October 12, 2009 by Chad.

Originally posted March 17, 2009

The Bay Club

12635 Bayview Rd

South Haven, MN 55382

Since I first went to this restaurant almost 20 years ago, it has gone through many hands and many revisions. It is still located near the public access landing on Clearwater Lake. Chicken Oscar is still on the menu, the service has improved, and the offerings of a destination dining are definitely matured from the hole in the wall it once was.

I need to apologize to The Bay Club and my readers as this review has been sitting in queue as a draft for about five months. I am now just getting to write about it again. Luckily I have an excellent taste based memory.

Food: 6

The menu over the years has always been tilted towards meat. It’s current owners keep the restaurant pointed in that direction. I think it would be short lived if they ever tried to take their focus away steaks, cops and ribs. To classify the selection consider it a hybrid between Classy Americana and Surf and Turf.

I was able to eat both the Boursin Chicken and the North Woods Chicken on this particular instance. That is the benefit of eating with my family, there is always more food to try than is on your plate. The Boursin Chicken was tender and overall a mild dish. If you like to taste the same thing from the first bite to the last, then this dish certainly has the continuity you’ll enjoy. On the other hand, the Northwest Chicken was a more varied taste and texture but that was mainly due to the fact it was served on a bed of rice pilaf.

Yea for original and intriguing menu items like Sugarcane Shrimp Shewers. A propensity for mushroom dishes seems to permiate the menu. Also offered are wraps and a little southwest, Mexican, and Italia.(Stress, a little)

Prices are reasonable for a vacation town. It has different prices for a varied clientelle as a meal can run from $8-18without appetizer.

Service: 8

Service was great. Our server Brian was either exceptionally sincere or an outstanding liar. Either way we felt like he really was pleased and happy to serve us dinner. He was very well informed about the menu and the service well well timed and orchestrated. In this case the service was so good, it definitely improved the whole dining experience. Kudos.

Atmosphere: 6

Gone are the dark walls and dimly lit candled tables. Hello light colored wood, sports bar-ish flat panel monitors, and chunky furniture. It still owns a very rustic feel with exposed log walls and the ever prevalent knickknacks.

The only real knock I can make is that it would be great if they could pull a couple more tables off the main floor. I was not the only one having to jostle a neighbor when trying to make it to the bathroom with my son and then get back into our seats. If you need to pack them in, make sure there is ample path space for passing through the dining area.

If you like to stare out the window, make sure you get a spot down on the old porch area. A secluded and calm bay resides outside the back of the restaurant and the entire wall facing it is festooned with windows.

Overall: 6

Service was excellent, food was palatable, and environment was bearable. I will definitely return if given the opportunity.

Check out their website.

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October 12, 2009 by Chad.

Originally posted October 25, 2008

Rancho Grande

1004 Hwy 55 West

Buffalo, MN 55313

Robin and I were in Annadale staying Thayer’s Historic Bed and Breakfast in Annadale a few months ago and upon the recommendation of Sharon Gammel the proprietor we hoofed it down to Buffalo to experience the authenticity of Rancho Grande for ourselves. Story has it that they were originally located in a very small restaurant space and they relocated because they were literally bursting at the seams. That is what tripped my interest in reviewing Rancho Grande.

Food: 8

If you are looking for signature dishes of a restaurant you can ask the server, but often times they have been couched on only a few of the dishes (Most of them are at the top end of the menu price). I cannot emphasis enough how refreshing it is when a restaurant marks their signature dishes in the menu itself. If I have a limited time and no knowledge of a restaurant, theere is no time to try it all.

For the review I was looking for something meaty and well balanced. That was most definitely found with their Enchiladas Rancheras. A lot of Mexican restaurants will have the staples included in this meal: three cheese enchiladas and rice and bean. What really made this meal phenomenal was what came on top of the enchiladas. It was topped a healthy pile of fried shredded pork, sweet grilled tomatoes, bell peppers and onions. Then add to it a seasoning that is not outstandingly hot, but robust, and you have an outstanding meal. It provided a great expanse of flavors that hit different taste buds at different moments with every bite. It was thoroughly enjoyable and almost never duplicated. It was one of those meals you wanted to eat past the third bite because you knew it was going to be different than the last. That is what food should taste like!

Enchiladas on their own are a quite simple item, it is when creativity and a flair for taste is applied that it can be made into a very enjoyable experience.

