Joan's in the Park — Restaurant in Saint Paul

The location of the restaurant is great, easy to park, convenient. Joan’s in the Park has a family style feeling but still with an elegant decor and fresh look. It is a small place but with a very vibrant atmosphere. They also have a patio, an excellent addition when the weather is nice. During my reservation I was surprised about the time limit for the each table during your dinner visit. After talking and explaining my concerns to Dan we agreed to the specific table location when we could stay longer to enjoy our dinner. All tables inside had a white tablecloths. This made me feel like we were in the upscale restaurant. Our table was nicely decorated for my wife’s birthday with some cute signs. Joan’s in the Park uses a very nice silverware and they are all replaced after each curse, very good habit. The restaurant also has a nice bar where you can sit down and enjoy your drink. The restaurant was very busy and noisy but somehow that did not bothered me at all. I also could see many different recognition awards on the wall. Last Saturday’s visit was our 1st visit to this establishment. We celebrated my wife Birthday. First...Joan’s in the Park knows how to run the guests service….from the moment we entered the restaurant we were welcomed by Dan, super nice guy, very friendly and happy to see us. Great sign to me, this guy is happy so I should be too and I was not disappointed. Later we were introduced to Matt our waiter...wow...another individual who was vibrant, full of energy and happy. we ordered the 4 course menu...it was really exciting, the presentation was spot on. I could easily see the skills and passion from the chef and his team on the each plate we were presented with...all courses were like painting on the canvas.We all loved them very much. We started our evening with a bottle of California sparkling wine -Gloria Ferrer, Blanc de Blancs, 100% chardonnay bottle from Cali. It was light, fruity, refreshing and very inviting, we loved it. Our 1st course was : Kombu cured raw scallops with ginger, sunchoke, lemon, cucumber, frezno chili , yogurt Chilled lobster with avocado,coconut, peanut,cilantro- all dishes were fresh and vibrant. 2nd course: fresh burrata with apple and manchego cheese with black olive carmel, walnuts, warm spice Fresh burrata with ramps, wild fennel, hazelnuts, pink peppercorn- all tasted fresh, delicate and very happy. The 3rd cours were : Magliette- lamb rogu, pecorino, walnuts Beet tortellini with goat cheese, pinenut, mint- very different but also delicious The 4th course we had: filet mignon with butternut squash, herbed mushrooms , sauce bordelaise And Corvina fish (from Japan) with maitake mushrooms, sesame, bonito, The fish was mild, a little sweet taste- I loved it. I just wish to have less of the sauce, otherwise my fish was very tender and tasty. What I really liked when between dishes we were receiving a small additional samples of the palate cleansers. That was awesome.Also Dan and Matt we’re constantly watching our cloth napkins to keep them in the right location on the table. This was very professional way to keep everything looking good. We had Pinot Grigio Benvolio from Italy with our fish and True Myth Cabernet from Paso Robles Cali with our filet mignon. Both very good wines matching to our dishes. Our desserts were: brown butter pudding with chocolate caramel, whipped cream, sea salt and maple & walnut maple ice- cream, walnut crumble, apple,camela creme fraiche- my ice-cream was smooth but I really didn’t care for an apple with my ice-cream. Never had an apple with my ice-cream before. And the end we just wanted to say ...bravo,bravo,bravo, phenomenal dishes, excellent presentations, great flavors, top notch service. Reservations are highly recommended. Thank you Dan, Matt Holmquist, thanks for the Pinot, it was a great one,sous chef Gilberto Perez and the entire team you all did really exceptional job.Dan and Matt impressed us, from the moment we entered the restaurant until we left. Our friends and us were really happy to be there. We...

Wow. 100/10. I'm having trouble writing this review because I have so much to say and feel simultaneously speechless.

I knew I wanted to treat my partner to a coursed dinner for his birthday this year. I did a quick Google search and saw that Joan's in the Park was a highly rated restaurant in St. Paul that served a coursed menu. St. Paul is a short drive for us so a quick glance at the menu and reviews and I was SOLD.

