300 Club - Le Sueur, MN

The hamburger -- this was entitled the 300 Style Burger -- cost me a mere $7.50 for a 1/3 lb. patty topped with 2 large slices of Canadian bacon, two strips of bacon, American cheese and Swiss cheese. I was immediately impressed by its size and all of its accessories.

I'll start, though, with the french fries. They were basic fries but encrusted with a bit of batter for a bit of added crunch when you took a bite (not to mention perfectly salted). The hamburger's bun was a typical pub style affair, lightly toasted on the kitchen's grill. My one complaint is that the heaping pile of cheese and two varieties of bacon served to overwhelm the flavor (if there was any) of the beef. That could have likely been avoided by using only one slice of Canadian bacon or applying a bit of seasoning to the pre-formed frozen ground beef patty when it was placed in the grill.

Le Sueur, Minnesota's 300 Club is a rather unassuming place. Its location -- part of the city's bowling alley in the basement of a strip mall below a few other stores and adjacent to the town's only motel -- left me wondering what I was getting myself in to the first time I ate there but the selection of food and the affordability of the tap beer (I ordered myself a 32 oz. Grain Belt Nordeast for about $3.25) has brought me back a few times.

The 300 Club restaurant is a bit small in size but so is Le Sueur so don't expect to ever have to wait for a table.

Overall, I give the 300 Style Burger 3.75 out of 5 stars due to its value which serves to compensate for the perceived lack of flavor I encountered. I'll be back to try another offering which isn't as shrouded in Canadian Bacon and cheese.

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Turtle’s Bar & Grill - Shakopee, MN

Turtle’s Bar & Grill - Shakopee, MN
Lunch
11:45 AM Thursday
$7.95 menu price

The burger itself was obviously something pulled from a case of frozen hamburger patties. Irregularly shaped to appear like it was hand-pattied but the straight edges were a dead giveaway. The ⅓ lb. hamburger patty was decently seasoned -- I know I detected a bit of pepper on the meat which wasn't extraordinarily juicy but also wasn't dry -- an admirable feat for a well-done burger.

Sitting in the bar area, Turtle’s was rather vacant at lunch. I would assume most of the lunch hours are similarly sparse and despite the fact that it’s a bar it would be a fine place to go with the wife and kids and a welcome alternative to someplace like Applebee’s. Turtle’s offers a full and varied menu of sandwiches, hamburgers, pizzas (a full bar, too) and more so it would be hard to strike out for people of any age.

The pub-style hamburger bun (no sesame seeds here) at Turtle’s in Shakopee was lightly toasted (probably put on the griddle for toasting) and brushed with butter. While this was a nice touch as it prevents the bun from getting soggy from whatever toppings (think lettuce, tomatoes, etc.) are ordered, it also caused the top of the bun to become somewhat dry as well which left my side of the table covered with crumbs (an embarrassment if you care about being tidy, which I don't).

Overall, the hamburger hit the spot that particular day as it got me out of the office for lunch but the $7.95 price could be adjusted down a bit (50 cents probably wouldn’t make or break Turtle’s Bar & Grill).

 ⅘ stars

If you are interested in a coupon for Turtle's Bar and Grill in Shakopee, check out the one below.

When All-You-Can-Eat isn't that

After being recommended this story about a fatty in Wisconsin who is probably still picketing a restaurant who cut him off after he states that he ate too much fish, I was reminded about my own all-you-can-eat fiasco of sorts.

It was probably ten years ago but I still remember it fairly well. I, along with my girlfriend and a few of my close friends loaded up the car and headed out to the mall in the city where I lived at the time. It was Sunday and Sunday meant all-you-can-eat hard shell tacos. There were nothing fancy -- ground beef tacos seasoned fairly well and topped with lettuce, cheddar cheese and diced tomatoes. The cost was appealing -- $5.95 for a basket of three hard shell tacos was the regular price and that price was the same for the all-you-can-eat Sunday special.

