Twin Cities best onion rings?

[Dr.TriRunner]

About 97% of the time, my diet is pretty dang clean. But that remaining 3% gives me a little wiggle room, and if I'm going to wiggle it all, it'd be for onion rings.

I'm curious as to who Chowhounders would credit with the best onion rings? I work at a restaurant, so I'll leave my own [biased] opinion out (even though ours are pretty darn good... just sayin). No location restrictions - I'm in SW Minneapolis but all of MN is fair game!

[gromit]

Based on a visit last week, George and the Dragon is definitely a contender. Before that I would probably have recommended Buster's.

[bohemianclub]

Suprisingly, A & W and DQ Grill both have some mighty fine rings, and they don't cost 8 bucks!

[alpa chino]

I hate onion rings, can't stand them. However, when I was doing my burger tour across the TC--I noticed two places that made onion rings specifically for the burgers. And they were pretty good. At Ike's and Pat's tap. Ikes is really good, very thin, crispy, small, crunchy, and flavorful. Definitely an "onion ring" I could tolerate.

[gildeddawn]

Burger Moe's in Saint Paul has lovely battered onion rings. Nice burgers, too.

[stymie]

Buster's looked much better than they turned out. JJ's Clubhouse (Golden Valley) has my favorite. Half price during happy hour, goes great with a couple of their $1.00 sliders.

[justalex]

I'll second JJ's Clubhouse. For a sports bar type place they have very solid food. Love their hot beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy and (gasp!) fresh wax and green beans.

[sheepy]

Danielson's and Daughters has a booth at the State Fair, and that is the only reason to go to the Fair. I've heard they also have a restaurant, maybe it was West St Paul, but I begged them not to tell me any more. I can't know that I could get these year round.

[MayrMN]

We were pretty impressed by the ones at Rudolph's. Super crispy, not thin, not too thick. Just right.

[cayjohan]

If out-state works, try the onion rings at Grandma's in Duluth. They're consistently reliable on the frying (crisp, not too greasy), and they're "hand-cut-daily onions", according to staff . And: they taste of *onion*, not just fried batter. Nice rings and worth a try.

[Dr.TriRunner]

I actually go up to Duluth pretty frequently, and will be *moving* there in the summer of 2012 for two years. I do remember having the onion rings at Grandma's, and they were pretty darn good. Then again, that was after running Grandma's Marathon, and I'm pretty sure anything tastes good at the end of a marathon.... ;)

[cookkevin]

Serums Bar in Anoka, very good rings

[Gastron]

Yep-Hubbell House are realllly good.Town & Country Club (private though) are off the charts.Buttermilk batter,yet not thick dough-nuts.Grandma's does them right.A touch of seasoned sour cream never hurt either.

[tart1]

Mannings on Como Ave in SE Mpls. Their burgers are good, too.

[liney714]

5-8 club. Big cooked well onion rings but not jumbo. with crispy outsides and cooked insides the best

[brlattim]

Used to be Mady's Bowling on Central and 42nd(?). Seriously I would drive there just for the rings. Epicly good. I prefer the thinner slices over like a ultra thick slice of onion though.

[Bobannon]

I think the Sunshine Factory in New Hope has great onion rings. Not really thin, but I don't care for thickly cut onion rings and i love these. Sort of a beer batter. And you get a huge order,. They are an especially great deal during Happy Hour. 3 - 6 and 9 - 12.

[danionavenue]

Hrbek's in/at Target Field. Huge and delicious. They come out stacked up on a pole with great dipping sauces. SOOOO good!

[jillbcooks]

Hands down, Leo's in Stillwater.

[DukeFan]

I might be flamed for this, but Tavern on France's are very good. nice think breading with a little kick and a 1/4-3/8 thick piece of onion

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Tavern on France
6740 France Ave S, Minneapolis, MN

[KristinT013]

I was a Grumpy's on Washington the other night and was pleasantly surprised by the excellent onion rings! They were crisp, not too greasy, and easy to bite cleanly through (rather than dragging the whole slippery onion out with the first bite). Very tasty, and delivered piping hot from the fryer. Definitely a win. For sandylc's reference, they were maybe 3/8 of an inch thick-- not the thinnest I've seen, but not giant 1-inch honkers either.

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Grumpy's Bar & Grill
1111 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55415

[sandylc]

Thanks! They don't need to be ultra thin - Half an inch or less is good with me. I just hate the ones that look like giant doughnuts.

[otps]

Hubbell House in Mantorville.
http://www.hubbellhouserestaurant.com/

[otps]

Their New York steak is very good. We go there a couple times a year, not a bad drive from here in the metro area.

[Brad Ballinger]

Buster's. 28th and 42nd, SE Minneapolis. They won't be spongy or doughy (or doughnutty), but they won't be thin either.

[BigE]

I'll second the quality, but I remember the rings at Busters being pretty darn big...maybe I'm just thinking of the massive serving size.

[sandylc]

PLEASE! Chowhounds, respond to this! I am somewhat of a health freak....but my weakness is onion rings. None of those silly, spongy, doughnutty, thick, icky ones. Lovely crisp, thin ones, please!

[Dr.TriRunner]

Hahaha!! Well I'm really glad I'm not the only one that feels this way. I've made some "healthier" onion rings at home, but it's not even close to the same.