D. Taylor's Food & Travel

While I was in Minnesota, one of my good friends suggested G’s Café in Anoka for breakfast. It was a bit of a drive (about 10 miles) from Ham Lake to Anoka, but the food and service were well worth the trip. Arrival We arrived a bit later than the typical breakfast time and the Café only had a couple other patrons so seating was easy. We ordered coffee and began reviewing the menu.   G's Cafe - Interior G’s has an Irish theme to the restaurant. Because of that, I decided to try the “Irish Skillet” – Fried corned beef with hash browns, onions, green peppers, and tomato. Topped with two eggs and Hollandaise. It was served with toast, but I opted for the English muffin. My companion settled on 2 eggs over easy with bacon and a pancake. Food My skillet was one of the better skillets I’ve ever had. Clearly, the hash browns were started, then the corned beef was added. Then the onions and peppers, finally the tomato was added to warm them but not make them sog...

During my recent visit to Minnesota, I was able to try the breakfast at the Ole Piper Inn in Blaine. We arrived at the end of the breakfast rush and before the lunch service began (about 10:30) . We were seated quickly and were able to order coffee right away.  I was surprised to see that a spoon was not included in our silverware set, which consisted of a knife, fork, and a smallish paper napkin. After the coffee was brought, I used my knife to stir my cream into the coffee. The waitress didn’t ask me if I wanted a spoon for my coffee, finally, when she refilled the cups asked for one. I was hungry and ordered the Chicken Fried Steak with eggs, I added the cheese and onions to my hash browns and substituted “biscuits and gravy” for the 3 pancakes. My friend ordered a sausage omelet (actually, it was a “Ham and Cheese” omelet with sausage substituted). As a side, he too opted for the “biscuits and gravy.” Food arrived in a reasonable time for breakfast. Food ...

Restaurant Review When I lived in Minnesota, I probably drove past Keys Café & Bakery every week and I never stopped there for a meal.  There are nine Keys Café restaurants in Minnesota/Wisconsin area and although I had heard of them before, I had never eaten at one. Was that ever a mistake – I wish I had eaten there many times before. My friend, Doug, said Keys was very good, so we went to the Spring Lake Park location for breakfast one morning while I was visiting Minnesota recently. We arrived at the peak of the breakfast rush, about 10 am on a Sunday morning. The place was packed and had a waiting list. We were told it would be about a 10 to 15-minute wait. I was pleased when we were seated in about 10 minutes. The person apologized for seating us in a smaller two-person table and assured that we were okay with the smaller size. We were. Service at Keys was top notch. After being seated, our waitress, Lauren G., asked what we would like to drink an...

Hy-Vee Market Grill I often say, “I love good food that is reasonably priced and great service which makes a meal truly enjoyable. With that in mind, I may have a new favorite restaurant – Hy-Vee Market Grille. During a visit to Minnesota, a friend suggested eating at the restaurant associated with a Hy-Vee grocery store. I had never been to a Hy-Vee, as they came into Minnesota after I moved out of state.  I was skeptical, but I trusted my friend and said, “Sure. Let’s try it.” Arrival I was immediately impressed when we arrived and saw they had a very nice bar area. The restaurant was clean and bright. We were immediately greeted and taken to a booth. Although we didn’t have drinks, my friend said they make great drinks, and I believe him. Pre-ordering We ordered two coffees plus one water with lemon and one plain water and reviewed the menu.   Ordering When the drinks we ordered arrived we placed our food order. My friend decided on two eggs...

Restaurant Review – Osaka Sushi and Hibachi (Coon Rapids, MN) I was visiting friends in Minnesota and the group decided it would be fun to visit Osaka Sushi and Hibach i. I hadn’t been to a hibachi grill for many years and thought it would be great fun. We made reservations the day before and arrived as a group of seven about 10 minutes before our reservation, but we still had to wait before we were seated. Ordering One of our party asked the server for hashi. The server server responded to see if she wanted her sake hot or cold. Upon further explanation, it became clear that the server didn’t know what hashi are. (It's the Japanese word for chop-sticks.) The server said she was Vietnamese and didn’t speak Japanese.  I admit, I don’t speak Japanese either, but I do know the word hashi and a server at a Japanese restaurant should know what hashi are. Food Arrival Shrimp Tempura - Osaka Sushi & Hibachi I wasn’t happy with the arrival of ...

Review by Don Taylor Pappy's Tavern - Andover, Minnesota It is rare that I go to the same restaurant two times in a row; however, I during my recent visit to Minnesota I went twice with friends to Pappy’s Café (The sign outside says Pappy’s Tavern while the menu says Pappy’s Café. People who know me know I really love a good breakfast, so two sets of friends on two separate days took me to Pappy’s. Frist, I went with friends from Blaine, MN, who live about 10 miles from Pappy’s. When we arrived, the place was very busy. We threaded our way to the back to a table next to the pull tab sales booth. It was busy, but it made buying pull tabs easy for my friend who only needed to turn around to purchase them. We ordered Bloody Marys while we reviewed the menu. The waitress, Sidra, brought the Bloody Marys with a snit. It had been a long time since I had a Bloody Mary in the Midwest that I had forgotten the tradition of having a small beer chaser (called a snit) with your Blo...

