Ike's Food and Cocktails

The Nook

The Nook - After Action Report

Casper's and Runyon's Nook lived up to the hype. Club members were uniformly impressed with the burgers, service, ambiance and the value. The beer took a slight hit for a small selection and the "pretzel-tasting" Cygnus X-1. The Nook easily scored at the club's all time favorite (so far), with an overall score of 4.25, a half point higher than the Blue Door!

Let's break it down:

Overall Score: 4.25
Burgers: 4.17
Sides: 4.00
Beer: 3.67
Service: 4.83
Ambiance: 4.17
Value: 4.67

View the detailed scores here.

Up next month is Ike's Food & Cocktails on 21 December. Get ready for some holiday-burger-grubbin'.

Half Way to our Top 10!

The BOTM Club has hit it's halfway point in defining our Top Ten Best Burger Joints in the Twin Cities. Here's the rankings so far:

The Nook: 4.25
The Blue Door: 3.77
Grovland Tap: 3.67
5-8 Club: 3.33
Bulldog NE: 2.81
Matt's Bar: 2.38

Up this month (November) is Casper and Runyon's Nook in St Paul.

Matt's Bar - After Action Report

Matt's Bar was the destination in October. The club was roundly disappointed with Matt's Bar, the purported inventor of the Jucy Lucy. Matt's has the dubious honor of being lowest in the BOTM rating to date. Let's break it down:

Overall Average Score: 2.38

Burger: 2.25
Sides: 2.25
Beer: 2.75
Service: 2.25
Ambiance: 2.25
Value: 2.50

Detailed scoring and commentary.

The club seemed uniformly disappointed in both the food and the service. It didn't seem that Matt's lived up to its legendary hype.

Blue Door - After Action Report

In August the BTOM Club hit the Blue Door. It ranked the highest in our quest for the perfect burger joint to date, with an aggregate score of 3.77. Let's break it down:

Burger: 4
Sides: 4.25
Beer: 3.75
Service: 3.5
Ambiance: 3.5
Value: 4.25

Scoring details and commentary.

Seems like we were consistently happy with our burgers, and really enjoyed the sides (with the exception of the SPAM bites). The deep fried green beans got unanimous praise. Club members also seemed happy with quality beers served at $3/pint. Nice job Blue Door! We'll be coming back!

Bulldog NE After Action Report

Alas! The highly anticipated (and postponed) trip to the Bulldog NE was by most accounts a disappointment. Club members unanimously agreed that the service was bad (messed up orders, missing orders and an interminable wait for the bill). Most members were also disappointed with the quality of the burgers (notable exceptions were Todd and Joe). A high point for most of the club were the sides (my personal favorites were the poblano poppers), and the beer selection / quality. Below is a rundown of the voting:

Burger: 2.86
Sides: 3.43
Beer: 3.86
Service: 1.29 (a new record low!)
Ambiance: 3
Value: 2.43
Average Overall Score: 2.81

Full rating and comments can be found here.

I do have to editorialize a bit. The service at the bar (prior to taking our seat) was superb. The barkeep was prompt, informative, and helped reserve a table big enough for the 7 of us. His level of engagement and service easily merits a 5.

Next up is The Blue Door in St Paul on September 21st at 7PM. Here is a list of the rest of our tentative schedule (open to reprioritizing at any BOTM meeting).