Twin Cities Restaurant Blog

Sak's Sport's Bar ~ Vadnais Heights, MN

Cuisine: American, Burgers, Wings, Pasta
Restaurant Features: Bar, Games, Happy Hour, Pull-Tabs, Sports Leagues ( Volleyball, Broomball, Boot Hockey and Dodge Ball)
Location: Vadnais Heights, MN
Address: 1460 Co. Rd. E. East Vadnais Heights, MN 55110  651.484.6119

Bar Hours: Sun-Thurs 11a-1p  Fri-Sat 11a-2p

Kitchen Hours: Sun-Thurs 11a-10p  Fri-Sat 11a-11p

Links: Sak's Sports Bar Website     Google Map

Atmosphere: Located on County Road E just a block from Hwy 61, Sak's Sports Bar is in the location formerly known as Bentley's restaurant.  The space is pretty big, with a couple of different seating areas.  Pictured below is the gaming side of the restaurant, with dart boards, pull-tabs, several large  flat-panel TVs and bar-height tables.  The other side of the restaurant has a large bar separating two additional seating areas, one of which is the main dining room and the other is a row of booths running parallel to the bar.

Sak's is also known for its Outdoor Sports.  Leagues are available to play Volleyball, Broomball, Boot Hockey and Dodgeball.  Sporting areas not pictured.

Menu:  Appetizers include Buffalo Wings, Ranch Wing's, Crispy Chicken Wings, BBQ Ribs, Spicy Pork Sliders, Boursin Sliders (green chile ketchup, boursin cheese and fried onion strings), Hot Dago Sliders, Classic Sliders, Slider Platter, Pulled Pork Quesadillas, Fried Chicken Quesadilla, Nacho Bar (chips with melted cheese and all other ingredients on the side to make-your-own), Garlic Cheese Bread, Bucket of Fresh-Cut Fries, Walleye Fingers, Onion Rings and Tator Tots Bucket, Warm Chips with Charred Corn and Black-Bean Salsa.  They also have Chicken with Wild Rice soup and a Soup du Jour

Salads offerings at Sak's include Asian Chicken, Chopped Cobb, Cranberry Almond, Chicken Club, Red, White and Blue (red onion, bleu cheese), Beef and Garden Salad, Bird of Paradise, and Side Salad.  Any salad can be halved during lunch M-F.

Sandwiches include Hand Craved Butcher Sandwiches (beef brisket, ham or turkey breast), Italian Chicken Hoagie, B.A.L.T., Crispy Chicken, Grilled Chicken, Battered Walleye, Twisted Tuna (on English muffin with guacamole, bacon and melted Swiss), Honey Mustard Chicken Salad, Cucumber Chicken Classic, Grilled Vegetable Melt, Chicago Hot Dog, The Cuban, Buffalo Chicken Wrap, California Turkey Wrap, Chicken Gyro Wrap, The Monster Club and Millionaires Steak Sandwich.  All sandwiches and burgers come with kettle chips but you can upgrade to fresh-cut fries, onion rings or tator tots for $1.59

Burger options are the Classic Ground Chuck, Cowboy (bbq, bacon and cheddar), Bleu Cheese Lover's, Ranch Burger, Cheeseburger, Shrooms and Swiss, Juicy Lucy, The Big Sak (two patties), and The BMFB (18 oz patty with all the classic fixin's!)

Pasta Specialties include BBC Pasta (broccoli, bacon and chicken with penne and chipotle cream sauce), Chicken Al Fresco and Pasta, Big People Mac and Cheese (caramelized shallots and four cheese sauce), Blackened Chicken Pasta, Chicken Meatballs and Spaghetti.  Half-sized pastas available for lunch M-F.

Entrees at Sak's are the BBQ Ribs, Grilled Top Sirloin, Grilled Marinated Chicken Breast, Beef & Beach (sirloin and walleye), and Beer Battered Walleye Fillet.

