Red Rabbit

Red Rabbit opened at the beginning of this year, but we are terrible about visiting new restaurants as soon as they open. We have very little desire to fight the crowds and service and food tend to be better later on in many cases. I had also joined Red Rabbit’s eClub and received a discount coupon, which always increases our interest considerably.

We had planned to start off at the bar for happy hour and move to the dining room for dinner, thinking the coupon would not be valid for happy hour. However, there was a long, long wait for dining room tables, so we opted to stay put at the bar for our entire visit, which worked out great.

The cocktail menu is extensive and a whole lot of fun too. I love a good tiki drink! I think this was the “ugly but good.”

We started with the ricotta toast topped with honey and black pepper. This was amazingly simple and amazingly delicious. The honey had a lot of flavor and the ricotta cheese was silky and smooth. We both loved this appetizer.

We also had a few oysters on happy hour. I don’t recall where they were from. That would be great information to share.

We also nibbled on the bar nuts which were spiced hazelnuts. These were a tasty bar snack, and not too sweet.

John had the house sausage pizza. He enjoyed it and compared it to Punch pizza. 

I had the chicken Parmesan, which was delicious, but a gigantic portion. This should be shared! Or plan to eat the leftovers the next day. The red sauce had fresh tomato flavor, nicely seasoned and the chicken was thin with a crisp exterior.

Overall, the service, food and drinks were all outstanding. It is definitely worth the trip to North Loop. It is a fun casual restaurant, so there is not bad time to go.

Deals & discounts: Excellent happy hour daily, visit their website for current details. Also, I recommend joining the eClub for a sign-up coupon and a coupon on your birthday. (I don’t recall the amount of the sign-up coupon and I have not received the birthday coupon yet.)



Red Rabbit
201 N Washington Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Phone: (612) 767-8
https://www.redrabbitmn.com/855

Smalley's Caribbean Barbeque

We went to Stillwater recently for a late summer visit on a Saturday afternoon. We wanted to visit a couple breweries from the Northern Ale Guide we've been working on. And of course, we were looking forward to returning to Smalley's BBQ. 

I had the ribs with BBQ shrimp skewer and mac and sides of mac and cheese topped with bacon and roasted sweet potatoes topped with caramelized pork and sausage. The ribs are great, you don't even really need the sauces, but they are nice if you want to add spice. The mac and cheese was amazing, so rich and creamy and I loved the sweet potatoes. And yes, the meat on top of them really did make them better!

John had pork shoulder and ropas viejas, which is Cuban style pulled beef with sides of fries and coleslaw. Both of his meats were very tender and juicy with great smoke flavoring the meats.

I don't think the service is anything to get excited about, but it was fine throughout our visit. The food is the real star here and certainly makes it worth the trip to Stillwater each and every time.


Smalley's Caribbean Barbeque
423 Main St S
Stillwater, MN 55082
(651) 439-5375
http://smalleyscaribbeanbbq.com