Buffalo Tap

We stopped at Buffalo Tap the other day before going over to Canterbury Park for the afternoon. We thought we'd try a different option in the area and we had a coupon from the Entertainment book to use.

The atmosphere and decor is an up North cabin theme with lots of wood and exposed timbers as well as a fireplace in the middle of the main room. A large section of the menu is devoted to buffalo wings and we probably should have tried them, but we did not. We will save those for another time.

One fun thing they have going here is the fact they have Xbox consoles scattered around the restaurant to play anytime. It looks like fun for both kids and adults. There is also a game room with your standard bar games like Big Buck Hunter and Golden Tee.

I had the Parmesan patty melt with onions and Swiss cheese on Parmesan crusted bread. The Parmesan bread was an interesting change to the standard patty melt. It added a bit more flavor. The burger was fine, but I ordered it medium and it arrived well done. The burger was a bit on the dry side too. The crinkle cut fries were solid, as crinkle cut fries always are.

John had the mushroom and Swiss burger with fried onions and fries. He also ordered his burger medium and it arrived well done.

The service was prompt and she checked back with us as needed and kept our drinks filled. We were in and out pretty quickly.

Overall, Buffalo Tap was ok. The food was nothing to go out of the way for, but if you live nearby I think it might be worth a visit, since there are not a lot of other options in the immediate area.

Deals and Discounts: We used a coupon from the Entertainment book for a buy one entree get one free discount. They also have an afternoon and evening happy hour as well as other specials. Check out the deals tab on their website for more details.


Buffalo Tap
4990 W 123rd St
Savage, MN 55378
(952) 808-7317
http://www.buffalotap.com/

Red's Savoy Pizza

In the last few months I've been told I have to try Red's Savoy pizza by a couple different people. Since none of the locations are very close to our neck of the woods, it takes some doing to get down to Uptown or St Paul. Recently, we decided to make the trek over to St Paul and check out the original location of Red's Savoy Pizza.

It was a rather bright day outside, and we when we first entered my initial impression was how dark the interior is. There are no windows at all, so it takes awhile for your eyes to adjust. There was a short wait for a table and we managed to find a spot at the bar to sit and wait. There is not a lot of waiting space, people just wait at the bar or stand in the aisles. And the tables were wedged in as close as possible. Cozy I guess.

We ordered the pepperoni, sausage and mushroom pizza. It was loaded with toppings and cut into those odd Minnesota-style squares. I thought the sauce was decent, it was a bit on the bland side- could use a bit more kick. After the fact, I was surprised to read on their website that the sauce is described as spicy. The sausage was good, as was the pepperoni. I think the mushrooms were just canned. I felt like there were almost too many toppings on the pizza and not enough cheese. The crust is very thin and did a passable job of holding the toppings, but it become soggy very quickly.

We became rather enthralled with watching the parking lot camera on a couple of the TVs mounted on the walls. It was oddly fascinating to watch people navigate the small parking lot, while we waited for our pizza to arrive. The service was just OK. We ordered a pitcher of pop and the waitress forgot to bring it out until I asked for it. She was rather slow to bring the check and pick up out payment as well.

While this was good pizza, I'm not sure it warranted a special trip to St Paul. It is your standard Minnesota style pizza, with thin crust and cut into squares. We both still prefer Cossetta's pizza over Red's Savoy. I think their crust, sauce and cheese is better.


Red's Savoy Pizza
421 7th St E
St Paul, Minnesota
(651) 227-1437
http://savoypizza.com/

Murray's - lunch specials

On yet another rainy day, my co-workers and I decided to try something different for lunch. I vaguely recalled hearing that Murray's had some lunch deals, but I could not find evidence on their website regarding them. We asked when we arrived and discovered the specials still exist and are available Monday through Friday in the bar area. They also have a sidewalk sign outside listing the specials, which we all missed as we ran across the street in the rain.

The bar area was deserted when we arrived so we took a table near the window. A server stopped by to take out drink orders right away and she answered our questions about the specials and told us a bit more about them.

Jenny and Travis had the turkey special, which came with roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy. Both thought it was quite good, though Jenny thought it was rather salty.

I had the roast sirloin and truffle fries and I was very pleasantly surprised with my entree. The steak was medium rare and very, very tender. The side of au jus was a nice addition. The fries were good and the portion was quite generous.

We were seated in the bar near the windows and the service was very good. Our server checked back with us often and refilled our drinks as needed. The atmosphere in the bar was nice. It is not as formal and stiff feeling as the main dining room, which is nice in some cases, especially for a casual lunch.

We all thought the specials were a good value for the price of $10 each. There was a third special, the tuna tacos, that none of us ordered, but it also sounded good. The food was much better quality than I expected it to be. I guess for a lunch deal, I was not expecting too much, but everything was great. I look forward to going back soon for lunch again.

Deals & Discounts: Daily $10 lunch specials and a daily happy hour both available in the bar area only. Specials are listed at the bottom of their home page at http://murraysrestaurant.com/.

