THE RESTAURANT GUY TV BLOG

I had just an excellent lunch at Cuzzy’s Brick House in Chaska.  Met one of the owners, Dan.  Good guy who grew up in Nordeast.  He said to come back for one of their meat raffles.  I’m a big meat raffle fan!  You may already be familiar with  Cuzzy’s; they have locations in Victoria(home of Deer Run Golf Course) and downtown Minneapolis on Washington Ave. N.  Those are both popular joints and Cuzzy’s Brick House lives up to their repuation.

First off, coming from south Minneapolis, I came out there via the new Highway 212.  Yikes, is that sweet!  I arrived in less than 20 minutes!  The place is very open inside, yet it still felt cozy…not easy for a space so large.  We proceeded to order three different sandwiches.  (I want to apologize for the quality of the pictures.  I don’t want it to reflect on the quality of the food!  Next time I’ll do better!)  First up, their popular Steak Sandwich.  This was a beauty.  Delicious steak, perfectly cooked, topped with fried onions on a good roll with horseradish sauce and some damn good tatertots.  The next sandwich was the Cuzzy Beef. Nothing fancy, just delicious.  A grilled thinly sliced roast beef & swiss cheese sandwich on rye.  Next came the waitress’s personal recommendation:  Cuzzy’s Hot Sub. Man, did I LOVE this sandwich!  Pepperoni, salami, ham, turkey, hot peppers & melted provolone with lettuce, tomatoes, onions on side to jazz it up.  An inspired delight that will make me come back for another.  Our waitress forgot to bring my pepperoni soup, which I’ve heard is spectacular.  She felt so bad, she brought me out a dessert.   Unbelievable!  This mouth-watering dessert is something you might find at an expensive restaurant downtown…not at a sports bar in Chaska!  Kudos to the chef!  If & when you go to Cuzzy’s Brick House, don’t miss out on their dessert menu.  And make it to one of their meat raffles!

Turtle’s Bar & Grill is a good well-established neighborhood joint in downtown Shakopee.  I asked the owner how they came up with the name Turtle’s.  He just looked at me and said “My name is Brian Turtle.”  Okay…….lost a little credibility there!  Anyways, I love their fried chicken. They bill it Minnesota’s Best Fried Chicken.  It’s breaded with the traditional two-step method to seal in the flavor behind that crispy coating.  It’s absolutely wonderful!

I love Piazza’s Italian Ristorante.  If you don’t know about it, it’s  a little hard to find.  I took this picture on Highway 55 in Golden Valley midway between 169 & Boone Ave.

 It’s very popular with the locals; they also do a huge takeout business.  Their roots spring from the old DiNapolis in downtown Minneapolis.  That was a classic joint in its day! Here’s the owner, Joe DeLisi.  Hard-working good guy.  He’s the son of Vince DeLisi who was one of the main guys at DiNapoli.  Their food is the classic red sauce southern Italian variety. Spaghetti & meatballs is my favorite.  Their sauce is an old traditional recipe from his grandmother from Italy.  And they serve a great salad; their Italian dressing is  homemade also. If you’re realy hungry try their Baked Manicotti.  A meat & cheese stuffed pasta shell baked with mozzarella cheese.  Allright, I’m getting hungry just talking about it! Very popular:  chicken marsala.  Chicken with onions, mushrooms & tasty marsala wine sauce.  And don’t forget to order on the side their one-of-a-kind homemade sausage.  You’ll thank me.

If you like traditional Italian food, Piazza’s is well worth the drive.  Just be sure to Google Map it!

I was visiting my friends in Kentucky(across the river from Cincinnati) last weekend who were kind enough to take me on a personal quest for the best coney dog in the area. Did you know Cincinnati is the chili capital of the world?  There are more chili parlors per capita in & around Cincinnati than any city in the world.  And yet…..”Cincinnati chili” is not chili as we know it; it’s more of a meat sauce with a unique blend of spices…possibly cinnamon, chocolate, allspice, clove, cumin…nobody really knows for sure or isn’t telling, which is part of the mystique.  Whatever, it’s a very distinctive taste that can be quite addictive. Our first stop was Dixie Chili in Erlanger, Kentucky.They’ve been around since 1929. The most popular way to enjoy Cincinnati chili is as a coney dog or served on spaghetti. I, of course, chose the coneys! I found these coneys spectacular.  They seemed to have a slightly thicker, spicier, more distinctive chili than other joints.  Good hot sauce too!  Dixie Chili has three locations.  Our next stop was one of the biggies with over 100 locations! Gold Star Chili was started in 1965 and now has almost 100 locations in Ohio, Northern Kentucky & Indiana (AND the Cincinnati airport!) Although a large chain, the chili dogs at Gold Star are indeed excellent.  They taste a little different than Dixie Chili; a little less intense chili, but still delicious.  Here’s the fine folks in the Crescent Springs, Kentucky location that helped us. Okay, so our final stop was late in the evening after watching the Breeders Cup horse races.  We visited the Skyline Chili in Crescent Springs, Kentucky. Skyline is another big chain with over 100 locations.  I first visited the Skyline Chili in Naples, Florida 15 years ago.  I didn’t know the concept of Cincinnati chili then…all I knew was I loved it! As you can see, there’s different ways to enjoy Skyline.  My favorite is of course the coneys!  It’s pretty easy to slam down three or four of these puppies. But equally popular is the chili over spaghetti meal. This is called 5-Way Chili:  spaghetti + chili + cheese + onions + beans = 5-Way.  If you’re really hungry, it’s a spectacular meal to dive into.

