Review of Val’s Rapid Serv - St Cloud, MN

Industrial but classic, that would be the best way to describe the East Side of St Cloud and its landmark fast food restaurant, Val’s Rapid Serv. Val’s is a hold over from a time gone by when you didn’t have to be big to be successful as a restaurant. You didn’t need a huge parking lot and you didn’t have to decorate your dining area with elaborate themes. It truly is a burger joint with a classic appeal and a HUGE following of devoted fans from far and wide. My wife works in Onamia and one of her coworkers proudly proclaimed that he wanted to eat at Val’s when they had to come down to St Cloud for a seminar, just because it was Val’s.Just because. Normally that is not necessarily a good enough incentive for me to dine at a place. There are hundreds of restaurants in this area so its hard to justify going somewhere based on that flimsy reason. Find a more dynamic reason like the fact that it is an experience not to miss when coming to, living in, or finding yourself in St Cloud….ever.

Good: 7 (Mmmmm…grease)

A small army of workers like the core of a bee hive make your burgers on the fly in a tiny cooking area. Good thing there is a lot of family working in there because if they didn’t have the family tie, they would most certainly hate each other. Take it from me, when I worked for restaurants, the confines of the kitchen were sometimes battle grounds for bruised egos and bitter rivalries.

The burgers, and almost everything else on the menu, are greasy. Expect this. Its part of the charm of the place. Fresh ground beef patties…none of that preformed burger meat garbage, relish comes on the burger unless omitted during order, Oh, and if you are eating alone, never order more than a regular french fry because they already fill your bag up with fries…a large is overkill. You’ll find other menu items like fish,a Lent specialty, and chicken but don’t expect a huge variety. The main reason to go is for the burgers.

Service: 7 (Uniquely setup)

The first Time I went to Val’s ordering food was very in a very original way. You used to pick up a phone to place your order and you would talk to a lady who would key in your order. It would appear on a screen in from of you. This was very unique because you were no more than 3 feet from the window you receive your food from. Welcome to the 21 century. Now you have a touch screen to enter your order. When your order is done you will be beckoned to the window and pay for it there. The service at the window is quick but polite and almost neighborly.

Atmosphere: 5 (….uh, nice picnic tables)

Unless you have a desire to be dumped by your date who thought you were going to a posh restaurant, don’t expect a dining experience beyond that which you would get at a local park. This place is small…..no, smaller than you are thinking. Picnic tables are sprinkled around the tiny lot they have. Val’s sits on the corner of Lincoln Ave and East St Germain, a very busy intersection on the east side so there is not much else to do but jaw a bit and watch cars fly by.

Sometimes you go to restaurants for different things. Sometimes its comfort and sometimes its the experience. Well, for Val’s its the opportunity to strip away all the superficial trinkets of dining out and focus on the essential experience. What you see is what you get.

Overall 6.5

A half point? Well, I right the rules so I can do as I see fit. Val’s is definitely an experience unto itself, but as a “dining” experience it is lacking. You can’t make a classic car look like a 2007 model, but, then again, why would you? Know that you are eating at a piece of history and know that you will probably get something greasy but good.

This entry was posted on October 12, 2009 at 13:27 and is filed under Grub Reviews - OLD. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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