Murray's
26 S 6th St
Minneapolis, MN 55402
(612) 339-0909
http://www.murraysrestaurant.com/

LuLu's Street Food

Since spring has arrived so late this year it has been a slow start to the food truck season, to my great dismay. I've hit the point where I am pretty sick of all the same old lunch choices in the skyways, so the food trucks are a welcome change. And it is nice to get out of the office for awhile when it is warm out.

Lulu's is a new food truck this year that caught my eye as I was wandering along Marquette the other day. Actually, the interesting items on the menu caught my eye. The truck is very bright and colorful too.

The fries were pretty good. They were definitely hand cut, but I prefer a crispier fry and most of these were rather soggy and limp. I added Cajun seasoning on them as well, which gave them a bit of added zip.

The ahi tuna tacos are the item that originally caught my eye. At $10 they are not cheap. The tortilla is commercially made and not all that great. The contents of the taco were quite good though. Inside was seared tuna, and quite a bit of it, as well as carrots, cabbage, red cabbage, peppers, sesame seeds, a wasabi mayo sauce and crispy tendrils on top. The taco was good, but it could be even better if the tortillas were better.

The service was quite fast, though other people that ordered before me were still waiting for their food, so I felt kind of bad about that. Maybe the cold items are faster to prepare.


LuLu's Street Food

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lulus-Street-Food/107004102822952

World Street Kitchen

One of my favorite food trucks has become a brick and mortar restaurant that I can visit whenever I want! No more waiting days and days for the World Street Kitchen truck to have mt favorite yum yum bowl on the menu. They have it every day now! I am very happy to see the recent transformation of food trucks into restaurants. It is a testament to the dedication of the entrepreneurs willing to take a chance and launch a food truck based business.

The World Street Kitchen restaurant is a counter service place- just order at the counter and your items will be delivered as they are ready. The atmosphere is very industrial and functional.  They have a nice variety of local beers on tap and in bottles in addition to wines and sangria. I like that they offer alcoholic drinks, it definitely adds to the food and atmosphere.

love the sign!

I had the daily special- a fish sandwich with lettuce, special sauce and potato chips.

John had the Korean BBQ Bangkok burrito.

white sangria - white wine, grapefruit and honey

I had the fish sandwich that was the daily special and it was very delicious. The bun was toasted and had a special sauce on it that added a bit of spice. The fish was crunchy, not greasy and very light and flaky. The lettuce and potato chips added a bit of extra crunch. At first, I thought the portion was a bit small, but once I was finished I was full, so the portion was just right. This is a very delicious and crave-worthy sandwich.

John had the Korean BBQ beef short rib Bangkok burrito. It was a gigantic monster of a burrito and rolled perfectly. It was stuffed with fried rice, secret sauce, cilantro basil and the flavorful beef short ribs. He loved the burrito and can't wait to go back and have it again.

The food and drink was great and I look forward to returning.  The food is just as good as it was on the truck, though I still look forward to the truck being out and about this summer.

Deals & Discounts: Happy hour is available daily from 3-6pm and 9 to close. Right now it includes half price snacks, $5 cocktails, $3 house wine and $3 local tap beer. Though I am sure the specials can change without notice.

World Street Kitchen

2743 Lyndale Ave. S  #5,

Minneapolis, MN 55408

(612) 424-8855

www.eatwsk.com/



Rojo Mexican Grill

This is the winter that refuses to end and just when you think you can't take it anymore, it snows again. In April. And in May. So when life hands you lemons, or limes, why not drink margaritas during a blizzard. It just might make you feel a bit better. So that is what we did for happy hour during another one of the snowstorms recently.

strawberry jalapeno margarita- spicy!

Rojo Cadillac margarita- quite good!

beef red chile burro

three cheese quesadilla

shrimp tacos

I liked the shrimp tacos and they had good flavor, but were not spicy at all. The rice is very bland as are the refried beans. Though John's strawberry jalapeno margarita was really spicy! All I could taste was hot, not strawberry at all. Michele liked the quesadilla because it only contained ingredients she liked-- the chicken and the cheese. John had the beef burro, which is a burrito, but they call it a burro for some odd reason. John said the sauce was not very spicy and the meat was bland as well.

The service was very good during our entire visit. The waitress checked back with us frequently. The food was all good, but nothing amazing. Though there was nothing wrong with anything we ordered and no problems with the service. I felt like this after my last visit here. Everything was fine, but there was nothing I loved so much that I can't wait to come back. For some reason the prices here always seem a little bit high compared to the portion sizes. Or maybe I just have not found the perfect entree here yet.

Deals & Discounts: Lots of happy hour deals to be had here. They offer both an early and a late night happy hour. Check out the current offerings here: http://rojomexicangrill.com/happy-hour


Rojo Mexiacan Grill
1602 West End Blvd
St Louis Park, MN 55416
(952) 657-5385
http://rojomexicangrill.com/