Wildfire

We decided to visit Wildfire in Eden Prairie as I had received a coupon mailer with discounts at all of the local Lettuce Entertain You restaurants in the chain. We arrived around 5:30pm and were told there was a 45 minute wait. The bar was packed to the gills so we grabbed a drink and waited in the  entry area. The wait was considerably shorter than quoted, I think we only waited about 20 minutes for a table.

We both had the prime rib and it was perfect. It was cooked as ordered and the horseradish sauce was spicy and excellent.

The service was good, although nothing memorable. We were in and out rather quickly actually.

 

Deals and Discounts: The loyalty club has proven to be a good value so far, since I already recouped the cost for the card. I also received some discount coupons for all of the restaurants in the chain in the Twin Cities. Wildfire also offers happy hour specials on food available Monday through Friday from 3-6pm and 9-close in the bar area.

 

Wildfire

8251 Flying Cloud Dr

Eden Prairie, MN 55344

(952) 914-9100

http://wildfirerestaurant.com/

 

Blackbird

We visited Blackbird for brunch on a Sunday morning. Neither one of us had ever been here before and I totally admit it was the Chinook book coupon that drew us in.

The interior of the restaurant is very trendy with a junk market inspired décor. There are lots of old mirrors and old antlers on the wall and such. Very cute.

I ordered the Huevos Blackbird with avocado. It is two eggs with salsa, sour cream and cheesy hash browns and toast. I’m glad I added the avocado it really enhanced the eggs and hash browns for me. The salsa had a bit of smoke flavor and just a touch of spice. I really liked this dish and will definitely order it again. 

John had the classic eggs, which included hash browns, toast and choice of meat. He went with the bacon and it was very good bacon and cooked to his liking. The toast was a thick cut wheat toast and it was quite good and not dry as wheat toast can sometimes be.

The service was excellent, very quick without rushing us, and we enjoyed our brunch a lot and look forward to going back soon. I think some things on the dinner menu look interesting as well.

Deals & Discounts: We used a Chinook book coupon for $5 off a $25 purchase. Blackbird also has happy hour 2-5pm Monday-Saturday and 9-close Monday-Thursday. The specials online appear to consist of food deals.

Blackbird

3800 Nicollet Ave

Minneapolis, MN 55409

(612) 823-4790

http://www.blackbirdmpls.com/ 

Harriet Brewing Food Truck Rally

Harriet Brewing had a food truck rally last Saturday. We stopped by for a late lunch and to sample a few beverages.

The trucks were in a parking lot next to the brewery and while the area was not that large, there was plenty of room to mill about and tables scattered around. The lines for the trucks were not bad, most were quite short and the food was ready quickly.

I tried the Oktoberfest beer and the Wodan Weizen. The Wodan Weizen was interesting as it had a pretty serious banana flavor, but it was light and easy to drink. John had the Oktoberfest, Rauchfest and a West Side. All of the beers were quite good, which we were happy to discover as we had not been to Harriet Brewing before.

 Moral Omnivore's bacon brat corn dog

 Twins truck Kramarczuk's brat and sauerkraut

AZ Canteen pork belly sandwich

Harriet Brewing
3036 Minnehaha Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55406
(612) 315-4633
http://www.harrietbrewing.com

Tavern 4 & 5 breakfast/brunch

We visited Tavern 4 & 5 for brunch recently since we had to run an errand in the area. We also discovered, strangely, there are not that many breakfast option in Eden Prairie. They are open daily for breakfast and also weekends for brunch, in addition to lunch and dinner hours.

The breakfast menu is quite extensive and spans all of the options from omelets to pancakes and french toast to benedicts.

I had the all American breakfast, which includes three eggs any style, your choice of meat, tavern potatoes & toast. The tavern potatoes are a very tasty hash brown concoction. It tasted like it had some cheese and garlic mixed in with the potatoes. The bacon was very high quality and flavorful. 

John had the  classic buttermilk pancakes. The pancakes were good, though he didn't like the powdered sugar sprinkled over them. 

The service was excellent. Overall, we found Tavern 4 & 5 to be a very solid place for breakfast in Eden Prairie.

