Blue Door Pub - St. Paul, Minnesota

I visited the Blue Door Pub on October 10, 2010.  This was 15 days before the episode on this place was due to be aired on the DDD TV show.  I sometimes wonder if the attention that the TV show brings to a restaurant might spoil it a little because of all of the extra customers that it brings.  That thankfully wasn't the case here.

The Blue Door Pub in St. Paul, Minnesota was another in long line of triple-d neighborhood bar restaurants.  They had free flowing beer and lots of burgers being served.

The burger that caught my attention was the Pad Thai Burger.  I’ve had Pad Thai plenty of times before but, I only knew it as an egg-noodle dish from Thailand.  I had a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of having this on a hamburger bun.  The execution was really well done.  It was kind of like a really awesome egg sandwich.  They had a slice of thick-cut cheddar cheese on the sandwich which was a dominant taste that complimented the egg perfectly.  It was really innovative and expertly executed.

Also a mind-blower were the beer-battered green beans.  The concept of battering and frying green beans just seems weird.  Again, they were great.  The green beans had an intense green bean taste and were really juicy.  They are perfect for dipping into the ranch sauce that comes with them.

The service was excellent.  The waitress was super busy because we went there during the lunch hour rush.  That didn’t take away from her attitude.  She was super friendly and efficient.

I give the Blue Door Pub a 9 out of 10 on the triple-d scale. 

The Blue Door Pub
1811 Selby Ave
St. Paul, MN 55104
(651) 493-1865

Psycho-Suzi's Motor Lounge - Minneapolis

Psycho Suzi's is a northern exposure tiki bar. There is lots of bamboo and kitschy polenesian statuettes and beach paraphernalia everywhere.  The lights are turned down low to make you feel like you are at a luau.  There were lots of island drinks with colorful little umbrellas in them flying by on serving trays. I was suspiciously alone at my table as the intrepid individual business traveler. Most of the other tables were filled with groups of revelers.

You can order a pu-pu platter, sandwiches, pizza or any other type of bar food that you want. I opted for the pizza. I chose the Hawaiian pizza in keeping with the Polynesian spirit. They call it their “Paradise City.” It had canadian bacon, pineapple, pineapple rum-soaked raisins and red onion.

The pizza was pretty good but, the service was a little bit weak. I think that because I was just a table of one and I was only drinking diet cokes that my waitress was probably preoccupied with better paying tables requiring more frequent calls for replenishment. I had to waive at her a few times to gain her attention. If I was not on a triple-d mission to review this restaruant then I might have just picked up and walked out after having to wait so long to get an order in.

I would give this place a 4 out of 10 on the triple-d scale mostly because of the service. They will be moving locations down the street as of this writing. Hopefully they will revamp the whole operation at that point. Maybe I just had a stroke of bad luck one night. Who knows?

Kramarczuk Sausage Company - Minneapolis

The Kramarczuk Sausage Company is very different than most triple-d restaurants in that it is neither a diner, a drive-inn nor a dive but, it was funky enough and good eats enough to pop up on my radar screen.

The first thing that you notice when you walk in is that it is a European butcher shop.  They have all kinds of meats, mostly sausages that were prepared according to mostly eastern European recipes.  There are a lot of other dry and canned products that came from Europe.

The other side of the store is a cafeteria style restaurant.  The food is all eastern European derived dishes.  I got the combination plate on the advice of the girl behind the counter.  Not only didn’t I know what most of the items in the chafing dishes were, I couldn’t even pronounce the names of almost all of it.

The combo plate consisted of three different types of pyrogies, some sauerkraut, a big cabbage-meat burrito-type thing and your choice of sausage.  It was all covered with a hollandaise sauce.  I got the Ukrainian sausage.  It also came with sour cream  To wash down the meal, they also offer a selection of East European beers.  I got the Zywiec.  It was a pilsner with kind of a beer-spicy taste.  It reminded me of Urquell from the Czech Republic.