Service: 2

Where they excelled in the food category, they failed in service. Outside of the host who graciously glided around the dining floor and back to the waiting area, our serving staff was very sub-par. Serving is an art. It is an art of timing. We were largely ignored for about 20 minutes before being approached for an order.(We did get the cursory chips and salsa though) We had to place out beverage order twice because it was forgotten. To top it off we needed to prompt someone to give us our bill. Isolated experience? I do not know. All I can say is what I saw. This definitely needs to be addressed in training and/or employee reviews because service is a piece of the equation that equals a superior dining experience.

Atmophere: 6

The dining area of the restaurant is split into two sections by a rather creative and fun way. The ceilings and walls are painted in a night and day scene. The bar section was painted in the night scene with stars moon and other interesting artifacts. The main dining area was obviously the day. This definitely distracted from that fact that it was basically a big open room. It’s loud when the tables are full and a booth is really the only source or relative intimate dining. Plastic chili peppers and other decorative schlock adorns the walls, but it is more there to add three dimensions to the wall murals. It is still designed with a fun theme that children and adults would enjoy.

Overall: 5

The food was outstanding. If that was all I was reviewing then this would likely be one of the top Mexican restaurants I ever ate at. Unfortunately, the significant lack of quality service was a big hindrance to the overall enjoyment of the experience. What can I say? Hopefully my experience with the service was an isolated occasion, but I walked away from it thinking that if given the chance to go there again…I just might pass on it.

There was no picture for this location on MinnesotaRestaurantSearch.com, but there are a couple of them for their other two locations in Alberville and Monticello.

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October 12, 2009 by Chad.

Originally posted July 8, 2009

RJ’s American Grill4221 Clearwater Rd

St Cloud, MN 56301

You know the old adage about the most important thing when buying a building for home or business? It’s all about LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! Well, in spite of this fact RJ’s American Grill has squirreled itself behind a truck stop in an out of the way strip mall presumably to make you look for it like a buried pirate treasure. The ground is not marked with an “X”, but it definitely holds a wealth of dining experiences.

Food: 9

RJ’s is definitely Americana, but dances to the beat of their own tuba. Tuba you ask? Well, their spin on American dining fare is so unique, I felt it needed more emphasis and what has more POW than a tuba…but I digress. The menu, which is online, is filled with very original accents to the traditional slab of meat. Rarely do you see such things as kalamata olives or Gorgonzola cheese on a menu anywhere around here. Very few things are as quintessentially American as a burger and, to be honest, it is hard to find new things that peak taste buds. That is just what happened though.

I had the RJ’s Crispy Cheddar Burger with the sweet potato fries and was pleased. The cheddar was shredded and the tactile taste of slightly crunchy slow cooked cheddar was amazing. During my cooking escapades I determined that given the right amount of heat everything melts, but it takes skill to cook cheese without melting it into a indiscriminate blob. Kudos. Sweet potatoes, which are usually relegated to some traditional holiday meal and bathed in melted marshmallows, was definitely a different experience to eat but very tasty. I even had cause to eat them without any condiments what so ever.

Also, eaten was a Black and Blue Burger. The slight Cajun flavoring sat in good contrast to the applewood smoked bacon and blue cheese. This burger is immensely sloppy to eat, or maybe that was just me.

The kids options for meals had a couple different options. Buttered noodles for the finicky toddler and mini burgers for small eaters. The mini burgers fit nicely when children refuse to eat well outside of the home. The second burger can easily be boxed up and taken home.

For desert? Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches with 2 chocolate chip cookies as bookends to a generous portion of ice cream. You can tell they were not prepared on the fly as they were thoroughly frozen, but not everything  that is called homemade is made on the spot.

Prices are a little over average for dining out and the menu is laid out with round numbers rather than $8.95. I for one have seem more restaurants do this on menus and it seems to be more of a true pricing. Every time I see .99 cents on the end of a price I think of the old commercials for “Viking Chevrolet in downtown Fridley.”

Service: 9

I am tough on servers. Never do I show even a small sign of discontent, but the relationship between the server and the patron can, and often does, outshine the food. If people feel they are getting great service they may feel like eating mediocre food again just so they can get that warm fuzzy feeling. I don’t care how good the food is or how neat the digs are. If the service is lousy, so will be your experience.

