0 Hola Arepa - Minneapolis, MN

D.Rough and I had random reasons to celebrate, so we decided to hit up a place we've been meaning to go to for months. Hola Arepa in Uptown. It was a Friday night, so we knew there was going to be a wait, but we were up for it - especially since they had a bar there. The host told us it would be about 30 minutes.

We put our name in and headed to the bar. As we were walking up, the people sitting there were leaving and told us to take their spot. We sat down and proceeded to look at the drink menu - soooooo many delicious sounding drinks. Apparently, these folks are known for their creative cocktails. All of them contain bitters, which I'm not a huge fan of, but I am able to order drinks without bitters like a grown ass man, so we're all good.

I ordered an El Camino Rojo and D.Rough ordered a Cortez The Killer. We watched the drink expert make these ridiculously expert-level drinks and were pretty impressed. These drinks were strong. REALLY strong. And delicious, thankfully. We both liked the Cortez The Killer better, but both were super tasty. This also gave us time to check out the food menu so we were ready when we sat down at our table.

We ran into some friends, like you do in Uptown, and chatted the time away. We also ordered two more drinks. I opted for the Jolly Poltergeist and D.Rough got the Southerly Pariah - again, both were incredibly strong. To the point of weavy-ness. This time, I ordered the winning drink (the Jolly Poltergeist)(again, without bitters).

It was just over 30 minutes when the host called our name and sat us at a table being served expertly by Bryce - a fellow long-haired bearded gentleman. We were already leaning towards a couple of appetizers and finally decided on the Vigoron appetizer - steamed yuca, roasted pork, citrus-cabbage slaw, pico de gallo, and chicharron on a banana leaf. After a few questions, I ordered an arepa with roasted pork and sweet potatoes and D.Rough ordered the arepa with shredded beef and plantains. If you don't know what arepas are, you're missing out. They're sort of a taco-like hand food. Picture a circular cross between a pita and an english muffin, but made out of corn meal. Then stuff it with all kinds of different ingredients (mainly the kinds of things you would put in a fancy taco) like lettuce, shredded beef/pork, black beans, onions, and other things.

The Vigoron came out and we were extremely excited for this crazy thing. It was a mound of shredded pork with some other fun things to dip the pork rinds into. Seriously this thing was worth fighting over. I was very surprised both at how large it was and also how delicious it was. I'm glad we decided on this for an appetizer.

The arepas came out just after we finished our appetizer. And I'll be honest, it was really difficult to tell which one was better.

The shredded beef was had fantastic cumin flavor and the sweetness of the plantains really cut through. The cotija cheese flavor also came through brilliantly. I was really surprised how good this thing was.

The roasted pork arepa with sweet potato was also fantastic. The green onion aioli was extremely mild and complemented the roasted pork very well. Just the right amount of sweet potato so as not to be overpowering.

The yuca fries that came with our areas were wonderful. I got the chimichurri dip and D.Rough got the aioli verde dip. Again, we couldn't decide which one was better - we loved them both.

I'll be honest, I expected to just think this place was "o.k.". I was totally wrong about it. The place is wonderful. I know there are competing arepa restaurants in the Twin Cities that are cheaper, but the arepas at Hola are much larger, more full of ingredients, and are more filling. One arepa is more than enough here, especially if you get one of their enormous appetizers (which I would recommend).

Top 5 things about Hola Arepa
1. Vigoron
2. Shredded beef and plantain arepa
3. Roasted pork and sweet potato arepa
4. Delicious cocktails
5. Both the chimichurri dip and the aioli verde dips for the yuca fries

Bottom 5 things
1. You're going to wait in line, especially in the winter when the patio is closed. There's a really good reason they're as busy as they are
2. The bartender, who is an absolute wizard, is leaving Hola Arepa to start his own distillery!!!!
3. You're going to want everything on the menu
4. I've heard people call it "Holla" arepa. Those people are idiots
5. If you don't like bitters, order your fancy drinks without them - it's that easy

www.holaarepa.com

Detail: Hola Arepa - Minneapolis, MN

0 Lake & Irving – Minneapolis, MN

D.Rough and I set up a double date with two of our favorite people, LowVee and Kevin, at Lake & Irving in Minneapolis. They had some interesting things on the menu that I was looking forward to trying.

