The Nook — Restaurant in Saint Paul

So the Juicy Lucy is the closest I could find to being a "unique" Minnesota / Minneapolis food. Despite having one elsewhere before (possibly with a different name) and this place came highly recommended. It wasn't too far from the airport, and I came in around the dinner hour, so all seemed right. I placed an online order which was supposedly to be ready in just under 20 minutes, leaving me plenty of time to get lost on the way there. Parking was almost non existent, only being parallel parking for multiple business on the side of the road. I got in and went inside. At this point the 20 minutes had passed, so I was hoping to grab and go. The doorway was crammed with parties waiting for a seat, and no clear indication of where to go for online pickup. Just trying to get inside was almost impossible, I worked my way through the throngs and got the podium and mentioned online order. They asked my name and the dude left to go check. Because he needed to pass me and there wasn't even room for me to stand there, I followed him through the mass of folks, up past the bar where no orders were waiting and was informed it wasn't ready. I asked where I should wait and he said it didn't matter, which I guess is technically true, there was literally no where to wait except a couple empty bar stools where they keep the online orders. And even there the servers have to dance around you and the table people are eating at just feet away. After a little while they had brought my food out, over 35 minutes on a 20 minute order. Like I don't mind food taking awhile, just don't lie about how long it should be, this always annoys me. Anyway I get back to the car and plan to eat about half the burger now before driving out of town to my destination, and save some for later, munching on fries during the drive. Well I'm not sure how I was supposed to eat it, but one conventional bite into the burger launches scalding hot cheese all over you, completely ruining ones shirt. After a few minutes scraping up the molten cheese now fused to and certainly ruining my shirt with grease, I return to the burger to find that was literally all of the cheese it had. The burger seemed like it would be good if it wasn't for such a poor dining experience, but there is no excuse for this. It would be a 1st degree burn if not for my shirt catching most of it. The fries weren't special, and got cold before I was done wiping cheese off of my shirt. This place might be good if you order a normal burger but man they should warn you about the stuffed burgers because they are dangerous. Thankfully I was trying to eat before driving. This would have definitely caused an accident if I were mobile. The website also mentions a few varieties of cheese curds, which would have been wonderful, they are however, not on the menu for...

I travel a lot for work and usually look forward to trying new restaurants. After enjoying Matt’s and 5-8 from my previous travels, I figured I’d give this place a shot. Big mistake, walking in here was like walking into a bad decision you can smell. The first thing that hits you is the stench, like a cocktail of stale beer, mildew, and a rag that’s been used to mop the same floor for decades. Forget “dive bar charm” this place has the ambiance of an abandoned bowling alley mixed with a bus station bathroom.

I sat down at the bar at 7:03. At the host stand, there were two kids, faces glued to their phones, clearly more invested in their social feeds than doing their jobs. I wasn’t greeted, seated, or even acknowledged. At 7:08, I had to grab menus myself like I was sneaking into some closed-down diner. By 7:18, still nothing, no hello, no water, no sign of life from the staff. Dead silence in a dead business.

Since no one bothered to acknowledge, just decided to get up and leave. On my way out, I was treated to a dirty glare from a man who looked like he hadn’t seen soap in weeks, greasy hair with streaky highlights, scowling at me like I was out of line for expecting, you know, actual service in a restaurant. He looked less like an employee and more like someone squatting in the building. This wasn’t just poor service, it was a complete collapse of what dining out is supposed to be. The place is dirty, the staff are indifferent at best and hostile at worst, and the vibe screams neglect.

Honestly, it feels like a building that stopped caring years ago but somehow forgot to close its doors. If this is supposed to be competition for Matt’s or 5-8, it’s laughable. Save yourself the trip unless you enjoy wasting your evening staring at sticky floors and being glared at by people who clearly resent having a job. I gave them 15 minutes to prove they cared about a paying customer. They didn’t....

My son and I are burger lover's and one of our favorite places to get a gourmet, hand crafted burger is The Nook on the Southeast Corner of Hamline and Randolph at 492 Hamline Ave S, St Paul, MN 55116. My son had the Guy's Big Bite burger, which is named after TV Food Network celebrity, Guy Fieri, who featured the Nook on his show, "Diner's Drive-ins, and Dives on January 21, 2008. It was a huge Jucy Nookie (The Nook's version of a Juicy Lucy stuffed inside with pepperjack cheese and topped on the outside with roast beef, shredded cheddar cheese, and bacon. My son is 6' 6" tall, weighs 250lbs, and he was starved. Yet, he said the burger was so big, rich, and filling, he couldn't quite finish it! He loved ❤ it! My wife had the Cutie Lucy, which has 3 sliders with your choice of cheese (she chose Americancheese). She liked them so much she said she's ordering the same thing the next time we eat there. My daughter ordering the Grilled Cheese and fries off the Children's Menu and loved it. She said it tasted better than the Grilled Cheese sandwiches daddy makes her! I cried...lol. Finally, I ordered the Paul Molitor suffed burger, which is a Juicy Nookie Burger (aka Juicy Lucy) stuffed with pepperjack 🧀. It was awesome, but I have to warn you, keep your buger away from your body and your chin over your plate because this burger squirts cheese out of it when you take your first bite. That's right, an explosion of delicious cheese 🧀!!! I finished mine, but I was stuffed! Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't rave about their in-house hand cut fries. They are crispy on the outside and tender and delicious on the inside. In short they're perfection!!! There were 4 of us and we all resoundingly gave it 8 thumbs up! 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 I've attached some pictures of our food, the menu, and of the restaurant for...