October 25, 2008 by chad.

Rancho Grande

1004 Hwy 55 West

Buffalo, MN 55313

Robin and I were in Annadale staying Thayer’s Historic Bed and Breakfast in Annadale a few months ago and upon the recommendation of Sharon Gammel the proprietor we hoofed it down to Buffalo to experience the authenticity of Rancho Grande for ourselves. Story has it that they were originally located in a very small restaurant space and they relocated because they were literally bursting at the seams. That is what tripped my interest in reviewing Rancho Grande.

Food: 8

If you are looking for signature dishes of a restaurant you can ask the server, but often times they have been couched on only a few of the dishes (Most of them are at the top end of the menu price). I cannot emphasis enough how refreshing it is when a restaurant marks their signature dishes in the menu itself. If I have a limited time and no knowledge of a restaurant, theere is no time to try it all.

For the review I was looking for something meaty and well balanced. That was most definitely found with their Enchiladas Rancheras. A lot of Mexican restaurants will have the staples included in this meal: three cheese enchiladas and rice and bean. What really made this meal phenomenal was what came on top of the enchiladas. It was topped a healthy pile of fried shredded pork, sweet grilled tomatoes, bell peppers and onions. Then add to it a seasoning that is not outstandingly hot, but robust, and you have an outstanding meal. It provided a great expanse of flavors that hit different taste buds at different moments with every bite. It was thoroughly enjoyable and almost never duplicated. It was one of those meals you wanted to eat past the third bite because you knew it was going to be different than the last. That is what food should taste like!

Enchiladas on their own are a quite simple item, it is when creativity and a flair for taste is applied that it can be made into a very enjoyable experience.

Service: 2

Where they excelled in the food category, they failed in service. Outside of the host who graciously glided around the dining floor and back to the waiting area, our serving staff was very sub-par. Serving is an art. It is an art of timing. We were largely ignored for about 20 minutes before being approached for an order.(We did get the cursory chips and salsa though) We had to place out beverage order twice because it was forgotten. To top it off we needed to prompt someone to give us our bill. Isolated experience? I do not know. All I can say is what I saw. This definitely needs to be addressed in training and/or employee reviews because service is a piece of the equation that equals a superior dining experience.

Atmophere: 6

The dining area of the restaurant is split into two sections by a rather creative and fun way. The ceilings and walls are painted in a night and day scene. The bar section was painted in the night scene with stars moon and other interesting artifacts. The main dining area was obviously the day. This definitely distracted from that fact that it was basically a big open room. It’s loud when the tables are full and a booth is really the only source or relative intimate dining. Plastic chili peppers and other decorative schlock adorns the walls, but it is more there to add three dimensions to the wall murals. It is still designed with a fun theme that children and adults would enjoy.

Overall: 5

The food was outstanding. If that was all I was reviewing then this would likely be one of the top Mexican restaurants I ever ate at. Unfortunately, the significant lack of quality service was a big hindrance to the overall enjoyment of the experience. What can I say? Hopefully my experience with the service was an isolated occasion, but I walked away from it thinking that if given the chance to go there again…I just might pass on it.

There was no picture for this location on MinnesotaRestaurantSearch.com, but there are a couple of them for their other two locations in Alberville and Monticello.

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September 20, 2008 by chad.

I took the opportunity to look into the the blogs web statistic page because it since to see where people are coming from when they come to read the stuff I shovel out. Two of the referring sites of note:

Chow.com which is another excellent place to go and discuss food. Afterall, they bill themselves as the place to go for people who like to eat. They have made references and links to my reviews. More often then not, the review most viewed by them is my review of Pete’s Place.

RJ’s American Grill has blessed this blog with the honor of a place on their press release page. They misspelled Sherburne but that’s ok because they put me higher on the page than the St Cloud Times review so I have the ability to gloat a bit. (Even though I am certain they just sandwiched me in there.)

Nothing else to report. Need to make some breakfast for the kids and the St Cloud Jaycees are running Punt, Pass and Kick today at 11am so I might get back here again yet today.

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September 10, 2008 by chad.

I apologize for seeming morose in the last two posts, but I have been working on this one the last few days and had just found out about my Grandmother only an hour or so ago. In light of the economic downturn, there are a lot of restaurants that have bit the big one in the last month. The list will likely grow, but here is a list of the recently departed of the St Cloud area:

Baker’s Square

McMillan’s

Roster’s Sports Bar and Grill

Mississippi Bean and Tea

Outback Steak House

I have read some unsubstaciated rumors about some other chain restaurants in the area, but I prefer to report the facts rather than perpetuate rumors that could potentially hurt the restaurants in the St Cloud area.