Price guide: Appetizers $ 5-9  Salads $7-10  Sandwiches/Burgers $7-9  Pasta $9   Entrees $13-20
Weekly Specials:
Tuesday- Sliders 3 for the price of 2

Wednesday- $.25/wings

Happy Hour M-F 3-6pm  7 days 9-11pm ~ 2 for 1 on all drinks  Select half-price appetizers

What We ordered: My companion and I visited Sak's during Happy Hour and opted to go with a couple of the half-priced appetizers from the Happy Hour menu.  We started with 2-for-1 Blue Moon draft beers and the pork quesadillas which turned out to be an awesome choice!  The shredded pork was tender and flavorful, nestled up with melted cheddar cheese and sauteed peppers and onions.  In addition to the filling being great, the crisp and flaky, buttery flour tortilla was browned to a beautiful, dark golden brown.  It was drizzled with sour cream and cilantro and served with a unique black bean and charred corn salsa.  Delicious!

 

We ordered another half-priced appetizer (why not at that price?), the Alley Cat's Ranch Wings.  The ten wings were fried then tossed with melted butter and ranch seasonings, and served with ranch dressing on the side.  These wings were pretty good if you like ranch flavor, which I thought was a unique but very smart way to season the chicken.

 

There were a number of sandwiches on the menu that sounded good to me, but I decided to order my standard Reuben from the Daily Specials menu.  I thought the Reuben was very good.  The deli-style corned beef was sliced thin and piled high with tangy sauerkraut and melted Swiss cheese on a lightly toasted rye bread.  It came with a generous serving of crunchy, seasoned kettle chips.

 

My companion ordered the Juicy Lucy with fresh-cut fries.  Juicy indeed! The beef was cooked perfectly and inside was a hot cheesey mixture of American cheese, cream cheese and green onion.  The generous helping of fresh cut fries were also very good, not too greasy but just salty enough.

Service: We were able to get a table for mid-afternoon lunch without a problem and were seated at a booth in the bar area.  Our overall service was decent.  The hostess who sat us was friendly and the male server we had was nice but he didn't seem very personable or outstanding in any way.  Drinks were filled as needed and food came reasonably fast.
Overall Impression: Another great sports bar to try in the Vadnais Heights/White Bear Lake area .  Wide selection of appetizers, sandwiches and burgers on the menu all at very reasonable prices.  Great Happy Hour specials!

Nook (Casper's & Runyon's) ~ St Paul, MN

Cuisine: American, Burgers
Restaurant Features: Bar, Games
Location: St Paul, MN
Address: 492 Hamline Ave. So  St Paul, MN  55116 (651)698-4647
Links: Nook Website   Google Map
Atmosphere: The Nook is tucked into its' Highland Park neighborhood within a little building just across the street from Ball Field of Cretin-Durham Hall.  The dining room of the restaurant is long and narrow, accommodating approximately twelve tables.  There is a variety of local memorabilia framed and hung on the walls, in addition to a handful of nice flat-screened TVs that are also hung up throughout the restaurant.  I am pretty sure I also saw a couple of video game machines at the very back of the dining room.  There is also a bar when you first walk in that seats about eight.

Menu: Appetizers at the Nook include Jalapeno Poppers, French Fries, Runyon Rings, Cheese Curds, Mozzarella Sticks, Mini Tacos, Mini Corn Dogs, Leprechaun Legs (fried green beans!), Nokie Wings with your choice of eight original sauces, Boneless Wings, Chicken Drummies, Chicken Tenders.

Pizza offerings include Deluxe, Sausage, Pepperoni, and Double Cheese.

The salad choices at the Nook are Dinner Salad, Garden Salad with Chicken, Caesar, and Buffalo Chicken.

Sandwich offerings include the Reuben, Bourbon Bacon Chicken, Charbroiled Chicken Breast, Charbroiled Chicken Club, BBQ Chicken, Buffalo-style Charbroiled Chicken, Chicken Tender Melt, Pork Tenderloin Sandwich, Half Pound BLT, Battered Cod, Salmon Burger, and Grilled Shamrock's Cheese.  All sandwiches come with fresh cut fries and pickle.