I don't honestly know what the others in my party ordered but I sure as hell ordered the all-you-can-eat tacos and a Coke to drink.

Within a few minutes my basket of three hard shell tacos arrived and mere minutes later I had eaten them. The waitress arrived back at our table and asked if I would like more tacos. Of course I said "Yes, please" and asked for another glass of Coke as well.

This time the basket of tacos arrived more slowly. It probably took fifteen minutes, bringing the time we had spent at the now-closed Diamond Dave's Mexican Restaurant to about 40 minutes. I spent about another ten minutes eating this basket of tacos bringing my total to a measly six hard shell tacos (weeks earlier I had eaten three baskets -- 9 tacos -- when I visited with co-workers).

I looked around from the comfort of my chair for our waitress. The restaurant, with the time now closing in on 1:00 PM, was basically deserted except for our table. The waitress was nowhere to be seen. I decided to walk up to the bar at the front of the restaurant. I asked the helpful bartender for another basket of three tacos, she said they'd be right out.

Magically, a few minutes later, our waitress arrived. She brought the check instead of my tacos. I wasn't happy. How was this all I could eat? I asked for a third basket of tacos, was promised a third basket of tacos and was brought my check -- a sort of signal that it was time for us to leave and that I wouldn't get another refill of Coke. I wouldn't get that third tasty basket of tacos. And the waitress would get a tip of about a dollar.

Was I wrong to be upset about this experience? I'm not some hideously obese beast that would have sat there all day eating tacos, demanding more and more until they closed the doors and ushered me out. I was in my early twenties at the time and had a rather healthy appetite and knew a good deal when I saw it. I do know that I voted with my wallet after that experience and never returned but as I'm writing this my taste buds are craving some of those freshly made tacos.

Mr. Pig Stuff BBQ Restaurant - Shakopee, MN

The BBQ pulled pork sandwich from Mr. Pig Stuff restaurant in Shakopee, MN

The potato chips from Mr. Pig Stuff restaurant in Shakopee, MN

Mr. Pig Stuff, a Shakopee BBQ restaurant which recently re-opened in a larger location on Highway 101 / 1st Avenue on Shakopee's eastern side next to Dangerfield's Restaurant (approximately 1 block east of Marschall Rd.) has put itself in an excellent position for growth. Having established themselves at their former location in western Shakopee and offering only walk-up and drive-thru orders, the new location is, in one word, huge.

The former Panzanella Restaurant (now home to Mr. Pig Stuff), nestled between Taco Loco and Dangerfield's Restaurant doesn't look large from the outside but on the inside now offers a salad bar, full line of Coke products with complimentary refills and seating, at my best estimate, for approximately 75 or more patrons.

Building on Mr. Pig Stuff's always delicious BBQ offerings (the pulled pork sandwich is my favorite -- they also offer half and whole beer can chickens, beef brisket, ribs, etc.) the Shakopee restaurant has expanded on their side dish offerings. I have always opted for french fries but when my basket arrived at our table this evening I was greeted with a dish of cole slaw as well. My daughter, being hard to please sometimes, had chicken strips, mac and cheese and a few other offerings to choose form but opted for the grown-up size cheeseburger. Weighing in at what had to be 1/3 lb. or more, this hand-pattied beauty was nicely seasoned with something I couldn't quite nail down. Maybe it was a bit of a spicier rub they made up specially for their new hamburgers and cheeseburgers but my nearly four year-old daughter did mention that it was really spicy. She instead shared in some of the succulent pork from her mom and dad's sandwiches but she did love the "potato chips" that came with the order.

The potato chips, a new side to go with the new location, were amazing. Seasoned with the same spice mixture Mr. Pig Stuff uses as a dry rub on their smoked meats, these potato chips were -- as explained to me -- something they experimented with by simply slicing potatoes the long way (approximately 1/8" thick), frying them and sprinkling them with their amazing dry rub which had a hint of brown sugar as a nice surprise.

