I was unsure of what to expect from the Palomino in downtown Minneapolis. I’d heard it was pretty upscale, but that’s never scared me before. I checked out the menu online and it seemed like it had some unique offerings and wasn’t THAT expensive. Despite it being the topic of a controversial yet hilarious Wesley Willis song, Gerd and I decided to check it out.
We headed to the bar when we got there – something we’ve been doing more of lately (I mean eating in bars, not going to them all the time). Kind of like dinner and a show – plus easy access to the drinks… cha-ching! The bar was mable topped and multi level – that’s class. Places for my Asian brother Yao Ming and places for Peter Dinklage – everyone wins. The guy working the bar looked like a leprechaun (having never seen one, I can only assume), which worked out well since gerd has been typo-ing the word “me” instead of “my” in her e-mails recently – and she has red hair – coincidence?... I think not. Heath, the aforementioned leprechaun, was brilliant! Great suggestions and descriptions, the appropriate level of mocking when I asked for a girly drink menu, and catered to us like we were the only ones there. Heath has a pointy beard, that’s the only reason I mention the leprechaun thing. Aside from that, he’s awesome.
Gerd and I had a hankering for an appetizer, so we decided on the gorgonzola cream covered criss-cut fries (invented by Kris Kross). Heath said they were stacked high and then the sauce was poured all over them – gesticulating wildy while giving the description. Like I said, he was awesome. Give this man a raise (or at least another pot o’ gold)!
Gerd got some sort of fancy margarita (served in a martini glass with salt-rim). It was quite tasty. I got something called “White”. My good friend Al would ask, “Why’s it gotta be white?!” I asked the same thing, my friend, I assure you. It was white wine with grand marnier, cranberry juice, maybe some grape juice and garnished with a lychee (the tastiest of the eyeball-shaped fruits – as you all know). I’m going to making 55-gallon drums of this stuff at home in the future, just so you know. It was like amazingly sweet wine/sangria. I could have had 26 of these things, but I kept it toned down – this time…
Gerd went with the Grilled Steak Salad (healthy and meaty) and I went with the Duck Confit Cassoulet (sounds fancy doesn’t it?). The steak salad was awesome. All kinds of greens and hazel nuts and blue cheese, and onion strings. It was really really good. The steak was actual steak and top quality steak at that. Every bite was as good as the next. The duck cassoulet, to my surprise, came in a freaking tagine!!!! Awesome. Picture this: a huge haunch of duck (do ducks have haunches?), a fat smoked lamb sausage, Italian sausage, white beans, taters, and tomato sauce cooked in a tagine. There is no place for you to go wrong. Simply amazing. The duck was perfectly cooked, the taters were fork-ready and silky smooth, the sausages were stellar, and there was a perfect amount of beans. Despite the duck being a high-labor food, this one was worth pulling meat off bones. Totally worth it. It’s going to be difficult NOT to get this the next time we’re at the Palomino. Tagine 2, Chao 0.
Top 5 things about the Palomino
1. Multiple tagine dishes, some not even identified as such
2. Really tasty girly drinks
3. Very attentive staff – mainly Heath in our case
4. Steak was the perfect complementary flavor for the greens and cheese in the salad
5. Duck was perfect as were its friends in the tagine
Bottom 5 things
There seriously aren’t any. We TRIED to come up with some. Parking is good and validate-able, prices were fair for the quality of food, bathrooms were nice, staff was awesome, tolerable number of rich d-bags in the bar area, fast, and classy. We have nothing bad to say about this place. Sorry. We tried.
http://www.palomino.com/index.php?cook=1&locations=Minneapolis
Showing posts with label Wesley Willis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wesley Willis. Show all posts
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Uncle Franky’s – Minneapolis, MN
This restaurant was one that I drove past and almost turned the car around to eat at about 15 times. Today was the day. I had a hankerin’ for some meat on a bun. This place is a hidden gem in the Twin Cities. It’s not in a great part of town, but it’s not in a terrible part of town. Don’t let the outside fool you – there is quality food inside. The inside was actually a lot nicer than I expected it to be.
The place is decorated in kind of a Scooby-doo theme. It’s actually kind of creepy, in fact, There’s figurines from the 70’s in the windows and on the shelves, and watching you while you eat. You order at the counter after reading the hand-written chalkboard menu. Then you sit and someone from behind the counter yells out to you about what toppings and condiments you want on your meat.
