Cooper Irish Pub

Jason’s Take

On date night last week, we were going to go to the Yardhouse, but found out you really should get a reservation if you’re going there on a Friday night. So we went to Cooper Irish Pub instead.

Cooper’s is a slight upscale Irish bar. They serve a variety of beer, and the food’s always good. We walked in right as a lull hit, because we got seated immediately, but they were crowded 15 minutes later. Yay, us!

They make a perfect Old Fashioned, if you want to pretend to be a Mad Men hipster. I did, so they did. It was good.

We started out with Reuben Rolls, which are reuben guts wrapped in a spring roll and deep fried. I’ve only recently been able to bring myself to eat sauerkraut, and then only at good restaurants. This certainly wasn’t a restaurant that made me regret eating kraut.

We followed the rolls with a chicken and hummus wrap with mashed potatoes for me and a vegetarian wild rice burger for Linda. Both were good. Cooper’s knocks the mashed potatoes and gravy out of the park. I like ordering simple things at new restaurants because it’s hard for the chef to hide behind the fancy crap. It’s a good way to judge the overall quality of a place. Cooper’s delivers.

For dessert, we had their three-dessert sampler thingy. I don’t remember what they call it. We got the deconstructed cheesecake(yum), the bread pudding(yum), and the salted caramel ice cream. Oh my golly gee, this was good ice cream. One bite, and I was ready to smoke a cigarette and roll over to fall asleep. I’ve had sex worse than this ice cream. Damn.

5 out of 5 pants off, for sure. Cooper’s is worth visiting.

Linda’s Take

So this evening we were going to try out the Yardhouse, but with over an hour wait we thought there are plenty of other restaurants over at the West End Shops we can try. The closest was Cooper’s. They got us in right away; the place was busy but not over busy.

They had a good selection of beers on tap, and the menu was pleasing. I loved the look of the place, tons to look at.

We tried an appetizer that had I really liked, Ruben egg-roles I would get those again in a heartbeat. I ordered a veggie burger, and it really tasted good however it fell a part too easy, my sweet potato fries were some of the best I have ever eaten, plus the choices of dipping sauces that I got with it made them 10 times yummier!

The best part of the meal was the desserts, we had a 3 treat trio, and by far for both of us we loved the salted caramel ice cream, however I found out the hard way that ice cream and a few beers don’t sit to well in my tummy. Needless to say that cut or evening a little shorter that what we wanted. So never again will I have the 2 together! Sorry for crashing our date honey, but you are awesome company!

4 out of 5 pants off

Total Score

4.5 Pants Off!

Crave

By Jason Leave a Comment

Linda’s Take

So, one night, we didn’t know what kind of food we were in the mood for. But we wanted to stay close to Toby Keith’s to get some good dancing in and have drinks.

Jason suggested Crave; it has hearty food and light food. Kind of an American/Asian twist on everything. I thought it was a superb idea!

I really love the atmosphere in this place. It is high scale business feel, but warm and inviting. I don’t know if that makes sense to you, but that is what ran through my head.

Our waiter was really nice, he even gave me a wine to try for free because Jason ordered an Old Fashioned and the bartender hadn’t muddled the fruit in the drink. I said something politely to the waiter because I know it makes a difference in the way the drink tastes. Jason agreed with me when he got his corrected drink and I could tell by the look on his face that he was satisfied! (Almost like that after-sex look men get!) I asked the waiter for suggestions on food, and the way he was describing some of his favorites sounds as if they would be the perfect choice for me.

I ordered a beet salad and I really enjoyed it, fresh and crisp. Also I ordered a “Godzilla” sushi roll. Oh my god, this was huge. Packed full, about twice the size of regular shushi rolls, and I couldn’t even finish it. However, I do want to go back and get one again. Delightful and delish!

This is a great place to take someone out for a date. Really great food, more pricey than a place like Applebees, however not over the top pricey. Also they have a couple of other locations around the Twin Cities.

I give it 5 out of 5 pants off!

Jason’s Take

We’ve slowly been working our way through all of the restaurants in St. Louis Park’s West End district. We’d eaten at Crave before, but not at all recently. Definitely not recently enough to review it accurately.

