The Sunshine Factory

We ate at the Sunshine Factory in Crystal on Saturday of this past weekend. We met our friends Gina and Steve since they live near there and it had been ages since the four of us had been out to dinner together.

It was about 6:00 or so when we got there and discovered there are sort of two sides to the restaurant, the actual Sunshine Factory and then another part called "The Bistro." The normal restaurant was rather busy, it would've been nearly 45 minutes for a table, so we agreed to be seated in the Bistro as they promised us a full menu. We got a nice table near a window.

The menu was pretty large, but I am thinking it was a slightly smaller offering than what the regular restaurant menu was. At any rate, there was a lengthy appetizer list, salads, soups, burgers, sandwiches and also a good number of entrees. I chose a Surly Furious to drink as it was on tap, Nate had a bottle of Horizon Red Ale, Gina had Blue Moon and Steve had soda.

I decided that even though the sandwiches sounded really good, I was more in the mood for something else as I had a sandwich for lunch earlier that day. So I chose a pork chop with baked potato and salad. Nate also steered away from a sandwich or burger and chose beef tips with pasta in a white sauce. Gina chose the turkey club panini and Steve chose the chicken bacon ranch panini. We also ordered spinach and artichoke dip as an appetizer and Gina and Steve chose steak bites as an appetizer.

Here's where I ended up a bit disappointed. First of all, my salad didn't come out right away. Then when it did, it was super cold. Now I know that sounds funny, but it felt like it was in a bowl that was sitting in the fridge all afternoon. Then we were sitting around talking about how we hate it when a place brings you the appetizer and then two seconds later brings your entrees. Well, we ended up getting our appetizers WITH our entrees only a few minutes after my salad came out. All of sudden our table was so full we didn't know what to do with ourselves! So that was a wee bit frustrating.

Most of the food though was really quite good. I liked the dip, we had it with baguette bread and it was really quite tasty. But, my pork chop was pretty dry, not much flavor to it. The potato was also a little disappointing in flavor. Nate's pasta on the other hand was very good, creamy, with some garlic flavor as well. The meat was tender and juicy. Both Gina and Steve said their sandwiches were really good too. They looked tasty, the cheese melting and the bread nice and toasted. So, I'm the only one who really didn't love my meal, and I should've known better, I usually am disappointed when I order pork chops most places. The only place that does pork chops the way I really like them is Jax! Ha.

At any rate, it was a nice place, they had plenty of indoor and outdoor seating on the Bistro side. Full drink menu and the service was decent other than the fact that we got our appetizers with our main course! I'd be interested to see what the other side is like sometime. Since my sister-in-law also lives close to the Sunshine Factory I'd say odds are we will end up back there sometime, who knows?

Christos

Opa!

It was my sister-in-law Ali's birthday over the weekend. To celebrate, we told her to pick a place near where she lives, since we always make her drive to our neck of the woods. She picked Christos in Minnetonka. It is a Greek restaurant.

I was excited, we never really go out for Greek food. We arrived and were greeted by a host who I am thinking possibly owns this branch (it is a chain, there is one in Minneapolis as well) and he was definitely Greek. We were seated at a nice long table back in a corner.

I think our waitress was a little new, we kept asking her questions and she was not 100% certain of the answers and seemed a little nervous at times, but other than that she was really great. Nate and I decided to go for the full Greek experience, he ordered a Greek beer called Keo and I convinced Ali and my mother-in-law that we should order a bottle of Greek wine called Aphrodite.

Nate and I decided to order something called the Iliad which was a sampling of different Greek food, which came with the following: Spanakopita, Mousaka, Koupepia, Gyros and Loukaniko with country pilaf, oven-roasted potatoes and Tzatziki. It was encouraged to be a meal for two, we also each got a salad. My in-laws also chose to split that meal. Ali ordered Souvlaki which was skewered pieces of pork tenderloin, marinated and broiled, served over pita with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, Tzatziki and fries. For an appetizer we chose the Taverna Platter which had a couple of kinds of hummus, feta cheese and this weird octopus thing (I'm not even kidding, but it was sort of marinated, just tasted like fish).

The hummus was super tasty, I liked both kinds. The fresh pita bread we got was fantastic.