I will give SERIOUS props to the owners of this place for having a Wesley Willis drawing hanging on the wall. It’s a HUGE one as well. I’m not sure if it’s an original or not, but it looks like one. I recognized it when I first walked into the place. Awesome. They also had an arcade stand-up version of 1943: the Battle of Midway. It’s an airplane bombing game I used to play back in the 80’s. That’s seriously old-school. (I couldn’t scrounge up a quarter to actually play it, but I was still impressed.) If that weren’t enough to tantalize you to go here, they had what looks like a paint-by-number Fantastic 4 painting hanging up as well.
I ordered the “Gut Buster”, which is an Italian sausage in a bun with Italian beef layered on top of it. The guy yelled out, “You want this dipped?” I didn’t know what he meant until he dunked my bun and sausage into the simmering Italian beef juice and then piled the Italian beef on top of it. Brilliant idea!!! It was awesome, truly awesome. I threw on some ketchup and BBQ sauce and ate the best bun-related meal I’ve had in years. They also had strawberry pop, which I’m a huge fan of, so SCORE!!! Gerd got a cheese burger and a hot dog – standard issue with the condiments and such, and they were also really good. It doesn’t look like you can go wrong with too many things on this menu. They had chili burgers and chili dogs, and couple of wussy chicken sandwichy type things. But I would go back here anytime I get the need for a dog. I know they have a new location, but you need the ambience to eat at this place. Don’t go to the Franky’s stands at Home Depot either, those are fine, but again, you need to have things dipped and you need to be yelled at, and you also need to bask in the Wesley Willis-ian glory.
Top 5 things about Franky’s
1) Fan of Wesley Willis
2) The Gut Buster
3) Dipping whole meals into meat juices
4) Strawberry pop
5) The menu is extensive for a hot dog place
Bottom 5 things
1) Scooby-doo creep show
2) Near some sketchy neighborhoods (It’s still safe, though)
3) The pop might have been homemade, so the diet cola tasted weird
4) Limited seating
5) No quarters for 1943
http://unclefrankys.com/
The place is decorated in kind of a Scooby-doo theme. It’s actually kind of creepy, in fact, There’s figurines from the 70’s in the windows and on the shelves, and watching you while you eat. You order at the counter after reading the hand-written chalkboard menu. Then you sit and someone from behind the counter yells out to you about what toppings and condiments you want on your meat.
I will give SERIOUS props to the owners of this place for having a Wesley Willis drawing hanging on the wall. It’s a HUGE one as well. I’m not sure if it’s an original or not, but it looks like one. I recognized it when I first walked into the place. Awesome. They also had an arcade stand-up version of 1943: the Battle of Midway. It’s an airplane bombing game I used to play back in the 80’s. That’s seriously old-school. (I couldn’t scrounge up a quarter to actually play it, but I was still impressed.) If that weren’t enough to tantalize you to go here, they had what looks like a paint-by-number Fantastic 4 painting hanging up as well.
I ordered the “Gut Buster”, which is an Italian sausage in a bun with Italian beef layered on top of it. The guy yelled out, “You want this dipped?” I didn’t know what he meant until he dunked my bun and sausage into the simmering Italian beef juice and then piled the Italian beef on top of it. Brilliant idea!!! It was awesome, truly awesome. I threw on some ketchup and BBQ sauce and ate the best bun-related meal I’ve had in years. They also had strawberry pop, which I’m a huge fan of, so SCORE!!! Gerd got a cheese burger and a hot dog – standard issue with the condiments and such, and they were also really good. It doesn’t look like you can go wrong with too many things on this menu. They had chili burgers and chili dogs, and couple of wussy chicken sandwichy type things. But I would go back here anytime I get the need for a dog. I know they have a new location, but you need the ambience to eat at this place. Don’t go to the Franky’s stands at Home Depot either, those are fine, but again, you need to have things dipped and you need to be yelled at, and you also need to bask in the Wesley Willis-ian glory.
Top 5 things about Franky’s
1) Fan of Wesley Willis
2) The Gut Buster
3) Dipping whole meals into meat juices
4) Strawberry pop
5) The menu is extensive for a hot dog place
Bottom 5 things
1) Scooby-doo creep show
2) Near some sketchy neighborhoods (It’s still safe, though)
3) The pop might have been homemade, so the diet cola tasted weird
4) Limited seating
5) No quarters for 1943
http://unclefrankys.com/
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