The dishes were born out of the need to put food that would stick to the ribs of hard working people.  It was really filling.  I showed up really hungry ready to eat and I could just put a dent in the food put in front of me. 

There were some folks eating at the restaurant that were clearly visiting from some eastern European country and they seemed to like it.  If it was good enough for them then it was good enough for me. I’d rate it a 9 out of 10 on the triple-d scale.

215 East Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414
(612) 379-3018

Town Talk Diner - Minneapolis, MN

I’ve been to the Town Talk Diner twice now.  The first thing that hits you when you walk in is that this is probably a popular place to come just for drinks.  The bar area is tiny but there are lots of martini glasses filled with all kinds of neon colored concoctions.  Everything is well worn from a steady flow of human  traffic.

Town Talk has an industrial feel to it.  There is lots of stainless steel and exposed brick everywhere.  They even use stainless steel hose clamps like you’d find in Home Depot or a plumbing supply store as napkin rings.

Service was very good both times that I was there.  The waitstaff provides just enough service without over doing it.  You can sit and talk in peace for a long time if you want. 

My first time in, I had the brat burger.  This was the one that was featured on the TV program.  It was very good but definitely a heart attack on a bun.  It was a sausage patty with bacon and sour kraut on top.  It had some lettuce and tomato.  The bun was a thick soft bread bun.  The sausage had a bit of a spicy kick to it, kind of like a breakfast sausage.  It looked like a beef burger, so that’s what I was expecting when I bit in.  I wasn’t really all that impressed.  I’d call the brat burger a 4 out of 10 on the ddd scale.

My second time in I had the kitchen sink burger.  That is a basic bacon cheeseburger with some other stuff on it.  It came with a steak knife stabbed straight down into the burger.  The six-inch blade didn’t even pass all the way through the burger to touch the plate.  It was a lot of burger but very tasty.  Also a heart attack on a bun.  I’d score this a 7 out of 10 on the triple-d scale.  It was very good but not outstanding.

Both meals came with garlic fries.  My first experience with the garlic fries was mediocre.  I left expecting more from the fries.  They tasted very flat and ordinary.  My second time was differnent.  They seemed to have a bit more punch and I liked them a lot the second time around for some reason.   I’d score the fries an 8 out of 10.

A guy across from me got the onion rings and they looked like breaded versions of the onion rings that you get at a high-end Japanese hibachi grill all piled high like Mount Fuji.  They looked cool and the people seemed to enjoy them.


2701 1/2 E. Lake Street
Minneapolis, MN 55406

Pawleys Front Porch - Columbia, South Carolina

Pawleys Front Porch is another Triple-D Hamburger bar-restaurant.  It was a good burger but, by Triple-D standards, I'd say that it was mediocre. 

They liked to play up the "Guy Fieri ate here" thing which was kind of cool until you figure out that they probably got featured just by the grace of God.  I was not convinced why this was anyplace special.  The menu was okay.  They had some heart-attack inducing mega-hamburger options that might have caught someone's eye.  But, I can't eat too much of that nor should anyone, in my humble opinion. That alone is not enough to hook me.

The atmosphere was just okay.  It was a neighborhood bar that served burgers and other things.  There were a few people knocking back beers in the middle of the day.  There were a few tables of retirees hanging out jibber jabbering.  I get the impression that it is probably a pretty popular after-work place to come for drinks.

Unfortunately, I would probably drive by this restaurant next time.

Skylark Diner - Edison, New Jersey

The Skylark Diner in Edison, New Jersey is probably one of my top-5 of all Triple-D restaurants.  I rank it up there with Chef Point Cafe as a place that I will go long out of my way to visit if I can.

I have been to the Skylark Diner probably about five times.  I've had several of the dishes here and it has never disappointed me.  I have even taken some work friends here.  The verdict is pretty much unanimous.  When near Edison, we go to the Skylark Diner for at least one meal.
 
