Burnsville with a car
Am from Philly and will be staying in Burnsville hotel by myself for a week in early Sept. I'm looking for some decent meal recommendations. Mostly I'd prefer not more than 15-20 min or so driving but willing to travel longer for a couple of the meals. I enjoy all kinds of ethnic food as long as it's good quality ingredients. Previous visits to the area included some wonderful meals in St Paul but not sure I want to deal with the drive when just by myself. Any unique or just darn good restaurants not too far? Would also be interested in small markets with decent takeout to make a picnic.
By cook262
on Sep 1, 2010 05:41 AM
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Just so you know, from most of Burnsville Minneapolis is only ~20 minutes but that said...
For decent takeout for a picnic I recommend Brianno's in Eagan: http://www.royalcliffineagan.com/bria...
For more "upscale" dining I'd check out either Porter Creek Hardwood Grill or Chateau Lamothe. At Porter Creek stick to their meat dishes and stay away from their pastas as from what I understand those are not receiving any compliments.
If you're looking for something cheap and easy I suggest Taqueria La Hacienda #3, Giuseppe's Restaurant (they also do takeout), or Spice Thai in Savage (right on the border of Burnsville).
There are plenty more options around the surrounding suburbs within your 15/20 min radius which I'm sure others will be happy to fill you in on.
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Chateau Lamothe
14351 Nicollet Ct, Burnsville, MN 55306
Spice Thai Cuisine
3989 Egan Dr, Savage, MN 55378
Taqueria La Hacienda III
2000 Williams Dr, Burnsville, MN 55337
Brianno's
2280 Cliff Rd, Saint Paul, MN 55122
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15-20 minutes will get you to St. Paul from Burnsville, but since you are familiar with that area, I'll focus on what is closer by.
Satay2Go in Apple Valley is very good Malaysian. I would recommend calling for take-out, as the seating area is minimal, and it can take 20-30 minutes to get your food.
Kabobs in Bloomington serves some good North Indian and Hyderabadi cuisine. Don't miss the samosas (best $1 you can spend in the cities). They have a $5 lunch buffet as well.
You will assuredly want to check out Grand Szechuan, in Bloomington, which is a board favorite.
I will second the recommendation for Spice, with the caveat that I have not been there in a while.
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I personally prefer Ronin Sushi Cafe in Lakeville to Spice but I was trying to limit myself to Burnsville restaurants in the review allowing room for other recommendations.
Satay2Go is another great favorite of mine and we eat there more regularly than just about any other restaurant around town but be aware that they are not open on Sundays--something even after 5 years of regular visits we seem to forget.
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Ronin Cafe
7704 160th St W, Lakeville, MN 55044
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Thanks for the suggestions. They all look interesting. Any specific recommendations at Kabobs? And while I do enjoy "upscale dining", I don't usually go by myself. My husband will be arriving late my last night there so perhaps we'll give Porter Creek or Chateau Lamothe a chance if he gets there in time for dinner. In the meantime, I still have a lot of meals to fill and yes, I'm willing to head into St Paul.
During my week there I'll be borrowing someone else's brand new car so part of my hesitation to drive in the city is not wanting to figure out parking in an unknown city in someone else's new car. So maybe someone can clue me in as to the ease of decent parking in St Paul? I'd hate to get a 'dink' or worse on her car.
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There is plenty of parking garages which should meet your requirements for safer parking. If you're going after the close of business you'll probably come across mostly empty parking ramps.
Enjoy your stay :)
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In addition to the samosas at Kabobs, the kabobs are quite good.
St. Paul is a nightmare to get around generally. However, the places on University avenue are easy to get to, since they are a straight shot from the highway. Parking is pretty straightforward.
That would open up Hoa Bien, Mai Village, Bangkok Thai Deli, Krua Thai, Big Daddy's and more. Izzy's ice cream is easy to access as well, and delicious.
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Mai Village
394 University Ave W, Saint Paul, MN 55103
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After watching "Parking Wars" I imagine you'll find parking in St. Paul to be like a day at the spa and Garfield won't boot your friend's car. Ha ha.
I live in Burnsville. Many of the recommendations so far are very good. Indeed, from Burnsville, you can get into south Minneapolis within 20 minutes except during the morning rush. It actually will take you longer to get to neighboring Apple Valley (Satay2Go) with the dozens of stoplights along County Road 42.`
If you like Mexican taquerias, Bill's recommendation for Taqueria La Hacienda is good. Even better, IMO, is Olmeca (Supermercado and Taqueria) about 1/2 mile south on County 5. Both are comarable to all of the Chowhound favorite "authentic" Mexican joints up in the City.