So off we went.

We ordered drinks. I ordered an Old Fashioned, because I’m a geek and a Mad Men fan. You can only get good Old Fashioneds at good restaurants, and I thought Crave fit the bill. I was wrong. With an Old Fashioned, you have to muddle the fruit and the bitters into the sugar or it doesn’t work. Hell, they even know that at Applebee’s. Without doing that, you’re basically drinking a glass of Rye.

Thankfully, the waiter understood and got a replacement quickly. I watched and the bartender didn’t spit in my glass. Yay!

We started with the beet salad and walleye cakes. I can’t stand beets, so I only tried a bite, then graciously let Linda have the rest, cuz I’m awesome like that. The walleye cakes, however, were right on the edge of really freaking awesome.

After that, I had the baked mac & cheese, which always looks so damn good on the menu, but never–at any of the restaurants I’ve been to–lives up to my hopes. Don’t get me wrong, it was good, especially with the chicken-apple sausage, but it didn’t wow me.

The bill ran $78.90 after tax. That’s two appetizers, two entrees, and a round of drinks.

I give it 4 out of 5 pants off.

Total Score: 4.5 Pants Off.

Bonefish Grill

By Jason Leave a Comment

Linda’s Take

Bonefish Grill just opened up in the West End and, judging by the website, the menu looked awesome!

I really wanted to go here. Jason said it looked like a great place to try, so we made reservations one night after our dancing lesson.

I really liked how the inside of the restaurant looked. The staff was really nice and was helpful at suggesting things to try.

I absolutely loved the appetizer that we tried, Bang Bang Shrimp; it’s breaded shrimp with a yummy sauce over a bed of shredded lettuce.

I ordered a filet of trout and they cooked the fish really well. I also ordered some corn chowder soup and that was really yummy.

This place isn’t the best for signature drinks, but if you want a really good place to have seafood, go here. Oh, I almost forgot to say the bread was die for!

I would go back there to just eat the bread, the shrimp appetizer, and the corn chowder soup.

By the way, they forgot to bring out my soup with my meal, so they decided not to even charge us for it. I thought that was a really nice touch.

I will say that this place is on the fancy side, so if you want to impress someone without breaking your budget, this is the place to go.

I give this place 5 out of 5 pants off

Jason’s Take

Linda and I spend a lot of time in the West End development in St. Louis Park, so we were excited to see a new restaurant opening up there.

Bonefish Grill looks a bit on the fancy side, but doesn’t get all the way over into pretentious, which is nice. All told, we spent $93, which included four drinks.

We started out with the Bang Bang Shrimp on the waitress’s suggestion, and it was oh-my-god good.

I followed that up with the Ahi Tuna Steak, with mango salsa, which was good. I really like mangoes.

The bread was phenomenal. I’d go there just to eat Bang Bang Shrimp and bread.

I give it 5 out of 5 pants off.

Raku Sushi & Lounge

By Jason Leave a Comment

Linda’s Take

There is a nice quiet sushi place to go in the West Metro called Raku Sushi & Lounge. I liked the decor, the staff is ready to help, and the lunch prices are good.

Jason and I wanted to get some lunch and I wanted to spend time with him before he was going to go deer hunting for the weekend. I didn’t want to do all you can eat sushi, so I looked online and Raku looked like a good spot to go. We really like the West End area and it is so convenient for us.

This place has been there since the West End shops have opened and they seem to be having repeat costumers. I overheard another couple say they come there for lunch often.

The food was really good and pleasing to the eye! This is a place I would go to for lunch with friends or by myself again.

I give it 4 out of 5 pants off

Jason’s Take

I was leaving town and wanted to have lunch with my beautiful wife first. We were in the mood for sushi, so off we went. Linda looked up Raku and it seemed like a good place.

They’ve got little, sit-on-the-floor tables by the door, but traditional booths and tables beyond that and pretty decorative fish hanging all over the ceiling.

The place is affordable. We got the lunch special–3 rolls and a bowl of soup–and spent about $30 after tip. More important: the sushi is good. Cheap, bad sushi isn’t worth paying for.

