beer and burger at Birch's
It's Winter Restaurant Week!!! That means you have a chance to slam it into 4WD and punch a hole through your eating rut. Get out there and sample some of the best meals that arrive at your table hot, come without any need to do dishes or recycle containers, while also still allowing you to put some spare dollars in that vacation fund. If I had unlimited gut space, here's what I would be eating all week:
NEWBIES
All Saints is the hot spot for industry folks, but you are welcome to tuck in for a $35 dinner that should (IMHO) include those charred cucumbers with whipped ricotta, the mushroom Bolognese with pappardelle pasta, and then that chocolate cake. You won't miss the meat, swear.
Nouvelle Brewing is, by name, new (even though you might have done RW here when it was Pig Ate My Pizza). The $30 dinner has a lot to offer, starting with the Handsome Bobb salad which is both handsome and a good salad, or the cauliflower gratin, for when you want eat good but also eat bad. I would get that pork belly curry because it's crisp and bright, but if you're feeling nostalgic, there's a cheese pizza on the brioche crust for you.
Can a cocktail be part of the three courses? Immallow it. O'Shaughnessy Distilling is doing RW this round with a $35 dinner. Get a group and graze through your choice of small plates, grab some Grandma Colleen's chocolate chip cookies, and then dip them in your Keeper's Heart Old Fashioned. All the whiskey nerds are doing it.
If you can't get to the islands, at least you can get to Pau Hana in Savage. A south metro spot with South Pacific leanings, they are offering a $40 dinner at which you can choose a starter of spicy tuna poké known as the ahi bomb or Thai lobster bisque with lemongrass, ginger, and red curry. Then maybe you do kalbi hanger steak, maybe ginger scallion opakapaka fish, or the char siu pork loin with island rice. Finish with the pineapple upside down cake which carries a rum spritz like so many vacation breezes.
Have you been to the new Bloomington location of Smack Shack? Maybe now's your chance! Both the new spot, and the original NoLo spot have the same deals, but can we please raise a fin for free parking in the 'burbs? Pop over for an easy $25 lunch that should start with lobster mac and finish with the andouille po'boy. And then just cop a squat at the bar with your laptop, and roll into the $35 dinner where you'll opt in for lobster guac, jambalaya, and key lime pie. No meters yelling at you.
BEST OF THE REST
If you're sick of all your friends and their beach pics, head to Baja Haus this week for your own staycation. Start your $35 dinner with a bright and fresh tuna poké, those diver scallops with roasted corn and pork belly are so satisfying, and a little coconut flan on the end will offset the many mezcal drinks you'll order.
I am feeling the pull of the Summit beer cheese soup from Baldamar's $25 lunch. After that I'm doing the 1/2 lobster roll with fries as the best soup-n-sandwich lunch combo since ever. And then: chocolate mousse for the dismount.
Birch's on the Lake has a nice option for lunch, especially if you want to day drink. It's just a $5 add on for a mini-beer flight, that goes nicely with the beer battered walleye hoagie on the $20 lunch menu. Start that off with some French onion soup, and choose your beers to sip-n-pair dark and light.
While many of the RW kids are doing dine-in only for these deals, Broders' Cucina is keeping it takeout only. All day (lunch or dinner!), you can pick up a three course meal for $20! Fettuccine Alfredo, Bolognese, chicken risotto, Caesar salad, cappuccino brownies, and more! And if you do want to sit in and eat off an actual table, Broders' Pasta Bar is doing a crazy three course $25 dinner, adding spaghetti carbonara, linguine with pesto, and the sultry pasta puttanesca to the list of choices. (Psst, get the optional wine pairing add on.)
I'm not 100% sure what this Masterwork Burger situation at The Brooklyn is (cheese, lettuce, confit tomato, masterwork pickles, masterwork sauce on a potato bun), but it's on the $15 lunch menu which means I could afford to find out. I'd probably get the chicken wild rice soup to start, because you never have to question that situation.
I think all that I have to say is: Bullvino's Churrascaria in Lowertown is ALL YOU CAN EAT for $35 dinner. Meats, cheesy poufs, garlic mashed potatoes, veggies, fruits, all of it.
It feels like the kids at Bungalow Club are getting a jump on St. Paddy's with this corned wagyu cut on the $40 dinner menu. It comes with charred cabbage slaw, rutabaga and honey-mustard. Although, I am totally starting this dinner with rice porridge decked with piri piri chili oil and a soft egg, which is my business. But I like that I get to add on a table share of arancini with fontina if I want, just to make this borderless feast fit my own personal cheese quota.
I like the vegan/meatan date-night vibe of the Duke's on 7 $35 dinner menu. It feels like a good match if you are volleying back and forth: You get the beefy French onion soup, they get the curried coconut soup. You get the pork chop with polenta, they get the vegan porterhouse steak with braised greens. You get the Oreo brownie cake, they get the vegan panna cotta pineapple brulee, and everyone feels seen.
It's hard to miss the value of the Jimmy's Kitchen protein loaded menu. Your choices for the three course $35 dinner menu include: any fresh fish or seafood dish, a 12oz ribeye, 11oz NY strip, petite filet mignon, 14oz bone in pork chop, 11oz prime rib (weekend only) or a full rack of ribs. With those you get a soup or salad and dessert, feels like lotto days up in here.
I think there's only one restaurant on this list that offers tater tot hotdish, which for some is a particularly important tool in surviving winter. Mason Jar Kitchen knows this, and has it on their $20 lunch menu, along with pot roast in case you had fancy grandma who put on lipstick to cook (goals). Also, this is a three course lunch so get a real-deal cupcake at the end.
Knowing the size of the portions at Twin Cities 400 Tavern, you get how great a deal that $20 lunch is. I'm starting with either cheese curds or that tomato basil soup, then digging into a French dip or that fried chicken sandwich with hot honey and slaw. And this is a three course lunch, so: Sebastian Joe's ice cream, which means you will need to turn your camera off when you log back in to nap/Zoom.
Both Yumi St. Paul and Yumi Southdale have a great gig going on. The $35 dinner deal gives you a big list of options for the appetizer, I like a little shrimp shumai dumplings or harumaki egg rolls to start. And then, you get to pick two entrees: go 10 piece Tonka roll and Asian wings, pick beef teriyaki and an 8 piece California roll, choose chicken udon noodles and 4 pieces of nigiri, choose your fighters! And then, you also get mochi.