Burgers are what the Nook is known for! With many to choose from such as The Mickey's Original, Cheeseburger, Bacon Cheeseburger, Patty Melt, California, Pepperjack Burger, Shwishmushroom Burger, Bourbon Bacon Burger, Alumni Burger (Worcestershire sauce enhanced), Casburger, Nookie Supreme (Double Decker cheeseburgers with special sauce), Juicy Nookie (stuffed cheeseburger), Paul Molitor Burger (stuffed with pepperjack), Matt Birk Burger (two patties with pepperjack), Lodge Burger, Bleu Cheeseburger, Burger of the Month, and Garden Burger.  All burgers come with fresh cut fries or sub for onion rings just $1.50 extra.

Dinner Entrees come with coleslaw, garlic toast and French fries and include 7 oz Filet Mignon, a Surf and Turf Combo, Steak Sandwich, 8 oz. Ribeye, Fish & Chips, Fried Shrimp, Fried Chicken Wings, and Pork Chops.

Price guide: Appetizers $ 6-8 Sandwiches & Burgers $6-8 Salad $4-7
Weekly Specials: Sunday- Kids eat free from Kids' Menu  One child per adult.

Monday- Dollar Burgers from 8:30-10:00 (smaller burgers)

Tuesday-Bourbon Bacon Burger with fries $5.50

Wednesday- Ribeye and the Works $9.95

Thursday- Breaded Pork Tenderloin $5.95

Friday- Fried Shrimp or Fish Fry $9.95

Saturday- 4pm to close 10oz. BBQ Pork Chop Dinner

What We ordered: My companion and I started with the Cheese Curds.  This was a pretty generous helping of cheese curds, which were all bite-sized with a semi-hard outer breading and hot melted Wisconsin Cheese in the center.  Delicious! They came with a side of ranch for dipping.  I would recommend a minimum of three people share these rich treats.  I love them but can't eat too many at one time and I ate way more than I should have before the main course.

Our server told us that the favorite burger of everyone that works at the Nook is the Lodge Burger, so I ordered that to see what it was all about.  The seasoned beef patty was obviously fresh, very flavorful and juicy.  It had two layers of cheddar cheese, one on each side of the beef, plus bacon, tomato, lettuce and a special chipotle mayo.  I crave flavor and this burger did it for me! I was on cheese-overload from all the cheese curds I ate earlier and could have done without the second layer of cheese on my burger, but otherwise it ranks up there as one of the best burgers I have had.  I opted to sub Onion Rings instead of Fries and received a big portion of the golden rings.  The rings were thick-cut and also thickly breaded.  Good stuff!               

My companion had the Juicy Nookie with fresh sauteed mushrooms.  The medium-cooked burger was stuffed with a mound of melted American cheese that oozed out. My companion loved it and agrees that the Burger at the Nook is one of the best ever consumed.  The big pile of fries were fresh-cut and dense in the middle with just a slightly crispy outside and lightly seasoned with cracked pepper and garlic salt.

Service: Great! I had heard that the Nook is one of the few restaurants in town that consistently has a wait for a table, so my companion and I were pleasantly surprised that there were plenty of tables for us to choose from on a Monday afternoon around 4pm.  Our server did an excellent job of making us feel welcome and took his time to suggest different burgers and stayed on top of the drink refills.  Food was ready in a reasonable amount of time.  It started to get more busy as the hour progressed and by 5 pm every table was filled.
Overall Impression: Some of the best burgers in the Twin Cities, at great prices.

Wildwood Pizza ~ Mahtomedi, MN

Cuisine: American, Pizza, Ice Cream

Restaurant Features: Bar, Banquet, Catering, Games, Bowling, On-Site Parking, Live Music (on occasion in the Bowl)

Location: Willernie (Mahtomedi)

Address: 310 Stillwater Rd, Willernie, MN 55090 (651) 429-1141

Hours: Mon-Fri  1pm-10pm  Sat 12pm-10pm  Sun 12pm-8pm

Links: Google Map

Atmosphere: Wildwood Pizza is a very small restaurant located in its own enclosed space within the Wildwood Bowling Alley.  There are approximately six wooden booths that accommodate four adults each.   Every single inch of the walls are adorned with humorous memorabilia, plaques, signs, newspaper articles, sayings, etc.  A fun place to play "I Spy" with the kids.

