Minnetonka – Dating & Dining

Linda’s Take

So we decided to try this little dinner off of Excelsior Blvd called The Golden Nugget after seeing them one weekend on Fox9 news. We brought our girls with us thinking that it would be fun for all. I have to admit that the parking wasn’t the best, but it’s really easy to find this place.

They have an awesome beer selection, and some of the yummiest burgers I have ever see on the menu. However there isn’t much at all on the menu if you are looking to watch your calorie intake.

I had some shrimp tacos and come chicken wild rice soup. The tacos were really yummy, and the soup was made a little different then what I’m used to but really tasty.

Jason had a great looking burger and this thing was huge! Our girls ordered shrimp and a walleye filet and the kids size meals could feed an adult!

Overall the food was great and I saw a flyer that said $5.00 burgers on Sundays! This is a great place to go for a date night for burgers, and I would say an awesome place to go on Sundays with the family!

I give it 5 out of 5 pants off!

Jason’s Take

We saw this place on the news and decided we had to try it. The Chimichurri Burger they made on TV looked fricking awesome. It’s a burger with mortadella ham, chimichurri, Gruyere cheese, arugula, and bone marrow mayo. I love bone marrow mayo.

The burger was ok. It’s supposed to be an award-winning burger–and it was good–but it didn’t knock my pants off.

The kids portions were enormous and cooked really well. I liked the portion sizes for the girls, because that meant I got to try their shrimp and fried walleye too. The walleye was cooked perfectly and the shrimp was great.

I just realized I’m writing this review backwards, but I’m not going to change it up.

For an appetizer, we had cheeseburger wontons, which were phenomenal. If you get it, save the spicy Asian sauce to dip whatever else you get later. Holy Yum, Batman!

Parking sucks. If you’re coming down Excelsior from the west, the only entrance to the lot is well before you can see the restaurant, so you drive past swearing. When you get in, it feels weird. It looks like it should be a dive bar, but it’s way nicer than that, and they have a crap-ton of beer on tap.

Good place, good food, and cheap burgers on Sundays. Totally worth going.

I give it 4 out of 5 pants off.

Total Score:

Linda’s Take

So I had a date night with my hubby and I was looking for something for to do that could make us feel young and fun that we hadn’t done together, yet. I was doing some research on the internet of things to do with your kids to not have them bored out of there minds and came across the Big Thrill Factory at 17585 Minnesota 7, Minnetonka, MN 55345, (952) 698-7700.

Each night they have a special deal going on and the thing that looked the best for our date night was laser tag. I kept it a total surprise from him and later when we got there I found out that his work was planning to do the same thing at their next function. How awesome,! Now he could try it with me first!

Prices are reasonable and other than the fact that we were adults and there were a bunch of preteens running around having fun, we had a great time. Mini golf was fun and the course was interesting
but simple for all ages.The laser tag was fun and the staff tries to even out the teams and keep things fair for all. There are 2 levels and plenty of places to be sneaky.

Linda’s Rating: 3 out of 5 pants off

Jason’s Take

All I knew was that date night was going to be a surprise. I wasn’t too worried, because I knew that she had invited a couple of friends, so it wasn’t going to be anything shocking. No swing clubs or skydiving.

The place is mostly geared to kids. They have a small-ish arcade, a 10-lane bowling alley, mini-golf, some jungle-gym thing that would hurt my knees, and a giant trampoline. They also have a zombie puzzle that give you an hour to solve the puzzle or die. I’m assuming it’s a metaphorical death, but if not, that’s motivation. Next to that is the rope course, bumper cars, and the highlight of our evening, laser tag.

We played a couple of rounds of tag. You get a funky light-up vest with a gun attached. One team goes in first, followed by the other team in about a minute. You get points for shooting your opponents, shooting accurately, and shooting these little targets up on the wall.

If you’re going for date night, I strongly recommend going late. Unfortunately, they are only open until 11. If you go early, you stand a good chance of playing laser tag with a bunch of 10 year old s***s who will follow you around constantly shooting you, so the second your vest reactivates, you’re dead. If they aren’t there, the game is a blast.

They also serve beer.

Jason’s Rating: 3 out of 5 pants off

Total Rating: 3 out of 5 pants off