Appetizer

The Iliad was a TON of food, I don't know how we ate as much as we did. I liked about half of what was on the plate, but that still was enough. The gyros meat was the best, the sausage was good but spicy. The mousaka was also really good, I didn't think I'd like it, but I really did. I have decided I don't like grape leaves! And I have a hard time with spanakopita, it's a texture thing mostly.

Picture tipped, whoops - but here is the Iliad

Finally we also chose desserts. Since it was Ali's birthday, she got a complimentary dessert, so she chose baklava. Nate and I decided to split Milopita, which was an apple dessert with cream cheese and ricotta cheese in a pastry type shell. It was warm and gooey and wonderful!

Overall, the food was great, the prices were a bit steep, but it was a slightly upscale kind of place, the service was great and you definitely got alot for your money. There were leftovers to take home! I was a little disappointed in the wine, it was pretty weak, and didn't enhance the flavors of the food all that much. But that was the only low point of the evening. Everything else was fantastic. It's not a convenient place for us, so I don't think we'll be back soon just based on that, but I would recommend it!

Oh, a side note, we got to watch them set up for a bachlorette party and then the beginning of the party too - looked like a bunch of Greek women having fun, reminded me of My Big Fat Greek Wedding! Too funny.

Willowgate II

Well it's been awhile since we've tried something new, but we finally did over the 4th of July weekend. Both of us love Chinese food, but we're also picky about it. We're not as big of fans of the two closest take out places to us anymore (sorry Heights residents if you still love either place, we just feel that the quality isn't there anymore). We like a couple of higher end type places, but you have to drive a little to get to them and they're a bit spendy in price.

Nate suggested Chinese for dinner on Friday night and it sounded fantastic to me. He decided to simply Google Chinese restaurants near our zipcode. He came up with Willowgate II. Willowgate is located in Roseville and is sort of tucked away from the main drag if you will. It's almost overshadowed by nearby Applebees, Red Lobster, Bakers Square and Good Earth. But, we found it and boy were we happy we did.

It's super cute on the outside, they have a stone replica of the Great Wall of China, I read online that they added this when they reopened after remodeling in 2000 to great fanfare. This was when they added the "II" to their name. They have actually been around since 1983.

We stepped inside and were seated immediately, nothing too exciting about the inside decor, in fact they had the lights kind of dim, but there were plenty of people enjoying dinner. The menu is HUGE. It could almost be overwhelming in way, but they also help make it easier by offering combination specials and dinner specials to help you hone in on something. We were served hot tea and water and then left to scan the menu. We both decided on the combo specials, for $6.95 you got a choice of soup or salad, an appetizer and then one of their entree selections. I chose egg drop soup, cream cheese wontons and then chicken chow mein and sweet and sour shrimp. Nate chose hot and sour soup, egg rolls and sesame chicken.

They brought the soup out and it was a nice small sized bowl, just enough to wet your appetite. Hands down it was the best egg drop soup I have ever had! It was light in flavor, nice and warm and didn't leave me feeling overstuffed or anything. Nate enjoyed his hot and sour too, he said there was pork in it which you don't always get with hot and sour soup. He really liked the flavors and also agreed it was just enough as a starter.

The pace was great, we enjoyed a little more tea and a chance to talk a bit and then they brought our entrees, which included the appetizer but that was fine with me.

It may sound like I had a ton of food on my plate, but it wasn't too bad. Half of the plate was chicken chow mein, half was the sweet and sour shrimp and then there was fried rice kind of in the middle. I also had two cream cheese wontons. Some Chinese places heap so much food on your plate it's hard to dig in. Not the case here, but I wasn't feeling like I was gyped either. I started with the wonton - it was heaven! Nice and crispy, tasty shell, just enough cream cheese with a touch of sweetness. I haven't had wontons that good since a place we used to visit called the Saigon Star closed. Then I moved on to the chicken and rice - again, fantastic. The rice was perfect, the chicken had a great tasting gravy, mixed in with some chinese noodles. I like my celery nice and mushy and it was done exactly that way. Then I moved on to the shrimp - also very tasty, I loved the sauce, it wasn't too sticky or heavy like some sweet and sour sauces and had just enough tang and sweetness combined.

