Mason's

John and I visited Mason’s for happy hour recently before an event at Target Center. It is located in the Masonic building at the corner of Hennepin and 6th Street.  It was not at all busy when we arrived around 5pm and we were able to get a nice table near the windows in the bar area right away. We tried a few things off of the happy hour menu since we just felt like some small appetizers.

First up are the Mason’s tots with mustard cheese sauce. The cheese sauce was ok and the tots were good, with what were obviously freshly grated potatoes, but they had an overwhelming flavor of paprika, which I didn’t think had much flavor. It did here, but it was not a pleasant flavor, maybe slightly smoky and dry, it mostly gave the tots a reddish hue and an unusual aftertaste.

John tried the Mason’s wings in four different flavors: dry rub, zesty ginger, buffalo and spicy BBQ. The wings were just ok, the exterior was pretty soggy, not crisp at all. The dry rub was probably the best of the bunch.

The last item was the grilled flatbread with mozzarella, sun dried tomato, garlic, red onion and balsamic. This was probably the best appetizer out of all of them. The mozzarella was really fresh tasting, though the crust seemed to be commercially made pita bread, the balsamic and sun dried tomatoes really added great flavor to the dish overall.

The service was good as well at the atmosphere, though the food was just ok. I think we would consider stopping in for drinks again, but probably not to dine.

Deals & Discounts: Mason’s offers a variety of happy hour specials as well as industry night deals and pre-event deals. I would suggest checking their website for the most current offers: http://www.masonsmn.com/specials

Mason's Restaurant Barre

528 Hennepin Ave

Minneapolis, MN 55403

(612) 516-3344

http://www.masonsmn.com/