All told, in the BBQ community, Mr. Pig Stuff has an excellent handle on their recipes. The service is fast with items prepared to order. The core of the staff is still all family members and the welcome addition of the much-needed inside seating should keep a steady stream of lunch-time workers coming through the doors with families keeping the place busy during other hours. The decor features plenty of Iowa Hawkeye memorabilia, two (or three) large televisions which tonight were tuned to the Green Bay Packers game and with the coming addition of beer Mr. Pig Stuff will have a leg up on their cross-town BBQ restaurant competition (Dickey's BBQ Pit in Shakopee's Southbridge area).

All told, I will definitely be back either during the workweek for a hearty lunch or on the weekend with the family. The best touch, though, was the cashier not only asking my daughter her name as we ordered but remembering it as we left the restaurant. Very nice.

Mr. Pig Stuff BBQ Restaurant
1561 1st Ave E
Shakopee MN 55379
952-233-7306
Mon - Sat 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Sun 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Dickey's BBQ Pit - Shakopee, MN

Finding the best BBQ in our stomping grounds is a bit of a quest. There are a few chains, a few restaurants who offer some sorry excuse for pulled pork alongside their typical midwest fare and a couple of locally-owned BBQ joints but after seeing the Mr. Pig Stuff in Shakopee hadn't yet changed to their summertime hours, we ended up in strip mall hell deciding between Panera and Dickey's BBQ Pit. We debated as we waited at the nearby stoplight. On one hand we know exactly what Panera will be like. However, I can make myself a damn sandwich with cold cuts any time I want. But we had never been to Dickey's BBQ Pit and we both love and were craving BBQ on that day. Once parked we decided on BBQ.

I immediately liked the fact that there were people basking in the sun on the restaurant's "patio" and loved the array of side dishes offered as they build your BBQ sandwich using your choice of meat before your eyes.

That, however, was the end of the fascination for us.

I kept trying to find high points. There were two coolers of freshly brewed iced tea but it wasn't as cold as it should have been and even the sweetened iced tea could have used just a bit more sweetening added. The waffle-cut fries were nicely seasoned using a mix of salt and pepper but the quantity for the two dollar price (this is, after all, a quick service restaurant) was lacking.

But we were here for the BBQ. Having both ordered pulled pork sandwiches, we could at least compare notes about our experience. The beverage island was home to three warm vats of BBQ sauce -- original, sweet and spicy. I ladeled some of the original on my sandwich and grabbed a sauce cup full of spicy for my fries.

The pulled pork, upon first bite, was obviously fresh but was short in the flavor department. At home I typically apply a dry rub spice mix on top of a slathering of yellow mustard for adhesion after soaking the pork shoulder in a reduced apple juice bath overnight and then let the smoke do its thing while the meat slowly cooks. While the pork at Dickey's BBQ Pit was tender and had an acceptable thickness of bark, it wasn't the typical explosion of flavor or juiciness that I've grown to expect from a BBQ restaurant.

I'm aware that taste is subjective but a bit of flavor isn't going to scare off your customers and expecting your choice of three proprietary sauces to do the heavy lifting is a cop out. Your meat shouldn't require sauce to provide the flavor.

Kudos, though, to Dickey's BBQ Pit for providing customers with a complimentary bucket of mighty tasty pickle spears to accompany their sandwich.

Overall, Dickey's BBQ Pit is a serviceable choice for barbecue. It's obvious that they have made compromises to attract a wide audience and that's smart business decision for a franchise but never shoud taste be compromised in an attempt to appeal to the masses. Again, a bit of flavor in your meat isn't going to send people running for the hills.

The free vanilla ice cream is a nice touch as well but it tastes like a generic store bought square reconstituted for use of a soft serve dispenser. It's a nice perk if you don't have high expectations.