So who has the best coneys?  Dixie?  Gold Star?  Skyline?  As my friend Jerry from Kentucky says:  ”Jonny, they’re all the same…only different.”   Perfect!

One of my favorite streets in St. Paul…W. 7th St.  A lot of really good local restaurants & a always lot of action.  I was down there recently shooting video at a new restaurant named Burger Moe’s.  It’s named after, no not Warren Burger, but Moe Sharif.  Moe also owns another excellent restaurant right across the street: the Downtowner Woodfire Grill.  This guy knows what he’s doing.  Burger Moe’s is a family-friendly bar & restaurant that also has, I think, the best patio in St. Paul.

Their speciality is of course hamburgers…20 different types to choose from!   Their beef is freshly ground daily (and, believe me, you can tell.)  100% certified Black Angus, grass-fed & hormone-free. Buns baked daily at PJ Murrays Bakery.  They offer over 20 different hamburgers.  A few examples… The Bleu Sky Burger.  Grilled mushrooms, carmelized onions & loads of melted bleu cheese.  Don’t you love the presentation? The Sante Fe Burger. This picture always makes me hungry!  Melted monterey jack cheese, avocados, and really tasty salsa.  All in all, I tasted 5 different types of burgers…all different, all truly excellent.  And don’t miss the Tuscan Fries.  Good job, Moe!

I love love love coney dogs.  (Did you know coney dogs are different than chili dogs?  More on that in another post.)  Impossible to find in Minneapolis, I used to go to another St. Paul bar for my coneys until I started hearing about Dean’s coneys tasting even better. Well, that got my attention, so I drove over to Rice St. south of Hwy. 36 and stepped inside.

God love St. Paul and their neighborhood joints!  They’re like a breath of fresh air.  Here’s the owner, David, who’s as unpretentious and friendly as the place he owns. My buddy & I plopped down and each ordered two coneys with onions & cheese. Wow.  Absolutely spectacular….especially with a douse of Sriracha hot sauce.  Buttery bun, high quality dog & a delicious, subtle tasting coney sauce.  I’ve heard they’ve got a great fish fry on Friday.  I’m also intrigued by the Hot Dago Sandwich that was on the menu.  David told me Dean’s gets real hopping on weekends with live music.  That’s fine, but first I want to try their dollar tacos!

I know this is hard to believe but….I actually found a locally-owned restaurant in Maple Grove!  Just north of “downtown Maple Grove” on Fernbrook Lane, I discovered DEHN’S COUNTRY MANOR.

An honest-to-goodness supper club, Dehn’s has been serving up great food since 1958.  I loved it.  Nothing fancy, thank goodness.  It’s a big joint inside with beer and wine and a “set-ups” liquor license…BYOB! Dehn’s is know for its excellent meat.  As we sat gazing out the window at the cornfields, we first tried our waitress’s favorite…Ribbees, the rib appetizer.  Boy, are these good ribs.  A meal in itself. But we didn’t stop there.  I had the patty melt.  It tasted even better than it looked.  My buddy had the reuben.  Thumbs up. Even though we were stuffed, I couldn’t refuse the apple crisp.  OMG……… Now I want to go back with my own set-up, sit by the fireplace and try their steak which they are famous for.  Good job, Mike!

I’ve been going to KHAN’S MONGOLIAN BARBEQUE for lunch for almost 20 years.  In fact, whenever I get the craving, I look up to the sky and scream “KHANNNNNN!!!!!!!”(ref. Star Trek II) .

It’s a very addicting meal experience.   Grab a bowl and go through a buffet of  uncooked meats, fresh vegetables & noodles.  Jam as much as you can into your bowl…and then comes the fun part.  The spices!  Listen to me:  this is the secret to Khan’s success!  I’ve eaten at numerous Mongolian barbeques, all disappointing.  Only Khan’s offers this array of spices and sauces…spicy house sauce, dragon hot sauce, ginger water, cooking wine, garlic sauce, hot chili peppers in oil, curry, jalapenos, teriyaki,  etc.  Don’t be afraid, add as much as you want.  The more the better!  If you do it right, your bowl will look like this.  Ready to go!  Hand your bowl to the cook who throws it on a giant wok to cook. Voila! WATCH:  WILLIAM SHATNER TV COMMERCIAL FOR KHANS!

My salesman buddy has been going here for years.  And no wonder!   It’s all about the grill here:  Steaks, chops, ribs, hamburgers.  Reminds me of the joints I used to frequent in Chicago.  My buddy had the 7 oz. steak, baked potato & Texas toast. I couldn’t resist the Philly Cheesesteak. Both meals were delicious and a real value for the moderate cost.  Now I want to go back and try their World Famous Breakfast!