Visiting Minneapolis Memorial Day weekend, what to eat?

Assuming Chuck is staying at the hotel right on Washington Ave (the old Raddison), can you even hop a bus going east on University currently that will make it all the way through? Washington at least is a war zone due to the LRT construction, and part of University is hacked up too.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

"Burch"

I don't see parking as being THAT big of a deal. There is street parking on the side streets behind the building and there are usually spots available. When I go to Lowry Hill for a beer run (I live by Hum's but their selection sucks) I never have had to park more than a block away, and that's typically during prime time on the weekends.

The basement bar thing doesn't really matter to me. I guess I don't have a problem with walking down a flight of stairs to catch a drink, but then again I don't mind drinking at Lyle's either, and they don't have any windows at all. Maybe I should get tested for light allergies? Heh.

I wonder what the pricing will be like? If they're talking about getting the best prime beef available in the US I assume they will price it accordingly, which unfortunately will be out of my price range.

You are correct though, there is a definite need for a great bar with solid food and a non-sucky clientele. Unfortunately it's like there is a city ordinance preventing one place from hitting all three of those requirements.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

Where can I find habernero (hot pepper) plants in the Twin Cities?

Hopefully Kamala made it to the plant sale. I started that thread, and ended up going to the fair grounds on Saturday afternoon. They were out of the one plant that I REALLY wanted (chocolate habs), but I managed to pick up a couple white habs, purple habs, ghosts, and fataliis for about $20 out the door.

Now, I just need to figure out how the hell to grow these things and keep them from dying in containers. Apartment living at its finest.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

Place to buy super hot peppers locally?

DUDE! Thank you! I had never heard of this event before. I am absolutely going this weekend and going crazy, despite having never grown anything before. Everything on my hit list will be there.

Seriously, thank you.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

Place to buy super hot peppers locally?

Yeah, that's my thought too. I think I'll try some of the other farmers markets this summer, especially the big Minneapolis and St. Paul ones, although that is probably a long shot as well. Oddly enough the Roundy's in uptown carried a few small cartons of ghost peppers for a brief time this winter, but I haven't seen them back since.

Ordering online is probably the answer, but I am a big fan of immediate gratification.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

Place to buy super hot peppers locally?

So, my buddy that was planning on growing a bunch of really hot peppers (Chocolate habs, Ghost peppers, Trinidadian Butch Scorpions, etc.) just informed me that he flaked out for the year and he will not be growing anything. I feel defeated to say the least.

Is there anywhere locally (preferably in MPLS, but I am willing to drive within reason) that carries peppers of this caliber? Obviously Rainbow/Lunds/Kowalski's carry regular habs, but they have been pretty lame in the past when I have tried them. I used to at least be able to find actual hot habaneros at the UofM Farmer's Market, but last summer it seemed nobody grew them. I know you can buy dehydrated habs and ghost peppers at Midwest Supplies in SLP, but I would prefer fresh.

Has anyone else had this problem, or am I the only one that likes to cook atomically hot food?

Thanks.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

Mexican Breakfast in Mpls

Las Teresitas rocks! I haven't had their huevos yet, but everything else I have had there has been awesome, including their great salsa bar.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

reasonably priced brisket

Ditto. I bought some full packers (flat + point) in the past at Costco. You may have to talk to the butcher to get them though.

My membership expired a few years ago, but I will be re-upping probably this month just so I can buy full briskets from Costco to smoke.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

A more specific Thai question

I am a bit late to the party, but I am at Roat at least once a week or so (I live really close and I LOVE their bar) and as a result I have eaten pretty much everything on their menu. Roat's food can be inconsistent. For example: last night their Pad Thai was the best that I've had there in a couple of years, yet a couple of months ago it was WAY too oily.

One gripe is that Roat's food is never hot enough for me. On their scale of 1-5, I always ask for it at a 7 or a 10, and I still need to doctor up the dish with a spice kit. Unfortunately even the spice kits are lame, as the crushed red pepper is always bland and stale.

Their real strength comes from dishes like the Walleye in Green Curry. That, and their killer happy hour, despite recently raising their prices a bit. If I want more authentic and consistent Thai, I head down to Krungthep Thai over on Eat Street.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

Fall off the bone ribs [split from MSP]

Or cooked improperly. It wasn't until I started getting serious into BBQ that I realized that you actually do not want the meat to fall off.

magz0r in Home Cooking

Scott Ja-mamas

Scott's used to be more known for their pulled pork sandwiches than their ribs. Don't know if that is still the case or not. If you want ribs, maybe look to places like Ted Cook's right off of 38th & Hiawatha, or places like Big Daddy's BBQ in St. Paul.