The Game Room is located within the Bowling Alley and is a great place for the kids or adults to play a game or two before (or after) you eat.

The Bowling Alley itself has eight lanes, not sure if it has automatic scoring but there is shoe rental available.

Menu: Appetizers include Nachos with Cheese, Garlic Breadsticks, French Fries, Cheesy Breadsticks, Mozzarella Sticks, Onion Rings, Fried Mushrooms, BBQ Ribs Sampler, Buffalo Wings, Fried Cauliflower, Cheddar Nuggets, Chicken Nuggets, Chicken Tenders, Chicken Drummies, Cheddar Jalapeño Poppers, Tator Tots, Pizza Rolls, and Mini Corn Dogs.

Salads offered are the Chef and Taco Salad.

Wildwood Pizza is home to over 40 pizza toppings! Besides standard toppings (pepperoni, sausage, mushroom, olive, onion, pepper, etc), with tomato pizza sauce, Wildwood offers a variety of very different toppings/sauces including Mixed Nut, Spam, Minced Clam, Dill Pickle, Sauerkraut, Peanut Butter & Jelly, and Chicken Nugget.

Specialty pizzas include Bangkok Pizza with sweet and sour sauce, Great White Greek (with feta), McDermott's Godzilla with 9 toppings and Tex-Mex pizza with hot sauce, just to name a few. Crust is ultra-thin and crispy. You may also have the option of doubling your crust, with or without an extra layer of mozzarella in between.

Sandwiches include Fried Flour Tacos, Hot Dago, Steak, Chicken, Fried Fish, Hamburger, Cheeseburger, Grilled Cheese, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Corndog, Hot Dog, and Chili Cheese Dog.

Pastas offered at Wildwood include Cheese Tortellini, Spaghetti, Beef Ravioli.  All pastas come with a salad and bread & butter.

Dinner Entrees include Fried Chicken, BBQ Pork Ribs, Hamburger Steak, Sirloin, Butterfly Shrimp, Battered Pollock Fish, and Italian Sausage Patty.  All dinner comes with salad or coleslaw, French fries, and dinner roll.

Price guide: Appetizers $2-8  Sandwiches $3-8  Pasta $8-9  Dinners $6-14  Pizza $11-24

What We ordered: We started with the Fried Flour Tacos, which came with three in the order for $4.50 (or can be sold individually for $1.50).  The tacos were awesome! The flour tortillas were fried to a toasted golden brown and had seasoned ground beef stuffed inside.  Tomatoes, cheese and shredded lettuce is served on the side so that you can build-your-own

Next my companions and I shared a Jumbo Pepperoni, Mushroom and Shrimp Pizza. The crust was thin and crispy and the sauce on the sweeter side.  There were a ton of each of the ingredients on the pizza; the pepperoni and mushrooms were pretty standard and the shrimp were some of the smallest I have ever seen (which is a wonderful thing on pizza!).  The small shrimp were mild in flavor and had a soft texture unlike larger shrimp.  We asked for our pizza crispy but the center was packed with so many ingredients that it could've baked for another couple of minutes.  Overall the pizza was excellent.

Even though we were stuffed after dinner, my companion and I also shared a large strawberry malt, which the server split into two glasses for us (normally it would come in one glass plus the metal malt glass).  The malt was triple-thick and double-delicious with a lot of strawberries (I am assuming they were frozen & sweetened, not fresh) and also a generous amount of malt powder.  Malts were topped with plenty of whipped cream.

Service: Great! I have been to Wildwood Pizza many, many times and have always had excellent service.  They are usually really busy on the weekends so it may take longer than usual for a pizza, but it is worth the wait!
Overall Impression: Awesome pizza and a nice selection of other menu items as well.  Great place to bring the kids, extremely reasonable prices for everything on the menu

Sal's Angus Grill- Stillwater, MN (Withrow)

Cuisine: American, Fish & Seafood, Steaks, Chops & Ribs
Restaurant Features: Bar, Games, On-Site Parking

Location: Withrow, MN  (Washington Co. between Hugo and Stillwater)
Address: 12010 Keystone Ave Stillwater, MN 55082 (651) 439-6625
Links: Sal's Website Google Map

Atmosphere: The structure of the restaurant is made of logs, so as you would expect, the interior has the feel of a giant lodge.  The vaulted ceilings make the large dining room appear even bigger than it is.  There are several wooden tables to accommodate various sized groups and a selection of booths as well. Attached to the dining room is a nice bar area.

