Dating & Dining

Dates that will knock your pants off

  • Home
  • About
  • Restaurants
  • Things To Do
    • Kid Activities
  • States
    • Minnesota
      • Minnetonka
      • Bloomington
      • Golden Valley
      • Eagan
      • Minneapolis
      • Minnetonka
      • Plymouth
      • Shakopee
      • St Louis Park
    • Wisconsin
      • West Bend
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Archives for States / Minnesota / St Louis Park

Cooper Irish Pub

By Jason Leave a Comment

Jason’s TakeCooper Irish Pub

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 TakePass the cigarette

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!

Pants OffPants OffPants OffPants OffHalf Pants Off

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Minnesota, Restaurants, St Louis Park Tagged With: american food, bar, irish food, upscale, West End

Crave

By Jason Leave a Comment

Linda’s TakeGodzilla Sushi Roll

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 TakeBaked Mac & Cheese

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.

Pants OffPants OffPants OffPants OffHalf Pants Off

 

 

 

 

 

Walleye Cakes Crave

 

Filed Under: Minnesota, Restaurants, St Louis Park Tagged With: american, american food, bar, chinese, chinese food, fusion, sushi, West End

Bonefish Grill

By Jason Leave a Comment

Linda’s TakeBonefish Grill

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 TakeBang Bang Shrimp

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.

Pants OffPants OffPants OffPants OffPants Off

Filed Under: Restaurants, St Louis Park Tagged With: american food, seafood, upscale, West End

Raku Sushi & Lounge

By Jason Leave a Comment

Linda’s TakeRaku

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 Take2014-11-06 13.21.09

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

Pants OffPants OffPants OffPants Off

 

Filed Under: Restaurants, St Louis Park Tagged With: sushi, West End

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Plan A Date

  • Eden Prairie
  • Restaurants
  • States
    • Minnesota
      • Bloomington
      • Duluth
      • Eagan
      • Golden Valley
      • Hopkins
      • Lilydale
      • Maple Grove
      • Mayer
      • Mendota Heights
      • Minneapolis
      • Minnetonka
      • Plymouth
      • Saint Paul
      • Shakopee
      • St Louis Park
      • Wyoming
    • Wisconsin
      • West Bend
  • Things To Do
    • Kid Activities

Recent Posts

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Uptown Theater – Rocky Horror Picture Show

Dead End Hayride

Dead End Hayride

Wok in the Park Restaurant

Wok In The Park

Eating Raoul

Eating Raoul

Joke Joint

Joke Joint Comedy Club

Copyright © 2026 · Log in