Most of the higher end classic places (Mancini’s, DeGidio’s, Manny’s, Murray’s) still have good service and the consistently good to great food that made them classics, and more importantly the servers make great money due to menu costs, so they have great service. But service is an absolute crapshoot anywhere else, especially the less expensive, or the more modern chef-y places. I know a number of restaurant owners/managers and basically post-riots staffing is an absolute s-show, most newer servers and cooks don’t want to work. Period, and this includes nights/weekends (wild for someone in the service industry imo), or an occasional double, or without looking at their phone 15 minutes/hour, or if they won’t play their choice of music throughout the establishment, or a million other wild requests I’ve been told. I’m not trying to make this political, but I can’t describe it any other way than Marxist. The employees no longer look at it as a partnership with owners/mgmt, they look at the owners/managers as “the man” or “bourgeoisie” holding them down and they “the proletariat” want to take from them at every opportunity. Ann Kim’s latest effort in what’s left of Uptown is a great example imo.

BigWerm nailed it on the service industry. Since covid when that industry was hit hard because the state shut them down and were out of work for a period of time, they never wanted to come back. I have to wonder how many are still living off the system vs going into some other line of work. Every restaurant you go to is hiring literally EVERY single one! This is not sustainable. Many restaurants in my area are closed multiple days a week and/or have short hours because they cannot staff every day or all day. Its quite sad for them. One of the busiest bars in Sartell is closed on Mondays now and I went in there for the first time in quite a while last week since I was off and they had the entire thing shut down except for the bar area. They werent even selling pulltabs which is a crime in itself for this area!

Its a bummer to hear that the metro area food had fallen off. I lived in the metro area for 25+ years prior to my move to the St. cloud area in 2016. My wife and I ate out a fair amount when we lived there. Had a few bad experiences but I’d say about 90% of the time I’d rate the food a B or better. I would not say the same since moving to the St. cloud area. Over the 1st few years my wife and I tried a lot of the places that the locals here would recommend. I came to the conclusion that locals in this area had no taste for good food. I came to the conclusion that this area possibly had the worst restaurants in the country. We did find a few local spots that I would rate as a B or better, but I’d say that was less than 10% of the places we tried and we tried a lot. I would say the overall average was more like a d+ at best with lots of d’s and F’s in the mix. We now don’t eat out as much and when we do we stick to 2-3 of the more consistant places we have found. Its really sad what food service has become all across the country. I don’t think the problem is limited to the metro and St cloud or even to Minnesota. I have friends who live all over the country and they all are saying the same about food service in their area

St Cloud is definitely not a mecca for good restaurants. If it isnt mexican or a chicken joint we dont have it. Bello Cuchina in St Joe never fails and is far better than Olive Garden which is just overpriced frozen food. None of the mexican restaurants do anything for me. There is a new Italian place opening in Sauk Rapids called Giovannis, at first I thought it was that pizza joint which is meh, but apparently its an upscale Italian place upon further investigation based out of Wisconsin I believe. Will have to give that a shot but after they have been open a while. This area has lost so many decent restaurants over the years and the only thing that replaces them are blah fast food chains. Friends Bar in Waite Park had really good food, but just closed. Now MOngos closed and was replaced by another Mongolian chain but its terrible in comparison. The Japanese Steakhouse (Fiji) and Sushi place is very very good though. I havent been there in a while.

CaptainMusky wrote:

This area has lost so many decent restaurants over the years and the only thing that replaces them are blah fast food chains.

Yeah, there have been many valiant efforts at decent restaurants in St. Cloud, but none of them make it. However, if it is a chain it has a good shot, and even better if it is a fast food chain that serves chicken strips.

Anton’s, The Blue Heron (Cold Spring) and Cafe Rennaissance are about the only good “nicer” places back when I lived there. Bravo Burrito, MT’s on 8th, Pickled Loon, Val’s, HR Pesty’s, and a couple other bars I’m forgetting are some of the few better food places that aren’t chains.

Ive never been to pickled loon because I avoid downtown, but heard its good. There have been a number of better restaurants downtown but they never make it long. There is another chicken fast food joint coming to town. Go figure. Some other chain. My goodness I guess someone has to keep the chicken suppliers in business in the area.

In St Paul, but Estelle, Revival, Red Rabbit and Bullvino are all very good!

S Mpls, we have enjoyed Terzo, Tosca, Rosalia and Broaders recently, would go back to all in a heartbeat.