Our server was OUTSTANDING! That is a word that seldom comes out in a review. She was attentive, interested in serving our needs, watched for the appropriate time to visit the table, and even swooped in like Superwoman with crayons and pictures to color for our squirmy children. That was definitely the big thing. Its standard for a restaurant to have crayons and a pre-packaged menu for kids to draw on. These pictures she brought us where from a website that had no advertising and no menu. Someone actually took the time to deliver a unique drawing experience to my children. I was amazed!

Food was timely and spaced out perfectly between appetizer, entree, and desert.

Atmosphere: 8

A lot of restaurants are moving toward decorative stonework. The problem with that is unless it is decorated enough, it can appear cold and uninviting. This restaurant blends an original stone design on a focal wall with warm lighting, and contemporary decorations to produce an upscale eatery. Dining is compartmentalized enough so that the perception of intimacy or privacy is maintained from almost every point in the dining rooms. There is a good sized meeting room in the back of the main dining area for meetings.

Overall: 9

If looking for Americana, this place should definitely be on your short list of places to try in the St Cloud area. The triumvirate of Food, Service, and Atmosphere play excellently here and so few restaurants can say they have all the pieces working in unison. The only concern I have is the location, but that can be overcome with effort on the owner’s part. The presentation is spot on!

Check out their website for more information

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October 12, 2009 by Chad.

Originally posted July 7th, 2008

Ciatti’s Ristorante

2635 West Division St

St Cloud, MN 56301

Normally I don’t touch anything remotely connected to a chain restaurant because they have their place in society some place next to fast food but a little better. Ciatti’s is a chain in the upper midwest with 13 restaurants, but Ciatti’s Ristorante may be a franchise. (The only one of its kind according to staff from there.) That being the case I felt it was ok to skirt the grey area and jump in to one of my favorite food groups….pasta.

Ciatti’s was located downtown St Cloud for a long time, but, due to a small construction boom around the restaurant, they decided to build a new restaurant and relocate to the more traffic heavy and retail friendly Division Street. For Italian food diners there has always been a dirth of variety but Ciatti’s always stood as a reasonably priced beacon of opportunity for those seeking quality Italian. Remember, we are talking Central Minnesota Italian here. It’s probably a fair bit different than that experienced in bigger metropolitan areas.

Food: 6

For years my favorite item on the list was Spicy Chicken Penne which is a complimentary dichotomy of tastes between the Cajun of the chicken and the creamy pesto sauce with sweet sun dried tomatoes. In the interest of seeing this as a new review for a “NEW” restaurant, I skipped over my traditional choice for something new and interesting. I ordered the Chicken Saltimbocca. It was definitely a different experience for me to be sure.

The grilled chicken was blanketed in a thin layer of prosciutto(ham) and capers and a sauce consisting of sag, lemon, and white wine. It made for a less dynamic and more subdued taste with a lemony tartness that was persistent throughout. Served along with the chicken was a healthy portion of vegetables mainly consisting of peppers (red and green) and squash.

Robin(my wife) ordered a more traditional meal of Manicotti. If I was not trying to sample more diverse tastes that day, I would certainly have chosen that over what I had. It was slathered with an incredibly generous amount of mozzarella cheese. It was literally a cardiac attack on a place, but, man oh man, it was just what my taste buds needed to wake up after the Chicken Saltimbocca.

Prices are a little higher than they used to be. (About 20 to 30 percent by my reckoning) Can you blame them? They build a new restaurant with higher property value and the whole economic situation has food vendors over a barrel and forced to raise their pricing. It also helps them define their clientele a little better. “Fine” dining is a rare enough beast in the central part of the state.In both cases the plate presentation was very classy.

Service: 7

Service was timely and light on the chattiness. I like to talk to servers because you can get a great primer on what the restaurant has to offer from their service staff. There of course is a too little and too much information threshhold that some people have a hard time judging. Our server was not one for chatting so I was not provided great insight. The hosting staff was friendly. The best experience with the staff came from the gentleman who visited each table once. I assume this person was a manager. He was engaging and sounding like he honestly wanted to know our thoughts on the dining experience. I have a habit of seeing through the “I really don’t care what you think as long as you eat here” mentality. It was definitely refreshing.

Food again was timely. This is timely in the sense that you are not going to go there for dinner and treat it like a quick stop. The time it took from ordering the food to getting the finished product was good for a casual meal. The appetizer and entree were a little too close to one another, but they at least did not arrive at the same time.