We grabbed some drinks and some ciders before ordering and then set out to find the best things L&I had to offer. We ordered some homemade corn nuts (duh) and some pork aranchini bites. D.Rough wanted the Buttermilk Chicken Sandwich with Duroc bacon, pepperjack, and served on sourdough. I had been dying to try the L&I Half Smokes – chili dogs with Duroc pork and beef sausage and chuck chili.

The corn nuts come in a small paper bag with an appropriate amount of grease residue on the outside of the bag. The little nuggets were super tasty and fried well – I’m not even sure how these things are made (probably wizardry), but I’m glad someone figured them out. We probably should have gotten two orders of these…

The aranchini bites were decent. Not fantastic, but just good. They were a little small, but they’re BITES, after all. They didn’t have a ton of flavor, but they kept our mouths full until the meals arrived. Again, not terrible or anything, but fell a little short (mainly because we’ve eaten these things in Italy and it’s hard to compare them to the US versions).

D.Rough’s Buttermilk Chicken Sandwich looked better than it tasted (despite the poor quality of the photo due to dim lighting). The chicken was fried well, but didn’t end up being as juicy as she had hoped. The pepperjack flavor didn’t come through but the sauce drizzled on it was pretty good. She had to look for the bacon pieces, so obviously there wasn’t a lot of bacon flavor in the sandwich, either. She was fine with the sandwich, but she’d order something else the next time we go back.

The Half Smokes I had high hopes for, since they had been written up in Citipages or some other food-related publication. The dogs were cooked well and had good flavor, but I was really surprised at the minimal flavor of the chili that was on top when I tasted it alone. I couldn’t tell where the pork stopped and chili began – but there was a lot of it piled on the dog. It tasted fine, but I really thought it would be a big bold meat flavor and it wasn’t. It could probably be compared to a decent chili dog, but when you get them at a nicer restaurant, you expect something to pop or stand out. These were just alright, I’m sorry to say. Even the fries were just about average.

I’m not saying it was a terrible meal. I’m just saying I’d order something different the next time we go there. We’ll likely be back, but we’ve got a few other places in Uptown to hit up before then. That being said, our next double date with LowVee and Kevin is going to be something crazy. I’m sure of it.

Top 5 things about Lake & Irving
1. Corn Nuts – homemade!

2. Full bar, so good drink selection

3. Open late with limited food offerings
4. They do have a parking lot in back
5. The brunch menu looks pretty fantastic

Bottom 5 things
1. Half Smokes/Chili Dogs
2. Aranchini Bites
3. Average fries

4. Buttermilk Chicken Sandwich

5. It’s fairly pricey for the quality of the food we got that evening

www.lakeandirving.com

Detail: Lake & Irving – Minneapolis, MN

0 Pat’s Tap – Minneapolis, MN

A lot of people have told me I need to go to Pat’s Tap – mainly all of my friends who live in Uptown. I finally had a reason to go there – my wonderful cousin DishSoap was in town visiting and I wanted to try out something new. DishSoap is generally up for anything, so we dragged her to Uptown to check this place out. I also happened to mention it is a skee-ball bar, which may have helped the cause… Yes, I’m serious, it’s a skee-ball bar.

The place is packed. ALL THE TIME. Just put your name in at the hostess desk and grab a drink at the bar. D.Rough ran into one of her friends from college while waiting and we got (re)acquainted with her, which made the time pass quickly. The hostess said it would be a 45 minute wait, but it ended up being closer to 20-25 minutes. Even better.

The menu is full of amazing things. They do serious cheese-related items here, like curds, goat cheese fritters, and home-made cheese-its, but we were all in the mood for deep-fried pickles. So, we got those. D.Rough wanted the Harissa & Honey Roasted Chicken and DishSoap wanted the Bacon Cheeseburger. I opted for the Friday Fish Fry, which I’ve had a craving for recently (usually on non-Fridays when I can’t order it anywhere).