Menu: Appetizers include Angus Bites, Chicken Bites, BBQ Chicken Nachos, Onion Stacks, Walleye Fingers, Sal's Spuds, Coconut Shrimp, Pasta Nachos, Pork Wontons, Beer Battered Mushrooms, and Bruschetta.  Sal's also has Chicken Noodle Soup, Chicken Wild Rice, and a Soup of the Day. 

Salads offered are the Angus Bite, Chopped Chef, Caesar, BLT, and Sal's Salad.

Sal's also has a handful of specialty sandwiches such as the Hot Dago, Buffalo Chicken, Angus Bit and Italian Chicken.  You can also build your own burger or chicken breast sandwich.

Pastas include Homemade Lasagna, Chicken Penne, Spaghetti and Meatballs, Fettucine Alfredo, and Baked Chicken Parmesan.

Entrees are served with green beans and choice of potato, featuring Angus Sirloin, New York Strip, Ribeye, Sunfish, Walleye, Salmon, Jumbo Shrimp, BBQ Pork Ribs, Pork Tenderloin, Broasted Chicken, and Stuffed Chicken Breast.

Price guide: Appetizers $ 8-10 Sandwiches $8-10 Pasta $12-16  Entrees $17-22
What I ordered:  We were given complimentary rolls with a sweet, sugary butter. I love it when restaurants have bread and flavored butter!

We started with Buffalo wings, which happened to be very large and crispy.  The buffalo sauce was tangy and I could detect a hint of garlic in the bleu cheese, a nice addition to the standard buffalo/bleu cheese combo.

I ordered the Hot Dago because I was really in the mood for Italian and although a Steak House/ Bar & Grill is not the place one would typically think would have good Italian food, I was really happy with my sandwich! Served on a large slice of toasted Italian bread, the meat was a tasty combination of both beef and Italian pork sausage grilled into a patty.  It had a light amount of sauce on top (with extra sauce served on the side), then topped with grated mozzarella and parmesan.  The flavor of the sandwich was really good and the bread stayed crispy rather than getting soggy from too much sauce.  The Dago came with a ton of fries that were hot and salty.

After debating whether to get Prime Rib or Ribeye, one of my companions ordered the 14 oz. Ribeye with loaded baked potato.  The steak was really tender and the baked potato was loaded with cheddar, bacon, green onion, and sour cream on the side.  The green beans were perfectly cooked and had a slightly sweet flavor.

 

Another companion started with the Italian Wedding Soup and then had the California Burger.  I didn't try either of these, but the soup looked good.  The burger was supposedly "good", but the perfect roundness of it makes me think that it may have been a frozen patty rather than from fresh ground beef?

Service: Our visit was late on a Saturday night, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  Our server was really good and had suggestions that helped make our decisions.
Overall Impression: Really good for a rural restaurant.  The prices seemed reasonable for what you got and the service was good.

Dave & Buster's ~ Maple Grove, MN

Cuisine: American, Steaks, Fish & Seafood
Restaurant Features: Bar, Games, On-Site Parking

Location: Maple Grove, MN
Address: 11780 Fountains Way Maple Grove, MN 55369   763-493-9815
Links: Dave & Buster's Website        Google Map

Atmosphere: The restaurant itself is a decent size, especially when combined with the bar area, which also serves food.  The bar had several flat-screen TV's mounted above it, showing popular sporting events.

Beyond the restaurant and bar area is a giant arcade with everything from old-school favorites like skeeball to recent hits like Deal or No Deal.  Get physical with games like Dance, Dance Evolution or try one of the Trivia Video Games.  Shown here is a horse racing game.