Atmophere: 8

I always liked the look and feel of the old restaurant with its classically designed wall painting, columns and all. The new restaurant is clean both in newness and in form. In the modern era of restaurant architecture it has a large high ceiling in the central dining area, separated bar are, and a pergola covered patio with a stone privacy fence around it. Walking through the main dining area I am reminded of that medieval churches found in Europe. The patio was comfortable. I could imagine how much more secluded it would feel if they planted grape vine and let them run up the pergola like a trellis. It exudes a sense of fine dining.

Overall: 7

Definitely will eat there again. Why? Why not. I saw nothing in the experience that would make me think twice about eating there again. Wait, there is one…if I had my children in tow I would not dine there. That is definitely not a children’s place to eat. Leave them with a babysitter for goodness sake and take your spouse, significant other, or a good friend out for a high quality meal. It is just the right place for a relaxed good conversation and a glass of wine.

Check out their website. Its not much, but they do post their menu.

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October 12, 2009 by Chad.

Originally posted December 29, 2007

Recently I sat down and tried to determine the number of Asian food restaurants in the St Cloud area. I used the broad stroke approach including Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and anything fitting into the whole mandarin culture and area. When it was all said and done I came to 11. That is not including the latest popular Mongolian craze or restaurants over 5 miles from St Cloud proper. That’s amazing. I would venture to bet that its the second or third most populated food type behind Americana and pizza (go figure on the later since it is a college town).Next on my path through the prepared food world was the Great Wall Buffet. My opinion of buffets are they are pretty much the same thing from place to place, but in all cases it is best to pay attention to the details and the things that set them apart from their competitors. That is how we are going to approach this one too.

Food: 6

You will find most of the building blocks of any other Chinese buffet. The buffet is a medium sized buffet with a larger number of options for the diner. They dabble in sushi roles and on the kids plate they had something resembling Totino’s pizza rolls. Unfortunately the sauce was too bland to appreciate as much as Totino’s. For the life of me I cannot remember the name of their General Tso’s alternative chicken dish, and it does not appear on their website, but it was something different. If you are a vegetarian, then you will appreciate the buffet. Besides that it’s pretty status quo.

Service: 3 of NA

Par for the course. You really don’t go to a buffet if you are interested in being doted on by the serving staff. If anything our server, who also subbed as the cashier, was efficient and barely spoke a word as he swooped down on plates from vacated tables. Beverages are self served so there is no server dependence here. I look at Service here as almost a non-entity. We really did not see or interact with the server except when we came in and payed to strap on the old feed bag.

Atmosphere: 4

The restaurant is clean and laid out for the purpose of feeding the masses. Decorated as it always seems to be with large lit up pictures of different Chinese locales, mirrors, and traditional respectful references to classic Chinese decoration including the shrine to Budda. Nothing more to say here as atmosphere is counter to this type of restaurant setting. Just make sure there’s enough room in the aisle as I make my way to the trough.

Overall: 5

Nothing outstanding but the price is moderate and you get what you pay for. Just remember when going to a buffet, your goal is not to make sure the restaurant loses money on you because of how much you eat, just enjoy the variety of tastes in moderation and your belt will still cinch up to the same hole.

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October 12, 2009 by Chad.

Originally posted December 28, 2007

House of Pizza has been around for over 40 years so you have to expect that there are certain things that will be covered in a dining experience. I mean, after 40 years most of the pitfalls restaurants go through in the process of perfecting their craft have to be resolved to make it that far. My family and I recently went to HOP for dinner and I thought it was an experience that would make a good review.Food: 9

Bordering on outstanding! I love the variety of the offerings at HOP. They are one of he few pizza places that really embraces alfredo white sauce as opposed to just championing the red. Not that their red sauce is bad at all. In fact, it is a tasted sweet tomato with a hint of spice. No, the thing I really like off the menu is the Four Seasons specialty pizza with its garlic chicken, spinach, sun dried tomatoes and black olives. It creates such a variety of tastes on the pallet that you cant help but love it. They also have a full line of sandwiches and pastas. Sure, they may be an Italian style restaurant with those other menu items, but, don’t be fooled, their specialty is pizza.

Service: 7

The serving staff was well trained. They had excellent product knowledge (Something I am always trying to test servers on.) and great customer service. On the day of this review my kids were both pretty unruly and hard to control. This is a common side effect to being a tired pre-schooler and toddler {Not to self…avoid dining out when they are devil children} but the serving staff saw our plight and came the the rescue with clean pizza cardboard circles and crayons. My only concern is that they probably should have given us that when they seated us, but oh well.