Here is a link to my first post on Tavern 4 & 5: http://whereshouldwegomsp.blogspot.com/2013/12/tavern-4-5.html

Tavern 4 & 5

16396 Wagner Way

Eden Prairie, MN 55344

(952) 934-4545

http://tavern4and5.com/

Amore Victoria

We visited Amore Victoria in Uptown recently to enjoy a nice Friday night on the patio and to use another one of the Chinook book coupons. We were seated on the rooftop patio right away. The patio is quite nice, though it lacks the impressive views of some of the other patios in Uptown, it is cute, quiet and laid back.

We started with a couple of happy hour beers and ordered the bruschetta to start. The happy hour version is a smaller portion for just $5 and it was quite tasty.

For my entrée, I ordered the Fusilli Milli Gusti, which the menu described as fusilli pasta prepared in a creamy garlic Bolognese sauce,  with fresh zucchini, asparagus, peas, walnuts, mushrooms, red peppers, Kalamata olives, capers, carrots, wine and prosciutto. Baked with mozzarella. It was ok. The sauce was not creamy in the slightest and it ended up tasting more like vegetable soup. The portion was certainly large though. $15.

John had the Grazies Sweet Basil Sauce that had tender chicken breast, shiitake mushrooms, prosciutto, white wine, oven roasted roma tomatoes, red onions, fresh ground basil and a touch of organic cream  atop house made fettuccine. John liked his entree more than I liked mine and finished almost all of it. He thought the noodles tasted freshly made. $18.

The service was OK, we found we were waiting for our server to come back a few times to take our order for food and bring additional beverages. Based on the average quality of our entrees, the prices seemed a bit high, though the portions were generous. The atmosphere on the rooftop was nice and there is a small parking lot for off street parking in the back, so that made visiting much easier.

Deals & discounts: $10 off a $40 purchase in the Chinook book. Also they have an excellent daily happy hour with food and beverage specials. Current information is not on the website, so call or visit for more information.

Amore Victoria

1601 W Lake St

Minneapolis, MN 55408

(612) 823-0250

http://amorevictoria.com/

Stanley's on Wheels

Sadly, food truck season seems to be coming to a close, but I wanted to get one last post done on Stanley’s food truck. Stanley’s on wheels is affiliated with the bar/restaurant Stanley’s in Northeast Minneapolis and brings some of the best items from their menu to lunch downtown.

On this visit I tried the brisket nachos, which are tortilla chips topped with Stanley’s cheese sauce, beef brisket, salsa, sour cream and guacamole. The nachos were much, much better than I expected and tasted better than they looked. The cheese sauce is very rich and flavorful and the brisket had good flavor and there was a lot of it. The guacamole was quite good as well; it tasted fresh and delicious. $8.

The service was very quick and the food was ready quickly as well. No long lines or long waits with this truck.  I think I need to try the beef brisket sandwich next time around.


Stanley’s on wheels
www.stanleysonwheels.com
Twitter: @stanleyswheels

Bad Waitress

We’ve been on a huge brunch kick lately and I don’t see an end in sight, and that is ok. This time we visited Bad Waitress on Eat Street in Minneapolis.

First thing to note, is that the ordering process here is a bit unusual. You wait to be seated at a table, then you peruse the menu and when you are ready to order, fill out the order form at your table, go out to the register to order and pay. Your food will be brought out when it is ready. Be sure to write down your super hero or monster name as denoted on the condiment rack. If you are concerned about organic food, this is the place for you as they buy locally and use organic ingredients.

John had the two eggs and toast (sourdough toast) with hash browns and bacon. The bacon was perfect too. Let’s just say if anywhere in town ever serves two eggs and toast and it is not very good, we will be the first to know about it.

I had the flying saucer omelet which had mushrooms, spinach, thyme and goat cheese inside. The omelet was very large and had a nice thin layer of egg with a lot of ingredients inside. I love a nice goat cheese omelet and this was perfect. The hash browns were quite good as well, tasted very crisp and freshly made.

Our beverages were kept refilled by a waitress that was checking on tables as needed. Since it is sort of self-service there is not a lot to add about the service. The system works fine, once you know what to do.

Deals & Discounts: There is a coupon in the Chinook book for $5 off a $25 purchase, which we used on this visit. Not a bad deal. They also have a happy hour that runs Monday through Friday 3-6 pm and 9pm – close and features $3 Bottled Beers, $3 House Wines.


The Bad Waitress
2 E 26th St
Minneapolis, MN 55404
(612) 872-7575
http://thebadwaitress.com/