Bar Lurcat - Minneapolis, MN

Last night, Chao and I decided to go out to dinner to celebrate our acceptance into MBA programs. We decided to hit up Bar Lurcat as we are slowly working our way through the best burgers in Minnesota list and hadn't been there yet. I have eaten at the other location of this restaurant in Naples, FL, and thought it was extremely good.

We arrived and sat in the bar as Cafe Lurcat is a classy place and we weren't looking for something fancy - just burgers. The bar was super nice with plenty of couches and comfy chairs as well as the bar and some tables. We ordered drinks. Mine was a Blackberry Tea which consisted of blackberry puree, iced tea, and way too much alcohol. I couldn't finish it as I am a wimp when it comes to alcohol. Chao had something that surprisingly didn't look very girly but I can't remember what. We ordered a Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato with Blue Cheese and Buttermilk Dressing salad, Thai Meat Balls, and Lurcat Burgers. The salad was good but had a LOT of blue cheese. I could handle it but Chao was uneasy about it. We both loved the Thai Meat Balls. What kind of meat was in the Thai Meat Balls? NO idea. And I am okay with that. There were 5 small meat balls served with some type of a cucumber dipping sauce that was fabulous.

Now for the burgers. I thought the burgers were phenomenal. An order comes with two mini burgers on a bun. No lettuce, no tomato, no pickle, no ketchup, no condiments of any kind. But, would Coach eat them? No. Apparently they use a red wine shallot butter in the burgers as well as on the bun. I found the recipe here. Seriously these burgers melted in my mouth. Not as much as The Village Tavern chicken strips with secret finger mustard (the best chicken strips of all time - SHOUT OUT!) but close. Chao of course thought they were just a burger. This is his normal response to the burgers we have tried from the list.

Bar Lurcat and Cafe Lurcat are nice places but probably will only be reserved for special events as far as future visits go. Although, there was this random woman walking around in a full snowsuit which seemed kind of strange so maybe it isn't as exclusive as I thought. I HIGHLY recommend the burgers and the french fries. Yes, its true I didn't eat the french fries, but I had fry envy of other people's food. They are served in a bucket.

Top 5:
1. Burgers ruled.
2. Fancy atmosphere.
3. The bathrooms were so cool I called Chao from the bathroom hallway to have him look not caring how weird that might've looked to others.
4. No one thought Chao was a girl (been awhile).
5. The fries come in a bucket.

Bottom 5:
1. Drinks were too strong.
2. Their small plates are REALLY small.
3. Expensive and no happy hour specials as far as I could tell.
4. Could be difficult to find parking when busy.
5. As Trash said, could be pretentious.

http://www.cafelurcat.com/