Atmosphere: 7

Clean and newly remodeled, the dining area is wider in appearance and more spacious. Its still the upstairs of an older building downtown, so its not hat much wider, but it’s an improvement over what they had. The color scheme is comfortable and the rich colored stonework coupled with the warm wood tones makes for a pleasant experience. The remodel did away with 80’s interiors cushioned walls….much better now.

Overall: 8

I would say that the House of Pizza is one of the better restaurants in the area and definitely one of the best pizza’s in town. Just remember this is a premium pizza parlor, only one of a couple in the area, so you will pay more but your experience is worth it.

House of Pizza

19 5th Ave S
St Cloud
320…

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October 12, 2009 by Chad.

Originally posted December 28, 2007

For years I went to O’Hara’s Restaurant on the corner of 33rd Ave and 3rd street in St Cloud. It was a landmark on that corner for over 50 years. Times change and so in the aftermath of Tim O’Hara’s restaurant debacle, we have a new and improved restaurant at that famous intersection.

McCann’s (Notice the same Irish name) completely redesigned the restaurant, cutting out most of the excess space used for meetings by every organization imaginable in the St Cloud area. They kept the brewing equipment but I have unfortunately not tried any of the house beer. I know,”for shame, Chad!” Hey, I was in there on my lunch break with one of my salesmen. I really didnt want to tip too much beer and go back to work.

Food: 6

While it was no particularly outstanding, the menu consists of a lot of bar related food. They had a roast beef sandwich as the special. I will admit, I am not a big beef person. Give me pork, any kind of foul, or fish and I am satisfied. Oh, and burgers are much better when they are beef as well. The beef was definitely tender and the portion size was good. The prices seemed a little on the high side of low…as in middle of the road.

Service: 4

We were mostly served by the jovial bar back but the service level was more a kin to sports bar traffic than actual fine dining, which is a shame. They still have a good sized dining room and hopefully they will develop that kind of dining which is seriously lacking in the whole St Cloud area.

Atmosphere: 4

They must have spent a bundle on the remodel. There is a lot of decorative stonework covering the walls and a lighter color scheme. The downside to any stonework is that you need to counter the cold of stone with the warmth of decorations. Unfortunately they must have run out of money or time in the decorating area as the walls that were not coved with stone were devoid of the nicky nacky types of things that can warm up a room. It felt very sterile. They opened recently so we can only hope that this type of thing develops over time. Hopefully sooner than later. Even college students like a little character inside their haunts and the locals may object to the changes from the landmark restaurant location they now occupy.

Overall: 5

They have potential. With a smaller restaurant space, retooled look, and preservation of the massive pool table room in the basemen, this place can once again reclaim its designation as a college student hang out. For the restaurant portion, it still needs a little work. I will eat there again with the hopes that they are still developing their dining experience. If not there might be another open space for rent in the next year or so.

McCann’s Food & Brew

3310 3rd St N
St Cloud
320…

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October 12, 2009 by Chad.

Originally posted December 27, 2007

SUGAR’S HAS SINCE CLOSED

It has been a long timer since I posted a review of a restaurant. Since I am still living then it is safe to assume that I am eating and it is likely that I have eaten out at least sometime in the last couple months. Now that we have fully established the logical reasoning, let’s start to talk about Sugar’s.Sugar’s BBQ has moved from the east side of town where it was little known and even less seen. Now it is located in a strip mall on the west side of town near where O’Hara’s Brew Pub used to be(Which is now called McCann’s, but that’s a review for a separate post.). As BBQ ribs go, I am kind of a rib snob. I expect tender meat, good sauce, and low gristle. It doesn’t sound like all that much to ask but you would be suprised at how many BBQ restaurants can’t get the balance right.

Food: 7 If its good 3 if its not

As my office is now located just down the street from Sugar’s, I have had their food a few times and it seems rather inconsistent. I have been there when the meat was very tender and then there is the last time I was there. The rib tips were so dry it resembled beef jerky rather then ribs meet. On the upside I had a “Sloppy Sugar” sandwich which was piled high with moist sliced meat and slathered with their own barbecue. That’s one good thing you can say about the food at Sugar’s, there’s a lot of it. The barbecue comes in three flavors. Its not three unique tastes as the base for all three is the same but you can get it in regular, spicy or honey varieties. Would I eat there again? Probably, but more out of convenience then out of choice.