I give it 4 out of 5 pants off.

Total Score: 4 out of 5 pants off

Burger Jones

By Jason Leave a Comment

Linda’s Take

So Jason was helping out with my job in the morning and we thought we would grab a bite to eat for lunch. He said he heard about this burger place near Lake Calhoun.

So we went there, it’s called Burger Jones and it’s located in Calhoun Village right on the end of the strip mall.

Let me tell you, if you’re watching calories don’t go here! Everything is gonna be on the greasy side. However, I have to admit that the cheese curds that we ordered were melt in your mouth yummy.

I ordered a buffalo burger and it was really good. Jason got a burger called “White Trash” and it really looked like it, but it tasted really good. However I thought it looked like a heart attack on a bun!

I have to admit that their fries sampler with 3 dips to choose from was really delish! Especially the sweet potato fries!

I would go back, but I would like to come with the kids in the summer and just get some fries and try one of their malts. They had some interesting flavors on the menu.

I give it 2 out of 5 pants off

Jason’s Take

Thanks to my current tour of unemployment, Linda and I have been able to enjoy lunch together far more often than normal.

A recent trip was to Burger Jones in Calhoun Village. They clearly focus on serving burgers and do a good job at that.

We started with some cheese curds, which were sitting in a pool of grease that soaked through the butcher paper they were served on. Regardless of the presentation, they were damn good and literally melted in your mouth. Almost no chewing or swallowing was required.

I got the White Trash Burger, which was kind of insane. It’s chicken-fried bacon, fried cheese curds, and Velveeta on a burger. It looked horrible, but the combination actually worked well. It was good, but I’ll never order it again. It’s not good enough for a coronary bypass.

Linda got the “Tiny Tummy Tatanka” burger, which is buffalo meat on flatbread. I stole a bite and enjoyed it.

We split their fries sampler which gave us a huge pile of Parmesan waffle fries, maple-bacon sweet potato fries, and regular french fries, with our choice of three sauces. We got the chipotle aioli(good), the seasoned sour cream(good), and the avocado mayo(boring). The sweet potato fries were easily the best sweet potato fries I’ve ever had. By comparison, every other fried stick-like object made from sweet potatoes should get a new name. I recommend “Why bother fries”.

So, two burgers, an appetizer, and a giant bowl of fries for $52.66. Not a cheap place to go, but very not bad. And after you’re done, you can head to Rustica a few doors down and get some still-warm fresh-baked bread. Holy yum, Batman!

I give it 4 out of 5 pants off.

Total Score: 3 out of 5 pants off.

Uptown Theater – Rocky Horror Picture Show

By Jason Leave a Comment

Linda’s Take

What is Halloween weekend with out seeing Rocky Horror Picture Show?

In the Twin Cities it plays at the Uptown Theater on Halloween weekend and on the last Saturday of each month.

Jason and I used to go see Rocky all of the time before we got married and it was awesome to go see it again with him. The coolest thing was hearing all of the awesome commentary that gets shouted out while watching the movie and Jason seemed to not forget a thing.

The Uptown Theater is nice and had really comfortable seats. I don’t think there was a bad seat in the house. The website stated there is a full bar, but I didn’t try it. And, of course, they have the traditional movie popcorn and candy.

The group of people that acted out the movie were a lot of fun. They want the audience to participate in everything from throwing rice, toilet paper, and dressing up like the movie.

I wore a corset and tight black pants that night, but Jason said I was overdressed and so the next time I go he suggested bra and panties.

There is no parking around the theater, the closest place for parking is the Calhoun Square ramp, but it’s only 3 blocks away. Otherwise there is always the city bus system.

Note: If you don’t like fun, vulgar sexual remarks and/or movements don’t go. If you do, come to see Rocky on the last Saturday of each month!

3 out of 5 pants off

Jason’s Take

Rocky Horror Picture Show. That used to be my go-to activity for a Saturday night. Round up some Rocky Virgins and head to the theater at midnight. What a blast. Then we had kids and stopped going.

This year for Halloween, we decided to skip our traditional Halloween party and revisit our past.

