The Malt Shop – Minneapolis, MN

So Gerd and I went out for our anniversary dinner at the Malt Shop since we had received an e-mail offering buy one entrée, get one free. Really classy for an anniversary dinner, eh? I’m like that. Also, it wasn’t REALLY our anniversary. I’ll let you in on a little hint. When you sign up for restaurant mailing lists, some of them have a field for anniversary date. If you spread random dates out throughout the year at various restaurants, you’ll end up with a free something-or-other about once a month. Yeah, I’m that guy.

The Malt Shop is more than just an ice cream place, they have really good sandwiches, salads, soups, and a handful of dinner entrees. It’s not a huge menu, but if you want something light, it’s a really good bet. We started with a Caesar salad – I should say that Gerd started with a Caesar salad (strangely forgoing the fried side items she usually doubles up on). I ended up eating half of it, when I realized the croutons on the salad were the second best croutons in the world (the first still being Outback – without question). So I ate a generous helping of really good Caesar salad with exceptional croutons and waited for the serious food.

I ended up with an LS Burger. Not sure what the “LS” stands for, but if bacon or cheese started with an “L” or an “S”, then that would be what it stood for. Really good restaurant style burger. Not fabulous, like Matt’s or The Nook, but a quality burger, overall. I upgraded the fries to onion rings and was really happy with that decision. The batter was really good. I know it’s kind of hard to screw up onion rings, but I’m one of those “texture” people and can’t handle the crunch of onions, so I pull the onions out and only eat the batter. I end up leaving a heaping pile of naked onion rings on the plate and raise a few eyebrows of waiters. I know, I’m five, but that’s how I roll. So some onion rings and I don’t get along. THESE onion rings and I got along fabulously. Top all that off with a strawberry shake that was really good (and served in both glass and metal cups – for those of you who like that sort of thing).

Gerd ordered what I called some sort of hippy sammich. It was a chicken sandwich with a bushel of sprouts, cucumbers, some tomatoes, and a slab of cream cheese on it. She left a small chia pet on her plate just to get the thing into her mouth, and then complained that the cucumbers were too much. Really? So I got the cucumbers. The sammich had some buffalo sauce on the side for dipping, and apparently that helped lubricate the thing down your gullet, but still wasn’t the greatest. The bread was a tad dry and crumbly as well, from the bite that I was able to eat. Honestly, the flavor was quite good though. I can’t complain. It’s not every vegetarian sandwich that you can throw a piece of chicken on and it works out. Actually, the place is very vegetarian-friendly – if that’s your thing. Gerd got the chocolate malt and said it was fabulous. I’m a purist – the only thing you use malt for is your balls. Malted milk balls.

Top 5 things about the Malt Shop
1. Croutons
2. The Malts/Shakes
3. Burger
4. Waiter was really good
5. Little kids with blinky-light shoes playing under the booth. "Tiny Rave"

Bottom 5 things
1. Dry bread on the hippy sammich
2. Chia pet topping
3. It can be cramped
4. The slogan on the shirts is stupid – "What’s your malt?" – what does that even mean?
5. A lot of old people


www.themaltshoprestaurant.com