Service: 2

While a couple of the staff there have personalities, for the most part I feel like an inconvenience to their day than a paying customer. This is one of the most disconcerting parts of my experience. When someone goes to the counter to order their food it is customary to smile and greet them warmly. Instead its closer to the deadpan stare of Ben Stein. Maybe its because I am a guy. Who knows?

Atmosphere: 4

Ok, let me defend this one by saying that they just opened not too long ago and their walls are barren. As I understand it the muralist has not come to paint the wall yet. When that happens hopefully it will warm up the cafeteria feel. Plain white walls and absence of all decorations besides a Pepsi wall clock make for no inner life to the place. I would normally rate this kind of display lower but giving them a pass because of their recent re-opening and it really is a very clean looking restaurant.

Overall: 4 (Recommended to carry-out only)

I would expect a lot of these scores to change over time. This is not a chain so they are stuck with the resources they have to get going. For that I know that, if they can stay open, they will likely develop into the kind of restaurant that I would be happy to send people to. Until there I will watch and wait.

BTW, check out their not quite finished website. It has a pretty cool theme so hopefully that is indicative of what their restaurant will look like.

Sugar’s BBQ

3413 3rd Ave N

Pantown Mall

St Cloud, MN 56303

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October 12, 2009 by Chad.

Originally posted August 21, 2007

Pete’s Place has been around in different incarnations for some
time. If you are looking for the epitome of the neighborhood greasy
spoon restaurant then Pete’s is the place for you. It brings in an
eclectic mix of young and old. Both college students and locals
gravitate towards Pete’s for its good food, friendly nature, and unique
atmosphere.

Food: 8 (limited but good)

Pete’s is only open for breakfast and lunch, but it is the type of
place that shines in certain ways. The burgers are fabulous. They are
fresh ground beef, juicy, and big. The breakfasts are…well, breakfast
like your mother makes.(if indeed you have a mother that cooks) My
favorite would have to be a toss up between the “Flavored Fruit
Pancakes” and the old standby “Diced Ham with Scrambled Eggs and
Toast”. Healthy portions at a decent price are always refreshing when
eating out and breakfast is the best meal of the day to really “fill
the tank”. Everything has a certain amount of grease so be cautioned
that the food is by no means exceptionally healthy. There’s a lot of
love put into it, and we all know that can be too good for us all the
time.

Service: 6

Pete’s tends not to be a place for a speedy in and out meal. This is
not so much a criticism as an observation. Its a sit down and enjoy the
setting type of place. Service is dependent on who you get and how
seriously you take dining. Pete is a great host. He’s warm and friendly
and usually engages in plenty of talk with you unless there’s a lot of
orders he needs to attend to. The people he has serving are serviceable
but not particularly outstanding.

One of his long standing employees is a woman named Tammy. She may
seem belligerent and rough edged, but she is part of the character of
Pete’s and for that I suggest forgiving her of her transgressions
against the norms of restaurant service. You know someone has to have
an indelible mark on a place when they have a sandwich named after them.

Atmosphere: 9

This is by far the most colorfully charactered restaurant I have
been to in a while. If you are an eccentric, you are probably a regular
at Pete’s. A local artist comes in with her digital camera and takes
pictures of patrons for Pete’s own Wall of Fame. These candid shots of
patrons makes it feel very close nit there. A local cribbage league
produces more smoke than the Becker power plant in the back room and
there is almost always a game of it going on. Regulars are almost
treated like family when they walk through the door and that really is
amazing.

This place is alive with the hustle and bustle of the neighborhood.
As cities expand and grow there seems to be a shrinking of our world.
Neighborhood places like Pete’s are more rare to find unless you go to
a town small enough. These are the places that deliver and survive and
there friendly nature and outstanding food options.

Overall: 8

Pete’s is a classic in its own right not only because of its humble
working man’s appearance and victuals, but also its unique offerings.
It is the example of the type of place that goes against the grain of
the modern chain restaurant taste and feel. Its because of that the
Pete’s occupies a special place in my heart. Hopefully it will occupy a
special place in my stomach and yours very soon.

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October 12, 2009 by Chad.

