Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Yelp.com’

The food was sooooo good I forget to take pictures. And it was beautiful.

Thai food always has a visual aesthetic, but even our mixed up salads were gorgeous — imagine little squid tentacles bathed in lime juice and chili with lots of cilantro.

17 people on Yelp agree with me, granting On’s a 4 star average rating. It’s the best Thai food I’ve had outside of Thailand.

I have to go back soon. I have to try everything on the menu. It’s my new favorite place even if I have to wiggle my way through Light Rail Construction.

Here are a some tips so you can help On’s survive street destruction:

  • Order your food “mild.” We’re Minnesotans, we may think we like spicy food, but unless you’ve eaten in Thailand, don’t risk burning your lips.
  • On’s is on the North side of University between Fry Street (on the West) and Snelling Avenue (on the East).
  • It’s a couple of doors down from AxMan Surplus, so you can go to two cool places on one trip.
  • Directions:
    • If you are coming from the South, for now, the easiest way to get there is via Fry Street.
    • Take Snelling Avenue North and turn left (West) as if you were going to take 94 West.
    • Instead get on the frontage road (aka St. Anthony Avenue) and take a quick right onto Fry Street.
    • Take Fry over University and turn right into the alley behind AxMan Surplus
    • There is a lot between On’s and the old Frumo’s hair salon
    • From the North, you can boogy down Snelling, turn right onto University and right into the lot
  • When the North side of University Avenue is torn up, the only way to get to On’s will be via the alley. Keep that in mind and don’t let it scare you off.

My Point?

I want these funky places to benefit from Light Rail and not turn into suburban style strip malls full of national retailers and boring food.

Take the Step. Make the Commitment. Give yourself some extra time. Head to University Avenue.

Read Full Post »

My new favorite restaurant is a tiny deli tucked into the corner of an old apartment complex. Acme Deli has maybe 4 tables and a 1000 different sandwich combinations. The food is great.

The Acme Deli on St. Clair and Brimhall in St. Paul

I stopped in recently because everyone I knew was talking about it. Everyone. Even the kids at the bus stop. So I knew I had to visit.

The problem with having a favorite sandwich, often, is you only love it at one place. You spend the rest of your dining out time telling everyone how such-and-such restaurant makes a better sandwich.

I love grilled cheese tomato sandwiches. I love them at the dive-diner on the edge of town in Morris, MN and at Haskell’s Port of Excelsior lakeside bar. I grew up with these sandwiches — it’s what I ate in college and graduate school. The Port sandwiches were always greasy and came with awesome fries. The Morris one was Velveeta on WonderBread and totally satisfying. None of the tomatoes were very good.

Back to the Acme Deli. When you enter, you pick up a cool little menu to design your own sandwich. Being totally overwhelmed with a 2 year old in tow, it was an easy decision to go for my old favorite, but on whole wheat with red onions because I knew she’d eat it. I was impressed. In 5 minutes, my perfectly grilled and not-at-all greasy sandwich arrived on 2 plates with 2 pickle spears for easy sharing. The cheese (provolone) was perfectly melted, the bread crisply toasted –perfect for dipping in my tomato basil soup.

So of course I tell my friends about it. But I also “yelped.” Yelp.com is the online way to give a shout out or complain about a local business, ask a question (“Fresh Lemongrass, please?“) and connect with your friends at the same time.

I “yelped” because Acme Deli asked me to with their handwritten sign taped to the register.

How cool is that?

Read Full Post »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,055 other followers

%d bloggers like this: