B.A.D. Wingz

Clearly, I've been slacking on blog posts for a few months now. Better late than never, right? I often forget to take photos since we've been doing so much take out too. Half the time I am seriously famished by the time we get the food home and there is just no pausing for photos. 

B.A.D. Wingz is operating out of the Northeast Minneapolis location of Glam Doll Donuts. They also offer easy to use online ordering and a simple pickup process. 

I'm not even sure which flavors we ordered, but the wings were large and had great flavor. They have a large variety of sauces and rubs to select from as well. 

french fries

street corn

I should have taken a photo of their dipping sauces. The ranch was pink and the blue cheese was blue. Both brightly colored, which was kind of off-putting. 

B.A.D. Wingz
520 N 4th Street 
Minneapolis, MN 55401

Phone: (612) 545-5059

https://www.badwingz.com

Pig Ate My Pizza

We visited the new and larger location of Pig Ate My Pizza in Robbinsdale recently. They have a much bigger space (in the old Travail location) and they are also brewing their own beer now.

We stopped in on a Friday night around 6pm. It was busy, but we were seated at a large communal table pretty quickly. It had been ages since we went to Pig, so the menu has changed a lot.

We started with the wings with pho dry rub wings, mint, fresno, basil ranch. The skin on the wings was crisp, but they had very little flavor. The dry rub didn't have a lot of flavor. Very bland. I wasn't crazy about the basil ranch sauce either.

Next, the dry rub ribs with a side of pepper relish and basil ranch. The ribs were delicious. The dry rub had great flavor and the ribs were tender. They did not need the sauce really.

We had the Boomtown pizza with mushroom puree, roasted crimini and king trumpet mushrooms, arugula, chive, crispy garlic and Italian sausage. The pizza had a very rich and creamy taste, the crust was nicely crisp and held up well to the toppings on it.

The server seemed like he had a lot of tables and we had to call him over when we wanted to order our food and also more drinks. We were in and out in a decent amount of time though. The atmosphere is definitely loud and chaotic. The front area was very chilly as they have garage door type windows, which will be nice in the summer, but are freezing in the winter. Overall, we enjoyed the experience and would return.


Pig Ate My Pizza
4124 W Broadway Ave,
Robbinsdale, MN 55422
Phone: (763) 537-7267
https://www.pigatemypizza.com

Pizza Karma

A second outpost of Pizza Karma opened last fall in Maple Grove. We had been intending to visit the Eden Prairie location for awhile now, so I was happy to see it open in Maple Grove as well. We visited on a weekday evening and it was empty except for one other table. I hope they are busier on the weekends.

We started with the tandoor fired wings with dry rub of fresh ground spices. The wings were a bit small and anemic, but the dry rub had a great flavor. The spices were Indian-inspired and quite flavorful, but not spicy.

We had the chicken kebab pizza topped with chicken, tomato-fenugreek sauce, fresh mozzarella and onion pepper medley on plain crust. The naan crust was very light, crispy and airy. We both liked it a lot. It is a personal sized pizza, so one per person would be a nice serving size. We decided to share since we had the wings to start though.

Pizza Karma is a quick service restaurant, where you simply order at the counter and your food is brought out to your table as it is ready. The employee at the counter was helpful and friendly. The space was modern, open and airy. We enjoyed everything we tried and look forward to returning soon and trying some of their other unique pizza options.



Pizza Karma
11611 Fountains Dr
Maple Grove, MN 55369
Phone: (763) 432-7561
https://www.pizzakarma.com/

Serum's Good Time Emporium

We visited Serum’s in Anoka after seeing them listed on a best wings list in a local magazine recently. Plus, it is not too terribly far away and the parking is a lot easier in Anoka than most parts of Minneapolis.

They offer a wide variety of wing sauces, but many of them are simply mixtures of a couple standard sauces. We ended up waiting quite awhile for our wings, though the server let us know in advance. We ordered the Wild Wing Sampler with 25 wings and 5 sauces for $21.99. We got the medium, hot, garlicilada, Thai and spicy Szechuan sauces. The medium was really, really mild, the hot had some heat and was OK, but garlicilada was probably the best of the bunch, with a nice garlic flavor. The Thai were quite good with lots of peanut flavor and the spicy Szechuan were not good. The problem with the wings was that they seemed to be overcooked. The meat was dried out, flavorless and not moist at all. It seemed like they were not very hot when they arrived either, like they had been sitting for awhile before they were brought out to us.