Menu: Appetizers include Philly Steak Rolls, Cheese Fries. Cheese Sticks, Fried Mushrooms, Spinach Dip, Buffalo Wings, Thai Chicken Dippers, Bar Burgers, Potato Skins, Nachos

Burgers and sandwiches include Grilled Chicken and Cheddar, Roasted Turkey Avocado, Philly or Chicken Cheesesteak, Buffalo Chicken Wrapper, Buffalo Bar Chicks,

California Bar Burgers, Garden Burger and several other burgers.

Entrees include Lacy's Chicken, Black Jack BBQ Chicken or Ribs, Chicken Fingers, a large selection of Ribeyes and Sirloins, Grilled Salmon, Fried Shrimp, Blackened Tilapia, Fried Catfish, Fish & Chips, Cajun Shrimp Alfredo, Parmesan Chicken Alfredo, Chicken Marinara, and Blackened Chicken Pasta.

There is also a large selection of salads and soups.

Price guide: Appetizers $6-10  Sandwiches & Burgers $ 8-10  Entrees $ 10-25
What We ordered: We started off with the tempura fried mushrooms.  Lightly breaded and crispy.

 I ordered the Buffalo Bar Chicks. I think maybe part of the purpose of the smaller sandwiches is to make these easier to eat and less messy.  The sauce was standard spicy buffalo sauce, with bleu cheese dressing, fresh lettuce & tomato served on a warm roll.  I thought it was pretty good. 

 One of my companions ordered the Sirloin, served with loaded mashed potatoes and crispy onions.  The steak had really good flavor and the onions and potatoes were a  nice compliment in flavor and texture.

 Another companion ordered the Atlantic Salmon fillet grilled and glazed with a Hawaiian ginger sesame sauce. Served with citrus rice and sautéed green beans.  I did not try, but it looked fabulous!

 Another companion ordered the Mushroom & Swiss Burger.  The burger was quite large, as was the bun it was served on.

Since our visit was in celebration of a birthday, Dave & Buster's gave us this complimentary brownie dessert.

Another companion ordered the Banana's Foster dessert 

Service: The restaurant was very busy and every table was packed with people, so the service was kind of slow.  After dinner we attempted to play a few games, but found it very difficult to get started.  First we had to go somewhere to get a plastic card and then we had to go somewhere else to put money on the plastic card.  It was pretty much impossible to share the card because you had to physically have it with you to swipe it in the card slot.  One of us attempted to play a bowling game, but discovered the $5 only covered 5 frames of bowling.  I thought that was absolutely ridiculous! The arcade was very busy since it was a Friday night and the fun, popular games that I would've liked to play had lines. 
Overall Impression: The restaurant had good food, but the arcade was overpriced.  Cool place if you're into video games (I am not.)

Jimmy's Food & Drink- Vadnais Heights, MN

Cuisine: American

Restaurant Features: Banquet Rooms, Bar, Games, On-Site Parking, Sports bar

Location: Vadnais Heights

Address:  1132 County Road E E, St Paul, MN (651) 482-1100

Hours: Drink:  10AM - 1AM (Everyday)  Food:  10AM - 12 Midnight (Everyday)

Links: Jimmy's Website Google Map

Atmosphere: There are actually three main parts to Jimmy's: The Restaurant, the Bar, and the Banquet Center.  The restaurant itself is  smoke-free area with several booths and wooden tables, with several large flat-paneled TVs on the walls tuned in to various sports programming.  The large bar area is a very popular happy-hour hangout, with pool tables, dart boards, pull-tabs and other video games.  The banquet area accommodates up to 500 people and is available for wedding reception, conferences, etc. 

Menu: Jimmy's has a large selection of Appetizers including 13 flavors of chicken wings, southwest spring rolls, Italian dunkers, spinach & artichoke dip, walleye fingers (beer-battered or Cajun), coconut chicken fingers, and quesadillas.  Check out the happy hour specials. Sandwich selections include BBQ pork sandwich, chicken Caesar wrap, Beefeater, French dip, Monte Cristo, California chicken, and walleye.  There are also nearly 15 varieties of burgers.

