Preliminary 2011 Schedule

Gang,

Here is the preliminary 2011 schedule. We can discuss on the 15th what people think.

Towntalk Diner Jan 2011
Skinners Pub & Eatery Feb 2011
Convention Grill & Fountain Mar 2011
Lyndale Taphouse Apr 2011
The Tavern Restaurant & Bar May 2011
Annie's Parlor June 2011
Vincent's July 2011
Lucky's 13 Pub Aug 2011
Tooties on Lowery Sept 2011
Sandy's Tavern Oct 2011
Maxwell's American Bar Nov 2011
Dusty's Bar Dec 2011

Bulldog Uptpown

We had a slightly better than average time at the Bulldog Uptown. Scores were much higher than the debacle we had the the Bulldog NE, so that was good. Overall, we were pleased with the burgers, perfect cheese curds, and the beer menu, but less than thrilled with the overall layout of the joint and the attitudinally-challenged service. Let's break it down:

Burger: 3.67
Sides: 4.5
Beer: 4.33
Service: 2.53
Ambiance: 2.83
Value: 3.33

Overall: 3.54

Shamrocks Rocks

Shamrocks does indeed rock! For only the 3rd time in club history, we have broken a overall 4 star rating! Not surprisingly, one of the other places was the Nook (still reigning champion). The other is Sweeneys. Scores and comments closely echo the voting for The Nook. I think that Shamrocks may have even won if they offered a more robust tap menu. Let's break it down:

Burger: 4.5
Sides: 4
Beer: 3.17
Service: 4.5
Ambiance: 3.67
Value: 4

Overall: 4

You should now be able to add comments to the voting via Google Docs.

Mac's Industrial Burger Bar AAR

We hit Mac's Industrial Burger Bar in Nordeast this Monday, and were largely not disappointed! We scored the best since the infamous outing to Sweeney's back in January. People universally loved the Fried Plate of Death and the cheap menu. Parking, mediocre service and less than awesome ambiance took it down a notch. One quotable came from Mr Engberg with the following:

Parking confusion was annoying, driving around the block in Nord'east with all the non-euclidean corners and one-ways is not my favorite pastime. Speaking of non-euclidean, I have to agree with Clint, a showdown with alternate universe el-presidente would have kicked ass. And probably freed their world from his tyranny over the Coleslaw of the Month Club. El Jefe whooping wholesale ass on PBR hipsters would have been acceptable as well. ;-)

Here's a breakdown of the scoring:

Burger - 3.42
Sides - 4.25
Beer - 4.17
Service - 3.25
Ambiance - 2.83
Value - 4.50

Overall score - 3.74

Salut Bar American - AAR

Here's the After Action Report for Salut in St Paul. In general there was agreement that the service and patio ambiance were nice, but disappointment at the small beer selection, the quality of the burgers (oh oh!) and the overall pricing. Honerable mention goes to the fries with bernaise sauce. Here's how the scoring broke down:

Burger: 3
Sides: 3.3
Beer: 2.3
Service: 3.67
Ambiance: 4
Value: 2.67

Overall score: 3.15

Revised 2H 2010 Schedule

OK -

The great summer weather, and 2 consecutive great patio moments got me thinking...we need to make the most of the summer! I've been doing some more research on yelp, and also have dropped 1 tavern and added another (swapped out the Town Talk Diner, and swapped in Mac's Industrial) So, I've re-arranged somethings, and here's the updated schedule:


July 19 - Salut Bar American (on Grand Ave in St Paul)
August 16 - Mac's Industrial
Sept 20 - Shamrocks Grill & Pub
Oct 18 - Bulldog Uptown
Nov 15 - The Cardinal (note, this is on the Hiawatha rail line; 38th Ave Stop)
Dec 20 - 112 Eatery

Stub & Herb's

The gang hit Stub & Herb's in June as was not disappointed! We had beautiful weather, and opted to sit on the patio behind the pub proper. We were uniformly impressed with both the variety of beers and the quality service. Burgers were well received too. Here's a breakdown of the scores:

Burger: 3.62
Sides: 3.5
Beer: 4.25
Service: 4
Ambiance: 3.25
Value: 3.5

Overall score: 3.68

Note - this finally break's St Paul's stranglehold on the top half of the ratings. Stub & Herb's falls somewhere between the Groveland Tap and the Blue Door on the burger-o-meter.