Mr. Pig Stuff - the best BBQ

I've been a semi-regular customer of Mr. Pig Stuff in Shakopee, MN for about a year. It's an amazing little hole-in-the-wall joint on the former U.S. Highway 169 across form Rahr Malting in a former walk-up Dairy Queen building. To say that this area of Shakopee is overlooked would be an understatement but it shouldn't be overlooked any longer as Mr. Pig Stuff consistently churns out some of the best BBQ not just in the Twin Cities but in all of Minnesota.

Having lived here nearly ten years now, I've had many quests to find restaurants that measured up to those I became accustomed to frequenting in my teens and twenties. With pizza and Mexican food crossed off the list, it was on to BBQ and having heard of Mr. Pig Stuff through my wife who works a couple towns down the road, I made a run to the hidden gem of the BBQ world on my lunch one day and was instantly hooked. While I took my lunch back to my office there are also a scattering of picnic tables and a BBQ bar on the building's east side to belly up to and pig out.

The pulled pork sandwiches should be considered a drug because they are addictive. Warm, juicy, flavorful and just smoky enough to remind you that it's legitimate BBQ heaped up on a toasted bun and served with a mound of which ever side you choose.

I might stop by to grab a couple sandwiches to take home for supper tonight because it's been months since having their amazing BBQ and months without Mr. Pig Stuff is longer than a lifetime. Check out the family-run operation on Scott County 69 just a few blocks west of the Highway 101 bridge. It's practically in downtown Shakopee and it's heads and tails above the likes of Famous Dave's and Dickey's BBQ Pit which are chains and do little more than occupy cookie-cutter spaces in strip malls and send their profits out of state.

Is Taco John's actually better than Taco Bell?

I've never been a fan of Taco Bell. To me the food was gimmicky and lacked flavor and substance. Yesterday, though, my near hatred of Taco Bell was vindicated when a lawsuit surfaced stating that their "beef" contained a mere 36% beef and was packaged as "Taco Meat Filler". Even more disturbing was the fact that, after watching a news story about the subject, a food item classified as being 100% beef only needs to contain a mere 40% beef.

The rest of the bulk is made of wheat and soy fillers, binders and extenders which I'm nearly certain contains far less nutritional value that even the fattiest ground beef would.

This report, WCCO's Good Question, did little more to calm me:


Yesterday, as I sat in the local Taco John's drive-thru waiting for what I assumed were superior tacos, I watched a fairly steady stream of cars roll through the Taco Bell drive-thru across the street. Either these people really love shitty food or had heard nothing about the food that's making them fatter (for a low price to boot) not really being food. Whatever the case, I went on with my day not really thinking about what I had eaten until later. Then I tweeted my thoughts and the two almost immediate responses were troubling. They, one of them being Jason DeRusha, both agreed that the Taco John's product was likely the same.

Later still I did some lazy sleuthing on TacoJohns.com and within their allergy information, all of the items containing ground beef had the categories of soy and wheat allergies checked. To me this signifies that the Taco John's beef also contains soy and wheat fillers along the lines of the Taco Bell "beef". A quick search of off-the-shelf Ortega taco seasoning mix reveals no soy or wheat ingredients in the flavoring which, to me, rules that out as a possibility.

So, at a dead end for now, I'll open the question to better sleuths with more time. What percentage of fillers and actual beef is contained in Taco John's taco meat? I'd be surprised if I'd ever receive a straight answer but given the not-so-shocking news about Taco Bell, I am interested in knowing that the supposedly better choice is, in fact, better.

Arby's Roastburger: not impressed

With my body-wracking cold lessening, I decided that cooking was for suckers and ventured out to Arby's this weekend. I know how to treat myself to a tasty delight and the coupon for a free, much-touted Arby's Roastburger seemed to be calling my name.

The combinatiuon promised true deliciousness. Tasty, thin-sliced roast beef, bacon and hamburger fixings all on a tasty bun far different from those that a standard roast beef sandwich usually comes on.