I agree about the St. Cloud area not having much. We occasionally go to Texas Roadhouse since it’s always consistent. Last time we were at boulder tap house was horrible and they usually are consistent as well but haven’t been back since. My son works at a bar close to home and they have been having to cut back both kitchen and bar hours recently due to understaffing issues. Nice to see Pesty’s on BW list. My cousin is the manager there.

Ya the chicken thing in St.Cloud is crazy.I believe they have every fast food chicken chain there is. Curious what the new one is. Have been passing that Giovannis sign almost every day. May give it a shot when it opens. The new BBQ right next to it is just so so. The value is good but the quality of food was just average. I’m kind of a BBQ snob so I may be a little unfair when doing BBQ reviews. I want to try the new boil seafood place downtown but have not made it there yet. Jimmys pour house in Sauk has been one of our go to since I’ve been here. They have been a little hit and miss lately as they have had staffing issues. Bello Cuchina is one of our go to for better food at a slightly higher price point. The blue Herron in cold spring was a great meal the one time we ate there for a wedding. Need to get back over there. Anton’s was decent the 1st time we tied it but was HORRIBLE the last 2 time, I doubt I will ever return. Really went down hill from what I hear from other locals. Coyote moon grill has also been one of the more reliable places in this area.

Stanley wrote:

Nice to see Pesty’s on BW list. My cousin is the manager there.

Maria by chance? Pesty’s is a great place the service is really top notch. THey always have great specials for lunch too and its hard to beat a grilled cheese and chili for 7.95.

Domacin in Stillwater is our #1 in the cities, and has been since my wife and I had a date there very early in our dating relationship. So I am a bit biased, however 9 years later I see the same employees, same ownership, and the tenderloin and rissoto remain as staples on the seasonally rotating menu. This tells me staff are treated well. We now know one of the owners, casually anyway, simply from going there 2-3 times every year for a very nice dinner. I popped the question there in 2018 in the back room in front of my parents and my now in-laws.

We just went again on saturday with some friends and it’s the one place I’m not at all bothered dropping $300 on dinner and drinks for 4. I’ve never been disappointed there. I recommend them at every opportunity!

Nice to see Pesty’s on BW list. My cousin is the manager there.

Have not tried that place. Will have to give it a try next time we decide to eat out.

I should add, prices are actually reasonable on the food, the $300 tab included cheese plates, wine and beer for 4. If you just go for dinner only it’s about $100 for two, after tip. Not bad at all.

fishthumper wrote:

Ya the chicken thing in St.Cloud is crazy.I believe they have every fast food chicken chain there is. Curious what the new one is.

Its supposed to be Dave’s Hot Chicken, but I heard of another one coming too. No idea when either is supposed to open or where exactly they will be if they even happen. Kris Humphries is behind the Dave’s Hot Chicken the former BB player, husband to Kim Kardashian (who hasnt been) and former part owner of Five Guys.

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Stanley wrote:</div>
Nice to see Pesty’s on BW list. My cousin is the manager there.

Maria by chance? Pesty’s is a great place the service is really top notch. THey always have great specials for lunch too and its hard to beat a grilled cheese and chili for 7.95.

That would be her.

She is awesome!

Taco Chon’s in St Cloud is pretty legit for a quick pick up. It’s nothing fancy but a guy can get a mess of birrias tacos on the cheap. Heck, if it says Mexican food and fancy in the same line, you’re at the wrong spot hombre.

I’m not much for sit down restaurants (culinary grad myself so why waste the money on a gamble) but as an industry man, I can tell you that when the service industry was shut down during COVID, people jumped shipped and jumped ship for good. I was fortunate to transition into a K12 foodservice director role a decade ago and even in this side of the industry (which is the best by a mile with no holidays, no weekends and limited summer operations), I have positions posted for $20+ per hour and don’t even get a sniff from applicants. I have had one position open for a year now and have been unable to fill it.

With so many online work from home gigs, it’s tough to convince people to come back to an industry where you work until midnight, Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, etc for $15 hourly.

For St Cloud, not sure if it is still there but the Green Mill at the Kelly Inn was always a good spot and not over crowded. Even the wife liked it… she always had the Walleye Parm sandwich, which was pretty good !

Highbeeze24 wrote:

I have positions posted for $20+ per hour and don’t even get a sniff from applicants. I have had one position open for a year now and have been unable to fill it.

My two oldest kids make more than that per hour and one is part time. No wonder people aren’t knocking down the door for that job no offense.