Happy B-Day BOTM Club!! Rankings Thus Far...

We've finally hit the 12 month mark! Below are a year's worth of scores. The reigning champ continues to the The Nook, while Matt's Bar is our cellar dweller! Here's to another delicious year!

The Nook - 4.25
Sweeney's - 4.21
Blue Door Pub - 3.88
Groveland Tap - 3.67
The Happy Gnome - 3.5
American Burger - Bar 3.41
5-8 Club - 3.3
Herkimer Pub - 3.13
Ike's 3.04 -
Burger Jones - 3.03
Bulldog NE - 2.81
Matt's Bar - 2.38

Interesting to see that the top 6 taverns are all in St Paul, and the bottom 6 are all in Minneapolis. You may have the lakes, but we got the burgers

:-)

Catch Up Time!!

OK -

Sorry for the hiatus. We've had spotty voting, and that's led to spotty postings. I'm going to be bringing back the old-school ballots for our June outing! Here's our backlog of (averaged) voting:

March - American Burger Bar

Burger - 4.5
Sides - 3
Beer - 3
Service - 3.5
Ambiance - 3.5
Value - 3

Overall Score - 3.41

May - Burger Jones

Burger - 4.5
Sides - 3
Beer - 3
Service - 3.5
Ambiance - 3.5
Value - 3

Overall - 3.03

June - The Happy Gnome

Burger - 2.8
Sides - 3.2
Beer - 5
Service - 3
Ambiance - 4.2
Value - 5.8

Overall - 3.5

TwinCitiesBurger.com

One of the guys I work with sent this my way. Here's a like-minded BurgerMan who's also on a quest for burger-perfection. Check it out!

www.twincitiesburger.com

One man - going it alone. Truly, an inspiration for all of us.

Blue Door Annouces...The Lumberjack Blucy!
The Lumberjack ($8) is a burger stuffed Jucy Lucy-style with smoked Gouda, thick-cut bacon and cayenne pepper. The burger itself is finished off with a maple syrup glaze on the outside and served naked on a bun. Before you head out to try it, just know that no matter how delicately you put it, anyone who hears that you will be eating this will think that you are a filthy animal.

YES!

Details here.

Herkimer AAR

The Club hit Herkimer's in Uptown in February. The pub came in very average, with scores for everything floating around the "3" mark. Club members seemed universally disappointed with the beer. For a brewpub, there was a strange lack of flavor across the spectrum of beers we sampled (and we sampled 'em all!). Let's break it down:

Burger: 3.2
Sides: 3.4
Beer: 2.8
Service: 3.2
Ambiance: 3.2
Value: 3

Overall score: 3.13

Link to detailed scores and comments.

Sweeney's Saloon

While some of the BOTM Club were MIA in Jan, the rest soldiered on. The reviews were solid; Sweeney's definitely stands out for beer, service, ambiance and value. Also also decent burgers. It comes in #2 in our overall pub race thus far! Let's break it down:

Burger: 3.3
Sides: 4
Beer: 4.5
Service: 4.5
Ambiance: 4.5
Value:4.25
Overall: 4.21

Link to detailed scores and comments.

Sweeney's Saloon

Preliminary 2010 Schedule

Team,

Here's the preliminary schedule for 2010. Based on your feedback, I've added Bulldog Uptown back on the list.

Sweeney's Jan 2010
Herkimer Pub Feb 2010
American Burger Bar Mar 2010
Burger Jones April 2010
The Happy Gnome May 2010
Stub & Herbs June 2010
112 Eatery July 2010
Shamrocks Aug 2010
The Cardinal Sept 2010
Salut Oct 2010
Town Talk Diner Nov 2010
Bulldog Uptown Dec 2010

Schedule on Google Docs

Ike's Food & Cocktails - After Action Report

The December club meeting came perilously close to not happening as we had a flurry of last minute regrets. A special congrats goes out to Rob and Kate who are now the proud parents of a baby girl!!! But the hard core alcohol- er, I mean members, braved the cold and checked out Ike's Food & Cocktails. Ike's was able to just barely break 3 stars out of 5 on our Burger-o-Rama scale. Let's break it down:

Overall Score: 3.04
Burger: 4
Sides: 3
Beer: 4
Service: 4
Ambiance: 3
Value: 3

Here's a link to the detailed scores.