Nate let me taste his egg roll - again, wonderful. I am not a big fan of them normally, but this was good, not overly cabbage flavored, nice blend of veggies and the sauce was actual fish sauce which you don't always get according to Nate. He was pleased. His sesame chicken was very good as well, sauce was a little tangy without being too much, in fact he said next time he'd ask for it a little hotter since they gave you a choice of mild, medium or hot. But he still enjoyed it along with his fried rice too.

We purposely made sure we brought leftovers home since nothing beats leftover Chinese, especially good Chinese! The best part was the bill - around $15 for both of us. It is so rare to have a bill that low when you go someplace like that. We almost ordered a piece of their cheesecake to go just because the bill was so low! It probably helps that we stuck with the complimentary tea and water as our beverages. I did notice their wine list looked interesting - plum wine, sake, and another oriental wine were among the choices. They also listed several beers. Might be worth going back and trying one of them sometime.

Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Willowgate, it was a short drive, great service, outstanding food, we will be back!!

Sarna's

Those who live in Columbia Heights are probably familiar with this place, but I thought I'd write about it anyway for those less familiar with it and it's one of our favorite places to go.

We were severely lacking in "nice restaurants" in town for awhile. There was a Mr. Steak for years and years that closed down to make room for another tire store because hey, we don't have enough of those in Columbia Heights (sarcasm - drive down Central Avenue and you'll see what I mean). So, when Sarna's opened up it filled a void for sure.

At first, we were reluctant to try it - it's kind of in a weird spot in town, at the corner of 40th and University Avenues, in the space of a former gas station and in an area that was very industrial for awhile. Also, the name "Sarna's" is the family that owns the place - but they also own several tobacco shops, so just the name turned us off a little. Finally when they opened up, it was before the smoking ban went into effect so we feared being smoked out if we ate there.

Sarna's was probably open for a whole year before we actually ate there. It was after a Christmas event we had gone to at the Heights Theatre, we were hungry and it was a nice close option. I was pleasantly surprised when we stepped inside. It's clean, spacious, the wait staff is super friendly and nice, and the food is actually pretty good!

That was in late 2007 and since then we've pretty much added it to our regular rotation of places to go. Something unique that they do is have a rotating list of weekly menu specials - so you can go in and try something different just about every time. The regular menu is good too, but the specials can be kind of fun. Nate and I had some of the best cheese curds ever one January. One of my favorites is a fish deal that they have on occasion, prepared and tastes the way my dad would do fresh fish from a lake, I love it. Otherwise I love their pork tenderloin sandwich - it's huge, you could almost split it with someone, it comes with a pepper relish that's actually pretty good.

We also both like the "blue plate special" which is your basic open faced turkey sandwich/mashed potatoes and gravy - but it's fantastic. The burgers are good too, I like the "Heights Burger" which is a smaller option than some of their other burgers. Fries are simple shoestring fries, but I like that they are not overseasoned.

The menu really has something for everyone: salads, burgers, sandwiches, pizzas and entrees that span from Italian (my dad enjoys the Pasta el Forno - which comes with sausage and peppers) to Chinese (my mom enjoys the Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry) down to comfort food like the blue plate special I mentioned or beef stroganoff.

The portions are HUGE on everything. We always have leftovers. The bar is all right, they have good happy hour specials, but you'll just see your standard beers, wines, and they'll do just about any mixed hard drink you can come up with. In the winter I love the peppermint patty - hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps - warms you up inside and out! I also like their margaritas. Simple, small, and when it's happy hour - they're cheap!

I can't say enough good things about Sarna's really. It's just nice to have a decent place to eat in town, the staff remembers you and welcomes you each time, and I don't think I've had but maybe one meal I didn't enjoy in the last two years. Prices are moderate - you'll probably spend about $30 for two people if you both order meals and drinks but as I mentioned, you'll probably get two meals out of one entree with the portions being so large!

I really hope Sarna's will be around for some time to come. I have never seen the place empty, so I think it's a pretty safe bet!

