Bratfest, Bret Michels & Wasabi Japanese Restaurant In Madison, WI

That title sounds a bit like the start to some sort of bad joke. But it is a short summary of our Memorial day weekend trip to Madison, Wisconsin, to visit our friends Megan and Jason.

We started with Bratfest, which is a pretty big deal in Madison. It is sponsored by Johnsonville brats and they track the number of brats sold throughout the weekend. So we got into the giant line for brats, which moved pretty quickly. I should have taken photos of the brats and the lines, but I totally forgot.

Up next, Bret Michels, the free entertainment. I have photos of this! Megan and I enjoyed ourselves, but I’m not sure everyone else was as excited.

The next day we did a bit of shopping around Sun Prairie while Megan and Jason attended a chidren’s birthday party. There was a bouncy house, so the short people were pretty pumped up about that!  We headed to downtown Madison with the intent to hang out at the terrace later on.

For some reason we decided we all wanted sushi so we went to Wasabi Japanese. It is right on State Street and we totally over ordered. Gyoza are above.

 tempura vegetables

 sushi boat

 more sushi

sashimi

After sushi, we went down a few blocks to watch people finishing a 5k run. We sat on a patio in front of the Buck and Badger tavern cheering the racers. It was a nice night and fun to watch everyone go by. Plus a friend of Megan’s was running  so  we had to watch for her and have a beverage with her and her group afterwards. We had a fun weekend in Madison and headed home on Sunday morning.


Wasabi Japanese Restaurant
449 State St #2G
Madison, WI 53703
wasabi-madison.com

Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers recently opened in Maple Grove. We stopped in for a quick weekend lunch to try the food. The service was fast and cheerful and the room was certainly busy and bustling.

We both ordered the Single Steakburger with cheese and a side of fries. The burger is made from high quality beef and served on a butter toasted bun. The burgers are quite thin as a result of the cooking process. The fries are very, very thin matchstick fries. They are very fresh and hot and tasted quite good. There is a special seasoning salt you can add to the fries and they have a special fry dipping sauce as well. Both just seemed to make everything quite salty however.

Other menu selections include frozen custard, chicken sandwiches, Chicago Style hot dogs, onion rings, chili, chili fries and chicken fingers, so there is something for almost everyone.

While the food was fine, I’m not finding any reasons to go out of my way to return. The burgers are very, very similar to Culver’s and there are a lot more Culver’s locations in Minnesota than Freddy’s locations. (Freddy’s does have a second location in Savage, MN.) The burgers appear to be made in a similar manner to Culver’s in that they are smashed thin on the grill and made from high quality meat. The menus are slightly different, but the custard selections seem similar as well.


Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers
11600 Fountains Dr
Maple Grove, MN 55369
763.600.6713
www.freddysusa.com

Prairie Dogs & Fuji Ya

We decided to head down to Lyndale and Lake Street on a Saturday night awhile back. We wanted to get something to eat and check out the new brewery, LynLake Brewery. I totally forgot to take photos at the brewery, but I have some food photos to share.

I ordered the tuna tarar to start. Diced tuna, avocado, ginger, garlic, lemon chili oil with soy tobiko. The tuna was fresh, but I was not a fan of the tobiko.

I also had the gyoza, which were crispy and hot. I got 5 house-made pan-fried pork or vegetable pot stickers. Very good.

John ordered the age calamari. It was quite rubbery and not great. We tried it but did not eat very much of it.

John was still hungry after his not great calamari, so we stopped in at Prairie Dogs so he could get something to eat. Good choice! It is a tiny little restaurant, with a menu featuring hot dogs and sausages.

John went with the Micho’s Sonoran Dog which is bacon wrapped and grilled, cilantro aioli, bean spread, avocado, cotija, onion, tomato, salsa verde. This was phenomenal. The salsa was spicy and fresh. The hot dog had a nice snap (they use Vienna hot dogs) and the toppings were all fresh and flavorful.