Uptown Theater is a block north of Lake and Hennepin, on Hennepin. The Calhoun Square ramp is a block east and a block south of the theater, so it’s crazy-easy to get to. It’s right next door to Chino Latino, so it’s easy to pre-game at the bar there.

If you’re not familiar with Rocky, it’s a cult film from the 70s starring Tim Curry in drag and Susan Sarandon in lingerie. It’s sex jokes from beginning to end. When it’s played in the theater, there is a cast acting out the movie in front of the screen. They are all wearing costumes. A huge chunk of the audience also wears costumes, but that sometimes just means showing up in their underwear or opening their shirts to the waist to display their bras. Which is fun, too.

Audience participation is a must. There are people shouting out bits in relation to the movie during the entire movie. If you want to catch the plot, it would be better to see it on DVD. If you want to have fun, go to the theater.

I love Rocky and plan to go back at the end of the month.

5 out of 5 stars.

Total Score: 4 out of 5 stars

Dead End Hayride

By Jason Leave a Comment

Linda’s Take

The weather was really nice for a weekend in October in MN. And we haven’t been to a haunted house in a couple of years. I asked Jason to surprise me with a place to go and get scary on a Saturday night. He ended up picking The Dead End Hayride, north of Forest Lake at the Pinehaven Farm.

I have to say I was quite pleased with his choice!

Parking really sucked there, the main lot was full and we had to follow a long winding dirt road to a Hayfield yo park. And they won’t let you walk to the entrance from that Hayfield you have to take a tractor shuttle to the main parking lot and then walk.

When we finally got in, there are lots of yummy treats you can get to warm up, a little pricey, but not outrageous. I also thought it was kinda neat that they had a mechanical bull that you can pay $5.00 to try and ride and get in a few good laughs.

This isn’t like other haunted attractions I’ve been too where you pick a line at a different scary attraction and wait to go in. There is one line to enter the attractions. It’s the hayride line.
I must say that you get the fast pass, the general admission line is about a 3 hour wait, while we waited about a half an hour.

The hayride takes you through the woods and drops you off. Let me tell you, there are loud bangs, fire, and actors jumping on the hayride and scaring the crap out of you.
And just an FYI, all the actors can touch you but you can’t touch them!

After you get dropped off, there are 2 more scary attractions to go through. All of the scenes are done well, and there is just enough light that you can see where you’re going. I hate it when it’s just all black and you can’t see anything, that’s just lazy.

I had a butcher tell me anything looks good on a hot dog bun while he was stroking my hair for a few minutes, and I think my husband’s favorite thing I said was “He’s following me, he’s following me, he’s following me!”

I won’t give anymore away, you just have to go.

I give it 4 out of 5 frightening the pants off of you.

Jason’s Take

We try to hit a haunted house every year, because we’re Halloween geeks. This year, I spent a ton of time researching the haunts in our area, looking for a place that was scary, wasn’t cheesy, and wasn’t small. I picked the Dead End Hayride in Wyoming, MN. It’s literally across the west-side ditch of I35, 5 minutes north of Forest Lake.

When we got there, parking sucked. We found out as we were parking in the far lot that the line of cars waiting to get in was 2 miles long. When we got there, it was only about 50 cars. Based purely on the parking, get there before 8 or after 9:30. They had a shuttle running from the far parking lot to the entrance, but the line was long and slow to get on the shuttle, so we decided to walk. Unfortunately, they turned us back. Apparently, there’s no safe way to walk down a gravel path through unlit woods.

So we waited.

When we got to the entrance, the Fast Pass line was about 3 people long, so we got in quickly. Once inside, there were some concession booths, a mechanical bull, and a row of biffs. As we got to the entrance to the attraction itself, we saw the line. It was easily 3 hours long. Fast Pass line? 30-35 minutes. Yay, us!

There are three attractions at Dead End.

You start with the hayride, which is the best haunted hayride I’ve been on. Actors run out of the woods and climb on to the trailer, and there are actual scenes set up in the woods. Very well done.