Fogo de Chao

May 27th was our three year wedding anniversary. Due to circumstances beyond our control in 2008, our 2nd anniversary, we didn't do anything special. So, because we had the means to do so this year, we decided to give Fogo de Chao, in downtown Minneapolis a try, as we had read about and heard much about it.

It did not disappoint. We arrived in downtown for our 6:30 reservation, managed to score parking in a valet ramp a block away for only $6.00 (the valet parking Fogo itself offered was as much as $8, so this was a deal!).

We were seated immediately. They have a large dining area of which we were seated kind of off to the side in a slightly quieter area and we were kind of glad. The walls are filled from floor to ceiling with bottles of wine. Shortly after being seated one of the gauchos came over to explain how everything works. You can go choose offerings from the salad bar and then when you are ready, you get a little circle that is green on one side and red on the other. When you want some of the meat they serve, you flip it over to green. Then the gauchos come to your table with varieties of meat cooked on skewers, you pick the piece you want and they carve it directly on to your plate. When you've had enough, you flip your circle back to red and they will leave you alone to eat.

First we chose a bottle of wine, we figured between the two of us we probably would drink an entire bottle so might as well go for it. We had Robert Mondovi Cabernet Savingon. It was very good. Then we went up to make our plates at the salad bar.

I will admit - I was slightly disappointed by the salad bar. I had heard for months that it was the end all, be all of salad bars, but it's actually very simplistic and has some different items than you'd normally see and that's about it. There are two kinds of salad you can choose, four types of dressing and only a handful of add ons for the salad - broccoli, peppers, extra cheese and croutons. However, the other items were interesting - various cheeses, meats, artichoke hearts, asparagus, salmon, some creamy salad items and bread. I enjoyed the two types of cheese I grabbed, one was a swiss, the other I'm not real sure, it was a bit crumbly. The dressing I chose was Caesar, which was good, but I just didn't feel it was all that unique.

Salad is really not meant as the main event here though. It is clearly all about the meat. When you are ready for your meat, they also bring out the side dishes. I loved the sides, again, simple and light in flavor, but I think that is done on purpose. There were mashed potatoes, fried bananas and polenta. I loved the fried banana the best, it really brought out the sweet flavor without being over powering.

We flipped our circles to green and were immediately served beef sirloin, filet mignon, chicken and sausage. I decided I was good and flipped to red, Nate waited to get some pork tenderloin and then also flipped to red.

The filet was good - but very, very rich. I honestly wish I hadn't started with that cut of meat. But it was still tasty. The chicken is really good. I loved the sirloin the best I think, which was probably a good thing since it was the largest piece of meat on my plate! The sausage was not to my liking, it smells really good, but the spices were a bit odd for me. Nate liked everything, but felt his pork tenderloin was too Parmesan flavored, as it was rolled in Parmesan cheese.

Nate flipped back to green and was served chicken wrapped in bacon and a piece of lamb chops. He said both were good, but that lamb is definitely an acquired taste. He said he kind of wished he'd skipped the chicken/bacon as it's a flavor you can have anywhere, think of a chicken bacon club sandwich.

We were both getting super full, but wanted to try the pork ribs very badly, so we flipped to green and kept turning meats offered down until they brought it over. The ribs were very good, probably my next favorite after the sirloin.

While we were eating, the manager came over and asked if we were there celebrating or just dining. We said it was our three year wedding anniversary and he said, well you know what, we'll buy dessert for you. So, when we finally had our fill of meat they brought out a beautifully decorated piece of cake for us to share and the plate had "Happy Anniversary" written in strawberry syrup. The cake was a layer cake with chocolate and vanilla and creamy filling as well. Very decadent, but a great way to finish our meal.

Overall, I don't think I'd care to eat that much meat in one sitting again for awhile - but it was worth the trip for sure. They are very attentive and because there are so many different gauchos roaming, you won't be lacking for your food at any point. It was all warm and fresh and everyone was friendly. The wine was great, even if it was expensive. And I think it's a great touch that they offer a free dessert for a special occasion. We both loved it and would go again for another special occasion as long as some time had passed in between.

