Looking to take my girlfriend out to dinner sometime next week, and I'd like to go to a nice restaurant, that won't cost an arm and a leg though. Took her to Benihanas tonight, and we both enjoyed it. Are there any other great restaurants like Benihanas?
Tons of options! Define 'arm and leg' and I'm sure you'll get lots of thoughts. Looking for an entree price of $15/20/25/??
When something like a small steak is $50, that's what I think an arm and a leg is. I felt like Benihanas had a perfect price for what we got. A little on the expensive side, but the food was amazing. If we're defining entree as the main meal, somewhere under $35 is perfect.
Google is your best friend champ. Otherwise there the tried and true Olive Garden or Macaroni Grill. Always worked for me. If you want steak with a very rustic feel, there is Lindeys Steak House. Absolutely awesome steak and the menu is simple, only 3 things. Medium steak, large steak and larger steak. I highly recommend them.
Plus being a highschooler, the options are a little limited. Unless he was born with a silver spoon. And seeing as $50 a plate is out, hey make due with what you can. I used to be cheapskate, my dates went to Perkins.
nothing is more classy than having breakfast for dinner. am I right? Anyway the question on nice places to eat is pretty subjective. What kind of food are you interested in eating? Italian: spaghetti factory or cosettas. american: bulldog or the red cow. sushi/seafood: suhsi tango or stellas. (not on friday or saturday night) meat sweats: fogo de chow. Mexican: el loro or rusty taco. asian: chino latino (asian mexican fusion), sawatee, or amazing thai. Pizza: pizza luce. list can go truly go on. You can also do the tried and true nexflix and chill, Hulu and hangout, or redbox and rave with some delicious papa murphy's take and bake. Coffee is also a good alternative if you want to take it easy. i would give you a list but i dont want to upset the local hipster habitat. very sensitive group of people.
Only if you have coops though. On a more serious side here are a few places that I like that have good food. Gulden's Restaurant & Bar, Maplewood, MN Smalley's Caribbean Barbeque, Main Street South, Stillwater, MN Doolittles Woodfire Grill, Cliff Road, Eagan, MN Mad Jacks Sports Cafe, County Road E East, Vadnais Heights, MN
Matts bar in s. Minneapolis has awesome July lucies, but that's pretty close to the entire menu if you're into that kind of thing.
We netflix'd and chilled after I cooked a kidney beans casserole for us. We're in the mood for some amazing steak. I heard Jake's Grill is a great place, but I'd like to have a few more options.
Manny's steak house, St. Paul grill, or Kincaid's have awesome steak. pricy places but awesome steak. But to be honest there is nothing like grilling your own steak with a bake potato side. go to your local butcher not cub or whole foods.
Yeah, grilled some insane steak for the family a week ago, I just feel like a night out would do good.
Along the same lines, there is the Bluedoor in longfellow. Awesome selection of burgers and great tots. I used to be a Matts guy but the Blue door is my favorite now. I take everyone from out of town there.
There are enough options to make your head swim. I'm going to ignore your arm-and-leg requirement and proceed with recommending places to have a superior meal. Meritage or Vincent (Closing at the end of the year, so go soon. It's worth it) any day. Both French. It's unfortunate you can't have a glass (or a flight) of wine, though. The fois gras at Meritage is an experience. It's too bad McKee closed La Belle Vie, but I understand his reasons. Masa is excellent modern Mexican. I've heard nothing but good things about Cosmos, but have yet to personally take the plunge. I'll be checking out L'etoile du Nord in a week. I could let you know. Heartland is excellent, I've been several times, but the owner/chef is a bit of a tool. Kincaid's as mentioned above is always good, but not as good as it used to be. Pazzaluna around the corner is very good. Sakura is still one of the best places for sushi. Origami is also very good. Avoid Kikugawa or Saji-Ya. Saji-Ya used to be great, but went waaaaay downhill in the past decade. Ichiban is also unfortunately past it's glory days. If you're looking for meat, try the Butcher and the Boar. Let me know how you like it as I haven't yet been, but have had it recommended to me. It's not quite as obscenely expensive as some of the other places I listed.
I think Lindey's is one of the most over hyped places in the twin cities. I've been there a few times and it's never anything special. Seems like it lives on due to nostalgia and word of mouth, not quality of food. I like Osaka over Benihanna. And I like Fogo if you really want a lot of food. Probably out of your price range unless you go during lunch. None of these places listed are really "nice" but they fit the price range. There are a lot of good spots around the twin cities. I agree that Google would probably be of a lot of help here.
http://www.rinatarestaurant.com/ ^For you MinnesotaFTW and any of the Uptown girls on here. If any of you ladies haven't checked out Rinata's, give them a try(take your boyhole friends!). Nice wine selection and good Italian food.
This is another one I feel is vastly over hyped. Limited parking, long lines, poor logistics, mediocre food. My wife loves this place. I think it's another place that's all nostalgia keeping it popular. If they just improved the ordering/paying process I would think it was decent, but how it is I just can't stand going there.
I disagree. Way overrated. Last time I went there the sausage was flavorless and the sauce was mostly tomato paste and salt (in reverse order). The hot Dago, for example, at DiGidios down 7th is much much better, though the ambiance is somewhat lacking.
Srs answer. Just ask her where she wants to go. Don't make a big deal out of the food. Make a bigger deal out of spending time together... So like i said earlier, strip club.
I guess I should of mentioned I've only had cossetas catered for work events at my old Job so perhaps there is a difference in time spent on it who knows.
Mexican : Taco El Riendo. She gotta have it her way, bruh. OP - It depends on what interests the both of you have in all honesty. Plenty of good hole in the wall places out there that have amazing food that wont break the bank. One of my personal favorites over here in Northeast Minneapolis is Emily's Lebanese Restaurant. They have won plenty of awards now and are usually on Groupon too.
Thanks for the advice everyone. Going to be cooking her a steak + grilled asparagus dinner tonight. Most likely get a reservation to one of the Mexican restaurants that you guys suggested
Not quite that good. If I had a few more maybe they could of been that good. But alas I am a wee peasant and can not afford such things.
