McCoy's Public House

3801 Grand Way (Grand & Excelsior)
(952) 224-9494
www.mccoysmn.com

McCoys consistently delivers decent food with poor service.  Likewise, they have a great beer selection that is poured by the shyest bartenders in town.

The Pig and Fiddle

3812 W 50th Street, Minneapolis AKA (50th and France, Edina)
952-955-8385

That is one hell of a beer list, CHEERS!!!!

The Butcher Block - "Smoking Section Please"

The Butcher Block – “Smoking Section Please”

308 East Hennenpin Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55414
612.455.1080
thebutcherblockrestaurant.com

The Dinner


I went to the Butcher Block the other night and it was good - not “knock
it out of the park” good, but good.  We ordered the beef carpaccio to start, which was a generous
portion, and a little difficult to eat (a positive in my book, I like

rolling up my sleeves for dinner).   I’m a pepper guy and would have

liked to add a little to the carpaccio.  I was surprised not to find a
pepper mill or salt shaker on the table (a little cocky maybe?).  While we
enjoyed our carpaccio ,our server was outside puffing on a few
Parliaments.  Nothing complements a good dish like the smell of

ashtray.

The second course was rigatoni alla norcina (house ground pork

sausage, truffle cream).  A good dish, I’d order it again.  The house ground sausage definitely elevated this dish above a run-of-the-mill pasta with sausage and the rich cream sauce makes it a great one to share.

I’m a sucker for short ribs, so we did that for the third course.  The

short ribs were decent, but starting to get a little dry.  I still
enjoyed them though.  The roasted potatoes with the horseradish aioli were a nice addition to the dish and I appreciated having something different than garlic mashed potatoes.

Dessert was horrible.  The chocolate torta was dry and lacked flavor.

Apparently the chef knew it too, so he went to the newest trick in the
book and added caramel and sea salt. I guess we should have listened to our server when she recommended the torrone.  Next time we know.

The Breakdown
Service:  Besides inhaling a cloud of smoke, our server was pretty

good.  She gave us several suggestions and was attentive.  She seemed
to lack wine knowledge which would have been nice as I’m not to

familiar with Italian wines, although she made up for that somewhat by offering tastes of several bottles we were considering so that we could choose our favorite.

Atmosphere:  A good little date spot, but that windowless dining room is a real bummer on a beautiful evening in NE.

Food:

Carpaccio: Solid

Rigatoni Alla Norcina:  Solid

Short Ribs: Decent

Dessert: Sucked

Overall, I would and will return for the carpaccio and pasta at
reasonable prices (especially when a trip to Surdyk's is also
involved), but it won't make my most-frequented list.

Can't wait to go to Piccolo... please don't disappoint, you are my rock.

Pat's Tap

 The food at Pat's Tap was much like the restaurant's name: generic and
generally forgettable.  None of the food was particularly bad, but
nothing was memorable either.  Most notable was the huge gap in
the level of service received in the bar area versus that which we
experienced once we were seated for dinner.

 The night started off well.  It was a weeknight during restaurant week and
when we arrived, there was a wait for a table.  While waiting we considered
the options on the beer and wine list with a bartender who happily (and
without us having to ask) poured us tastes of every beer and wine we were
considering.  What a treat to have a busy bartender be willing to go
the extra mile to make sure her customers were happy with their
drinks.

 Contrast this with the comedy of errors that characterized our dinner
service.  We were seated with the restaurant's regular menu - no
restaurant week menu in sight.  Pet Peeve #1 of the evening: if you're
going to participate in restaurant week, do not make me go out of my
way to ask for the special menu.   It makes me feel like you’re hoping to hide
that from me and I do not respect that.

 While my dining companion was away from the table, no less than three
different servers came to ask me if we had a tab at the bar we needed
to pay.  Although I think that's something a quality restuarant just
knows, as a casual neighborhood spot, I was willing to overlook the
question the first time.  And possibly the second.  Definitely not the
third.

 On our server's recommendation, we started with the zucchini cakes and
the pork belly skewers.  While zucchini cakes would not normally jump

out at me on a menu, these were an excellent recommendation and we

enjoyed the lightly fried cakes served with lemon honey aioli.  The pork
belly skewers were nicely flavored but could have used another element to
cut through their inherent fatiness.  In addition to the restaurant week
appetizers, we wanted to try Pat's tomato soup, which was served with
cheesy crackers.  To my taste, the soup was more smoke than tomato and it
wasn't my favorite version of this classic.

Before we had a chance to finish our apps, our entrees arrived.  
Pet Peeve #2: I have never heard a good excuse for bringing out a table's

entrees while they are still eating their appetizers.  If you have
one, I'd love to hear it.  Entrees of a warm spinach salad with smoked
chicken, egg, feta and mustard vinaigrette and a turkey burger with
whipped feta, lettuce, tomato and onion were...fine.

Izzy’s ice cream for dessert was good... it always is.

All in all, here is the breakdown on Pat’s Tap after one visit (I’ll go anywhere
 3 times before I make my final decision).

Bartender: Super fantastic

Table Service:  The “Do you have a bar tab?” refrain was kind of annoying.Bringing 
entrees well before apps were finished was extremely annoying.  Besides that, 
several servers watered and helped clear our table.

Food:

Tomato Soup - too smokey
Zucchini Cakes - GOOD
Pork Belly Skewers - worth a try
Turkey Burger - okay but messy

Warm Spinach Salad - lacked flavor even though it was over dressed