5-8 Grill & Bar — Restaurant in Champlin

Saturday, May 4, 2013, 7:30 p.m.

I saw a highway sign today on I-610 and Zane Ave in Brooklyn Park that listed the 5-8 Grill and Bar, so I decided to try it out. I was surprised to see how small the interior was, but it is split into the bar and grill area and a separate dining area that is hidden from view.

Their menu provided the history of the place and said they were famous for their "Juicy Lucy" hamburgers. The menu warned that the cheese would be very hot and to take the time to let it cool, but the wait would be worth it.

The waitress told me the Juicy Lucy was a big burger because it was made from two patties about 1/2 pound. I asked about substituting onion rings for the French Fries and was told that would cost $1.00 more. I was disappointed to hear that since the basket meal was already $8.99 and it's hard to believe that onion rings are that much more expensive. I also ordered an iced tea, but didn't check the price of that.

The Juicy Lucy basket arrived very fast and that surprised me. But I think it came so fast because it was prepared earlier and had been sitting in a warmer. The burger was much smaller than I expected and was barely warm. The French Fries were just warm, too; not what I expected as fresh-from-the-fryer. Their menu said they had a satisfaction guarantee, so when the waitress came by after I had about two bites from the burger and asked how it was, I gave her a frown and a side-to-side hand wave to indicate that it wasn't great. I told her it was so-so. She laughed and walked away without making any attempt to find out what was wrong.

I gave a "good" rating to the service because it was fast and pleasant and the wait staff is not responsible for the quality of the food served. I would have rated it higher if she had been concerned that I didn't find the food good and would have asked why.

Not only wasn't the burger hot, it didn't have much taste, even after adding salt (nothing was salted, not even the fries). The burger had the consistency of overcooked oatmeal - the taste was about the same. And I didn't find the cheese in the "Juicy Lucy" until I had eaten nearly to the center. This was definitely not a juicy burger. Not even the additions (not sure what they were - mushroom slices and pickles?) added to the taste. The French Fries, too, were bland. The very small paper cup of cole slaw was the standard canned cole slaw served at any fast food place. The best thing about the meal was the unsweetened iced tea.

I ate the burger, one taste of the cole slaw, and about three French Fries. I asked for the check. It was for $12.06; the iced tea was $2.25 which surprised me and there were no refills.

To be honest, I've had better burgers at McDonalds and Burger King. Even the $1.00 McDoubles...

Decided to give this place another chance and the food definitely leveled up.

Quick history, I was here in person 2 years ago with my wife, son and his friend. It was still deep in the middle of the pandemic and I am guessing possible staffing shortages contributed to our experience. Went on a Saturday afternoon, it was not busy. The whole place was not clean, dirty floor, tables, etc. Took 15 min for server to come over to take our drink order. Drinks came 15 min later and we finally ordered our food. Waited another 30 min for our food and burgers were all dry, fries were cold, just not a good experience.

New experience. I did not go into the location so this is just based on the food. I ordered lunch for my wife and I on Uber Eats at 11:30 on a thursday. Food arrived at 12:05 (We live about 10 min from the 5-8 club.) Got two American Juicy Lucy Burgers. The food was still warm and fresh. That is a plus for both Uber Eats, but also for 5-8 Club, and so far all good. My onion Rings were crispy and tasted fresh. My wife's fries were coated with a yummy seasoning, crispy and fresh. On to the star of the show. The Juicy Lucy burgers were good. The patties were cook thoroughly but still moist. They had plenty of time to rest while being delivered so I immediately bit right into it after opening my food. The cheese was still warm and oozed everywhere, perfect. It is a large burger, at least 2/3 pounds and was loaded with a ton of good quality american cheese. The Juicy Lucy was decent burger, but I prefer more seasoning and gill char on my patty.

Overall, the food was pretty good and a major improvement over my food 2 years ago. I am glad I gave them another chance and will likely make it over in person again soon to see if the service and cleanliness has gotten better.

Final Thought: I don't know who created the cheese filled burger and I don't care about that debate. But when it comes to the better burger - sorry 5-8 although your Juicy Lucy might be a good burger and worth giving it a go, but it doesn't compare Matt's Jucy Lucy...

Cheese curds were plentiful and big. They don't have the taste quality of state fair curds but were still better than most.

The Juicy Lucy's and burgers are okay. I usually get just cheese on it.. yes plain however, I don't have the lack of flavor at other restaurants. The burgers just seem to need a little seasoning on them. They aren't bad but something is missing.

Fries were okay. We don't recall disliking the fries here but maybe something changed? I've gotten carrot sticks vs fries the last few times but was in the mood for fries last night.

We like the wings. The only complaint is sometimes they are cooked perfect and are moist and juicy, other times they are overcooked with pieces so hard you can't eat them. It's unfortunately pretty close to a 50-50 chance and that's the only reason why we stopped dining here as often. We usually get the Buffalo, Sweet Chili or PB&J. The PB&J was a pleasant surprise the first time we tried them. We got 6 pieces of celery with 24 wings. I prefer a couple more. I really liked the ranch. It was a good in-between consistency of thick and runny. It had a house made flavor. Bleu cheese is good as well. It's not super chunky but has a good amount of chunks for us.

They have a kid's menu that comes with crayons. Service had always been great, including interactions with management. There is also a 3% service charge. Reason: "A surcharge of 3% will be added to your bill to offset the increasing employee retention and benefit cost. This added fee is...