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
Angel Food Bakery – Peace Coffee
When I have had a long week, I love to stop by the Angel Food Bakery in Minneapolis for Peace Coffee and a treat.
My favorite treat from Angel Food Bakery are the chocolate chip cookies. I say cookies because I can never buy just one. They are amazing because they have several types of chocolate and a salty balance which makes them delicious. The chocolate also stays melty.
The brownies are yummy too. I like the ones that come with caramel in them and right when they are out of the oven. Having a cup of Peace Coffee with all of their treats just makes it more delicious and you more caffeinated.
I am sorry to say that my least favorite items on the menu are the cupcakes. They are pretty and fun. But the frosting on some of the offerings tastes like plastic. I keep trying them thinking that they will get better, but so far I have been disappointed.
Props to the owners of Hell’s Kitchen/Angel Food Bakery for taking a stand against customer complaints about their stance on the Marriage Amendment. In their newsletter they made it very clear that they support Minnesota United for all Families and will not stop supporting this cause due to customer threats. Good for you.
because sometimes you need a treat.
@mplsgossipgirl
Real Meal Deli
Named appropriately, Real Meal Deli has awesome lunch offerings in the Minneapolis Skyway. Walk right by the Subway, Taco John’s, and Starbucks to a non-chain fast food deli.
Real Meal Deli gives people a fresh, affordable, and minimally processed menu. Started by a chef who has been working in the restaurant business since 1986, he wanted people who work in areas where there are many fast food offerings to have a place that is fast but fresh and healthy. A trend he thinks will never go out of style.
As you can see above, this place offers a meal with color. Red, green, purple, and yellow make for a beautiful lunch. My favorite item on their menu is their small sack which includes a small salad, cup of soup, and bread for under 7 dollars. When you order this lunch you have the choice of over 12 salads and 3 different kinds of soup. If you can, try the curried butternut squash soup. It has a hint of curry and is perfect for a fall day.
The sandwiches are also very popular and next time I am going to try the Cranberry Goat Turkey Sandwich. Is Thanksgiving here yet?
Real Meal Deli can be found in Minneapolis at the Baker Center and the TriTech Center and in Saint Paul at the 1st National Building. They each have different hours and some of the locations serve breakfast for under 5 dollars and a lunch special.
Have an event coming up? They also cater. Under 10 dollars a person you can get an awesome lunch or breakfast.
because fresh and local never go out of style.
@mplsgossipgirl
What is your favorite place to eat in the skyway?
Cheeky Monkey Deli
I want to move into the Selby-Dale neighborhood because of this restaurant. Cheeky Monkey does breakfast, lunch, and dinner right with fresh, local, seasonal fare. I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed the food here.
This visit was the first time I had been on the patio out back. It is beautiful. I would suggest sitting there on a warm fall day.
I went here for brunch where they had available both the brunch menu and the lunch menu. I opted for the french toast which is pictured above and as you can tell it was delicious. The berry compote was to die for.
We also had a mushroom and brie omelette with the hash-browns after seeing someone else eating it. I would also suggest the coffee here, it is very good and made correctly. The servers always keep your cup filled.
I love going here for a calm meal. It is a relaxed atmosphere and the food is great. The prices are right as well.
because a good brunch can make a weekend great.
@mplsgossipgirl
Aristos
My plan was to never share Aristos on my blog because it is my special place. It is my place to go if I want a good Greek home cooked meal.
Aristos specializes in homemade Greek and Mediterranean cuisine. I knew it was not fair to my readers and to Aristos to not share this wonderful restaurant.
When you pull up this place looks like a cheesy Greek family restaurant straight out of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. But, don’t let the looks fool you. The cooks here know how to make real Greek food.
You need to start with some of the cold appetizers, I suggest doing the combo and getting 3 or 4 different kinds. You then can bring some home with you for the next day. If you can resist not eating them all right away. Also, try the soup. I love this lemon soup because it is light and a great way to start the meal.
Never-ever-ever order the french fries. Not because they are not good, but because this is a Greek restaurant and they do all the other sides much better. I would not order the sandwiches either just because their entrees, meat, and pasta dishes are great. I have had the falafel and gyro plates and both are great. Below is a picture of the falafel plate.
But, what is even better than the meals listed above are the specials which are listed on a white board right when you enter. These have always been the best. This time we had the mussels in white wine and linguini.
As you can tell from this picture, it was good.
They also have beer and wine for great prices. Including Mythos a Hellenic Lager Beer. It’s tasty with Greek food.
My goal is to one day take a cooking class from the cooks here. Yum!
After your meal head down to Stillwater and get a drink at one of the bars or walk around by the river. It is a great place to spend a fall day.
Because it’s time to go Greek.
@mplsgossipgirl
#CatVidFest – @walkerartcenter
When cat-ladies and gents are called to assemble, they do. 10,000 people came out for the first Internet Cat Video Festival at The Walker Art Center last night. As part of their open field programming, people watched cat videos together laughing along at the hilarious kitties. Seriously, what could be better than people watching internet videos communally in a shared experience?
The cat-lady-in-residence at The Walker couldn’t resist the idea of getting together her people to enjoy something together that is normally watched behind a computer screen when you need a break from that project at work that never ends.
Lots of other people liked that idea as well. Not only did this #CatVidFest get local attention from The City Pages, it got national attention from the Huffington Post and BBC news. My cat Nuggs loved going and getting attention from all the cat lovers in the audience.