There are a lot of diners in New Jersey.  Guy even did a Jersey diner special on them.  This was one of them.  For one diner to stand out amongst the many diners in the state is really saying something.  One of my favorite things to order is the lobster bisque.  I can not quite describe the flavor.  All I can say is that it is the best that I have ever had.   They have a chocolate counter near the cash register.  I saw a flavor that I could not have even dreamed of, olive oil and sea salt chocolate.  A dude behind the counter that I assumed was one of the managers was talking my ear off about how good their chocolate was.  Being the gullible traveler that I am, I decided to pony up the $5 for one little ball of this stuff to see how good it was.  It really was good.  I don't know how many times I would be willing to pay that much for any chocolate but, at least I can say that I've experienced it once in my lifetime.

In terms of atmosphere, this is definitely not a dive.  You might recognize the photo at the bottom of the post because it is the one that I use for my blog title background.  It is a somewhat upscale retro-diner.  The waiters and waitresses could have come from a much more ritzy restarant.  They are all in neat uniforms and are professional.  Nobody at this diner is going to call you "hun."

This is a must try if you are in the area.

17 Wooding Ave
Edison, NJ 08817-3865
(732) 777-7878

The Oinkster - Los Angeles (Eagle Rock), California

L.A. is another one of those cities that has a lot of Triple-D restaurants.  I had hit a few other Triple-D restaurants earlier in the week that I was in L.A. last  August and was still full from my previous caloric overloads.  This was despite the fact that I [for legal reasons, may or may not have] hiked up to the Hollywood sign right before my restaurant visit.  The Oinkster isn't a place that you want to show up with with the "I could eat" kind of appetite.  You need to show up wicked-hungry because this is high-protein and carbs comfort food kind of place.

When in Rome, do like the Romans and when in L.A., you have to order the Oinkster sandwich.  The Oinkster sandwich is prepared with Pastrami, gruyere cheese, caramelized onion and red cabbage slaw.  It is a hunger killer.  I liked it but, I wasn't crazy about it.  To be fair, I think that it was because I was forcing myself to eat.  I just wasn't in the mood for anything let alone a 600 calorie sandwich which I couldn't even come near finishing.

Atmosphere-wise, The Oinkster is a typical Triple-D neighborhood restaurant.  This neighborhood was more on the upscale side than typical Triple-D restaurants though.  It is in Southern California so, they get good use out of the outdoor patio seating.

I'd still say that this place is worth checking out if you are in the neighborhood.  The sandwich alone is almost $10.  That's a little expensive for most parts of the country but, this is L.A.  So, it was a relative bargain.

2005 Colorado Blvd.
Eagle Rock, CA 90041
(323) 255-6465

Fred's Texas Cafe - Fort Worth, TX

Fred's Texas Cafe is tucked away on a side street in downtown Fort Worth.   Right away, you're reminded why Fort Worth is called "Cowtown."  This IS Texas, no doubt about it.

Everything from the loud friendly voices, cowboy boots and Tex-Mex food screams Texas.  It's got a funky vibe at the same time.  I actually got the feeling that we were more in hippie Austin than rough and tumble Cowtown.  There's local music and the feeling of a counter culture,  Lone Star style.

We hit the Sunday brunch just to check this place out.  I got the Migas because I had no idea what it was and was in the mood for an adventure.  I'm glad that I did.

The Wikipedia definition of Tex-Mex Migas described what I ate better than I could: "scrambled egg sauteed in butter or oil with torn strips of corn tortillas, diced onions, sliced chile peppers, diced fresh tomatoes, and cheese, plus various spices and condiments (e.g. salsa, pico de gallo). Migas are typically served with refried beans, and corn or flour tortillas are used to enfold all of the ingredients into tacos."

I can tell you this:  It was GOOD, but there was way too much of it!  We washed our food down with a couple of mamosas.  I thought that serving alcohol on Sunday before noon was against the law but, I wasn't about to complain. 

Fred's gets a solid thumbs up from me!

915 Currie Street
Fort Worth, Texas
(817) 332-0083

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