The fries were nothing special, but definitely solid crinkle cut fries and the portion was generous.

I’m not sure we’d go back for the wings. I don't see how these wings made any "best of" list. Maybe we were there on a off day but they were nothing out of the ordinary and certainly not worth the trip out of your way to Anoka. If you are in the area or live nearby it might be a decent choice for your average bar food though.


Serum’s
213 Jackson St
Anoka, MN 55303
(763) 421-7522
http://serumsanoka.com/

Smalley's Caribbean Barbeque

We visited Smalley’s in Stillwater recently. It has been on our list of BBQ place to visit for some time, but the distance from home is an issue. We went on a Saturday afternoon/evening for an early dinner.

The sweet corn conch fritters with smoked Caribbean aioli were as good as any we’ve had on vacation in Key West. The sauce was quite spicy and really made the fritters sing. The exterior was crisp and the fish inside was cooked just right.

We also tried the chicken wings jerk style with medium spice. These were the best wings ever! They had a wonderful smoky flavor throughout and the exterior was crisp. These attributes are harder to find in buffalo style wings than you would expect.

The last item was the barbeque combo with pork spare ribs, beef brisket and pork shoulder with black beans and rice and roasted sweet potatoes. We over ordered and ended up taking most of this item home to eat the next day, but all of the meats were smoky and delicious. I really liked the roasted sweet potatoes, it is just not an item you can find around here very often.

Overall, everything was great, but I know we will be going back for those smoked jerk wings. The service was fine, nothing memorable occurred and our beverages were kept filled throughout the meal. The place is a little bit pirate themed, but not overly so. The main feature of the dining room is a large fireplace, which was nice on a cold day. If you want a taste of the Caribbean in Minnesota Smalley’s is the place to go!

After Smalley’s we headed up the hill to Life Bridge Brewing to use a Living Social Deal for beer flights. They were prepared for the large crowds redeeming the deal and we had a great visit. Definitely have to return again soon!


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

D-Spot

Recently, we made it over to Maplewood for a long anticipated visit to the D-Spot. They seem to be on every list of places with great wings and after our visit we have to agree.

The D-Spot is a small place in an obscure strip mall located near a McDonalds. The inside is rather spartan, but functional, with a TV and 6 or 7 tables for those that wish to eat in the restaurant. There is a pretty cool mural on the wall that looks like it might still be a work in progress. We placed our order at the register and the food was brought out to us after a short wait when it was ready.

The menu consists of a huge variety in wing flavors. It is divided up into spicy wings, comfort/savory wings, sweet wings and Ph D, meaning sophisticated flavor combinations. They also have spiedini, burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries and onions rings. No alcoholic beverages are available though. Only juice, water and soda.

We started with the salsa verde wings. The sauce has cilantro, garlic, onion and chiles in it. It tasted a lot like cilantro, lime and the flavor was very fresh and unique. The skin on this batch of wings was a bit soggy unfortunately. The rest of our wings had a very crisp and flavorful exterior and interior. The size of all of the wings was excellent. No tiny wings here.

Next, was the Asian BBQ wings, with a hoisin soy glaze. The sauce was salty,  sweet and pretty spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. These were listed in the spicy section of the menu, so I don’t think all the spicy sauces are blazingly hot.

Last, but not least was the tarantula wings. These were probably my favorites. They had a soy glaze, roasted garlic, chili, dry rub and fried garlic in the sauce. The skin was crispy and delicious and the garlic flavor really came through even though the soy was strongly flavored. They were spicy as well, but not so hot you lose feeling in your tongue.

We also added on a basket of seasoned fries to help cool things off. The fries were pretty good, seemed to be freshly made, though neither one of us love fries with that extra coating or breading seasoning on them. They were seasoned with some sort of seasoned salt, which was good and they came with a side of spicy dipping sauce, which was sour cream based and quite good too.