Baker’s Square wasn’t doing good before the downturn, so this was the icing on the cake. Outback had a less than ideal location. McMillan’s was awful. Sad to say, I reviewed McMillan’s for the St Cloud State Chronicle in college and gave them bad marks then. As for Mississippi Bean? It’s a blow to the downtown’s culture. That’s for sure. Hopefully the location can be resurrected in another format because it had class. A lot of arts organizations have offices in The Loft which is above the coffee shop.

If you see of any other closings, let me know. I will keep adding to the list as they fall.

End of line.

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July 8, 2008 by chad.

RJ’s American Grill

4221 Clearwater Rd

St Cloud, MN 56301

You know the old adage about the most important thing when buying a building for home or business? It’s all about LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! Well, in spite of this fact RJ’s American Grill has squirreled itself behind a truck stop in an out of the way strip mall presumably to make you look for it like a buried pirate treasure. The ground is not marked with an “X”, but it definitely holds a wealth of dining experiences.

Food: 9

RJ’s is definitely Americana, but dances to the beat of their own tuba. Tuba you ask? Well, their spin on American dining fare is so unique, I felt it needed more emphasis and what has more POW than a tuba…but I digress. The menu, which is online, is filled with very original accents to the traditional slab of meat. Rarely do you see such things as kalamata olives or Gorgonzola cheese on a menu anywhere around here. Very few things are as quintessentially American as a burger and, to be honest, it is hard to find new things that peak taste buds. That is just what happened though.

I had the RJ’s Crispy Cheddar Burger with the sweet potato fries and was pleased. The cheddar was shredded and the tactile taste of slightly crunchy slow cooked cheddar was amazing. During my cooking escapades I determined that given the right amount of heat everything melts, but it takes skill to cook cheese without melting it into a indiscriminate blob. Kudos. Sweet potatoes, which are usually relegated to some traditional holiday meal and bathed in melted marshmallows, was definitely a different experience to eat but very tasty. I even had cause to eat them without any condiments what so ever.

Also, eaten was a Black and Blue Burger. The slight Cajun flavoring sat in good contrast to the applewood smoked bacon and blue cheese. This burger is immensely sloppy to eat, or maybe that was just me.

The kids options for meals had a couple different options. Buttered noodles for the finicky toddler and mini burgers for small eaters. The mini burgers fit nicely when children refuse to eat well outside of the home. The second burger can easily be boxed up and taken home.

For desert? Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches with 2 chocolate chip cookies as bookends to a generous portion of ice cream. You can tell they were not prepared on the fly as they were thoroughly frozen, but not everything  that is called homemade is made on the spot.

Prices are a little over average for dining out and the menu is laid out with round numbers rather than $8.95. I for one have seem more restaurants do this on menus and it seems to be more of a true pricing. Every time I see .99 cents on the end of a price I think of the old commercials for “Viking Chevrolet in downtown Fridley.”

Service: 9

I am tough on servers. Never do I show even a small sign of discontent, but the relationship between the server and the patron can, and often does, outshine the food. If people feel they are getting great service they may feel like eating mediocre food again just so they can get that warm fuzzy feeling. I don’t care how good the food is or how neat the digs are. If the service is lousy, so will be your experience.

Our server was OUTSTANDING! That is a word that seldom comes out in a review. She was attentive, interested in serving our needs, watched for the appropriate time to visit the table, and even swooped in like Superwoman with crayons and pictures to color for our squirmy children. That was definitely the big thing. Its standard for a restaurant to have crayons and a pre-packaged menu for kids to draw on. These pictures she brought us where from a website that had no advertising and no menu. Someone actually took the time to deliver a unique drawing experience to my children. I was amazed!

Food was timely and spaced out perfectly between appetizer, entree, and desert.

Atmosphere: 8

A lot of restaurants are moving toward decorative stonework. The problem with that is unless it is decorated enough, it can appear cold and uninviting. This restaurant blends an original stone design on a focal wall with warm lighting, and contemporary decorations to produce an upscale eatery. Dining is compartmentalized enough so that the perception of intimacy or privacy is maintained from almost every point in the dining rooms. There is a good sized meeting room in the back of the main dining area for meetings.

Overall: 9

If looking for Americana, this place should definitely be on your short list of places to try in the St Cloud area. The triumvirate of Food, Service, and Atmosphere play excellently here and so few restaurants can say they have all the pieces working in unison. The only concern I have is the location, but that can be overcome with effort on the owner’s part. The presentation is spot on!

Check out their website for more information

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July 7, 2008 by chad.

