Book Club Restaurant — Restaurant in Minneapolis

I am writing this review because we had a much improved experience this past weekend. With that said, let's start off with some tips.

Regarding reservations, I looked on OpenTable and the Book Club didn't show up in the search results. I then went to their website and I was pleasantly surprised to see I could make a reservation. The reservation functionality was easy to use and took me a few seconds to find an opening.

Now let's talk about the most painful piece. Finding parking on a weekend can be challenging. The parking lot next to the Book Club is very difficult to get out of. You can barely see to your left and the street is very busy. In summary, it can be terrifying. Also, don't try to park on Penn Ave. There are multi-unit houses that park outside and an ACE Hardware store so you could end up a few blocks away. The tip is to park on the east side of Penn on 54th. The west side of 54th is jam packed by customers going to Colita. In addition, there is a secret parking lot across the street from Colita. The business using this parking lot is closed on the after 5pm Monday - Thursday and all day Friday - Sunday. In summary, leverage this tips and parking will be much easier.

It was a beautiful day so we decided to sit outside. Here is a new secret. The Book Club is using a large portion of the parking lot now for dining tables. This means they can take larger parties outside now. We sat out front near the railing. There is an updated happy hour menu with all kinds of appetizers and drinks. We started off with dirty martini and Pryes Pradmatic Pils (4.2% ABV). My wife accidentally forgot to ask for Greg Goose but when she tasted the martini she loved it. So whatever vodka they are using is quite tasty. Then I felt like a sandwich and the manager (or bar manager) recommended the Fried Chicken sandwich. I followed his advice and my wife ordered the 6 BBQ dry rub whole chicken wing (flat and drumette) with the white vinegar BBQ sauce. While we were waiting for our food, I saw a waitress bringing a fried chicken sandwich to a customer and my mouth dropped. It was gigantic! The food came out in less than 20 minutes. While I paused to come up a strategy on how to eat the huge sandwich, it was clear this sandwich deserved more than a beer. I then ordered the ruhbarb margarita (silver tequila, rhubarb syrup, fresh lime). Please notice they made a syrup from the rhubarb, not simple syrup. The fried chicken sandwich was cooked perfectly and the BBQ white vinegar didn't take the focus away from the chicken. So don't remove this the sauce because it enhances the overall sandwich. Please note this sandwich is the star so don't order anything else that will distract you from the main event. My wife was crazy about the wings. She said the wings tasted like a delicious BBQ flavored chip. She is a southerner so she is picky about anything claiming to be BBQ in Minnesota. Also, these are not small wings and could be a meal for one. My ruhbarb margarita arrived and I immediately took a sip through the straw. It was absolutely delightful. If your are like me, I hat overly sweetened margarita. The person behind this cocktail is a genius.

It is now time for me take eat a little humble pie. In the past, I thought the Book Club was average. I was wrong and we plan on walking down to the Book Club for many more dinners. We look forward to...

This is an update to my previous experience at Book Club.

I had gone for brunch - and it netted a solid 4-star review. Dinner you'll notice drug the rating down to two star. I can't see a reason to return.

So to hopefully make light of what was not only an uninteresting, but at times an outright bad meal, I'm going to outline this as "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly".

The Good: Brunch was not bad - and the Bahn Mi was really good full of great flavors and a sauce I still remember. Their burger, while not up to the same amazing bar set by other restaurants in Minneapolis, was quite good and I did outright enjoy it. Their cocktails - They were creative, really tasty, and even with the two-star review above I could easily be convinced to return for their bar service. Bartenders, I tip my hat to you and what I consider keeping Cafe Maude's well-deserved bar fame alive.

The Bad: Their salmon, which is an affront to the cost of food both economically and environmentally. I really cannot describe how bad this was (believe me, we tried to come up with the appropriate word). I couldn't tell if it was just bad mean, poor preparation, or just overcooked. It was simply the worst salmon I've ever had - and that's including salmon out of a bag. Their fries were soggy, but otherwise okay. Wouldn't order again. The "Thai" flavored chicken skewer's app. The meat not only felt "wet" to the mouth, but there was quite literally no flavor to be found. This one really surprised me. The Bread Pudding, which I think was simply soaked in sweetened condensed milk then baked. It had no depth of flavor and really just tasted like wet bread. Their salads, brought down by a poor choice of lettuce mix and an uneven coating of the dressing. Their service was middling at best. Our server almost seemed insulted that we didn't finish one of the courses.

The Ugly: That wallpaper. No really. While I'd feel really, really bad if the building burnt down, I think there might be a city-wide celebration to the fact that the wallpaper is no longer accosting our eyes with its...

This was a great surprise. The previous place was good if you were sitting at the bar and just ordering happy hour apps. But the few times that we went for meals, service was slow, usually one order would either be mixed up in some way or simply wasn't put in at all. The dishes were tasty enough, but usually too small.

So it has taken us a bit to finally get to Book Club, but it won't take long to get back. First, we noticed that it was understaffed for the full patio and half full house that they had. Despite the obvious madness these guys were going through, we did get seated in a reasonable amount of time. But I was still nervous, because under these circumstances, delays and mix-ups are expected. But no, these guys rocked it! I ordered a beer from the unattended bar and we ordered an appetizer of Balinese chicken thigh skewers. Both came in a timely manner and the skewers were amazing! They are mini skewers, so you may need an order per person. For entrees, we each ordered rice bowls. One bowl with shrimp and one with Korean rib meat with the special request of no slaw. We were not trying to throw anybody off, but an order like that is easy to mix up. But again, these guys nailed it! Meals came right after the appetizer with no mix-ups. These are not your regular rice bowls, but instead are an assortment of ingredients that compliment each other perfectly.

Things were so perfect, that we went for a banana split with capachinos. And that was the capper for a great meal. We went out last minute thinking we would finally try the newer place, not having any idea even what they offered and ended up having the best casual dinner that we have had in...