From there, you get dropped off at the entrance to the next attraction. That’s a more traditional haunted house. It ends at the entrance to the corn maze. The attractions are great, and well done. The actors are good and there are a bunch of little scenes buried in each attraction.

Totally worth going, even if the parking sucks.

I very much recommend getting the Fast Pass. It adds $10 to each ticket, but it saved us at least 4 hours of waiting in lines for each of the attractions.

I give it 4 out of 5 pants off.

Total Score: 4 out of 5 Pants Off

Wok In The Park

By Jason Leave a Comment

Linda’s Take

Sometimes we don’t have time to do a full date night so if the schedule allows it a yummy lunch is a good idea.

My husband loves Wok In The Park! They have really good Chinese food and the service is always friendly.

I really like there lunch menu. It’s a 1-2-3 step and you can’t go wrong with anything you choose. Also there pho soup is amazing!

Only thing is, you gotta get there right away at 11am, or after 1pm. They get busy fast!

Or, you can place in an order for carry-out!

I give this place 4 out of 5 pants off.

Jason’s Take

I’ve said it before: Chinese restaurants usually have a predictable cycle. They open, they’re awesome, they start to suck, they close.

When my last favorite Chinese place did that, I was sad. Somehow, they haven’t hit the close-the-doors step, yet, but it’s only a matter of time.

Since I was sad, I went hunting for a replacement.

And I found it.

Wok In The Park was born out of a feud with Than Do across the street. Or something. I don’t know all of the details.

What I do know is that WITP freaking rocks. The egg rolls are awesome and the cream cheese wontons are the best I’ve had, and I’ve had a lot of cream cheese wontons.

The lunch special is sweet. Pick a soup, an appetizer, and a main course(a bit smaller than the regular menu) for $10. Good food cheap.

Beats the heck out of anything else in the area, hands down, but try not to show up between 11:30 and 12:30 or you may not get seated. It’s not a huge place and they are popular.

I give it 5 out of 5 pants off.

Total Score: 4.5 out of 5 pants off

Eating Raoul

By Jason Leave a Comment

Linda’s Take

A friend of mine said she was going to be in this play Eating Raoul performed by the Minneapolis Musical Theatre. We’ve seen them before a couple of years ago perform Evil Dead: The Musical. I tell you, that play was done so well and was so funny my sides hurt by the end of the performance.

Jason was able to find some discounted tickets, so we picked a Saturday night to go. Unfortunately, the same night the Zombie Pub Crawl was also going on in Downtown Minneapolis. Parking sucked, but it was cool to see a lot of zombies!

The play was funny and interesting. Not as good as Evil Dead: The Musical, but still done really well. Plus there was a guy running around in their underwear, women wearing leather, and a lot of talk about sex. And you can buy drinks there.

The play is about a really bland married couple who are trying to get enough money to open a small restaurant in California. He loses his job and she was rejected for a loan, so they come up with an idea to have swingers come to their home for a night of fun then kill them and steal all their cash.

Its a mouthwatering musical of murder and mayhem!

I give it 3 out of 5 pants off

Jason’s Take

Linda told me a friend of hers was going to be in a play. We’ve seen the same theater company do something awesome with Evil Dead: The Musical, so we thought this would be pretty sweet.

I went looking for a discount and found tickets on Goldstar for $12.50 each. Done.

The play is about a boring couple who decides to fund a restaurant by luring swingers into their apartment and kill them. They took lessons from a dominatrix and made a public access television commercial. The next thing you know, every fetish and fantasy is being played out on stage, from cheerleaders to angry nuns giving spankings. Hitler even made a brief appearance.

It’s full of dirty jokes and half-dressed people. That’s a win.

The downsides:

This was the night the Zombie Pub Crawl decided to set a world record of 25,000 zombies at one event. Yes, a zombie invasion almost made us miss the play because there was very little parking and some of the streets in downtown Minneapolis were closed.
New Century Theater is small. I’d guess it could hold 150 people. And the seats weren’t exactly awesome.
New Century Theater is hard to find. The address on the door is behind a pillar. If you’re going, the theater is right damn next door to Fogo de Ciao. 20 feet to the left. If I would have known that, I would have let the Fogo valets park my car for me for $10.

