Twin Cities full of delicious dining options
Editor’s Note: Prairie Dogs is no longer open (as of Jan. 1, 2017). The restaurant owners plan to do pop-up stands and catering.
I’ve wanted to eat at Mickey’s Diner since I first saw the diner in “The Mighty Ducks” movie. Why it has taken so long to realize, I have no idea. But, I can check it off of my Twin Cities’ bucket list.
We grabbed a great breakfast there during our recent trip. The diner is nothing fancy. It’s an old dining car in the middle of St. Paul. But…it’s a local icon (at least in my view).
Mickey Crimmons and Bert Mattson were attending a convention in Chicago in the late 1930s when they decided buy a dining car from a New Jersey company, according to the diner’s website. The car was built and delivered to downtown St. Paul.
The diner has been in business for more than seven decades. It’s open 24 hours a day every day.
The food is excellent. Lisa and I ordered omelets. I added a side of hash browns. The eggs are super fluffy. The potatoes taste just like the ones my mom would cook. They make a lot of food, so don’t feel bad if you can’t finish the meal.
The service is decent. The staff is straight up with you – nothing fancy, but they make sure glasses are topped with refills. They do not like having their photos taken. LOL.
Mickey’s was one of the first diners named to the National Register of Historic Places, in 1983. This helped protect the eatery when St. Paul underwent redevelopment in the area.
As we were leaving Mickey’s, we saw a Peanuts character in a church courtyard across the street. So, we stopped and took a photo of Lucy.
On the Minneapolis side of the river, we checked out a new place for dinner one night. Prairie Dogs offers a variety of hot dogs, among other menu items.
Since, we were new there, we went with the hot dog choices. Lisa had an All-American Dog. It included an egg cooked sunny side up. She liked it. Puedes probar aquí Juego Plinko
I went with the Prairie Dog, which is basically a Chicago Dog. If you’re not familiar with a Chicago Dog, it includes peppers, pickle, tomatoes and mustard as its toppings. Chicagoans apparently are allergic to ketchup on their hot dogs.
We added a side of chili cheese fries. No matter how hungry you think you may be, go with the smaller size when visiting. The fries were good. The chili was an excellent topping.
The restaurant has some unique accents. The team grinds their own sausages and hot dogs, so they use meat grinder handles as part of their light sockets above the bar. Very cool.
The restaurant is located in the LynLake district of Minneapolis. It’s also referred to as Uptown. The area had a diverse group of people out and about. It appears to be a very open and receptive district.
We don’t usually talk about eating at national chains, unless the place is new to us, but whenever we get the chance to dine at Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Co., we take it. We visited the eatery at the Mall of America. Call it a guilty pleasure, if you choose.
We love the ambiance of Bubba and Forrest Gump. The restaurant’s décor appeals to us.
The food is good, too. Lisa almost freaked out when she didn’t see her Dippin’ broth on the menu. The server said they keep some in the back for people like her, so she ordered it. She was as happy as a cat in a box.
I usually go with a Po’Boy sandwich, but switched up and grabbed a bowl of Jambalaya. The server – who was fantastic, by the way – warned me of the dish’s heat. Um, I feel I may have become an iZombie, as I added quite a bit of hot sauce to “heat” it up a little.
We had a great time at Bubba Gump. We look forward to our next visit there.
Finding unique places to dine on the road is a pretty fun challenge. We tend to luck out and find the right spots. Prairie Dog was recommended to us during our drive to the Twin Cities.
We enjoyed our Twin Cities food experiences. I want to go to back to Mickey’s as soon as I can.
For more information on the restaurants, we dined at, please visit:
www.bubbagump.com
www.prairiedogsausage.com