Ciatti’s Ristorante

2635 West Division St

St Cloud, MN 56301

Normally I don’t touch anything remotely connected to a chain restaurant because they have their place in society some place next to fast food but a little better. Ciatti’s is a chain in the upper midwest with 13 restaurants, but Ciatti’s Ristorante may be a franchise. (The only one of its kind according to staff from there.) That being the case I felt it was ok to skirt the grey area and jump in to one of my favorite food groups….pasta.

Ciatti’s was located downtown St Cloud for a long time, but, due to a small construction boom around the restaurant, they decided to build a new restaurant and relocate to the more traffic heavy and retail friendly Division Street. For Italian food diners there has always been a dirth of variety but Ciatti’s always stood as a reasonably priced beacon of opportunity for those seeking quality Italian. Remember, we are talking Central Minnesota Italian here. It’s probably a fair bit different than that experienced in bigger metropolitan areas.

Food: 6

For years my favorite item on the list was Spicy Chicken Penne which is a complimentary dichotomy of tastes between the Cajun of the chicken and the creamy pesto sauce with sweet sun dried tomatoes. In the interest of seeing this as a new review for a “NEW” restaurant, I skipped over my traditional choice for something new and interesting. I ordered the Chicken Saltimbocca. It was definitely a different experience for me to be sure.

The grilled chicken was blanketed in a thin layer of prosciutto(ham) and capers and a sauce consisting of sag, lemon, and white wine. It made for a less dynamic and more subdued taste with a lemony tartness that was persistent throughout. Served along with the chicken was a healthy portion of vegetables mainly consisting of peppers (red and green) and squash.

Robin(my wife) ordered a more traditional meal of Manicotti. If I was not trying to sample more diverse tastes that day, I would certainly have chosen that over what I had. It was slathered with an incredibly generous amount of mozzarella cheese. It was literally a cardiac attack on a place, but, man oh man, it was just what my taste buds needed to wake up after the Chicken Saltimbocca.

Prices are a little higher than they used to be. (About 20 to 30 percent by my reckoning) Can you blame them? They build a new restaurant with higher property value and the whole economic situation has food vendors over a barrel and forced to raise their pricing. It also helps them define their clientele a little better. “Fine” dining is a rare enough beast in the central part of the state.In both cases the plate presentation was very classy.

Service: 7

Service was timely and light on the chattiness. I like to talk to servers because you can get a great primer on what the restaurant has to offer from their service staff. There of course is a too little and too much information threshhold that some people have a hard time judging. Our server was not one for chatting so I was not provided great insight. The hosting staff was friendly. The best experience with the staff came from the gentleman who visited each table once. I assume this person was a manager. He was engaging and sounding like he honestly wanted to know our thoughts on the dining experience. I have a habit of seeing through the “I really don’t care what you think as long as you eat here” mentality. It was definitely refreshing.

Food again was timely. This is timely in the sense that you are not going to go there for dinner and treat it like a quick stop. The time it took from ordering the food to getting the finished product was good for a casual meal. The appetizer and entree were a little too close to one another, but they at least did not arrive at the same time.

Atmophere: 8

I always liked the look and feel of the old restaurant with its classically designed wall painting, columns and all. The new restaurant is clean both in newness and in form. In the modern era of restaurant architecture it has a large high ceiling in the central dining area, separated bar are, and a pergola covered patio with a stone privacy fence around it. Walking through the main dining area I am reminded of that medieval churches found in Europe. The patio was comfortable. I could imagine how much more secluded it would feel if they planted grape vine and let them run up the pergola like a trellis. It exudes a sense of fine dining.

Overall: 7

Definitely will eat there again. Why? Why not. I saw nothing in the experience that would make me think twice about eating there again. Wait, there is one…if I had my children in tow I would not dine there. That is definitely not a children’s place to eat. Leave them with a babysitter for goodness sake and take your spouse, significant other, or a good friend out for a high quality meal. It is just the right place for a relaxed good conversation and a glass of wine.

Check out their website. Its not much, but they do post their menu.

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April 7, 2008 by chad.

For the last month or so the doors at Sugar’s BBQ have been locked closed. While I have not heard any confirmation to the affirmative, it appears the Sugar’s BBQ is closed. Their answering machine states that they are open from 11am to 9pm, but the lights are off and the open sign is not in the window anymore…Hmmm…this does not bode well for the BBQ dining community. Seems like such a shame if they are closed simply because they moved to their new location in order to draw more business and then a Famous Dave’s opened up down the street from them. We’ll have to see if this death null for Sugar’s or if he can resurrect it one more time. If you know whether they are alive and kicking, please let me know.

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