Burger Jones

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.

Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill

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Jason’s Take

Linda and I are taking dancing lessons, which means we are also always interested in finding places to dance.

Enter’s Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill. They’ve got live music at least 4 nights a week, and the biggest dance floor I’ve seen in the western suburbs.

It’s gimmicky, it’s country, and the giant guitar-shaped bar can be irritating to walk around, but it’s fun.

The food…sucks. I’ve never been happy eating there. I’ll occasionally get an appetizer, but I try to avoid it. It’s all greasy and not worth getting.

The music, however is good. It’s almost all some blend of country and rock, which makes for fun music to dance to.

If you’re going to dance, I recommend getting there about 9. That’s when the music usually starts, and by 10:30, there are so many obnoxious drunks standing around the dance floor that dancing is almost impossible.

I know some people are offended by waitresses dressed slutty, but it’s not that bad. It’s a bunch of attractive women in shorts and tank tops that don’t leave a lot to the imagination, but they fade in to the scenery pretty fast. By your third visit, you hardly notice. I haven’t decided if that’s good or bad.

I give it 4 out of 5 pants off.

Linda’s Take

So I’m a country girl at heart, even though I grew up in a city suburb; put me on a horse and I’m in heaven.

So naturally, I like country music…really anything with a good beat is alright with me, but I mostly listen to country. So ever since Jason and I started taking our dance lessons, it only made sense to use what we are learning on a regular basis, right? Toby Keith’s Bar and Grill is really close to us, so, duh, it makes sense to shake our groove thing there!

We had been there a couple of times before to eat, but I don’t think I’ll ever order food there again. It seems to be just one step up from fast food for twice the price, however it’s an awesome place to go to and listen to live country music and, with a bigger dance floor than most places, this works for us really well!

But only if people that just stand on the dance floor and hold drinks and don’t dance taking up space on the dance floor get OFF the dance floor! (editor’s note: Or just die!) Oh gosh, that’s so annoying!

We found out that you don’t need to know how to line dance to be able to dance there, however, I wouldn’t mind learning some of that, just not the Achey Breaky that I was thought back in Jr. High School. Swing dancing works well with just about any up-beat song! Get a bunch of turns going and you look like a pro! And don’t worry if you fall on your ass, we have seen that a few times out there!

There is almost a live band every night, and most are really good. Also it’s only a $5.00 cover on Friday and Saturday nights, and there is no cover for Sunday – Thursday. Great way to practice dancing and have a few drinks, or just to have some country fun.

3 out of 5 pants off

Total Score: 3.5 out of 5 Pants Off

Bubba Gump Shrimp – Mall of America

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Linda’s Take

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. was nice at the Mall of America. I love the theme of the whole restaurant, but being a seafood restaurant I thought that there would be more variety of seafood entrees to choose from. Just about everything was deep fried.

However, I have to admit that everything tasted really well and was light and tasteful. I thought the prices for everything was a little bit on the pricey side, but you are paying for the theme I guess. I did order two of the special drinks and got take-home glasses which was why the drinks were expensive. I would go back to eat there sometime, overall I had a good time there and the staff was super friendly.

I give it 4 of 5 pants off.

Jason’s Take

There’s shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp,shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. – Bubba, Forrest Gump

That’s the quote from the movie that started the restaurant. The restaurant doesn’t live up to the name. In reality, there’s deep-fried shrimp…and a couple of other things.

Well, when in Rome, right? I didn’t get this slim & sleek physique by avoiding fried food.

We started out with the fried calamari, which was good. It’s easy to make calamari rubbery, and that didn’t happen, though it was a bit under-seasoned. Linda had the chipotle-crusted mahi mahi, which was good.

I had the seafood feast for my main course, and that totally didn’t suck. The seafood feast is fried fish, fried shrimp, fried hushpuppies, and french fries. The fish was super flaky and really good. The hushpuppies won’t make it back to my plate. They were boring to eat. I prefer my food to have its own flavor. If you’ve got to depend on a dipping sauce to make something taste good, you need to revisit your menu.

All in all, it was good, but not out-of-this-world good.

I give it 3 out of 5 pants off.

Total Rating: 3.5 Pants Off

Mainstreet Bar & Grill

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Linda’s Take

Mainstreet Bar & Grill

So my best friend’s husband was going to celebrate his birthday at Mainstreet’s. I had been to Mainstreet’s many times before but this time, since both Jason and I were going to go, why not write a review!

I like this bar, it is one of the few bars that is great at keeping your drink glass full and just looks like a regular bar, plus they have live music every weekend.

There are some drawbacks to the place.

The food is okay; it’s your typical bar food and nothing I would brag about.
There is a dance floor, however it is on the smaller size so it can fill up quickly. Most of the time the bands are good, they do have some popular regular bands, however the night we both went there the guy sucked!
I guess the biggest drawback is when the band plays you can’t hear anyone that is trying to talk to you. So to wrap it up, great place to go and drink and have fun! Not so good if you want to catch up and talk with friends.

I give it 3 out of 5 pants off.

Jason’s Take

We went to Mainstreet’s Bar in downtown Hopkins for a friend’s birthday party.

We’ve been there before, but have never taken the time to review it.

The place is a dive bar, pure and simple. The food is totally on par with what you’d expect from a dive bar. It’s greasy and really only good when you’ve been drinking. The drinks are cheap and the staff is friendly.

They’ve got live music nearly every night and a decent-but-not-large dance floor.

It doesn’t feel like a meat market, but judging by the number of people I know who’ve gotten lucky by going to Mainstreet’s, it’s not a bad place to go if you’re feeling lonely.

I give it 3 out of 5 pants off.

Total Score:

3 Out of 5 Pants Off