The deep-fried pickles came out and we were all thrilled. They were HEAVILY breaded pickle spears. Not pickle chips. And you HAVE to get the aioli dipping sauce that comes with them. These things were the best fried pickles I’ve ever had. There was a few fights over these as dinner commenced. We will be ordering these again. Probably one order for each person, so we don’t have to share.

For as busy as the place was, the food came out pretty quickly. I’m not sure if they have a giant kitchen filled with cooks or if they’re just amazingly fast, but either way, I was thrilled. We didn’t even have time to get up and check out the skee-ball action. It was packed over in that area with people playing, anyway, so we wouldn’t have gotten to play or anything.

DishSoap’s bacon cheeseburger looked delicious. It’s topped with Swiss cheese, fried onions, and of course bacon. She said it was a pretty amazing burger, so you’ll have to take her word on it.

D.Rough’s Harissa & Honey Chicken Sandwich had pickled chilies, Burgkäse emmentaler, garlic aioli, and is served on focaccia bread. She was really impressed with this sandwich. Lots of fun flavors, and the sweetness of the honey was impressive on the chicken. Great pretend-healthy option!

My fish was fantastic. The breading was thick, but not greasy. There was a lot of fish on the plate and with the lemon squeezed on it, tasted wonderful. It was exactly what I wanted. The tartar sauce added the right amount of tang, as well. The fries are pretty good here, so I would not steer anyone away from them. I’m a fan.

Great food, lots of good drinks at the bar, and an extremely lively atmosphere – and that’s all besides the fact that they have skee-ball. If we didn’t have to rush off to other plans, we would have stayed and played, but we didn’t. Next time, since we’ll be back soon. I guess my shifty Uptown friends weren’t lying about his place. It’s pretty awesome.

Top 5 things about Pat’s Tap

1. Deep fried pickle spears

2. Friday fish fry

3. Harissa & honey chicken sandwich

4. SKEE-BALL!!!!

5. Great cocktail menu

Bottom 5 things
1. You will have to wait. Maybe not long, but you will. Just get comfortable

2. Parking can be an adventure during busy times in Uptown. Or you might get lucky

3. If energy (noise) isn’t your thing, then don’t go here
4. I want SO many things on the menu

5. You may have to wait in line for skee-ball, it’s pretty popular

www.patstap.com

Detail: Pat’s Tap – Minneapolis, MN

0 World Street Kitchen – Minneapolis, MN

I had been to the food truck version of this place a few times and been pretty happy with the food I got there. [And now that I’ve looked back at the blog, I realize I’ve never written about them! I’m a jerk, apparently.] I was happy that D.Rough suggested we go there to check out a couple of special dishes.

I love the inside of this place. It’s sort of modern and minimalist, but still clean and classy. The menu doesn’t appear to have many items on it, until you get to looking at it. Then, you’ll realize you have a considerable job figuring out what you really want to eat. Seriously. D.Rough and I had to grab a to-go menu and sit down and really hash out what we wanted to share. It was no easy task, I tell you.

We decided on the Plate O’ Dips (hummus, smoky feta, and spiced olive tapenade with grilled pita), “La Panza” Caramelized Lamb Belly Yum Yum Rice Bowl with pickled cucumbers, daikon, and bean sprouts, and “Kingston 12” Jerk Beef tacos with mint chimichuri and queso fresco.

And, D.Rough was in the mood, so she got a very unique version of a Piña Colada. Unique means amazing in this particular instance. She was quite happy with this whole situation.

The Plate O’ Dips was delicious. Small scoops of various dips are usually pretty tasty, but the smoky feta was fight-worthy. The pitas were ultra fresh and not at all crunchy – just the way I like them. And as a bonus, there were actually enough pita triangles to finish all the dips! This was a great way to start the meal.

The Kingston 12 was pretty fabulous. Two street-style tacos filled with delicious beef, chimichuri, scallions, and cheese. The meat was really tender and the chimichuri was a delicious counter to the meat. Fantastic.

