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Dates that will knock your pants off

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Streetz American Grill

By Jason 1 Comment

Jason’s TakeStreetz American Grill

Streetz American Grill is on the way to our dancing lessons, so we saw the place being built and drove past for a few months after they opened.  From the outside, it looked slightly upscale, so we decided to try it without doing any research.   Walking up the sidewalk, we looked in through the window, and thought it was Burger King.  We almost turned around and left.  Date night dinners aren’t about fast food.   Just as we were turning around, a couple who had overheard our conversation told us it was good food and that they came once a week.   Apparently, for some, date night dinners are about fast food.

We went in.   After all, what kind of fast food place serves beer?

There’s a counter to place your order, then you get a number to put on your table.  I wanted to try a variety of stuff, so we ordered more food that we were planning to eat.  Between the two of us, we got a cheeseburger, a gyro, poutine, chipotle & salsa fries, and the Philly cheesesteak salad with chicken.

The burger could have been served in any school cafeteria in the country.  It wasn’t bad, exactly, but it clearly came frozen after being pressed from the least favorable parts of a very bland cow.  The pita for the gyro had more in common with cardboard than flatbread.  It was actually stiff and crumbly.  The gyro meat was pretty good, though.  The poutine–never get poutine at a fast food joint–tasted like nothing but salt.  Seriously, it’s fries smothered in gravy, bacon, and cheese curds.  How can you get that wrong? Answer: make a dish full of awesome taste like salt.  The salsa for the chipotle & salsa fries was sour cream floating in salsa water and the the chipotle seasoning on the fries was red salt, which was ok, because the industrial yellow goo they called cheese sauce was really just a clever way to liquify more salt.

The salad was good, though.  If you go there, totally get the salad.

I give it 1 out of 5 pants off.

Linda’s Take

Poutine

On our way out to our dance lesson I noticed a new place in Bloomington called Streetz and it looked like a place to get a good burger.

We decided to try it.

From the outside it looks like a sit down restaurant, but when you go in, it’s kinda like a 50’s dinner / street vendor place. They have a interesting variety of street vendor food as well. It reminded me of Fuddruckers but with a different menu items.

We got a few things to try. I loved salad that I got and the gyro was okay, however all of the fries were just too greasy. I think that this place is a great to take the family out for a better than fast food dinner, but it’s not too far off of fast food. I would not go again for a date night.

I give it 2 out of 5 pants off

 Total Score

1.5 Pants Off

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Filed Under: Bloomington, Minnesota, Restaurants Tagged With: fast food, street food

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!

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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.

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Walleye Cakes Crave

 

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

Hope Rides Harvest Day

By Jason Leave a Comment

Linda’s TakeHope Rides

There is a wonderful non profit organization that a great woman runs. She doesn’t do it alone; she has great friends to help. My cousin introduced me to her. Her name is Vollie and the organization that she runs is called Hope Rides.  She runs this place in Mayer, MN. It allows children that have trouble opening up, have been scared and need someone to trust, have had abuse in their lives, or love being around horses and just get the chance to work and be with horses for free.

A few times a year Vollie throws  fundraiser events that are completely geared towards kids and family. I asked Jason if he minded having the whole family go out there to get some fresh air and to have some fun. To my delight, he said yes, and everyone did have fun!

Our son got to learn how to juggle; Jason was also working on this.  Our two girls loved the amusement park games and they got like a million suckers as prizes. They also had tables where they had face painting, caricatures, henna tattoos, and someone teaching kids how to draw horses.  All of the activities were free and super fun for kids and adults!

There was also food, a silent auction, and Hope Rides merchandise to buy, with all proceeds going to Hope Rides.

Nothing is more rewarding then seeing all of the smiles on my kids faces, and to see Jason with a smile on his face when he is with his family. I wish I saw more of it!

I give this event 5 out of 5 pants off!

Jason’s Take

When Linda asked me to go to the Hope Rides Harvest Day fundraiser, I was less than thrilled.  As much as I support her obsession interest in horses, I don’t share it.  But family time is important, so off we went.

We walked in, and the first thing we saw was the driveway roped off and a juggling team teaching people to juggle.  I’ve been trying to learn lately, so I dragged Brat #1 over there and we gave it a shot.  I got bored of dropping the balls within about 15 minutes, but he stuck around for over an hour.  He’s not great, but he’s actually juggling, now.

They had henna tattoos, face painting, a little carnival, horse rides, and a bunch of other stuff going on.  We all had fun and threw some money at the charity.  It was a good time for a good cause, and we’ll be back.

The horse racing was the best.

5 out of 5 stars.

Total Score: 5 out or 5 stars.

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Filed Under: Kid Activities, Mayer, Minnesota Tagged With: carnival, charity, face painting, horse, juggling

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