However, much like My Network TV, the Arby's Roastburger failed to live up to its self-created hype. Oh sure, it had some shredded lettuce and a tomato slice on it but the roast beef which is normally juicy and tender seemed to be greasy. Yes, greasy just like the commercials had promised is wouldn't be because it's ROAST beef. Not fried, roast(ed). Then there was the bacon. Two seriously shriveled strips of bacon fit for that tiny farmer on those Burger King micro-mini breakfast sandwich commercials but so small that I barely noticed they were perched atop my free sandwich.

There could be a number of reasons for this subpar sandwich. Maybe the 16 year old assembling my free sandwich was new to the Arby's game. Maybe they knew my sandwich was free and made it both sloppily and hastily because, well, it was free. Or maybe I've hit that age when even fast food that presents itself as classy and even not fast food is not fit for my oh-so sophisticated pallette.

Whatever the case, I can rule out the Arby's Bacon Cheddar Roastburger as a sandwich for future eating outings.

Returning from an illness, MinnPics is back today with more new Minnesota photos. Check 'em out!

DQ's not so good deal

Never mind that City Pages, a sorry excuse for local journalism, has already knocked on the door of a Dairy Queen topic. There's more to it that the writer, whose memory may be short, didn't cover. (And yes, their Sweet Deals menu does suck) I'm talking about their cheeseburger deal.

Dairy Queen recently began running television ads featuring two cheeseburgers for $2.99 or two double cheeseburgers for $3.99. It's a solid deal during these financially barren times. Where else could you grab a couple dblchzbrgrs for just shy of four bucks?

How about from Dairy Queen (video of commercial) mere months ago? Yep, their Cheeseburger Lovers deal featured a $2.22/$3.33 offer as recent as this past autumn. I think it even ran into the early winter months (November?).

Yes, the difference is less than a buck but when you're touting a supposedly fabulous deal when the remnants of the previous deal featuring the same food is still rather prominent on your own Facebook page, you might want to either remove that particular video or matching the former sale price. After all, the raw material cost for cheese has dropped dramatically in the past few months. Is honesty thrown out the window in the realm of restaurant marketing?

Am I alone in noticing this or calling DQ out on their dishonest pricing?

Is McDonald's catering to the stupids?

Here is a fairly decent analysis of McDonald's McCafe commercials. You know them, the guys discussing how they are only wearing glasses to be smart and the one still airing with women admitting that they like watching reality TV and one not knowing where the fuck Paraguay is (hint: it's next to Uruguay).

Watch them. I'll wait.





Done? Good.

Alright.

To the casual observer, they seem fairly straight-forward. Drink our fancy coffee because we cater to the everyday American with our everyday prices. Then watch them, particularly the one with the women, and it does start to become overtly offensive. And not just to women.

Apparently, McDonald's wants to further the stereotype that being smart is a bad thing and that being dumb as a fencepost is very American. On the other hand, being smart doesn't mean that you have to listen to jazz and give up wearing heels. Fuck you McDonald's, your food makes my clothes stink and makes my car smell like a garbage can. Factor in that I don't even like coffee and that you have made America a bunch of sloppy fatties and you single-handedly belong inside every damn Wal-Mart store in this crumbling country.

Merry Christmas and enjoy your McDonald's gift cards!

A charmer buys ice cream

Believe it or not, I'm not a huge fan of ice cream. I blame that on the fact that it routinely gives me a terrible case of brain freeze (and yes, I DO have the equipment for that to happen).

That little aside leads to a lovely story as we tried to fill what amounted to too much time between destinations this past Saturday night.

As we made our way from our supper destination to our final evening destination (a movie) I realized that we had nearly an hour's worth of time to fill.

Luckily I had my camera gear with us so I worked on sme evening photography in downtown Chaska. Unfortunately, that didn't kill enough time so I decided that we would partake in ice cream from It's Just Perfect in the old Chaska train depot.