The D-Spot is certainly worth the drive to Maplewood and we look forward to returning and trying more of their wing flavors. The choices are overwhelming, but they did a great job making recommendations and steering us in the right direction. The food is amazing, the wings were great and the prices are a good value.


The D-Spot
705 century Avenue N, Suite B
Maplewood, MN 55119
651-730-7768
www.eatatdspot.com

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/

Eli's Food and Cocktails

I think we have hit the point in which we have decided there must be better chicken wings around town than those served at Buffalo Wild Wings. Don't get me wrong, BWW hits the spot now and then and their sauces are great, but sometimes the wings are positively anorexic or naked (i.e. there is no sauce on them). The misses are memorable more often than not. So, we are in search of a better wing. I had recently come across a list of top wing spots in a City Pages blog post, so we decided to try one the other day.

We decided on Eli's as it is not too far away and we had been there a few years ago and the food was great then, but we had not made it back. We visited on a Sunday night, so it was pretty quiet when we arrived.

We started with an order of wings from the specials list, the Sirracha wings with a lime sour cream dipping sauce. The wings were large and very crispy on the outside with a flavorful wing sauce that was pretty spicy, but not overly so. I thought the wing sauce was a bit more interesting than your standard buffalo sauce.

I had the tuna steak sandwich, which was wonderful. The tuna was in pieces and not really a true tuna steak, though the pieces of tuna tasted very fresh and I loved the pickled vegetables on top.

John had the BLT with avocado. It was on toasted sourdough bread and had very good quality bacon on it as well. The tomatoes were very thick and juicy and not sad winter tomatoes you sometimes see this time of the year in Minnesota. The fries were pretty good; quite crisp.

Overall, we had a great visit. The food and service were both excellent. We need to try and stop in more often and try some of the other items on the menu.


Eli's Food and Cocktails
Downtown location:
1225 Hennepin Ave
Minneapolis, MN
612.332.9997

NE Minneapolis location:
815 East Hennepin Ave
Minneapolis, MN
612.331.0031

Runyon's 1/6/12

We decided to finally check out Runyon’s since it is always on the Twin Cities lists for best wings in town. I quite like the atmosphere as it is a very old school bar, with a long bar down one side and tables and booths on the other side. When we arrived we simply seated ourselves and a waitress stopped by right away to take our drink orders.

I ordered the buffalo shrimp. The shrimp were cooked properly and the portion was generous. I think I would have preferred this item if the shrimp had some breading on them. I suppose without the breading this is a healthier option, but it would be tastier if breaded and fried! Also, they have a great blue cheese sauce at Runyon's. It is very thick with lots of blue cheese chunks in it. We also ordered some fries. We received a gigantic basket of fries! The fries were good. I'm not sure if they were fresh or frozen. Frozen I think. 

John liked the wings, but felt the sauce on them was not very spicy and would have been better if it was spicier. I thought the level of spice was ok and I really like how their wings are very crispy on the outside. 

My friend Michele joined us on this outing and she ordered the cheeseburger and fries. She said it was a pretty good burger, nothing wrong with it, nothing really memorable about it either.

Overall, the food received mixed results on this visit. I liked the wings and atmosphere and I'd suggest Runyon's  to others. 

Runyon’s

107 Washington Ave N
Minneapolis, MN 55401

(612) 332-7158

Lone Spur Grill

We stopped at the Lone Spur for happy hour on May 27th. The Lone Spur has some great happy hour specials daily. A large domestic tap beer is $3.

We both ordered the happy hour tacos for $2 per taco. They are largo hard shell tacos with beef and lots of fillings. They are very filling and more than enough for a meal.

We also got an order of the buffalo wings. The wings were better than I was expecting; they were crispy on the outside and had a nice amount of spice. I believe we got a dozen wings for $5.95 on happy hour.

Discounts:
The Lone Spur has a discount card in the Metro Dining Club good for $5 off an entree when you buy another entree. Their happy hour has some great deals as well and it runs from 4 to 6pm and 9:30 pm to 11:30 pm. Check out the website for details as specials vary by day.

Lone Spur Grill
11032 Cedar Lake Rd,
Minnetonka, MN, 55305
Phone: (952) 540-0181
www.lonespurgrillandbar.com