Dinner entrees include walleye prepared 5 different ways, batter fried chicken, champagne chicken, lasagna, alfredo,  seafood linguine, lasagna, spaghetti, battered shrimp, grilled pork chops, New York Steak and baby back ribs.  Jimmy's also has a selection of thin crust pizzas.

Price guide: Appetizers $6-9  Sandwiches $7-10 (fries $1.50 extra) Burgers $6-8  Entrees $12-19

What I ordered: My companion and I took advantage of Jimmy's Happy House appetizer specials.  One thing we tried were the Cajun walleye fingers.  I've had the regular walleye fingers several times, but this was the first time I tried them Cajun-style.  I enjoyed the additional spiciness combined with the crispy batter and fresh tartar sauce.

We also wanted wings but I was debating whether I wanted the delicious teriyaki wings that I've had before or if I would try the spicy sesame.  The waiter recommended the sesame, so we tried those.  They were not at all what I expected, which was something more "Asian" inspired.  The "spice" in these wings tasted very much like their buffalo sauce, which I don't particularly care for, topped with sesame seeds.  Won't be ordering this flavor again, I will stick to the sweet, rich teriyaki.

Our other companion ordered the grilled chicken breast sandwich, served with honey mustard dressing and thought it was pretty good.

Service: Friendly, prompt.  There are usually free games going on for discounts on food or drink.

Overall Impression: Good happy hour specials, good place to meet with friends for happy hour or to shoot a game of pool.

NBA City ~ Minneapolis, MN

Cuisine:  American, Fish & Seafood, Steak, Ribs, Chops

Restaurant Features: Bar, Games, Sports Bar, Target Center

Location: Minneapolis (Downtown)

Address:  Target Center 600 First Avenue North  Minneapolis, MN 55403    P: (612) 767-2960

Links: NBA City Website Google Map

Atmosphere: As one would expect, NBA City is a restaurant themed around Basketball. Have you ever wondered just how big the hands and feet are of some of the NBA Superstars like Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O'Neal, or Yao Ming? Check out their shoes and hand imprints on these bronze basketballs!

Or buy the jersey of your favorite Superstar in NBA City's Retail Store....

Or maybe you're more in the mood to have a seat at the Courtside Bar where you can watch a variety of NBA games on any of the many flat-panel plasma TVs that hang over the bar....

NBA City also has a private VIP seating area called the Wolves Den.

Menu: The Chef's at NBA City take great pride in their freshly-prepared dishes.  Appetizers include Chicken Wings (4 sauces), Pecan Chicken Fingers, Crab Rangoons, Mediterranean Flat Bread, Coconut Shrimp and Chicken Quesadillas. 

Pasta dishes include General Jin's Ginger Chicken, Chicken Bleu Cheese Pasta, Grilled Salmon and Bowtie Pasta, Lasagna and Angel Hair Pomodoro. 

Entrees include Grilled Mahi-Mahi, Sesame Crusted Grilled Walleye, Jambalaya, Baby Back Ribs, and Steak.

Price guide: Appetizers - $7-10, Salads- $7-11 Pastas-$10-16, Entrees- $15-22

What I ordered: Crab Rangoons.  Spring rolls filled with a mixture of snow crab, cream cheese, herb and spices lightly fried until crispy.  Served with a sweet Thai dipping sauce.  Love them!

General Jin's Ginger Chicken.  Chicken tenders sauteed in sesame oil, teriyaki, ginger and garlic, served with Asian noodles and vegetables in General Jin's mildly sweet and tangy sauce.  This was heaven! The flavor was wonderful and I especially loved all the fresh cilantro.  There were many more noodles than what it appears in the picture!

Service: My visit to NBA City happened to be on a night when there were no events happening at the Target Center, so the restaurant was almost empty.  We waited at the host stand for approx. 5 minutes, but no one was available to help us, so we sat ourselves at the bar.  The bartender was very friendly and was happy to answer any questions that I had about the menu and the restaurant.  The restaurant gets PACKED on game nights, so make sure you make your reservations early... even days ahead of time.

Overall Impression:  Fun atmosphere, excellent food.  Awesome Happy Hour specials!