Originally Posted August 19, 2007

Back in the day before coffee shops were a dime a dozen in this town, I had designs to start my own coffee shop up. I even went so far as to draw up a business plan and scope out locations for opening said coffee shop. It was going to cater to and champion blues as nothing was cooler than blues music. Sadly that plan turned to dust, but there is a home for the blues in St Cloud and its at the Legend’s Grill and Bar.Legend’s is located in the Holiday Inn Hotel on the corner of Highways 23 and 15. For the purposes of a restaurant review I put my musical tastes aside, but the live blues bands can be pretty awesome to see. For this review I picked a slower time to go and employed the help of my wife and children…the usual suspects. I know the owner of the hotel, so hopefully he does not read this or at least sees my commentary as contructive… as it always is. There were some definite highs and some lows which left me mixed on experience, but let’s get going.

Food: 5 (Mixed reception)

When we arrived I was expecting the whole G&B feel good food menu. Sure, standard American fare was all over the menu, but I was also seeing some more intriguing options. Nestled in the pasta section I found Thyme Roasted Chicken with Cheese Ravioli. Robin had her usual in such locals, a bacon cheeseburger with fries. The Kids menu had the usual 6 or 7 items most families can count on when they eat out, so the kids had Mac’n’Cheese and chicken fingers with fries.

First the Thyme Roasted Chicken. I was not nearly as excited about the dish when it arrived. They seemed to have forgotten half of it in the kitchen because for the price I was expecting to be fully fed. Instead I was greeted with what can be described as a “premium” portion.

Higher class restaurants like to dress up small portions with glitzy presentations. These shows are often camped in commercials and comedies. You know, for $50 they get a little wedge of something in the middle of a huge plate and are left wanting something real. That kind of ostentatious dining does not fly in the land of meat and potatoes. On top of it all the the raviolis were not particularly warm. Since the garlic bread was overly dry I would surmise my dish spent a titch too much time in the window under a warming light. It was a pretty presentation though with a healthy balance of color (Thanks to the spinach leaves) but it was not particularly tasty.

Robin’s burger was moist enough and served with a slice of cheddar rather than American cheese. Actually you had a choice of cheddar, American or Swiss. It was definitely a healthy size and at $3 less than what my meal cost, it was a better buy.

One of the highlights of the meal was the barbecue sauce that was served up with my daughters chicken fingers. It was simultaneously not sweet nor tart. It had a smoky flavor to it that was far from bold but thorough. I am fairly certain that I have had it before someplace else, so it is not likely homemade.

Price was higher for my meal, but I was amazed to find that kids eat free. Is this everyday? I am not sure but it would explain why there were a few tables with multiple children at them. The kids meals were originally priced at $4.89 which would have been a good price for all that they got, but for FREE is even better. Robin’s bacon cheeseburger was $8 and my chicken thingy was $11. Drinks were apparently free as they didn’t appear on the bill. Thanks, Mr Bar Back!

Service: 5 (Mixed reception)

The server we had was actually a bar back, so maybe the service would have been better if an actual server graced our table. The only server who was there kind of said hello to us when we walked in, but that was the last we saw of her until after the food was close fully consumed. (The rest of the family that is, mine was gone all together too fast.) Anyway, between the server and the bar back they had a few families and a few bar patrons to attend so I was not particularly demanding. The bar back offered to get us a high chair for my daughter, but after trying to hold on to a thrashing hungry toddler for ten minutes I had to take it upon myself to find the high chair. After finding it, he asked if I wanted him to carry it. Forget it, buddy. I needed this sense of accomplishment to be all mine.

Atmosphere: 7

The restaurant clearly draws its life from the bar at its center, but the restaurant has a few architectural features of note. There is a glass walled conference room for meetings that is rife with sports memorabilia. Overall the restaurant is dominated by six uniquely arranged areas. This is good for all types of occasions, whether that be a romantic dinner for two, a lunch meeting, a family scrum, or even a blues concert. It has an open floor plan which directs attention to the stage area with little more than cursory decorations.

It appears that they are good at keeping the place clean regardless of how many other toddlers threw their french fries and their brothers Mac’n’Cheese on the floor. Nothing turns the stomach more than seeing until past meals rubbed into the floor and walls, so I was happy to see they take pride in cleanliness. Good luck with the barbecue stain, hope it comes out for you.

Overall: 6

I was generally happy with the food and would anticipate eating there again. Next time I will stick to the American portion of the menu as I know I will be getting my money’s worth. It is a bar through and through so as long as expectations start there, there will be no disappointments and next time I will have to catch a show.

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