The Bulldog- Northeast & Uptown Minneapolis, MN

Cuisine: American,
Restaurant Features: Bar

Location: Northeast & Uptown Minneapolis, MN
Addresses & Maps:

Northeast- 401 East Hennepin Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55414

Uptown- 2549 Lyndale Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55405

Hours: Open 11am-2am daily- Food served Mon-Wed : 11am to 12am Thu-Sat : 11am to 1am Sun : 11am to 11pm

Link: The Bulldog Website

Atmosphere: Located on East Hennepin just across the river from Downtown, The Bulldog is in an older brick building in a busy part of NE Mpls.  The inside is a long space with a massive bar taking up at least half of it, the rest with tall tables for regular dining.  The lights were very dim and candles lit at every table, but there was no mistaking that you were in a bar.  Crowd seemed to be early 30's.

Here is a partial view of the bar area, with seating around the bar and additional tall tables to the left along the wall.

Menu: Appetizers include Sesame Chicken Wings, Steak Tartare, Nachos, Bavarian Pretzels, Tator Tots, French Fries, Cold Cuts & Cheese, Pickle Plate and Spicy Texas Chili.

Cobb, Green Goddess and Caesar Salads are available but the Burgers are where its at!  Gourmet burgers are made with 100% Kobe beef that is double-ground twice daily.  Offered are the House Burger, The Stilton (with cheese, garlic and horseradish), Junk (cheese, bacon, mushrooms, onions), Good Morning (fried egg and ham on English muffin), Truffle (with truffle oil and Brie cheese), Black Bean (veggie burger, avocado and sprouts), Smokey Cheddar, Ninja (jalapenos and pepper jack), The Togarashi ( Japanese coleslaw and wasabi mayo), Rooster ( Sriracha glaze,  sweet pickles, roasted garlic aioli, pepperjack cheese), Green Marvel (avocado, Swiss, fried onions) and the Bella (portabella, prosciutto, red onion, goat cheese).

Hot dogs are also a hot item on the menu with a selection such as Chicago style, Chili (Texas-style), Maxwell Street Polish, the Beer Brat (smoked bacon apple kraut and horseradish mustard), and the Venezuelan.

Sandwiches at The Bulldog include Chicago-Style Italian Beef, Club, Cubano, BLT, Portabella, Philly Cheese Steak, and the Californian.

Bulldog Entrees include Chicken and Waffles, Polpettone (Italian style meatloaf), Fish & Chips, and Braised Beef (aka Tatortot Hotdish?)

Three varieties of cupcakes daily!

Price guide: Appetizers $4-11  Burgers $8-11 Hot Dogs $4-6  Sandwiches $8-9 Entrees $10-12 Cupcakes $3
What I ordered: I was starving but opted not to have an appetizer, so I got the Chili Dog with French Fries.  The hot dog was not as big as I had envisioned, but it was firm, skinless and tasted like it was all-beef.  The chili on top was unlike most chili I have had; it was beanless and the meat was shredded beef rather than traditional ground beef (more like pulled beef sandwich than chili).  It was great! I asked for mine with cheese but it wasn't very noticeable. My only complaint is that I was still hungry after eating my hot dog and all my fries, I should have ordered two!

My companion ordered the Green Marvel Burger, which was a fresh ground Kobe Beef patty with melted Swiss and then topped with guacamole and fried onions.  My companion thinks the flavor of this burger may be the best they ever had!  From the one bite that I had, it ranks near the top for me too.  The size of the burger was probably 1/3, as it could easily be consumed in one meal.

The host of Bulldog offered us a free cupcake for having been sat at the "worst table" in the place, which was right next to the front door.  There were three kinds of cupcakes and I chose the Peanut Butter Cup (the other variety that I remember was Almond Joy).  One bite of this cupcake and I forgot all about where I was sitting (which wasn't a big deal anyway).   I think I even declared that I must find the recipe for this peanut butter frosting ASAP because it was just heavenly! 

Service:  Our server was nice, but it was the host that went out of his way to be friendly and offered the yummy cupcake.  He asked us how everything was as we were leaving and we came to find out he was one of the owners, Chris, and his wife is the one who makes the amazing cupcakes!  Sidenote: Bulldog has a parking lot on 4th St, otherwise it is on-street metered parking
Overall Impression:  Good place to grab a gourmet burger or a beer or two!  Food was good and reasonably priced.

Comments

[Ang]

1.

Thanks for the review of this place... I've been wanting to try it for quite some time... now I'm sold and I know I'll be ordering that burger (when you listed it to begin with, I knew it was the one).
Maybe I'll go there for my birthday on Tuesday (and maybe I'll get a free cupcake)!

[Kristi S (sweetsauer)]

2.

I will definitely get a burger the next time I am there!!

[Jeff]

3.

Love this place! Great review. I am hungry now.

[Dana Leigh]

4.

I went in there one time in NE and it was so busy we couldn't even move so we left. I've also been to the Uptown location. I like the NE location better. That cupcake looks fabulous!

[Traveler69]

5.

The uptown Bulldog location has the worst service from servers to management. The beer selection is great and food is good however expect to be treated poorly. There are way better places to spend your hard earned money and ensure a positive experience.

[James]

6.

The Bulldog’s Canal Boulevard location is open once again. The tavern has been closed since a fire broke out on its second floor in late November. The fire occurred during business hours but no one was reported injured, though it caused extensive damage inside.