Rudolphs Bar-B-Que
Now who would think a Bar-B-Que place would have a great Mediterranean Platter, but Rudolph’s does. I had to share this with you because I love this dish, it is spicy and unexpected. If someone hadn’t told me to try this Plate, I never would have ordered it off a menu that is mostly meat focused. Who goes to a BBQ place and orders a Mediterranean Platter?
This girl!
On this plate they have spicy feta dip, hummus, and this green stuff called tyrosalada. I have no idea what the green stuff is but it is AMAZING! My best guess is some sort of jalapeno feta dip.
You might not know that Rudolphs was first opened in 1975 by Jimmy Theros. During this time period there were many BBQ “joints” but not restaurants. Jimmy wanted to open a place where BBQ was elevated and enjoyed with a touch of class, because we are classy in Minneapolis. After traveling around and trying BBQ from all around the country, he finally decided on a recipe of his own.
If you are new to Minneapolis, Rudolphs is a place in the middle of uptown and downtown on Franklin and Lyndale with the huge neon rotating sign. They have a happy hour that lasts until 7PM Monday – Friday and a great beer list.
Also a great place to go for a diverse late night crowd if you are no into the whole cowboy bar fad.
because “green stuff” is yummy.
@mplsgossipgirl
Masu
Yum. This place reminded my why I love Northeast Minneapolis. Masu has a great late night happy hour and great food on that happy hour menu. All the rolls that you see above were from that menu. Plus, parking is free after 10PM. Right when the late night happy hour starts, coincidence, I think not. You do need to sit in the bar area if you want to take part in the drink specials. Otherwise if you are just there for the food, you can sit in the restaurant and pay full price for any drinks.
My favorite item at Masu that night was the roll topped with a jalapeno, I took the jalapeno off because they are a little too hot for me and just ate the roll. It was not too spicy but flavorful. Their California roll is the best that I have had at a Minneapolis restaurant so far. This roll sometimes is done cheaply and sloppy because usually people who order these don’t know much about sushi. This one had real crab in it. Not that imitation crap.
I also liked the edamame it was salted and cooked correctly. I could have eaten an entire bowl by myself.
Next time I think I will skip the Miso Soup just because I didn’t need it with all the other items on the menu. I also would skip the Nigiri because it was really hard to eat and fell apart. It was awkward to eat at a table full of people watching you struggle. This place fills you up which makes it hard to try many things on the menu. There was so much more that looked interesting that I wanted to try. It gives me a great excuse to go back.
Masu has a great atmosphere with some odd art on the walls that adds to its charm. We also had great service and a server who explained to us what we didn’t know about the menus. It was helpful and not overbearing. I am excited to go to the new location in Mall of America.
If you go there try the plum sparkling tea. It is non-alcoholic and out of this world.
because sometimes the real stuff is the best stuff
@mplsgossipgirl
Pazzaluna
Are you going to The Ordway for a show? You should stop at Pazzaluna for their happy hour beforehand.
They have a great happy hour menu with some delightful items on it. My favorite was the scallops. They were cooked perfectly and I liked the citrus that was used on the plate. (see below)
You cannot go wrong with any of the pizzas or the bruschetta. Both are delicious. This is because of good ingredients that are used well. Nothing ruins a tomato bruschetta like bad tomatoes. These were just perfect. The photo at the top of the post is a chicken artichoke pizza and below is the tomato bruschetta.
I have to say that the service was not good. at all. But, it was not our servers fault. They has scheduled her for an unreasonable amount of tables in the bar area and outside during happy hour. She had about 13 tables in all, both inside and outside. There is no way that she could have given us good service because she was always running around. It was a shame. I think this would have made my experience here better. Hopefully, this was just a fluke.
I am hesitant on going back to order off their regular menu because it is a slight bit pricey for me and if I am not going to get good service it wouldn’t be worth it. Too bad because the food I had was good.
Because I love a good tomato.
@mplsgossipgirl
Osaka
Yes, it is off the freeway. Yes, the decor outside is tacky. But, Yes, they do have happy hour, a pretty good one at that. Although, they have Osaka restaurants all over the suburbs in Minnesota each one is very different. Chain, not a chain? I am not completely sure. They each seem to have different happy hours. So, do not take what I am saying as going for each of the Osaka’s across the suburbs.
The particular restaurant that I have visited is in St. Louis Park and has happy hour from 4-6PM and some kind of lunch special that I am not exactly sure of. They do not advertise their happy hours but they should.
Osaka is both a hibachi (I have not been) and a sushi restaurant. Although, on their website is called a seafood and steakhouse. Maybe, they have some kind of identity disorder.
I have been here several times and although the service is horrible. They left us outside for 15-20 minutes after they seated us without taking a drink order. I still keep going back because I like the sushi and the happy hour. If you can handle not having great service but getting fairly good sushi this might be a place for you to try.
They have a fairly nice patio outside, other than the fact that your view is a highway. The decor inside is typical of an Asian restaurant with water features and has a modernish twist.
Although, I don’t think I would ever take anyone here for a meal, I like it for when I don’t want to cook dinner and craving sushi. Although, I have heard about Sushi Tango in uptown having a great happy hour. So I might try that next time. Let me know what you think of the other Osaka locations or places that you like to get sushi.
because sometimes I don’t want to cook. When that happens, it is best to call in reinforcements.
@mplsgossipgirl
Crave Rooftop Happy Hour
If it ever stops raining… the Crave rooftop has an excellent happy hour.
Grab your sunglasses and cute sundress and check out the hotties who heat up this patio. Seriously, the crowd here is always good looking. I would recommend coming a bit dressed up but not wearing shoes that are hard to walk up stairs in. You have about 3-4 flights to walk up.