We added an order of the double fried fries with prairie sauce. The fries were amazing, so fresh and crispy. Why can’t all French fries be made in house and taste this great?

Prairie Dogs had a nice list of local beers on tap and in bottles too. We thought it was a great place to stop in for a quick snack. The prices are affordable for the quality of the food and service was excellent.

Next, we went to LynLake brewing. The taproom is really cool with a large first floor with huge garage doors that open to the street. The rooftop patio is really nice, with a view of downtown and the surrounding area. There is a second bar on the rooftop as well. I totally forgot to take photos, have to do that next time.


Prairie Dogs
55408, 610 W Lake St
Minneapolis, MN 55408
(612) 223-8984
http://www.prairiedogsausage.com/

Cap's Grille

We stopped at Cap’s Grille for dinner as we were in the area and I had heard their ribs were good. It is conveniently located along the Blue Line light rail route as well. There is also ample parking available in front. We seated ourselves and menus were brought over right away. The dining room is small but comfortable. We placed our orders and the food arrived pretty quickly.

I had Cap’s Original  Pork Ribs, 4 rib order with baked beans and cole slaw. The ribs were tender and had a nice smoky flavor. I was not impressed with the BBQ sauce, it was a basic ketchup-based sauce, without a lot of flavor. The cole slaw was  very rich and creamy, really delicious. The beans were OK, nothing different about them, but there was nothing wrong with them either.

John had Cap’s Original  Pork Ribs, half rack rib order (6 ribs) with cole slaw and Cap’s steak fries. John liked the ribs as well, but did not love the BBQ sauce. The steak fries were crisp and hot.

The meal was affordable and filling. The food, while fine, did not stand out to us when compared to other rib joints in town. The service was good and all of the employees we interacted with were very nice and friendly. I don’t know that the food is enough to make us want to drive across town on a regular basis, but it is a good option if you are in the area


Cap’s Grille
5000 Hiawatha Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55417
(612) 722-2277
http://capsgrille.com/

Bonefish Grill

We stopped into Bonefish Grill on a Tuesday night for a quick dinner. It was not busy at all and we were seated right away. I suspect things are a lot busier on the weekends though, when the West End gets quite busy. Reservations are accepted.

The server brought some bread and olive oil with pesto to start.

We ordered the Bang Bang Shrimp at our server’s suggestion for our appetizer. They are crispy, lightly breaded shrimp with a spicy and slightly creamy sauce on them. They were quite flavorful, though the shrimp were a bit on the smallish side. Also, the bottom of this dish was filled with lettuce, so the portion was not as large as it looks in the photo.

I ordered the Spicy Tuna Bowl. It is seared ahi tuna with avocado, sweet chili sauce, jasmine rice and passion fruit salsa. The tuna tasted fresh and the portion was quite generous. Once you assembled a little bit of each element on the plate, the combination was very flavorful. Since I enjoy working with my food, I liked this dish, but I can see that some people might not appreciate it.

John had the Wood Grilled Sea Scallops and Shrimp. While this sounded like it was perfect for him, he thought the scallops were pretty salty and the shrimp were a tad mushy. So it left a lot to be desired. He liked the jasmine rice and the pea pods were crunchy and fresh tasting.

Overall, the food was OK. I don’t think we were overly impressed. While the menu has more variety than other chain seafood places, I don’t think the quality impressed us very much. We did find the service to be very good. Our server was quite attentive throughout our visit.



Bonefish Grill
1607 West End Blvd
St Louis, MN 55416
(952) 746-4058
https://www.bonefishgrill.com/

New Bohemia Wurst & Bier Haus

We've been going to New Bohemia in Golden Valley for trivia on a pretty regular basis. We went for dinner when they first opened to try the food and saw a sign about trivia and we could not have been more excited as it is close to home, they have a variety of beer and the trivia is early, starting at 6:30pm. But, I keep forgetting to take photos when we go. 