The winner of the day was the Yum Yum Rice Bowl – plus it is incredibly fun to say! The lamb was awesomely tender and the added pop of the peanuts really made this dish complete, in my opinion. The cucumbers and daikon were good, but the peanuts really stole the show. D.Rough got one small piece of fatty meat and the rest of it was perfect. No complaints at all on this bowl of awesome.

Verdict=Fantastic. Looking forward to coming back there and trying the same or new things. Either. We don’t care.

Top 5 things about World Street Kitchen

1. La Panza Yum Yum Rice Bowl (both eating and saying)

2. Kingston 12 Jerk Beef Tacos
3. Piña Colada
4. Plate O’ Dips
5. Very serious menu (and some boozy drinks)

Bottom 5 things
1. If you come there expecting to share with someone, you WILL fight over who gets what
2. You’re going to want dessert afterwards, and there isn’t much on the dessert front, but it’s ok because you won’t have room
3. I can’t decide whether I like the regular menu or the brunch menu better. These guys really nailed it.
4. Parking isn’t the best on Lyndale…
5. I can’t think of anything bad, so I’ll quit making things up now

www.eatwsk.com

Detail: World Street Kitchen – Minneapolis, MN

0 Origami (Uptown location) – Minneapolis, MN

D.Rough and I had some friends in town and we decided to get dinner with them. Much to our chagrin, they had chicken wings the previous night so we couldn’t take them to the world’s greatest wing place – D-Spot. They love sushi, so we decided to go to Origami. We hadn’t been to the new location in Uptown yet, and they have a really reasonable happy hour.

D.Rough and I showed up early, specifically so we could have a drink and a chat about our day. I really like doing that, for that record. She got a Penny Dropper (I can’t remember what was in it, but it was damn good) and I got a Mango Chu-hai (fruit puree, vodka, and club soda). Both delicious and refreshing. We also (our friends don’t know this) ordered some Takoyako, which is deep fried octopus dumplings – basically the octopus version of the conch fritters we ate in the Bahamas every day – like a hush puppy.

It came with a drizzle of eel sauce and a dab of seasoned mayo – delicious. There were only five, but D.Rough and I were able to share the remaining 5th wheel and both eat half. Great crunch on the outside of the puff ball and the octopus was soft and not chewy/rubbery. Great appetizer. The server even cleared it away from the table before our friends go there to judge us. Hahahaha

Once our friends arrived, we pretended like everything was all bright and new and we had just gotten there. It’s like two separate happy hours!!!! I ordered the lychee-tini that I had my eye on earlier, and D.Rough got a pinot grigio.

The happy hour menu has a lot of different drinks on it, but the food menu is just as impressive. It was difficult to decide what to get. We made our server laugh when we ordered, “Futo Maki through Spicy Crab Maki”. The server heard those two rolls, and we corrected him by emphasizing THROUGH. So he added Spicy Yellowtail Maki, Spicy tuna Maki, Spicy Scallop Maki, and Spicy Crab Maki to the order. Hilarious. Thankfully, he hadn’t brought up the appetizer we had snuck in before our friends got there. Hahaha.

I’ll make this review really short, we made a mistake and ordered basically five of the same thing and one roll that actually tasted different than the other five versions. Completely our mistake. That being said, the rolls were pretty good, they just all tasted too similar in our minds. The Futo Maki is quite good, despite it being vegetarian (have to get my digs in where I can). The ingredients were fresh and it’s kind of an oversized roll. I liked it a lot.

The other rolls, like I said, were good, but they all tasted pretty similar. So you have five bite rolls, and five of them that tasted the same. That means you have twenty five pieces that tasted the same. Thankfully, they WERE good, otherwise, it could have been an nightmare.

Overall, aside from ordering error, we were happy with our meal. The happy hour menu will for sure keep us coming back, and I’m looking forward to trying some of their whiskey – which is one of the best selections in the area.