The Bean Coffee and Wine Cafe Andover, Minnesota E corner of Hanson & Crosstown Bullivards I was visiting a friend in Ham Lake, Minnesota, and he suggested eating at “The Bean” a cafe in Andover. It is a strip mall restaurant in a fairly new complex. With a name like, "The Bean," I figured it focused on coffee,  which it does, but, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that they sold wine and beer.  Grilled Tuna Melt with kettle Chips The Bean Coffee and Wine Cafe I don’t drink a lot of beer anymore and the explosion of craft beers has me at a disadvantage in that I don’t know a lot of the new craft beers. I spoke with our server, Amber, about the beers. She was extremely helpful, asking about my preferences and tastes. Finally, we agreed on Tree Shaker by O’Dell which is an Imperial Peach IPA. It wasn't nearly as peachy as I thought it might be which was good.  It a very good beer and Amber was very helpful. My friend and I then ordered. I was unde...

El Loro Mexican Restaurant - Mounds View, MN   I love it when an iPhone app really works. I was recently (yesterday) in Minnesota visiting friends and family.  While at my friend Doug’s house, we decided to go to lunch and used the Urbanspoon iPhone app to help us decide where to go.  We had some trouble narrowing in to what cuisine we wanted; however after a bit, we finally decided on my favorite, Mexican. The Urbanspoon app has a feature where you select nearby restaurants and can then filter by cuisine.  Press the “thumbs up” and you receive “Nearby Mexican by Popularity.”  Urban Spoon suggested El Loro , at 2535 County Road 20 in Mounds View with a rating of 96 (50 people rating).  My friend had never been to El Loro (the parrot) so we decided to head to it before going to the airport. The atmosphere was excellent. Bright, cheery, choices of booths, tables, or at the bar.  We were led to a booth, which was comfortable.  There are e...

While I was in Minnesota my brother suggested we go to breakfast at just about the best breakfast place he had been to lately.  He said it was about ten miles but would be well worth the trip.  So we loaded up our mother and headed to Rockford and the Bridge Street Cafe. The Bridge Street Cafe is a home-town cafe which is open for breakfast, starting at 6:00 AM (7:00 AM Sat & Sun) and open until 2:30 PM (3:00 PM Sat & Sun) and provides a nostalgic trip to a classic all American classic cafe.  Apparently downstairs of a Masonic Lodge the decor is pleasant. We were quickly greeted and asked if we wanted coffee or juice. We looked over the menu, my mother decided upon the “Breakfast Scramble” with breakfast potatoes (versa hash browns).  Both my brother and I decided on “The Bridge Street Breakfast.”  Three eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes, and toast.  Quite unusual, one of the options is French toast and both of us selected that as well as hash...

As I mentioned before, my mother has many “favorite” restaurants.  She lived in Big Lake for many years, so she has several there.  Of course, Russell’s On the Lake is one of her favorites but for casual fare, she likes the Lake Cafe in Big Lake.  The Lake Cafe is a “home cookin” establishment that has been there since 1968.  It has an extensive menu covering breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  It has a lunch counter, booths, and tables to provide many seating options.  It is also the kind of place you often see a few regulars, just chatting and having coffee.  Real friendly.  We went there the day after mother’s day, so I was trying to be “good” and have something a bit lighter, so after a thorough review of the menu, I decided on a Taco Salad.  I know a taco salad isn’t something you would expect getting at a neighborhood cafe, but I figured, why not.   Taco Salad at Lake Cafe Our order came quickly and the taco salad loo...

My mother has quite a number of “favorite” restaurants.  During a recent visit with my mom she made sure we went to several of her “favorite” restaurants. The Mill Creek Inn was the second of her many “favorite” restaurants we ate at. I agree, the Mill Creek Inn is excellent. Really good food at a great price. The Mill Creek Inn is a neighborhood bar and grill on County Road 35, just west of Buffalo about two miles.  It has horse harnesses reused as mirrors on the wall along with wood plank walls for a great northwoods, decor.  The staff was friendly and efficient.   I ordered the chili burger and my mom order the Reuben both of us substituted onion rings.  The chili was very good and the burger cooked nicely (no hockey puck here).  Mom’s Reuben had a great mix of corned beef, sauerkraut, cheese, and dressing.  Her marble rye was nicely grilled without being soggy. The onion rings were awesome - fried perfectly and not at all oily.  T...