Answers to all your food and restaurant questions
Jul. 29—As things are returning to normal, readers are venturing out and looking for recommendations.
Here are some of the recent inquiries we've gotten — from someone looking for a patio to drink wine upon to a search for great sweet-potato fries.
As always, send your food- and restaurant-related questions to eat@pioneerpress.com. I'll do my best to answer.
Q. Where can you get an old-fashioned hot roast beef sandwich? The kind between two pieces of white bread with hot gravy. Not on buns. Back in the day every cafe in Minnesota had them on the menu.
A. It's definitely harder to find a good hot beef sandwich (sometimes called a commercial) these days, but not impossible. I found three east metro places that serve it.
Joseph's Bar and Grill: 140 S. Wabasha St., St. Paul; 651-222-2435; josephsgrill.com
Maverick's: 1746 N. Lexington Ave., Roseville; 651-493-9672; or 1491 N. Stillwater Blvd., Stillwater; 651-571-3937; mavericksbeef.com
Key's Cafe: Nine locations, including two in St. Paul and one in Roseville; keyscafe.com
Q. My friend lives in Minneapolis near Minnehaha Creek. A couple of times during the pandemic, we met at Lake Monster (which deserves major praise for their winter/distanced patio).
She'd like a place to meet that serves wine, that's relatively equal distance for the two of us, with a patio. I live in Roseville.
A. How about Estelle on St. Clair Avenue? Great wine list and fun menu including a great burger and house-made pastas. And the patio is super tucked away and cute.
Estelle: 1806 St. Clair Ave., St. Paul; 651-330-9648; estellestp.com
Or if you're looking for something a smidge more casual, consider the patio at Iron Ranger on Grand Avenue. They recently expanded it, and it's absolutely adorable. They serve a casual menu, have a fun wine list and have also recently added a full bar and some refreshing summer cocktails, if you're into that kind of thing.
Iron Ranger: 1085 Grand Ave., St. Paul; 651-487-1913; ironrangermn.com
Q. I LOVE sweet potato fries. Friends and I are just starting to venture out to restaurants. I have missed sweet potato fries, and can't even remember my favorite places to get them.
A. I personally really like the ones at Red Cow. They're crisp, fluffy and don't have any breading on them (that's a big yuck for me).
Red Cow: Several locations, including 393 Selby Ave., St. Paul; 651-789-0545; redcowmn.com
I also hear people say The Nook and Shamrock's have good sweet potato fries, but I haven't tried them. I love their regular fries so much, I can't imagine a burger there without them.
Casper & Runyon's Nook: 492 S. Hamline Ave., St. Paul; 651-698-4347; crnook.com
Shamrocks Irish Nook: 995 W. Seventh St., St. Paul; 651-228-9925; crnook.com
Q. Since we lost the wonderful Blondies on Snelling, any suggestions for where to buy great blond brownies?
A. Who knew it would be so hard to find a blondie? I seriously had a hard time, but I spied them on the menu at Black Walnut Bakery in Minneapolis, which is a bit of a trek, but from everything I have heard about that place, it might be worth a little drive!
Black Walnut Bakery: 3157 Hennepin Ave S., Minneapolis; 612-353-6552; blackwalnutbakery.com
Q. Are there any Vietnamese restaurants in the St. Paul area that have a lunch buffet that includes Vietnamese egg rolls?
A. We can only think of Caravelle on Eat Street in Minneapolis, but we'll be on the lookout for more.
Caravelle: 2529 Nicollet Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-871-3226; caravellempls.com
Q. I recently purchased a new boat and would like to try restaurants that I can boat to and dock to eat. Lord Fletchers and Charlies on Prior Lake are two I'm familiar with but are there others on other lakes? Thank You!
A. Also on Lake Minnetonka, 6Smith and Cov in Wayzata are options. With 6Smith, you can make reservations for a slip. They're a little expensive but nice. Lolas Lakehouse on Lake Waconia is also very nice. Have a fun season out on the water!
6Smith: 294 Grove Lane E., Wayzata; 952-698-7900; 6smith.com
CoV: 700 Lake St. E., Wayzata; 952-473-5253; covwayzata.com
Lola's Lakehouse: 318 Lake St. E., Waconia; 952-442-4954; lolaslakehouse.com