As we walked in I was pleasantly surprised that they were more than just ice cream. Hell, these folks had every kind of sugary treat that keeps dentists swimming in business. But I showed restraint. Not just because I am overflowing with restraint but because I am cheap and we had already spent what amounted to a couple wheelbarrows of cash earlier in the evening.

We ordered up a single scoop waffle cone in one of the sixteen flavors of ice cream they featured. I saw the wife eyeing a chocolate variety that was darker than a moonless night but I reminded her that too much of anything is not good.

The polite employee jokingly asked (I say jokingly because I had no intention of spending any more money) what I wanted. I said "Nothing for me, thanks."

"Oh, you're sharing?"

"Um, yeah", I responded.

"Oh, that's so romantic!"

Smiling, I said "Yes, it is" as I reveled in the clever developments that made me look like a charmer rather than a cold, soulless shell of a human being (as I truly am).

All told, this place deserves your business far more than the Dairy Queen further away from downtown Chaska on Highway 41.

Check out It's Just Perfect in Chaska at the corner of Highways 212 and 41 for the best real ice cream I've had in quite some time. By the way, the single scoop waffle cone was a mere $2.75.

Mix American Diner; Chaska, MN

On a whim this past Friday evening, we treated ourselves to a spontaneous date after a grueling week deep in the coal mines.

My old lady picked the movie (Ironman) and I chose the restaurant. Having seen that the former Bobby K's Embers in Chaska had taken on a new image and name, I suggested it and before I knew it, we were waiting for a table.

Before I get into the details of the food, I'd like to give the owners my approval on the decor. Literally from floor to ceiling, they captured the essence of what a modern day diner should be. The pattern and colors used for the floor (black, white, a bright blue and a bright green) offer up a throwback to the glory days of the American diner with a modern twist. The booths (we sat in the Chestnut St. side) are large and comfortable and use the bright blue color for the seats and backs. Nice touch for continuity's sake.

Even the ceiling was striking to me. No crappy dropped tile ceiling here. Strictly black painted ceiling letting all of the formerly hidden features hand out for the world to see. I can tell that there was a lot of planning put into this effort because from an aesthetic standpoint they nailed it!

Then there's the food. I wish I had brought my camera but you can trust my descriptions. The signature item is the house french fries. Cut in-house and served with a special dipping sauce which isn't ketchup but certainly contains ketchup wasn't my thing but I think that my old lady scraped the remnants out of the cup and into her pocket to have at the movie later. The portion size is another thing that the folks at Mix nailed. No enormous portions for the sake of size alone here. I had a hamburger with bacon and it was the perfect size (probably around 5 oz.) which again harkens back to days past. My dining partner had a turkey club which satisfied her erratic appetite and then some.

My only gripe has to be the prices. I'm not going to say that my hamburger plus bacon was worth a solid $8.50 because it wasn't. I could have driven up Hwy. 212 to Lion's Tap and while the menu would have been much more limited, the hamburger would have been far superior.

Without any more blathering, the grades.

Atmosphere: A+
Food Quality: B
Price: C- ($2.50 for a Coke?)

Overall grade: B-

This is a much-needed dining option in Chaska and while the prices are high, keep your dining dollars local and I'm sure they will adjust prices accordingly in the future.

More (Del) Taco choices on the way

Before today, I've heard of some (what I assumed to be) California-only restaurant named Del Taco. I hear it advertised on the L.A. radio station I stream from time to time but it didn't concern me because it's half the country away. Then I caught a snippet of the WCCO news ticker (nothing on their web site yet) a couple minutes ago and was informed that Del Taco is making an announcement today in the Twin Cities that they are building 32 metro-area restaurants.

I am posing an open question to those familiar with the chain. What is the food like? According to Wikipedia, they offer burgers and fries in addition to the Mexican fare. Is the restaurant more like Taco Bell or Chipotle or somewhere in between? Fill me in so us Minnesotans can drool in anticipation. Here's hoping that the southwest metro nabs at least one outlet...