Top 5 things about Origami Sushi (Uptown)
1. Takoyako – octopus dumplings
2. Substantial happy hour menu
3. Very friendly staff
4. Futo Maki roll
5. There’s a parking ramp above it and a parking lot right outside (both cost dollars, but are close)

Bottom 5 things
1. We ordered all the things that taste the same (delicious, but the same)
2. The Chu-hai wasn’t very boozy
3. The restaurant isn’t visible from the main street – you have to mean to go there
4. Nothing else was a down-side
5.

www.origamirestaurant.com

Detail: Origami (Uptown location) – Minneapolis, MN

0 Decrease Your Species Tour – Beat Coffeehouse – Minneapolis, MN

Having scored a bachelor’s degree in music performance, I can say honestly that like a lot of different music. People sometimes follow that up with “except rap” or “except country”. I have no caveats. I’m all in. When I heard the Decrease Your Species tour was headed to town, I made sure I was there. I’ve seen a bunch of metal and hardcore shows at the Beat Coffeehouse, but never a rap show. Not intending to sound racist at all, but I had no idea the Twin Cities had any sort of underground white-guy rap scene. But it DOES. It isn’t the following that Atmosphere has or anything, but it’s there (and it’s YOUNG). I honestly teared up a little bit during the show when I realized I really missed my recently deceased friend ThrowerOfBolts – who was one of the hidden gems of white-guy rap back where I’m from. I’m not an expert on the genre or anything, but I’ll give it a go.

First up (at least when I showed up – I may have missed the first group), Milky Way from Milwaukee. Great, super-solid content and super-fast delivery. The kid has a lot to say and it’s bustin to come out of him. He was even better than the last time I saw him at a house show in Davenport, IA. Good mix of multi-rhythm rhymes and tempo changes.

Next up, Codependents from Missoula, Montana. These kids are a little green, but still did a great job. They didn't mix up the rhythms much and kept it the same speed and pace, but were still likeable. I’m not sure about hard times in Montana, but if there are any, I hope they can channel it into some darker messages. I’ve always had issues with the “woke up one morning”-style of lyrics. Again, just me. These guys are right on the cusp of solid hip hop, so I hope they don’t give up. I also don't know how they didn’t end up in a mess, with four mic cords circling and circling the stage. Kudos to their ninja cord-untangling skillz.

Third up, Errol Hemm out of Chicago. I’m slightly biased having known this guy for years back in my home town. I had the honor of playing guitar for one of his metal bands and I respect his talents as a writer and frontman. He’s so much better than his earlier stuff lets on – he’s matured, having spent some time in Chicago and some rough situations, and he draws in the crowd (small as it was) with lots of volume, passion, and crowd interaction (read: comedic one-liner shots at his friends). I love this kid and it does me proud to see him taking life and music almost-seriously while spittin and rhymin on the stage to kids barely old enough to vote.

Finally, MC Nobody Cares out of New Hampshire. This guy probably gets told he looks like Steve-O a lot, but he was really quite good on stage. I didn’t know what to expect. I heard him talking metal outside on the sidewalk a bit, but his rap chops are waaaay solid. Good mix of fast raps and sung parts without being corny. He likes to keep it dark and doesn't “believe in that happy music therapy shit”, though he’s quite humorous on stage. He’s got really good timing and had some good crowd interaction. None of his stuff sounds the same (all the songs sounds identifiably different), and his style is unique even amongst the other guys he’s touring with.

One of the best parts of the night was going outside the coffeehouse between acts – the audience was out there freestyle rapping. If you were just walking past, it might have sounded like they were cracking wise or making fun, but these kids actually DO this stuff regularly and for fun. Generally, one or two of the kids would beatbox and the spotlight would get passed around the circle as one after another kid rapped it out for a minute or two. It wasn’t all good, obviously, but you have to start somewhere. Timing and quick thinking doesn’t come naturally to everyone, but you got to stay in there and practice. It was especially good when one of the touring guys would walk past, bringing in equipment from the vans or carrying merch, and they’d drop in a few lines of scary-solid freestyle and then walk away. I think Errol Hemm handed out an ass-whoopin, vocal-style, right before he started his set. I told you the guy is good.