To order food and drink, you place your order at the register as you enter, they give you a number and the food is brought to your table. There are no servers checking back, so if you want another beverage, you need to go to the register or go to the bar. A bit unusual, but it works fine. 

The menu is centered on interesting brats and sausages. It seems like they have something for everyone, from a basic brat to crazy stuff like elk, duck and alligator. You also get to pick two free topping for each sausage order. 

variety of house made mustards and ketchups

On our first visit I tried the smoked jalepeno and cheese sausage. It was pretty spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. The bun was buttered and lightly toasted, very nice and very fresh.

The freshly made pretzels are very good, although we don't care for the cheese sauce that comes with it. I prefer to dip the pretzel in one of the mustards on the table. The pretzel is huge and meant for sharing.

John has been getting the kielbasa on almost every visit. He said it is delicious. Looks like he added fried onions and sauerkraut to this one.

On our last visit, I had the buffalo blue cheese sausage. It was a bit spicy, but I did not get much flavor from the blue cheese. The apple jicama slaw added a nice crunch and a bit of sweetness.

Our favorite things about New Bohemia are the interesting sausages, wide variety of craft beers and the trivia at 6:30pm on Thursdays. All of those things will keep us coming back on a regular basis for some time to come.

Deals & discounts: Happy hour is daily from 3-6pm, and Monday-Thursday, 10pm-close. It includes $3 select drafts, $3 beer cocktail pints. They also offer $3 pints from Third Street brewing during trivia.


New Bohemia
8040 Olson Memorial Hwy
Golden Valley, MN 55427
(763) 544-1882
http://www.newbohemiausa.com

there is also the original location in NE Minneapolis:
233 E Hennepin Ave
Minneapolis, MN
(612) 331-4929

Darcy's Cafe - Grand Forks, ND

We visited Darcy’s Café on our last trip to visit family in Grand Forks for breakfast on Sunday before we left town. We visited at John's sister's suggestion, she had wanted to try it for awhile, so we all met there for breakfast. It is a cozy little place, probably fitting into the dive category, since the ambiance is non-existent and the dining room is utilitarian at best. Customers are seated around a U shaped counter or at small tables around the edges of the room. If it is busy, the line may spill out the door.

We were seated at the counter pretty quickly. The service is certainly quick and efficient, it seems lingering is not encouraged.

 David had the French Toast. The portion was really generous and the toast was light and fluffy.

I had eggs over easy with hash browns, bacon and pancakes. The bacon was crispy, eggs cooked perfectly and the hash browns tasted freshly grated. The pancakes were good, but not the best I’ve ever had. They were a bit heavy, not as light as I would have liked.

John had scrambled eggs, hash browns, sourdough toast and hamburger patty. The toast was a good sourdough and the hamburger patty was cooked perfectly too.

This is probably one of the best places we have visited for breakfast in Grand Forks. The food is freshly made and of good quality at great low prices, with quick service so you really can’t go wrong.


Darcy’s Café
1015 N Washington St
Grand Forks, ND 58203
(701) 775-4050

Sweeto Burrito - Grand Forks, ND

We went to a couple new places on our last trip to Grand Forks to visit family. The main menu items are tacos, and burritos with French fries and tots as sides. We placed our order at the counter and it was brought out to us pretty quickly.

I had the grilled chicken street tacos chipotle lime style. The chicken had a rather sweet sauce and it was topped with chopped cabbage and chipotle lime sauce. The lime sauce got lost in the sauce the chicken was cooked in. Some of the chicken was dry and chewy too. The cabbage was fresh. There was also only a single sift taco shell. It really needed two as it broke halfway through on all of them. I ordered chips and salsa as my side item. The salsa was pretty potent with a lot of garlic flavor. Not bad, but quite strong.

John had the chicken tacos fresca style with a side of tater tots. Fresca style is chopped tomatoes and onions. His also only had a single soft taco shell.

