The Cook & The Ox — Restaurant in Fort Snelling Unorganized Territory

The menu is very select; not too many items, but everything that we’ve tried on the menu has been excellent. When traveling to various places across the US, we are typically surprised that our Minneapolis main airport has the best dining and snack options. There are many full restaurant options available. The Cook The Ox is centrally located at Terminal 1; and we like that. It lives up to our expectations being a premier steakhouse by local James Beard Award nominee chef Jack Riebel.

Each time we’ve visited, we ordered and ate at the bar because it is the quickest when attempting to have a bite and still make our flights on time. The bartenders and staff are delightful people to meet and are helpful.

My all time favorite is to order the Charcuterie for 1 person. It has a nice kick, Spicy capicola, soppressata, cornichon, Manchego cheese, bocconcini, kalamata olives, cheese twists (TOTALLY FABULOUS and is served with a small jar of honey. It is remarkably tasty and only $14.

We’ve enjoyed the Ox Burger, their specialty. I also highly recommend the French onion soup; it is rich with robust broth flavor and generously topped with cheese. We sat by a young gentleman who commutes regularly for work and says the French Fries and mocktails are the best. We can personally speak for the quality and taste of The Cooks Old Fashioned (comes with orange peel), Bloody Mary (loaded with goodies), and Tommy’s Margarita (ask for a lime).

The steak comes grilled perfectly. Happy atmosphere – tucked under Ikes Restaurant, and in between People’s Organic Restaurant and Caribou Coffee. We’d visit more often if it wasn’t restricted to only airport travelers. We were sad when it was closed due to COVID last Christmas. Over the years, it’s been a favorite place to dine every time I/we travel. Thank you, MSP for dedicating space to fine dining for business and...

I asked "What size is 'The Ox' burger patty" but the guy didnt understand those words. I said askes it in 3 different ways, and while friendly, he simply couldnt understand the words i spoke. I just let the question dry up, figuring a 25$ burger better be a decent portion size, but ultimately it was rather small and tasteless. The bacon tasted pretty good. They do not have mustard ( no catch up either, but i would have settled for just mustard, no mayo, and finally no A1. ) The man said that they have stake sause, I said that would be fine but it was the house marinara sauce and was unpleasant for me. We had to grab silverware from the table next to us because the server forgot to set our table. They forgot a side order so we had to remind them. They brought it out after it was ready. I got The Ox burger. But it had no flavor and was not salted whatsoever. I think the cook forgot to season the patty, It seems like decent beef though but I had to use salt and pepper to pull out those natural flavors of the ground beef. But that just reminds me we weren't given salt and pepper shakers either and when we asked for them the guy kind of had to look like we were asking for something unusual but he finally got it and they were big salt and pepper shakers. I suppose they don't put them out very much because it's extra work. Which leads me to the other point it looked like like they were understaffed. This was a common theme at the airport in general though. You don't realize it walking down the Concourse it looks just like hustle and bustle kind of stuff, it until you actually get your food and then it's sort of a close up problem for you personally and you realize there are a service issues generally. They do have good paper napkins though, and That was...

The atmosphere is relaxing and beautiful for a restaurant inside an airport. The first hostest (tall, white) we spoke to kept asking if we had time to sit and eat. I am sure she is used to people being in a rush and rude, but my husband and I had a huge layover and were excited to try something new and different from what we get at home. They weren't that busy when we arrived, but picked up after we were seated. The bacon appetizer, Brussel sprouts, asparagus, garlic mushrooms, medallions were incredible. The ultimate blt was good, but I would've preferred less remoulade sauce. Would recommend if you have the time the next time you have a lay over. Edit: 3 days later I had to come back to this restaurant. It's that good. This time ordered the bacon appetizer, crispy Brussel sprouts and crab tots. Bacon was the same as the first time, perfectly paired with each item the mustard, the sweet peppers, and blue cheese. The crab tots were crunchy on the outside like a hashbrown and so soft and flavorful on thr inside like biting into a crunchy cloud. The Brussel sprouts were even better than the first time. The cook made the outer later nice and crispy. Order the medallions medium and it was cooked to perfection. There was even a crust on the outside. The kale caesar is so good, the crispy kale with the perfect amount of dressing and romaine lettuce. My husband ordered the pan seared salmon and it was equally delicious! Had the crust on the outside and a subtle sweet flavor. Asparagus had the perfect crunch and flavor. Ended it with the perfect amount of chocolate mousse with what I think had a hint of orange liquor. I would fly into Minneapolis just for this restaurant it's...