Twin Cities Restaurant Blog

Davanni's Pizza ~ Arden Hills, Bloomington, Brooklyn Center, Burnsville, Coon Rapids, Eagan, Eden Prairie, Edina, Golden Valley, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, Plymouth, Richfield, Rogers, Roseville, Savage, St Paul, Woodbury

Cuisine: Pizza, Delicatessen (hoagies)

Restaurant Features: Catering, Counter-Service, Delivery, Kids Menu, On-Site Parking (at many locations)

Locations: Arden Hills, Bloomington, Brooklyn Center, Burnsville, Coon Rapids, Eagan, Eden Prairie, Edina, Golden Valley, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, Plymouth, Richfield, Rogers, Roseville, Savage, St Paul, Woodbury
Addresses: (Click here for Maps of Davanni's Locations)

Arden Hills: 3673 Lexington Ave N Arden Hills, MN 55126 651-481-7100

Bloomington: 8605 Lyndale Ave S  Bloomington, MN 55420  952-888-6232

Brooklyn Center:  5937 Summit Dr  Brooklyn Center, MN 55430 763-566-8220

Burnsville: 14639 CR 11  Burnsville, MN 55337  952-431-1500

Coon Rapids: 3430 129th Ave NW Coon Rapids, MN 55448 763-712-1000

Eagan:  1960 Cliff Lake Rd Eagan, MN 55123  651-688-6111

Eden Prairie: 8061 Flying Cloud Dr Eden Prairie, MN 55344   952-941-4444

Edina: 5124 Gus Young Ln Edina, MN 55436 952-920-9090

Golden Valley:  663 Winnetka Ave N  Golden Valley, Mn 55427 763-398-0303

Minneapolis: 1242 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN 55403  612-338-0000

Minnetonka: 15200 Highway 7 Minnetonka, MN 55345 952-938-4243

Plymouth:  3015 Harbor Ln N  Plymouth, MN 55447 763-550-0003

Richfield: 2312 W 66th St Richfield, MN 55423    612-866-3324

Rogers:  14165 James Road Rogers, Mn 55374 763-428-2990

Roseville, 1905 W Perimeter Dr Roseville, MN 55113 651-636-3411

Savage: 14125 Highway 13 Savage, MN 55378 952-440-1200

St Paul:  310 White Bear AveSt. Paul, MN 55106 651-738-6992

St Paul:  41 Cleveland Ave S St. Paul, MN 55105 651-690-4848

Uptown Mpls: 1414 W Lake St Minneapolis, MN 55408 612-822-3111

Woodbury: 1905 Donegal Dr Woodbury, MN 55125 651-739-1010

Links: Davanni's Website 

Atmosphere: The East St Paul Davanni's location is just off I-94 and White Bear Ave.  Like all other Davanni's location, customers order at a counter and then wait for their name to be called when order is ready.

There are several different seating areas, each with booths that can accommodate up to four people.  There are also a  couple of tables in the very back section of the dining room.  There are many windows throughout the restaurant, leaving it very well lit during the day.

Menu:  Appetizers include Potato Chips, Breadsticks and Garlic Cheese Bread.

Salads at Davanni's are the Garden Salad, Side Garden, Chicken Cobb, Italian Chef, Oriental Chicken, Southwestern Chicken, Spinach Chicken, Chicken Caesar, and Side Caesar.

Hoagie sandwiches are served on either white, whole grain, or ciabatta roll with lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo.   Options include Southwestern Chicken, Chicken Bacon Honey Mustard, Chicken Breast, Turkey/Bacon/Cheddar, Turkey, BLT w/ Cheddar, Club, Roast Beef, Pastrami, Ham, Salami, Tuna Melt, Veggie, and Three Cheese. Hot subs made with meat, marinara and cheese only include Chicken Parmigiano, Meatball, Sausage, and Pizza.

Davanni's Pizza can be ordered with a choice of three different crusts (thin, traditional and deep dish) and two sauces (red and white).  Sizes pizzas come in are Solo, Medium and Laqrge.  Toppings choices are Pepperoni, Italian Sausage, Sliced Chicken Breast, Canadian Bacon, Hamburger, Red Onion, Green Pepper, Garlic, Mushrooms, Hot Peppers, Green Olive, Black Olive, Pineapple, Bacon, Gorgonzola Cheese, Anchovies, Roma Tomatoes, Cheddar Cheese, and Jalapeños.

Davanni's also has Penne Pasta (with chicken, meatballs or sausage), Lasagna and Stuffed Calzones.

Kids menu items include Hlaf Pasta, Solo Cheese Pizza, or Half Ham Hoagy.

Desserts include Brownies, Rice Crispy Treats, and Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

Price guide: Hoagies $3.25-7  Salads $4-7   Pizzas $5-20  Calzones $5.50+

What We ordered: My companions and I ordered a variety of pizzas, including this large Chicago-style deep dish pizza with pepperoni and sausage.  Davanni's deep dish is a treat for those who like real Chicago-style pizza and has been my one of family's favorites for many years.  The buttery brown crust is at least 1" deep yet it is light.  The lightness of the crust is deceiving because the pizza is actually very filling.   The cheese and meats were baked directly on top of the crust with pizza sauce spread out on the very top to prevent the crust from getting soggy.  The large pizza had 10-12 wedges.

