Meteor — Restaurant in Minneapolis

An update: This is still the best bar in the Twin Cities! Their cocktails are always interesting, and the bartenders really know what they are talking about. I see why so many restaurants have the staff at Meteor design their cocktail menu.

They just opened an outdoor patio, and yesterday they were growing hot dogs for free! They always have really tasty fancy hot dogs, which is nice. If you are having a couple of cocktails. I love this place.

I will start by saying I really like this place. But the location is rather a mystery.

In the book "A Field of Dreams", the main character starts building a baseball diamond in the middle of a cornfield. And when asked why, he says, "if you build it, they will come.". That is how I think about the location of Meteor. They started this bar in the pandemic, and it is located in the middle of an industrial park. Really.

Basically it is in Northeast Minneapolis. It is a very, very cool place to go have a craft cocktail. Robb Jones, the owner, has a really creative view on cocktail making, and has loads of ingredients for concocting original drinks. My husband had two of their menu cocktails. He started with the Meteo, a blend of mezcal, cynar, ginger, lime, and mint. He liked it a lot, and I liked it, and I don't usually like mezcal. I told him I like gin, and the one current gin cocktail had chocolate in it, and I am allergic. After a chat about what I like, he made an interesting riff on a corpse reviver 2. It had a hint of cantaloupe,...crazy right? Very nice cocktail.

The second cocktail my husband had was Rob's version of a Manhattan. Very unusual vermouth, which made it new and fresh. He made me an unusual concoction of spruce intensive gin, cardamaro, lemon juice, and !.....who knows what else. When he handed it to me after he tasted it, he said....".it is not awful". I loved that he said that. It actually was "New York" interesting, and I liked it.

They also serve hot dogs with really funky toppings, like kimchi mayo and crispy onions. They also have various bags of chips.

Meteor has a rather typical bar interior, and the owner clearly likes 80's music.

I view Meteor as a cocktail adventure being led by someone who really knows ingredients. You can learn a lot or just drink your cocktail and hang out. Either way, it is really worth a visit.

They have a parking lot plus there is...

Been here twice and both experiences were less than remarkable. Not quite getting why there has been so much hype. Three of us ordered up Old Fashions the first time around, and walked out feeling like we overpaid for a less than average Old Fashioned. Second time, a group of us went on a Saturday night. The place was crowded, with mostly early-20-somethings. Us old-timers stood out. Many of our group just wanted to see our old haunts, the former Stand-Up Franks. It looks much the same as the old bar, nothing fancy for sure. The beer selection was limited and what was really disappointing was the red house wine my wife ordered; it came in a can! Never had that happen before, and it tasted like it came out of a can. We won't be going back, but apparently some folks like it;...

Eh. Drinks are fine but their specialty drinks are pre-batched. They had a fun looking riff on an old-fashioned but it was made with a coconut washed rye, which I don’t like. So I asked if they could make the drink for me with a regular rye and I was told that they couldn’t because it is pre-batched. Well, shouldn’t you have all of the ingredients on hand to make the drink if it’s on your menu? Weird. So I had them make me a regular ride old-fashioned and it was pretty mid. Really wanted to give two stars but it was only ten bucks so three it is. Bartenders are exhaustingly hipster, almost to the point if it feeling like an SNL skit. I just don’t understand the fawning...