After a long day at work or a beautiful day walking around Minneapolis head over to Crave and try a few items off the extensive happy hour menu. If you like sushi, this is the place for you, they have many options to try including the Philly roll, and tuna roll. It is not the best sushi I have ever had and they do these weird sculpture with the veggies on some of the rolls that is unnecessary, but, when it is hot it hits the spot. I also saw some ladies enjoying burger sliders and steak bites and they seemed to like them. I went for a few of the fresher items on the menu. Try the edamame, it has a saltiness to the outside and tastes great with beer.
It was busy on a Tuesday night which is a great sign that people like this happy hour. Get there early.
*Beware the menu they list on the website as their happy hour menu has items that are not included on the menu on the rooftop.
My only wish is that they would add a few more beers to their tap list. They do have Lift Bridge which is the best on the tap list.
because it is a pretty view of the city.
@mplsgossipgirl
I do have to add a little bit to this post. I decided to share this place with some friends and CLIENTS, after a Twins game. After seeing people on the rooftop having a good time we wanted to get up there and join. When we got inside they told us we couldn’t go up there since they didn’t have servers.
But, we could sit in the bar downstairs. It ruined my experience and was awkward for the clients. PLEASE use common sense move severs from downstairs which was empty to upstairs instead of telling us we couldn’t go up there. Also, we would have been happy waiting up there if you gave us some peanuts or something to hold us over. You ruined the flow of my meeting and you lost a ton of business from us.
Loring Kitchen
Did you know that Loring Kitchen has a new Happy Hour? It’s from 2-6PM and 9-Close daily.
Since they had this new happy hour I decided to see what it was all about. I have been before and had horrible service. Seriously…HORRIBLE. Let’s just say one time I was there the power went out and we didn’t see our server for 30 minutes. They didn’t tell us this was going on. They asked us to leave. I vowed never to go back.
But, since it is a neighborhood place, the outdoor seating is great, a new happy hour, and I was so hungry that I didn’t want to walk into downtown I made the mistake of trying it again. I really want to like it.
I should start off by saying that it is never the food. All the food that I have had there has been good. I like the steak salad which is on the happy hour menu, the pizzas are good, and the veggies are always done correctly. I won’t speak about what I had this time but, it was very good.
The beer, wine and other drinks are a great deal during happy hour. I ask you why on beautiful day the place isn’t packed?
The reason why I dislike this place and why I think people don’t go here is that the service is bad. bad. bad. This time the power was not out but we were not greeted by a server for over 20 minutes. We were finally greeted not by a server but by someone who looked like the manager. She could see the frustration on our faces and took our Happy hour order. We arrived with about 30 minutes of Happy Hour left but by the time this manager took our order there was only about 5+ minutes left.
The bad service kept going with the whole flow of the meal. It took awhile to get the food it took longer to get the check. Overall, it was another let down. It bothers me most because I know how great this space is and this is what is holding it back from being a really nice restaurant to go to and bring other people to have a great dinner.
So, I beg of you, Loring Kitchen please please please work on your service and timing. Otherwise you are going to keep losing customers like me.
because good service can make the meal.
@mplsgossipgirl
Have you had good experiences there? Have you had similar ones? Let me know..
Happy Hours on St. Patrick’s Day in Minneapolis
Minnesota must have had the “luck of the Irish” this St. Patrick’s Day! 80 degrees and sunny on a Saturday. Although, party buses seemed to be the fad this year, I spent the day hitting up the patios around Minneapolis.
The first place we were going to stop at was Brit’s Pub. Clearly, that was everyone’s idea. I think people might have mistaken Brits pub as an Irish bar. 🙂 They closed their patio at 3, my guess is for the parade.
We then headed to Rock Bottom Brewery. What great deals! They had 2 dollar stouts. We had this great pretzel appetizer that I would get again.
Then off to Crave. Where apparently belligerency was the key to being on the rooftop. It was a beautiful rooftop only be ruined by all the people who had already had too much to drink. Apparently, Jason Matheson of FM107 was there at the same time I was take a listen to the first hour of their show today to hear all about my experience. 🙂 Being cut-off at 4PM by your server is not good.
We got out of there quickly as another group of drunken leprechauns set up behind us and headed to Solera. I had never been there before and was very satisfied with the experience. We got a wonderful spot on the patio and had some great appetizers and some Sangria. My favorite was the lamb croquet’s.
All and all, this was a great St. Patrick’s Day good food and watching the belligerency from afar.
because 80 degrees in March is amazing!
@mplsgossipgirl
Key’s Cafe and Bakery
If you haven’t figured it out yet, I love happy hours. Why? Because happy hours are happy and usually make me happy after working all day. Plus, it is a great excuse to meet up with people you haven’t seen in a while.
Now, this place is not what I would have picked as my happy hour pick. But, I am glad I went along with it.
IT WAS AWESOME!
Mostly, because of our wonderful server. Even though she wasn’t there every second, and wasn’t the most attentive, she warmed my heart, made me feel good, and had me laughing. Plus, she kept bringing me $2.50 whiskey-cokes. I am going to hunt her down every time that I go there now.
We had their new appe-teaser which was the Greek plate with olives, hummus and this feta stuff that was amazing. We also had the nachos not the macho-nachos. Both were only 7 dollars. Both I would order again.
They look like they have really awesome desserts as well which I may have to try next time. I will keep you updated on my favorites. Can you really go wrong with a rice crispy bar the size of your head though?
Plus, free entertainment watching the Valets from the W run around.
HERE is there website.
Try it out and let me know what you think.
Because someone who warms your heart can change your day.
@mplsgossipgirl
mplsgossipgirl 