We arrived at this quaint, local, corner restaurant early for our reservation in hopes of being able to grab a round of drinks at the bar top while waiting to be sat at our table. The building radiated warmth upon walking up and we were greeted promptly and enthusiastically by a lovely woman at the host stand. We were lucky to be able to be sat right away and were so happily surprised to see that the host read our reservation notes (that it was my partners birthday and our shellfish allergy, etc.). They sent us a complimentary round of champagne to celebrate while our server Dan welcomed us in and answered any initial questions we had.

Service, from start to finish, was a proper experience in real hospitality. We were so attended to the entire time. Dan did an exceptional job, we can't say enough. It is so refreshing to receive such care as a guest. It was refined, upscale, and truly fine dining, but it felt as cozy and loving as being in mom/dad/loved-one's dining room. The dining room was full, which is always a delight to see, and the energy of the space was upbeat and lively. The way a bathroom is kept says a lot about an establishment and the bathrooms were clean, they smelled nice, and were clearly well maintained.

The menu was absolutely divine. First of all, it was SO fun to look through each course and see dishes that we've never had before, think about what we wanted to try, what we might share together and what we were most excited about individually. Then to receive each course and to be completely blown away by the flavors, textures, plating, and overall harmony of all of the ingredients... It is abundantly clear that whoever is leading the BOH/Kitchen is creating from a place of love because we could feel it in every bite of our evening. Each course was such a beautiful experience; however, my particular favorite was the poached shrimp for my second course. We shared a couple of desserts and a bottle of wine and had (EASILY) the best meal of 2023 at Joan's in the Park.

The only TINY thing that came up for us, not worthy of knocking down any points or stars, was that when we first sat down at our table, because the dining room was so full, it was quite loud and very difficult to hear each other across the table. After a party or two left it was much easier to hear but some kind of sound proofing might do this intimate space some good :)

There's a saying in the industry that goes something like, "guests will go to a restaurant for the food, but they will come back for the service." and I am thrilled to suggest that Joans in the Park will have you enthusing about both, for hours, possibly days or weeks, after leaving. We cannot wait to go back and we cannot wait to invite our friends and family to come with.

Please do yourself a favor and...

I have had this place on my bucket list for awhile and I can’t tell you how happy I am to finally be here. Went with 3 others and it was just amazing the staff and the food and also - can we just pause to appreciate that parking is easy and I can hear the person across the table from me? Yes I know I sound old but it’s so fun to connect with friends and hear each other - the courses just came out exactly as you would hope, there wasn’t a delay like ok when is our next course - the timing was perfect and the food was fantastic - the duck was so well cooked with a wild rice side wrapped in a thin squash, the pork tenderloin was so juicy and just filled with peppery flavor - my friends said it was the best tenderloin steak they’ve had because the sauce was so rich and deep. That’s just the 4th course - I could go on about the other 3 and I want to highlight how attentive and friendly the server was even though she said her favorite wine was the arsonist and so cute (which seems like a strange phrase) but it was a fun and calm atmosphere filled with amazing food - oh the beets and shrimp were also talked about as amazing highlights - the sauces here are just undeniably amazing and I think people forget what a sauce can do or not do for food. For me this is my favorite restaurant I’ve ever been too and I know I’m behind the times as people have been saying this for 10 years but I’m happy to promote this is still worth it, some restaurants lose steam but apparently this one hasn’t yet - you’re lucky if you get to live close to St. Paul highland area it’s seriously a hidden gem and as my friend said when I commented it’s kind of expensive would you rather spend an extra $20 here and get this than basically the same price at another place - the answer is of course yeah this is worth the price they give you - oh and filling out this google form I just remembered I had the beef tartare if that’s your thing it looks and tastes amazing - so smooth and with the sweet potato crisps it was just something I can barely put into words - I write all this because I am almost never pleased and find a lot of faults in everything but this was a rare...