Ike's - Minnetonka

I have been anxiously and excitedly awaiting the opening of Ike's in Minnetonka all summer. Ike's in the West metro? With no downtown parking hassles? Yay! The construction and opening was delayed a few times, but they finally opened for business in mid-September. We waited awhile after it opened to visit because I hate it when a place is busy at first just because it is new. I like to wait until the food and service get into a groove and are up to par.

We arrived fairly early hoping to get in right away, but it was pretty packed at about 6pm. This location has a very nice patio with heaters and quite a few tables. The interior is a bit smaller than I was expecting, but it is still larger than the downtown location. The greeter said it would be a 45 minute wait, but we only waited about 20 minutes. Oddly enough, the entire time we were there, even after we were seated there appeared to be a wait for a table, but at all times there were at least 3-4 tables open in the dining room. I understand the concept of staggered seating, but creating a wait when there are tables available seemed strange to me.

This is the top shelf margarita. It is served a bit differently than at the other location, but it was excellent. Just what the doctor called for on a Friday night after a busy week at work!

The menu at this location is slightly expanded compared to the downtown location, so there were some new menu items that looked interesting. However, I think we both saw the prime rib on the menu and were unable to look beyond it at anything else. As you can see by the photos, we both made a good choice. The prime rib is hickory smoked and you could actually taste the smoky flavor. Wow. It was perfect. It was also cooked perfectly. The smoked flavor made it just a bit more interesting than prime rib I've had elsewhere. John ordered fries as his side.Hand cut fries, just like they have at the downtown location.

I ordered the garlic mashed potatoes as my side. They had a good garlic flavor, but they were just a bit dry. The horseradish sauce on the side of the prime rib was excellent as well, added a bit of spice, which was delicious.

Overall, the service was good and we were not kept waiting for anything. Our server seemed somewhat distracted and was always looking around at other tables even while he was talking to us, which bothered me a bit. Other than that, we had a great visit and we look forward to visiting Ike's in Minnetonka often.

Deals & Discounts: I am not aware of any coupons or Groupons for Ike's. However, the downtown location has a very good happy hour and I would expect the Minnetonka location would have a similar happy hour as well. I am not finding any information regarding happy hour on their website, so I will have to check on this on my next visit or maybe give them a call to confirm.

Ike's
17805 Highway 7
Minnetonka, MN 55345
Phone: (952) 681-7099
http://ilikeikes.com