Doolitttles (Orig.): What don't they do well?

Love this place. Been there 20-30 times.

This particular time, I ordered a Blue Cheese burger, in my typical medium-rare fashion. The burger arrived timely. It didn't fly, the stewardess brought it promptly. She then proceeded to drool all over Carrie's ring (extra tip forthcoming for THAT move), then told us, as usual, all the of the domestic ales were not eligible for happy hour pricing.

Okay...so it's not like I really give a damn about saving $2 on a draft. But what I DO care about and what INCESSANTLY pisses me off is when a drinking establishment categorizes Summit - brewed about 20 minutes away - as a "non-domestic" beer. How dumb are we? I digress....

The burger was wonderful. 1/2 pound, grilled perfectly. The bun - wonderful also! Buttered, ciabatta bread, grilled, and a nice little stack of skewered veggies piercing through both. This blue cheese burger came fully equipped with two large slices of applewood smoked bacon. And the bacon was cooked *perfectly*.

The fries....not the best, but the best I've ever had Doolittle's cook them. I like my fries well-done. Especially if they're steak fries. These fries are slightly smaller than true steak fries, and these were well done. In the past, Doolittle's has served them somewhat similarly to how you'd serve a piece of baked potato. And that's weak.

Though we usually order wine at Doolittle's, we did try the Summit Winter ale (See the Buffalo Tap post for my thoughts on this one.) Doolittles has a decent ale selection, and a good wine selection, though the wine is overpriced. I can live with marking up a bottle 100%...but 150%? Please. That's just bloody lame.

BARF tolerance score:

Burger: 8 of 10.
Ale Selection: 5 of 10.
Red Wine: Selection: 6 of 10 / Price: 3 of 10.
Fries: 4 of 10 (Good...for Doolittle's.)

~Orb

Buffalo Tap: Farewell, Detroit Lions.

You've officially crashed & burned...and I got to see it all before my very eyes while at the Buffalo Tap in Savage, MN. A haven of Packer fans. But enough of the ambiance.

I ordered a Wisconsin-stock Juicy Lucy. The burger was very tasty. Big, packed with cheese. Nekked save for a pickle on the bun, which was fine. The burger was also salted/peppered lightly. The onion rings were fine, as were the high school cafeteria-esque crinkle-cut fries. But the cheeze curds...my god. The best I've ever had. I've had some great ones: Outside the metrodome, where they're flash-fried fresh from the vat. The Renaissance festival (Savage) curds are great too.

But nothing...NOTHING could hold a candle to these babies. The beer selection? Much-improved from when I'd last visited. They did have Summit, but were out of the yummy Summit Winter ale. (On a side note: The Summit Winter is very much more suited for a porter or creamy stout than a well-hopped/malted typical winter ale.)

We switched to wine soonafter the 1st Summit. Decent wine selection - for a place that serves cheeze curds. I'd go back for the curds any day. BARF tolerance rating:

Burger: 7 of 10.
Ale selection: 4 of 10.
Really Kick-Ass Cheese Curds: 10 of 10.
Fries: 6 of 10.

~Orb

Trygs: The Stakeout

So. This is my first blog. Chad will be proud (or sad?) of his little brother for finally jumping on the blogging bandwagon...though by this point, it's pretty damned full.

Carrie & I hit Trygs yesterday. I'm not going to use an apostrophe, since they did not. It's not my restaurant, it's theirs. And if they want to look stupid...that's their right. Onto the meal....

We arrived at 6. The bar was full...sadly...so we went to the dining area. Immediately when we sat down, we noticed that we were not alone. There were some "others" at our booth. Well...not really. They were on the other side of wall...but the overhanging ceiling was fashioned is such a way that their conversations were beaming down on us. We felt as though we were on a stakeout...overhearing every little shred of yuppy tripe they were shoveling out.

But this is a meal blog...so let's get down to it. Our robotic waitress has arrived! Say hello to Doris. She of the fake smile, fake interest, and OCD/neurotic need to pour Carrie & I our beaujolais nouveau in EXACT same portions.

That's right. No beer....what a sad way to kick off my beer & burger blog. No beer. But there was a burger. The Trygs (') signature 10 Oz. burger. Mine was ordered medium rare - my favorite way - with lettuce, onion, and sweet aiole sitting atop my two pieces of smoked Gouda.

The burger itself was large...but in a filet mignon-esque cut. It looked like a hockey puck. The burger was not seasoned whatsoever...it was just like eating cardboard. I'm a fan of seasoning...ANY seasoning on a burger. But the Gouda helped it out. And the bun was grilled...which helped.

I ordered the fries along with. Dried out, not very tasty. Like Doris, most likely.

And with that...I'll end my first blog entry. Then go see how it looks. I'm not to the point yet of adding .jpegs, or anything cool like that. For an expert's blog...please refer to http://aagro.blogspot.com/

Burger Rating: 6.5 out of 10.
Fries Rating: 5 out of 10.
Ale Selection Rating: Not a very good selection... 3 out of 10.