Just be forewarned that while we have a handful of DECENT BBQ joints, I have yet to hear of one that is truly GREAT. And if you think finding good ribs is tough, finding killer brisket in the metro is damn near impossible. I actually got frustrated enough that I stopped going to BBQ restaurants and now smoke my pork & beef at home, and the results are usually in a different league than anything at the local commercial BBQ joints.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

Best Sandwich?

Probably not THE best in town, but the Blue Cow and Caffrey's in uptown is damn good.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

MSP Thai Restaurants?

No worries, I have always wondered the same thing actually. I don't know if you remember what Sawatdee used to look like in the building before it sold, but the new owners pumped some pretty serious money into the restaurant. Wood mill work everywhere, nice plasma TVs behind the bar, comfortable booths...in a restaurant that DIRECTLY competes with its sibling a 1/2 mile away? On paper it doesn't add up. Maybe they thought, "If one is good, two is better?"

Roat Osha does offer two things that Tum Rup doesn't: connected off-street parking, and a hidden gem of an outdoor patio. Besides that the two spots are very similar...for me it boils down to proximity (Roat is short walking distance, Tum Rup is longer) and service (Roat's staff treats me well).

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

MSP Thai Restaurants?

Roat Osha in uptown (corner of 27th & Hennepin in the old Sawatdee building) has become one of my regular spots. I believe it is owned by the same people who run Tum Rup Thai and supposedly the menus are very similar. The food is pretty good, but not great. I wouldn't call it authentic Thai, but they do have a nice selection of seafood dishes including the very good walleye in green curry sauce as well as all the staples (Pad Thai, Tom Yum, etc.).

They also have a REAL solid happy hour. $3 and $4 apps including spicy calamari and chicken sautee, and all tap beers are $3 (Surlys, Sapporo, Newcastle, etc.) which also goes on late night. Setting is pretty nice and service is generally acceptable-to-very good. My only complaint is that the food isn't hot. At all. Granted I have a very non-Minnesotan heat tolerance, but I always get everything 5/5 on their spice scale and I never, ever come close to even breaking a sweat.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

pit beef @home

The concept of chipped beef/pit beef has intrigued me recently. What is in Tiger sauce? Is this strictly a Baltimore area specialty or is it available in other areas on the east coast?

magz0r in Home Cooking

Meatgrinding help MSP

I will second this suggestion. Everett's, as long as they have the meat available, should be able to do something like this. I just don't know if they have veal currently.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

Surly Darkness on tap? - MSP

Buster's on 28th should be getting one keg of it within the next week, according to the bartender when I was there on Wednesday.

And I can verify that the Uptown Bulldog does NOT have it, as of yesterday evening. They only have Two Hearted, the Brown Ale, and the Expedition Stout.

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Buster's on 28th
4204 28th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55406

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

MSP pizza and beer for 20

Davanni's isn't a bad spot for medium groups like that. A club that I used to be affiliated with would have meetings at the Edina location and they would set aside a little room for us, and we would usually rally up around 15-20 people or so.

Also the Riverside location by Augsburg has an upstairs dining area if I recall that has ample seating.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

Minneapolis bars in Lake Harriet area ?

Agreed, The Uptown Bar is on its way out due to redevelopment. There are still real bars left in the area though...Lyle's, Mortimer's, the C.C., and the Country Bar come to mind. Then there are the less "divey" places like the Bulldog, the Herkimer, etc.

I think you are right about Penn in Richfield though. There used to be a spot or two right south of 66th & Penn.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

Minneapolis bars in Lake Harriet area ?

Heh, good luck. There is very little in that area that isn't geared towards upper-middle to upper class residents and the bars (or lack of) in the area directly reflect that. Definitely no dives. I do recall a buddy of mine saying that there was a little place in the strip mall on 44th & France that had beer & darts, but I can't personally vouch for it.

If you are okay with driving, there are some great places further in to the city around uptown a couple of miles away, or there are places like The Frenchmen's around 66th & Portland. But as far as places you can walk to from your house, grab a cheap beer, watch the game and play pool/darts while good music blasts from a killer jukebox, I think you may be out of luck.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul

Best Jalapeno Poppers in the twin cities?

I recall seeing an ad for Chino Latino a while back, stating that they had habanero poppers. I haven't tried them, but they did sound pretty enticing since my version of hot is significantly different than "Minnesota hot".

magz0r in General Midwest Archive

MSP Best Butcher/Grocery for Steaks

I am biased since I grew up in the neighborhood, but Everett's on 38th & Cedar in MPLS is a great butcher shop. Their boneless ribeyes and NY strips are $9.99 or $10.99/lb, every day. Good cuts of meat and the guys there know their stuff.

magz0r in Minneapolis-St. Paul