Detail: Decrease Your Species Tour – Beat Coffeehouse – Minneapolis, MN

0 The Lowry (Poutine Crawl) – Minneapolis, MN

Again, this was a make-up visit of the Twin Cities Poutine Crawl I’m involved in. I missed the actual night the group went, but I wanted to get caught up. A-Wow and I walked over from Rye Deli, since it’s a block away and prepared for our second course of poutine for the night.

The staff here are really friendly. Some of the best in the Twin Cities, as far as I can tell. Someone, whom I can only assume is the owner, is a character (in a good way)(I like my restaurants with characters) who goes around to the tables hobnobbing and cracking wise and making sure if people aren’t having a good time, finding out what he can do to make sure that gets turned around. What I’m saying is don’t go here to break up with a girlfriend or anything.

A-Wow described this poutine as a pot-roast-style poutine. I needed to find out what this meant. So we ordered it, and we also decided to have something more substantial, since we had basically eaten a bunch of appetizers. We decided on the steak and pierogies, which the waiter offered to split up for us evenly on two plates. To maintain the waiter’s idea that A-Wow and I ordered some girly drinks from the cocktail menu and hoped for the best. I got a Battle Cat (really, there are some He-Man themed drinks, including a Snarf) and A-Wow got a Moon Bear.

The drinks came out quickly. Mine (The Battle Cat) was a girly drink on the bottom and a beer on top – really. Vodka, orange curacao, lemon juice, cranberry juice, simple syrup ,and then Summit EPA on the top. Actually, it was delicious. I even drank them separately just because I was up to the challenge. A-Wow’s Moon Bear was a bit more manly even for a girly drink – rum, lime juice, orange curacao, orange syrup, bitters, and Laphroaig, with a fancy cinnamon stick sitting in it. It was a little rough for me, but I’m not a Laphroaig fan nor a bitters fan. A-Wow seemed to polish it off pretty quickly, so I’m guessing he thought it was good.

The poutine arrived first and looked stunning. When A-Wow said it was pot-roast-style, he meant there’s actually shredded pot roast IN it. Like a generous helping of it. IT also had carrots, celery, onions in it – just like mom’s pot roast. The meat was extremely flavorful, which I Was thrilled about. There were actual cheese curds in the dish and you could taste them! The fries were better than average and held up really well, mainly because of the lack of identifiable gravy in the dish. There really wasn’t any to speak of, at all. I was disappointed by this fact, but to be honest, it didn’t NEED any gravy. It was an awesome dish – it just may ruffles poutine purists’ feathers to call it poutine when there isn’t any gravy present. They have a point, but I’m guessing they’d get over it really quickly if they tasted how delicious this almost-poutine is. I loved it. Again, the dish is technically an appetizer, so it appears small, but it’s the perfect size for sharing, especially if two of you have ordered an entrée… which we had.

The steak was marinated and finished in some sort of teriyaki sauce which was absolutely fantastic. There were about 6 or 7 slices of perfectly cooked medium slices of steak. The cooks split our steaks and pierogies, so we both got equal portions. I can’t talk this steak up enough – it was really quite excellent. The pierogies were delicious, but I’m not a fan of horseradish which was what the dip was made from. So I ate them without the dipping sauce. The pierogies were made with onion and cheddar and covered with a handful of fried shallots. The pillow-like puffballs filled with cheese were decent and I probably would have eaten a bunch of them, even though they weren’t the best in the Twin Cities. They were good though, don’t get me wrong.

Lowry’s boasts a really good meal and I’d be happy to come back here again. While we were waiting for our food and chatting, we kept hearing people talk about the breakfasts Lowry’s makes. They all sounded delicious and looked even more delicious when the servers started bringing them out. Dang, I should have gotten breakfast. Next time, especially since they have chilaquiles – one of my favorites! Lowry’s has an interesting upscale bar atmosphere that is backed up by really delicious food and fun people working. You’re going to have fun and get full at this place. What more do you want?

www.thelowryuptown.com

Detail: The Lowry (Poutine Crawl) – Minneapolis, MN