Thursday, March 29, 2012

Cap’s Grille – Minneapolis, MN (Bar-B-Quest 2012!)

Another Bar-B-Quest adventure with LowVee and HotGirlsBrother was on the docket. Apparently, LowVee had taken a blow to the head that we didn’t know about, because she actually FORGOT today was the day BBQ was happening. So, HotGirlsBrother and I snacked on some steak fries while we waited for her to arrive. The fries here are actually quite good. We think they’re double-fried since they’re good and crispy and they have a very light seasoning on them which makes us fight over them.

Cap’s is a place we’ve gone before and had mixed results. We like the restaurant feel of the place and it’s always filled with people. In the case today, it was filled with military personnel, since Fort Snelling is right down the road from Cap’s. We already know our usual order, so we got a full slab and half slab with baked beans and coleslaw for everyone.

The lunch rush is something Cap’s expects every day, so they make plenty of ribs that are ready to roll out quickly. The food comes out on plastic cafeteria trays with the sides and some buttered toast.

Sides first: The coleslaw is uh… odd. It’s VERY sweet and has a ton of celery salt in it. HotGirlsBrother couldn’t even eat his, it displeased him so much. I ate all of mine, but I was starving. Be ready for sweet if you order this as a side.

The baked beans were pretty standard. So standard in fact, that we all decided they were Bush’s baked beans. Which is fine, since we like Bush’s, but we have gotten some really awesome and homemade beans before at a lot of places so we know it possible to make your own version of baked beans, even if you started with Bush’s as the base. Kind of bummed about the beans, honestly.

The bread looks really awesome, but sadly just isn’t buttered enough. It looked yellow, but there was so little butter that it tasted like a really dry piece of toast without much flavor. All in all, we really were not thrilled with the sides.

The ribs were better. They had plenty of meat on them and not a lot of gristle or cartilage. The flavor of the meat was just fine, but they weren’t very tender. It seemed odd that you could get the meat off the bones pretty easily, but yet you still had a tough time chewing it when you did get the meat into your mouth. The BBQ sauce had some good flavor with it (especially for the steak fries), so we used that stuff generously. Again, it all came back to the meat being pretty tough. I was ripping off pieces of meat with my teeth and got food all over my shirt – not that this is anything new for me. Sad.

We’ll suggest this when you go to caps: they’re known for their pork chops and also for their pulled pork (probably because the sauce is really good there). Go with one of those options and the steak fries. Again, totally our opinions, but you’ll be much happier if you do that.

In the bracket system, Cap’s didn’t stack up to Rudolph’s BBQ. Rudolph’s had a lot going for it, so Rudolph’s wins this round. Which immediately puts Rudolph’s up against Q Fanatic in Champlin. Q Fanatic wins this particular head-to-head battle without much problem, moving Q Fanatic into the FINAL FOUR!!!! Q Fanatic will have to go up against Baldy’s to move into the championship round for the Western Conference. We’re very excited about this match-up. We have also determined that, as close as this battle for the Western division is, it can NOT be decided by the amazing cookie at Q Fanatic (which we will also be buying a truck-load of). Here's the updated bracket, for those following along or playing fantasy Bar-B-Quest at home:


Top 5 things about Cap’s Grille
1. Rib meat flavor
2. BBQ sauce
3. Steak fries
4. Wet naps on the table
5. I’ve never felt safer in a BBQ joint than I did here, surrounded by military folks. In case of zombie apocalypse, go to Cap’s and enjoy your lunch! (You’re welcome for your new advertising slogan!)

Bottom 5 things
1. Coleslaw
2. Tough meat
3. Baked beans weren’t very special
4. Buttered toast wasn’t buttered
5. Seeing their breakfast menu makes me want to come back every weekend for breakfast!

www.capsgrille.com

1 comment:

jane said...

Ha! Love that you had to specify the cookies could not count. This quest has been fun to follow.

I wonder if location can count as a factor? Caps is on the light rail and by the tourist-y Minnehaha Falls.