I maybe should have tried the burritos as it is their core menu item. The tacos are newer to the menu apparently.  The nice thing about their burritos is that you can order them in different sizes depending on how much you can eat. The food is certainly interesting and has potential. We should probably try it again next time we are in the area.

The brand has an interesting story- they started as aa food truck in the oil patch in western North Dakota and grew from there with franchise locations. They currently have five locations with more on the way.


Sweeto Burrito
1419 S Columbia Rd
Grand Forks, ND 58201
(701) 757-4455
http://sweetoburrito.com/

Surly Beer Hall

We are so out of the loop when it comes to visiting new places. The Surly tap room has been open for quite some time now, December of last year I think, and we just recently visited. Guess this blog is not the destination for reading about new, trendy restaurants. Oh well.

We seated ourselves at the bar and perused the beer list. They have enough taps for 20 different beers and the bartender said many of them are only available at the tap room.

I tried the Surly Hell and the Surly Mild. John had the Doomtree and the Todd the Ax man.

The space is very large and there are garage doors that open up to a large outdoor patio area. The place is quite loud and boisterous, but the atmosphere seemed fun to me, not overly loud.

They also offer a full food menu. We were not very hungry, so we shared a couple small plates.

The pretzel comes with pimento cheese dip and a spicy ale mustard dip. The pretzel was freshly baked and quite large. We did not care for the pimento cheese dip, but the ale mustard was quite spicy, flavorful and addictive.

We also ordered the smoked mushroom, goat cheese, garlic and thyme pizza. It is more of what I’d call a flatbread, with a thin cracker type crust. The smoked mushrooms were divine, tons of smoky flavor and they worked well with the goat cheese. This was a really good snack or entrée and I’d order it again. I love goat cheese a lot though.

The rest of the menu has a wide range, from salads to seafood and a variety of BBQ options too. I was scoping other people’s food and the brisket looked quite good as did the shrimp and grits.

It should be noted that there are no TVs in the tap room. We had hoped they would have the Wild game on, but no dice.

Also, tours are offered on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays at 1pm and 3pm, and Fridays & Sundays at 1pm, 3pm and 5pm. You need to sign up in the company store one hour before the tour, cost is $4 per person and you get four samples, a tasting glass and a donation to Open Arms Minnesota. Tours last one hour and you must wear closed toed shoes.


Surly Tap Room
520 Malcolm Ave SE
Minneapolis, MN
(763) 999-4040
http://surlybrewing.com/breweries-tap-room/tap-room/

Dan Kelly's Pub

Over the winter, Dan Kelly’s was sold to new owners, who also happen to own Republic and the Red River Kitchen food truck. It underwent a remodel and retooling of the food and drink menus as well. Since I work very, very close by, I was interested to see what they had done with the place. I visited with a few co-workers for lunch. We seated ourselves at the bar.

I had the fish and chips and found it to be quite good. The fish, line caught wild cod was flaky and light with a crispy breading. The fries looked and tasted freshly cut and fried and were very good. The tartar sauce was not my favorite, but it was acceptable. I liked the crushed minted peas, though I did not detect any mint, they just tasted like fresh smushed peas.

One of my co-workers had the corned beef and cabbage. The portion was very large and the corned beef was very good. It is Peterson farms beef brisket with braised cabbage and caraway roasted onion.

My other co-worker had the salmon with honey glazed parsnips, carrots, potatoes and dill butter. The dish looked very delicious and she said it was excellent. The portion for the salmon was very large as well.

Overall, I thought the food was great. It was not at all busy when we visited, so the service from the bartender was very good. I think a happy hour visit is in order to try the many whisky selections on the drink menu and try a few appetizers. The menus and atmosphere are definitely an improvement over the previous owner’s offerings, so hopefully they do well.

Deals & Discounts: There is a happy hour from 3-6pm daily with a few food specials and select tps, house wine and rail drinks are $4. 

Dan Kelly’s

212 7th Street South
Minneapolis, MN 55402
(612) 333-2644
http://www.dankellyspub.com/