The [Food] Game is Fixed

You have one more week to enjoy Eat Downtown! The Greater Downtown Council-sponsored event, with 19 participating restaurants, is back this year.

The DNT describes the program here.

Kate and I at ate J J Astor — an amazing dinner, including blackberry salad, for me a pressed chicken, for her walleye with grapefruit and bleu cheese salad, for me a chocolate pudding for dessert, for her an orange olive oil cake. Amazing. Also of note: the happy-hour specials at the Astor are at least competitive with other local happy hours. We had never seen the bar added in the remodel before; it (and the whole space) is awesome.

Bellisio’s was awesome both for the company (M., S., and L.) as for the very filling mix of a caprese salad (the highlight of my meal), various pasta dishes, and tasty gelato.

Being a tourist in your own town is sometimes one of the best ways to rediscover your love for it. Try a local restaurant today. And note: some of the restaurants with more modest aims have a “two for twenty” menu in the evenings.

11 Comments

edgeways

about 14 years ago

so... I have not been to JJ Aster. The menu from their website looks pretty good, but the "candid" shots of the diners frankly gives me the heebie jeebies. Can anyone speak to what the vibe is actually like?

Claire

about 14 years ago

We had dinner there Friday -- the Restaurant Week menu RhetoricGuy described. Great food, good service, the view was amazing. We liked the vibe. It really wasn't whitebread. And the duck confit salad app -- oh my!

tamara

about 14 years ago

I have been enjoying this week! For lunch, I have gone to Lake Ave, where I had the smoked pork shoulder and the lemon date tart, which were both very tasty. I went to Grandma's, where I had the Tricycle Burger and the Lemon Drop Cake. The burger was ordinary, but the lemon cake was delicious... I went to Va Bene, where I ordered the angel hair pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts, which was not on the $10 menu, but quite yummy... and last night, we tried to go to Zeitgeist for dinner, but too long of a wait found us heading up to Nokomis, where we had a delicious meal... 

I can't wait to go this week!

Claire

about 14 years ago

Wow, Tamara, you've gotten around! So far, I've had the fish taco lunch at 301, which was **fabulous,** though not your typical fish tacos. I've also gone to JJ Astor for dinner: duck confit salad to begin, followed by the pressed chicken. Both were absolutely delicious. Mr. Claire had the walleye, he said it was excellent. A friend and I tried to get into Zeitgeist for lunch earlier this week, but the wait was 30 mins, so we went to Jacqui's Deli and had sandwiches there instead.

My daughter and I went to Fitgers, but their $10 lunch was way too much fried food, as the burger or wild rice burger came with both onion rings and fries, so we had other delicacies there.

I'll have to hit some more places this week too!

Jesus

about 14 years ago

Scenic cafe was delicous today best grub in town... jj is alright.....

natalie

about 14 years ago

I did Zeitgeists' lunch last week and was sorely disappointed. Service was long as they only had 1 cook on despite it being the noon hour. Soup of the day was chicken corn chowder -- fairly tasty, but heavy on the pepper. Main course was the macaroni and cheese which arrived with a foul odor (I assume it was the nutmeg) and was extremely dry (lots of breadcrumbs). For dessert I chose the flourless chocolate cake, and, well, it's hard to go wrong w/ chocolate.

I also hit up Pizza Luce for its $20-for-two meal. While not anything special, a great deal! For $20 we each got a side salad of choice, any 12" speciality pizza on the menu, and to split any dessert. We went for the towering 6-inch piece of chocolate cake. Very satisfying.

adam

about 14 years ago

How's Jacqui's Deli?

Claire

about 14 years ago

Jacqui's Deli was pretty good for what it was: an inexpensive place for a quick bite. A real old-fashioned vibe, and there are only about a half dozen tables. Our sandwiches were delicious -- there's a long list of meats, cheeses, vegetables and condiments to choose from, with some interesting sauces. I loved my Swedish rye bread and everything seemed very fresh. Nothing exotic on the menu, but it was very good. Two of us ate our fill, sandwiches, shared some chips, water for me, juice for her, for $10 or so total.

The crowd seemed to be mostly people from Greysolon, though my fabulous accountant, Tom Curran, steered us there. During our meal, an elderly woman started screaming, either to herself or on a cell phone, and that was odd. Otherwise, I'd go back there again if I wanted a sandwich made with quality ingredients by someone who must have thanked us three times for coming in.

Claire

about 14 years ago

I should clarify, my friend had roast beef and I had turkey, each of us had half a sandwich, a whole sandwich would have been almost too much.

Jesus

about 14 years ago

Wheres the deli Claire?

Claire

about 14 years ago

Jacqui's Deli is in the Greysolon Building, on the corner of Third Avenue East and Superior Street. Romano's Grocery used to be in that space.

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