Jfood has a couple of Burgers at Craftsman (MSP)

[jfood]

Jfood is back in MSP and decided to give Craftsman a visit to test the burgers. After many reviews and some threads that performed the tricks of Houdini, Jfood was interested in how this restaurant garnered such notoriety. But more importantly, the burgers and fries were the focus of his trip to East Lake.

As with many restaurants in this area, Craftsman is a stand-alone independent that is located on a fairly busy street (E. Lake) next to a gas station convenience store. Upon entering the first thing you notice is the long bar immediately in front of you and the tables to the right. Wood is used to decorate and Jfood was very impressed with the overall look. It was a pretty interior.

The hostess was prompt, pleasant and asked if Jfood would like to eat inside or enjoy the wonderful 75 degree night outside. Outside was Jfood's choice and she led him through the dining room and onto the patio. The patio is probably the size of the dining room and has a cover for those unexpected rain showers. The patio was also very well decorated and numerous flowers and climbing vines gave a relaxing and pleasant feel. Jfood was again very impressed.

The menu was left with Jfood, a separate drinks menu (including nonalcoholic) and Jfood was off t the races to make his decision. Since he had already decided on burgers, it was just a matter of which one(s).

It was a difficult decision and the server was extremely helpful in answering questions and giving advice. As he was thinking, the table next to him received their food and the burger did not look so enormous, so two might be in order. So in the end the server suggested the beef burger with harissa and bacon and after reading numerous reports on the venison burger, Jfood also ordered the bacon stuffed venison burger with blue cheese and chili ketchup, plus he decided on a bottle of goose island root beer. A big smile appeared on the server’s face.

Over the next 10-15 minutes both the server and the hostess brought bread, but given the amount of food expected, Jfood declined, so no comments on the bread.

The two burgers plus fries arrived and Jfood's first impression was that the height of the bun was enormous. His first decision was that he would eat sans top half of bun with a knife and fork.

He moved the harissa burger to the forefront and off with the bun. The harissa was a layer atop the burger and the presentation was very nice. Jfood first tasted the fries and they were a bit spicy and the housemade ketchup also had a bit of a kick. His first bite of the burger plus hariisa was very good. Now this is the first harissa Jfood has ever eaten so he is no expert, but the flavors were deep, rich and really gave an interesting flavor to the dish. Jfood really enjoyed this burger. In fact his plan was to eat half and then move to the venison, but before he knew it the burger was gone. The burger was also cooked perfectly to medium rare as it was ordered.

Jfood moved to the venison burger. Jfood's first bite brought him back from the pleasures of the first burger. This was almost tasteless and the blue cheese/ketchup topping was completely overwhelming. Then as Jfood approached the middle of the burger it was cooked to raw-rare. Given Jfood not so thrilled taste buds, and less than happy about eating raw venison, plus the belly was already in a “do not need more” mode he just decided to eat some more fries, finish his root beer and go for some ice cream. Jfood could not recommend this burger.

So in the end, he would give
1 - a big thumbs up to the harissa beef burger,
2 - a big thumbs down to the venison meat and the preparation of the venison burger,
3 - a nice job on the fries,
4 - the root beer was OK but not as good as the root beer on tap at the Nook and
5 – big kudos to the service, it was excellent.

[LiaM]

I am a big fan of the Craftsman and am glad to hear that your experience was positive overall, even if mixed. I've never actually had a burger there so I can't speak to that, but I have had some very good meals. One of the things that the Craftsman does really, really well is charcuterie, so if you're going back I'd highly recommend you give the charcuterie plate a try. Everything is made in-house and it changes often.