Roll Call - MN contingent? (Part 1)

Thank you, I was going to say it but couldn’t articulate it this well. Steak is fairly easy to cook and is much more raw-material dependent. You want the quality of the meat to shine. Brisket is basically taking something nobody wants and making it delicious with a lot of care and patience.

It’s not even close to great cuisine but my favorite place is and likely always will be Blue Door Pub, the original on Selby Ave. and Fairview in St. Paul.

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My favorite places are all burger spots and I will not apologize for it.

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Agreed. It sucks because I love the vibe of their brewery & Animales, but I feel like I only can have like 1.5 beers there & be ready to move one.

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Will always love BDP. I lived blocks from the old Selby location for 2 years and frequented the hell outta that place. Still bummed they got rid of the Bangkok Blucy.

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FWIW 612 is WAAAY worse than Able. And pretty much everywhere else.

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I had it when they first came out and thought, “wow, they have some work to do to get things dialed.”

However many years later, they must still be working on it.

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I figured when I said “not super about” their beer yesterday, everyone in this thread could read through the typical #MNnice passive aggressive to get the “god this beer is swill” that I meant

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I used to live a block from blue door and had it at least 100 times. Ive had plenty of the burgrers but its best kept secret is the the boneless wings. Without a doubt in my mind the best boneless wings in town. The regular wings are amazing too.

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Not worth walking around the corner for 612 when Bauhaus is down the street & Indeed 5 blocks away. 612 may be the WOAT Minneapolis brewery.

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I’ve never agreed with anything more in my life

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Martina, Colita, Young Joni, Ons Thai, Animales, Spoon and Stable, Paulour Burger, Boludo, Hai Hai, Lat 14 (not sure everyone would agree with me on this one), Edward Dessert kitchen, Black Walnut Bakery, Bebe Zito, Pimento, zen box, muccis, Taqueria las cuatro miipas

These are just some of places i think are doing great things. You can include mannys, ps steak but i tried to cover quite a bit of variety here. I also think i would have more to add but figured i wouldn’t try to cover everything. I also haven’t tried every place so i am sure ppl will ask why {insert name here} wasn’t included but good chance i haven’t tried it.

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I’ve never heard of Taqueria las cuatro miipas, but I just did a quick search and literally gasped at how delicious a beef soup dish that someone was dunking a taco in looked.

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Just recently went to Baldamar and while expensive holy shit is that place good

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Birria man…so effing good.

If people have more ethic gems that are uncommon to white minnesotan customer i would love to hear it. Lake street, payne ave. places that are off the beaten path and that i would feel uncomfortable walking into bc english wouldn’t be the first language i am all for it.

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can second baldamar. feels out of place in roseville. but appreciate the risk in putting a higher price point restaurant in the burbs that isnt a blueplate, parasole or kaskaid.

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@Taylorda regarding your comments around Central TX style barbecue, Buddy Boy in Minnetrista does a good job. They have 2-3 offset wood burning smokers going at all times. However, like many MN joints they struggle with consistency.

@chefcycle I couldn’t agree more that smoking a brisket is WAY harder than cooking a steak. One of the biggest variables is the weather. The Minnesota climate makes this even tougher.

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What are people’s opinions of best Pho in the metro? I used to frequent iPho on University when I lived on that side of town, but haven’t had some really good Pho in too long and need to fill the gaping hole in my heart (and stomach).

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Quang over on Nicollet in Whittier is a solid spot - used to be my go to when I lived in the LynLake area. My vietnamese friend from San Fran co-signed it when we went like 4 years ago, so I trust her opinion it is legitimately good. It has been a while since I stopped in…

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I had it for the first time last weekend, not great :grimacing:

That said, I like their vibe and the service was good so I’ll be trying them again. I think I just got bad pieces of meat (pork ribs were were thin and oversmoked and the beef ribs weren’t fully rendered) but the pulled pork was solid. Really creative sauces though with a spicy ginger that was unlike any BBQ sauce I’ve had before.

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Haha, yep! I’ve been twice. The first time the burnt ends, brisket (fatty), and sausage links we’re awesome.

On my most recent visit the sausage was fantastic, and everything else was subpar.

Vibe is great though and they’re super friendly.

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