Pictures coming soon - don't have many, but do have a couple. :)

The Freight House

For as many years as I can remember, my parents and I often times would end up in Stillwater for Memorial Day weekend. We'd eat at one of two places, The Freight House or Estebans which was a mexican place that is now closed. I am not sure why we started this little tradition, but I suppose it was kind of a little getaway without having to go super far away.

This past weekend, Nate and I decided we wanted to go somewhere different for dinner. It was a gorgeous evening on Saturday and remembering my family tradition I asked him if he'd mind if we drove out to Stillwater and ate outside on the patio at the Freight House. He agreed, so off we went.

The Freight House has not changed much in the years since my youth. We arrived around 5:30 or so and it was busy, but mostly in the outdoor seating since it was such a nice night. We did get some seating on the patio and were lucky to be under a canopy that they have so the sun wasn't right in our faces the whole time.

We were excited to see several Minnesota beer options. I chose a Cold Spring Red River Ale and Nate chose a Mantorville Brewing Co. Stagecoach Amber Ale. We also selected pizzasticks as an appetizer.

My beer was good, it was light in flavor and I knew it would compliment the Barbequed Pulled Pork sandwich I chose for my entree. Nate chose the Jumbo Hot Dog, which came with relish, onion, and bacon. We decided to split an order of fries. Nate was not as crazy about his beer, he thought it had a bit of a maple flavor to it, which is funny, the other Mantorville beer they had on the menu was an actual Maple beer of some sort. At any rate he did drink the whole thing and then ordered one like mine.

We did not care for the pizza sticks that much, they were a breadstick that was basically stuffed with mozarella cheese and had marinara sauce for dipping and the sauce was so/so. Once our food came out though, we were much more satisfied.

My sandwich was piping hot, but delicious. The pork was nice and juicy and the barbeque sauce was light and just enough. Also the ciabatta bread it was on was outstanding. I did cut it in half to force myself to bring part of it home, between it, the pizza sticks and french fries we had alot of food on the table! The french fries are tasty as well, not over seasoned, though they call them rough cut fries and we thought they'd be thicker, but they were not as thin as a shoestring. Nate loved the hotdog, it was huge and he also had to force himself to stop so he wouldn't be too stuffed! He loved all the fixings that came along with it, even the relish which he is usually not a fan of.

It's funny, the Freight House is known for their hamburgers but I guess neither of us were in a hamburger mood. For the most part though, they do other food quite well too! As I said, I would not recommend the pizza sticks, but our entrees were great. I had to laugh too, I went in to use the restroom and you could've had your pick of any seat inside, no one was sitting there! The patio is quite large though so it was accomodating the many different groups of people gathered there. There were other couples like Nate and myself, there was a bachlorette party, and there were families that we observed, so it's a great place for all ages.

The downside? Be prepared to empty your wallet a bit. After tip we had spent a little over $50 or so. The portions are large enough though that we could've split an entree, maybe skipped the appetizer and would've saved more. The beer also wasn't cheap, but it was fun to try some Minnesota beer. Also, try to find some free parking if you can, we parked in a pay lot and had to pay $5.00 (which does give you 12 whole hours to enjoy Downtown Stillwater) but as we walked further, there were spots open in the Freight House's smaller parking lot and we could've parked there for free.

Bottom line, the Freight House is still a great place to go in my opinion and I would definitely go back, but would maybe try to be a little more frugal the next time. Skipping the pizza sticks would help alot!

Welcome to Nate and Beth Eat Stuff

Hello one and all and welcome to our new sub-blog!

We write a friends and family blog at http://bethandnate.blogspot.com but now we've decided to take our blogging one step further and share our thoughts on various places we go to eat!

We LOVE to eat. Maybe too much, which isn't just a problem for our wastebands, but also our wallets. But we can't help it. And the Twin Cities has many good places to eat! We have alot of favorites we tend to frequent, but we're also always looking for something new.

We've been reading alot of Twin Cities restaurant review blogs and while they are all very well written, we just thought, hey, we could write this kind of stuff too. Can we do it better? Not necessarily, we just thought it would be fun. So, we'll write about our "returning favorites" as well as the new places we try or we might also share recipes we make at home, because we also like to cook at home and try out new and interesting things with our recipes too!

We hope you enjoy this little blog, which is just meant to be in good fun, so let's all have a good time!