The upsides:

Live theater means culture, right? Even if the live theater is chicks (and a surprisingly attractive man!) in corsets singing about bondage.
They serve booze that isn’t overpriced.
The building is easy to get to and has ample garage parking 364 nights a year.
Did I mention women in lingerie making dirty jokes?

They did a great job, especially for a small theater troupe in a small theater. I totally recommend it.

4 out of 5 pants off.

Total Score: 3.5 out of 5 pants off

Joke Joint Comedy Club

By Jason Leave a Comment

Linda’s Take

I looked at the weather report because I live in Minnesota and that just makes sense. Weekend forecast for Friday night was blustery and I didn’t want to be outside more than I would have to. Plus I just got a new black dress and wanted to look good for Jason. (editor: She succeeded!)

I thought of going to the comedy club at the Mall of America, but they were all booked. Jason was awesome and located another comedy club close to our dance lesson. Plus he said they have a bar and serve food.

When we got there and I sat down I realized that I was way over dressed for the place; I kinda felt silly wearing a dress cause this is a jeans and t-shirt place, or tight tank top works too(ed: #Winning!).

They are able to fit a lot of people in the space provided, but the stage is really small; I guess comics don’t need a lot of room.

The food isn’t much too really talk about, it’s all deep fried stuff. Onion rings, fries, cheese curds, poppers, and mini sliders. They have a few more options, but I didn’t pay that much attention. But the drinks are really good! They make them strong and well. I only had 2 tropical drinks and I was feeling it, then I got a 3rd and lets say I was gone.

I do have to say that since this is a comedy club, the comedy was awesome! I smiled and laughed until my face hurt, then I laugh some more! They do deliver in the laugh your pants off department! I wouldn’t mind going back a few times, only this time I’ll be ready for laughs and drinks and dress a little bit warmer!

I give it 3 out of 5 pants off!

Jason’s Take

Friday night, we wanted to focus more on an activity and less on food. Linda wanted to go to the comedy club at the Mall of America, but they were booked, so I looked around and found the Joke Joint in Lilydale, which is a dinky little city squished between Mendota Heights and the Mississippi river. The town barely has its own zip code. Seriously, it could be Eagan or St. Paul, easily, and I’ve seen the address listed as each of those.

We booked tickets online, which is listed as cheaper than at the door, but the “convenience” fee makes the prices the same. We also paid for the premium seats, but that was a waste. It’s a small venue. It’s not possible to have bad seats. The front row is using the stage as a footrest.

First, the food. It was all fried bar food. There was nothing worth talking about, but the beer was just $4 for a tall domestic.

Now, the comedy. You don’t go to a comedy club for the food.

We saw two acts, plus a 5 minute opener: Nate Abshire and Paul Hooper.

Abshire was funny as hell. His riff on the 5 daily minutes to make a relationship last forever if you’re a woman had me rolling…and Linda scowling. Sorry, honey, but it’s funny AND true. I’d pay to just see him on stage. Plus he sold Bill & Ted inspired posters in the lobby after the show. That’s a pure win. Wild Stallyns!

Hooper was funny. His good bits beat Abshire’s, but his depressing bits definitely knocked the average into Abshire’s favor.

But they were both good. I’d go back.

4 out of 5 pants off.

Jason’s Take

Linda’s Take

Total Score

Linda’s Take

Jason’s Take

Total Score: 4.5 Pants Off.

Linda’s Take

Jason’s Take

Linda’s Take

Jason’s Take

Total Score: 4 out of 5 pants off

Linda’s Take

Jason’s Take

Total Score: 3 out of 5 pants off.

Linda’s Take

Jason’s Take

Total Score: 4 out of 5 stars

Linda’s Take

Jason’s Take

Total Score: 4 out of 5 Pants Off

Linda’s Take

Jason’s Take

Total Score: 4.5 out of 5 pants off

Linda’s Take

Jason’s Take

Total Score: 3.5 out of 5 pants off

Linda’s Take

Jason’s Take

Total Score: 3.5 of 5 pants off.