Cap’s Grille – Minneapolis, MN

Well, I had a hot date tonight... with some ribs. Thankfully, LowVee came along to make sure things didn’t get too serious between the bbq sauce and I. After a few schedule changes and furiously exchanged text messages, we decided to go get some ribs tonight . Since HotGirlsBrother had band practice, we decided to go to Cap’s, since he’s been there before. Turns out he didn’t end up having band practice, but decided not to go anyway.

On the way to Cap’s we drove past Scott Ja-Mama’s Ribs, which has a long history of giving us trouble with ribs. Oddly enough, they had the closed sign up in the window AGAIN!!! If you can find Scott Ja-Mama’s open, it’s worth stopping in, but good luck with the open sign. We had major trouble getting to Cap’s. Not because we were lost, but because no streets go though and when we did find one, we had to drive half a mile back towards downtown to make a U-turn. Hilarious. And if HotGirlsBrother were with us, he would have blown a gasket.

Cap’s is a sit-down kind of bbq place. Clean and everything – not a good way to start – ha ha ha. Lots of seating inside and even some patio seating where they very explicitly do not allow smoking nor dogs. There was an interesting mix of clientele including some inbred bumpkins from the hills. (I apologize if this is your father, but seriously…)

The waitress was very friendly and helped me decide what I wanted. I was torn between a few things and she helped me make up my mind at every turn. Brilliant. I ended up with the ribs and chop combo. I was in an eatin’ mood and indecisive, so I just went with both. Steak fries and baked beans for sides.

The food came out ultra fast, which rules. Everything looked really good. Really good.

The steak fries were pretty good. Not amazing, but they were seasoned really nicely and there were plenty of them. The baked beans were excellent. Just a hint of spice to them and very flavorful. I started in on the porkchop, which I had asked for the Cajun seasoned one (as opposed to the maple glaze or the bbq sauce one). I was really surprised to find the sauce had no kick whatsoever to it. I couldn’t tell it was Cajun at all, but I didn’t taste maple at all either, so I fell back on the Cajun spice, but a flavorless one. That being said, the porkchop was perfectly cooked. Very juicy and tender, so no matter what spice they put on it, it would have been good. Just not GREAT, without some zing to the Cajun seasoning.

I was surprised at how many ribs came with the combo – it was a half slab. I expected four ribs, but was pleasantly surprised. The ribs were the kind that were slightly dried out/overcooked. Not super juicy and falling off the bone. So depending on your preference, you may or may not like there. I liked them just fine. There was a small bit of sauce on the ribs, but the bottle of extra sauce on the table went to good use. The ribs had plenty of meat on them (not as much meat as Lo-Vee’s), and had lots of flavor.

I would eat here again, for sure. HotGirlsBrother says the brisket is the best thing on the menu, but I had to try the ribs to give an accurate apples-to-apples comparison for the Twin City Rib Quest. Once all of the rib places have been sampled, I’ll try to put up an accurate listing of ratings. So if you’ve got suggestions, please don’t hesitate to speak up.

Top 5 things about Cap’s Grille
1. Good bbq sauce
2. Super juicy pork chop
3. Got a half-slab with my combo
4. Baked beans
5. They had DEW

Bottom 5 things
1. Gerd loved to eat ribs and missed out on the rib quest
2. Cajun seasoning was pointless (and spice-less)
3. Curse of the rib-acquiring-difficulty still haunted the rib quest
4. HotGirlsBrother couldn’t join us
5. Never got a refill on my dew

www.capsgrille.com