Look up Perron's Sul Lago in Prior Lake. It's actually farther away from the downtowns...a good 15 minutes, but it is a very nice restaurant.
Also worth the 15 minutes (up 35E to Lilydale) is Buon Giorno Market (for casual Italian cafeteria style) or Osteria i Nonni (more upscale Italian) in the same building.
Chateau Lamothe/Marceal's Wine Bar is a nice spot that's probably close to your hotel (I'm assuming you are along County 42/I35 there). The food and wine aren't spectacular, but it's not bad. As a solo business trip diner, I would appreciate it as a good respite and place to nosh. The owners are very friendly and will be good conversation if you want it.
If you are a beer lover, just a bit east on County 42 is Blue Max Liquors. Would be an excellent addition to your picnic.
I've done some other extensive posts on Burnsville and Eagan -- go to the "Midwest General" board and do a search there....that's where MSP used to be housed and a lot of good information is archived there.
Also, if you're looking for anything in particular, a few of us would be happy to help with specific foods/ethnicities. Just ask.
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Taqueria La Hacienda
334 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55408
Blue Max Liquors
14640 10th Ave S, Burnsville, MN
Perron's Sul Lago
16154 Main Ave SE Ste 135, Prior Lake, MN 55372
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I guess every city isn't like parking in Philly or Boston! And I will check out your other posts...Thanks...I did try to do a search before posting and didn't come up with anything. Perron's Sul Lago looks like a perfect place for me to take my Northfield friends to dinner..
Although I do eat all ethnic foods and will definitely go for some Mexican, I enjoy French and Mediterranean best. Are there any good French bistro places around? And are there restaurants which are just 'really unique' that it would be a shame to miss?
And thanks to Kevin for the comment on Izzy's ice cream...definitely up for that!
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Perron's Sul Lago
16154 Main Ave SE Ste 135, Prior Lake, MN 55372
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I think Travail is very unique, but it's in Robbinsdale, a good half hour from Burnsville.
Your problem is Bville is 20 minutes from Minneapolis and / or St. Paul, which is where everything is. I'm sure there are good places nearby, but the best are in the cities. Meritage is an outstanding French restaurant in St. Paul, the place of my personal best meal.
I also don't understand the earlier warning about St. Paul being hard to get around. Downtown? It's on a grid. Go the wrong way, just turn around, like any city. Meters are only enforced until 4:30pm and only pertains to downtown. University, Selby and Grand Ave's have plenty of parking around.
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Meritage
410 Saint Peter St, Saint Paul, MN 55102
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Trivial, but Robbinsdale is more than a half hour. I commuted for a long time from Burnsville to Golden Valley (closer than Robbinsdale) and with no traffic/excellent knowledge of MSP, the best I could ever do was over 30 minutes. That's not to say Travail isn't worth the drive but I don't want a visitor to be surprised at the 45 minutes to an hour each way that it would realistically take.
When I moved here from the East Coast (and supporting the encouragement to the OP to not fear St. Paul, south Minneapolis, and even going downtown), I was shocked that you could get clear across the metro area in an hour or less. In DC, going from the SW corner of the beltway where I lived into DC or across to Maryland was unthinkable. It's hard for East Coasters to get out of that mindset, even though MSP is a fraction of the size.
Cook262, Meritage, as semanticantics offered, is a great recommendation. As for Mediterranean, you can get a surprisingly good meal at Mediterranean Cruise Cafe in Burnsville as well. It's not unique on a world-/nationwide-scale, but a pretty opulent restaurant by Burnsville standards and for most suburban folk in general. I'd recommend a meal there. Flavorful food, welcoming owners, and festive enough for solo diners to not be bored (TVs over the bar, if nothing else)
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Meritage
410 Saint Peter St, Saint Paul, MN 55102
Mediterranean Cruise Cafe
3945 Cedarview Dr, Saint Paul, MN 55122
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Santorinis in Eden Prairie has has good Greek/Mediterranean, and a lovely patio if the weather is good. Cave Vin is a very good (and very traditional) French place on the southern edge of Minneapolis. Both are within 20 minutes of Burnsville, if barely.
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Cave Vin
5555 Xerxes Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55410
Santorini
13000 Technology Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344
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