 

Our party also ordered a Large Thin Crust Pepperoni Pizza.  The crust on the thin crust pizza was also pretty good, crispy but slightly chewy.  It was loaded with melted mozzarella and a fair amount of pepperoni (although I personally like more).

c and olive oil)

This is a solo deep dish pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms and "pink" sauce.  Pink sauce simply means that it has both white sauce (garlic and olive oil) and red sauce.  If you like garlic, you would love either the white or the pink sauce.  This pizza was also very good, the mushrooms were fresh and there was a lot of pepperoni.  The light and buttery deep dish crust practically melts in your mouth.

 

One of my companions ordered a half pizza hoagy on whole grain with a special request for the sauce to be served on side.  This is a good sandwich but it doesn't have much substance, just a thin layer of pepperoni and a thin layer of melted cheese on one half of the bread.  You better order the whole sandwich if you're hungry!

 

Another companion ordered a pepperoni and veggie calzone to-go.  Safe to say that this thing was loaded with melted cheese, meat and veggies.

Service: You can call ahead for pick up or delicery, otherwise Davanni's offers standard counter-service.  There are typically 2-3 cashiers taking orders during the lunch and dinner rush but you can still expect to wait a few minutes before placing your order. It was fairly busy during my visit and it took about 30-40 minutes for our pizzas, which seems a reasonable amount of time for the deep dish pizzas to bake.
Overall Impression: Davanni's has excellent deep dish pizza and is conveniently located in several places around the Twin Cities.  Service is reasonably fast and menu prices aren't going to break the bank.

Majors Sports Cafe ~Albertville, Apple Valley, Blaine, Bloomington, Golden Valley & Inver Grove Heights, MN

Cuisine: American,

Restaurant Features: Bar, Sports Bar, On-Site Parking

Locations:  Albertville, Apple Valley, Bloomington, Blaine, Golden Valley,  Inver Grover Heights,

Addresses: 

Albertville  5651 Le Centre Avenue NE Albertville, MN  55301 P: 763.497.7629
Apple Valley 14889 Florence Trail Apple Valley, MN  55124 P:  952.432.4787
Blaine 10950 Club West Parkway Suite   101 Blaine,   MN  55449 P: 763.746.2774
Bloomington 8301 Normandale Boulevard  Bloomington,   MN  55438 P: 952.835.8308
Golden Valley 6440 Wayzata Boulevard  Golden Valley,   MN  55426P: 763.746.2280
Inver Grove Heights 5639 Bishop Avenue Inver Grove Heights, MN  55076P: 651.451.3838
 ******This review was originally written for the Vadnais Heights location, which was closed 1/08 and will be re-opening as Mad Jack's Cafe Spring 2008.  The Roseville location has also changed ownership and is now Grumpy's Restaurant.*****

Links: Majors Sports Cafe    Google Map

Atmosphere: Two decent sized dining rooms, with a large bar in the center.  Also a large double-sided fireplace in the entry way.  Very bright during daylight hours!

Menu: Appetizers include pepper jack spinach dip, walleye fingers, barbeque sliders, Wimpy sliders, boneless wings, nachos, quesadillas, cheese curds, Thai beef tidbits, and baked sausage pizza dip. 

Besides a variety of salads and soups, Majors also has a large selection of sandwiches including BBQ chicken wrap, roast beef wrap, honey mustard chicken wrap, walleye, The Cuban, The Hell Raiser,  hot beef,  tuna melt, tuna salad, grilled salmon BLT, prime dip, Philly cheese steak, clubhouse, Reuben, Buffalo Chicken and a variety of grilled chicken breast sandwiches.  Majors also has a selection of specialty pizzas and burgers, or custom order your favorite toppings! 

Entrees include meatloaf, stuffed salmon, top sirloin, pork enchiladas, chicken enchiladas, St Louis style ribs, chicken parmesan, stuffed walleye and prime rib.

Majors also offers pasta and rice dishes including jambalaya, manicotti, chicken penne carbonara, chicken pesto fettuccine, and southwest chicken penne.

Price guide: Appetizers $5-10  Sandwiches $6-9  Entrees $10-20

What I ordered: Although this was my first-ever visit to a Majors restaurant, I ordered the Reuben.  This is my standard sandwich at most bar & grill restaurants, but you would be surprised at how much this sandwich can vary! The Reuben at Majors was quite disappointing :(  The corned beef was so tough I could hardly bite into the sandwich, and the grilled bread had become very soggy on the bottom before it ever arrived at my table.  I definitely recommend trying a different sandwich next time.

My companions ordered the Cajun Chicken Alfredo.  This was a big hit! A nice sized portion of pasta covered with tender and flavorful chicken breast.

Walleye sandwich.  Nothing special about this walleye.  The breading was not very crispy and the roll it was served on dominated the experience.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwich. One look at this thing and you can tell it is going to be very MESSY to eat. Break out the silverware for this sandwich or ask for an over-sized bib!  Waffle fries and seasoned sour cream are an upgrade for $2 more.

Thai Beef tidbits (Marinated tenderloin cubes are pan seared and served with cream cheese dipping sauce.) This was actually very good! The beef was tender and had a sweet flavor to it.  The portion size was not very big, but it is offered as an appetizer rather than a meal.  Also served with fried wonton chips.

Service: The service was decent.  There were not many customers dining at lunch on the Saturday we visited, but restaurant seemed appropriately staffed. Host staff and servers were all very friendly.

Overall Impression: The atmosphere was very nice, but the food seemed just average.  I would be willing to try it again but will try food options other than the ones we tried on this particular visit. One favorable thing I have heard about Majors is their late-night Happy Hour specials are really good. Several of the Majors locations also offer trivia competitions and they give out free gift cards to be redeemed at any Majors location.