It can be best described by me in one word: fun. A group of women sitting by me were there to celebrate a birthday and had brought some snacks and boxed wine (don’t tell). There were children as well as older adults sitting by each other all laughing at the funny things that cats do. It was a great event to go to on a Thursday night.
I hope that The Walker decides to do this again and does an entry for local cat videos. They also might want to think about more parking because of how popular this event was.
People are starting to discover the great programming that The Walker Art Center offers, for FREE. I can remember coming to the Walker Sculpture Garden as a child on field trips and being able to run around by Spoonbridge and Cherry. Not only is the Sculpture Garden free every day, The Walker offers free Thursday nights in the gallery and special events like Open Field and Free First Saturdays.
Open field is from June to September and offers a place for people to gather and exchange skills and interests in an informal setting. The Walker even has a tool shed with games and art supplies for people to borrow and create magic together.
Free First Saturdays have different themes and coming up tomorrow, September 1st, they will be hosting, “Get Up and Read.” If you read Nancy Carlson as a child, you have to bring your family to The Walker. There will be book readings from Nancy, activities from her books in the Sculpture Garden, a chance to make your own book, and an opportunity to put together your own healthy snack.
They also have a fabulous restaurant named Gather that is open on Thursday nights. I go there often because it is an affordable luxury. They have guest chefs from around Minnesota come and create small plates. The first Thursday of each month they offer a couple free dishes from the guest chef. Plus, the happy hour is to die for. It goes from 5-7PM and all small plates are 5 dollars and they have a seasonal cocktail for 5 dollars as well. I love the grilled cheeses and the bahn mi. Keep a look out for the guest chefs in the coming months, I believe they are one is the most famous chefs to come out of Minnesota and has a restaurant near The Walker. I would make your reservations now.
I also have to throw in a shout-out to all the animal shelters in Minnesota. I adopted Nuggs at The Animal Humane Society and it was a great experience. They helped me pick out the perfect cat for me. I wanted an older cat who liked sleeping and cuddling. If you are thinking of getting a cat consider adopting an older one.
because being a cat lady is cool
@mplsgossipgirl
You can find more pictures of the event on my instagram account: mplsgossipgirl
or follow me on tumblr; mplsgossipgirl
Amore Victoria
How great does that dish look? It was delicious. But, now I will tell you why I will never be back there again. The service was horrible.
Now, this has nothing to do with our actual server. Who was really nice talked to us about the dishes and was friendly. After the meal she even apologized to us for the service that we got. I asked her how many tables that she had because it seemed like that might have been the problem. She had 7 tables outside plus another 4 inside with a huge group. Now, that is unfair to both the server and the diners. I hope this is not a normal occurrence but from how the sever handled it, it seemed like it was.
But that was after we got seated. The worst part of going there was before we were actually seated. First, we walked into the restaurant but it was a nice day so naturally we wanted to sit outside and asked if we could. The server inside told us that she did not know if they had any availability upstairs and told us to go to the back walk up the stairs to see the hostess there. She was rude, most likely because people are always asking this all the time and she has to tell them to go upstairs.
My question is why is there no communication between the rooftop and the restaurant? Shouldn’t they be able to figure out some way to let each other know when they are full or not. I really cannot blame the hostess either for her rudeness because how frustrating must it be when there is no room between the door and the hostess stand, she cannot tell us if there is any availability upstairs, and everyone wants to sit outside.
Things got worse, as we were walking up the stairs there were two young girls who were trying to get up the stairs in their heels. We let them go first because they were struggling. They were seated and we waited for the hostess. We asked for a table for two and she said they were all full. Now, I am pissed.
I had to walk up these damn stairs, I have things to do and all I wanted was a good meal outside.
Unfortunately, I gave the hostess a piece of my mind. This is because we let those girls go before us, because there were at least 5 open tables left. Granted they were 4 person tables, but I think we could have sat there anyways. We were told downstairs it was first come, first served and they do not take any reservations. We were told to go downstairs.
Now, this is where I made a mistake. I should have left.
We went downstairs to be seated outside on the sidewalk. The hostess inside said she would follow us out to a table. She saw someone else and sat them first inside and then decided to come out and seat us. As we are sitting down they were clearing waters that were left at a table because some diners actually got up and left. It is never a good sign when people leave without eating.
Now, this is where I made a mistake again. I should have left.
All and all, the dinner was not horrible because the food was good. Service was painfully slow and dinner took over 2 and a half hours. Which is a long time when you have two people sitting by you discussing the dates they had met on okcupid and how they were sooooooooo in love but he was ignoring her calls.
The bread was wonderful and so were the pasta dishes that we ordered.
Look at this food. I feel sorry for the chefs because after my experience there. I will never be back. You have been blacklisted.
Because who the hell manages this restaurant? Yikes.
@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
Caffrey’s Deli
I can’t believe I lived in Uptown for a year and never discovered this place! On my way out of town on a recent trip a friend suggested we stop here to get a quick bite to eat. I had never been there before but I remember seeing their menus all around town. I thought it was actually called Laffrey’s because of the font of the first letter. On Lake and Lyndale, this place is now one of my favorites in Uptown.
Although, I have only had one sandwich so far, I would go back. It was a great turkey sandwich. I think if I still lived over there that I would have them on speed dial when I get to lazy to make dinner. They deliver!
Caffrey’s Deli is old school and does not really have a website. They do have their menu online because a fan decided to put it online. Stop in sometime and have a sandwich. You won’t regret it.
Because there is something good about the old school way of doing things.
@mplsgossipgirl
mplsgossipgirl 