I never intended the Comrus blog to be primarily about restaurant reviews. Back in the Xanga days, it mostly contained humorous essays on random things about life. But since I now have a job, and especially now that I’ve been working overtime for a few months, the desire to sit down and blog has been at a minimum. The only thing that has interested me enough to finally sit down and write has been my interest in laid-back restaurants, under the heading of “Quest for Our Place,” and even then not so much. In fact, I haven’t had the motivation so much so that I still have not yet written about my favorite discovery, first visited many months ago.
And so, yet again, instead of a humorous essay, I find myself with another restaurant to talk about (quite briefly, too be honest). And also yet again, it’s not about the aforementioned favorite discovery.
So, first up in the lineup of places that are far better than The Nook (and believe me, that’s a really long list), the Groveland Tap, 1834 St. Clair Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105. Also in Highland Park, the Groveland Tap features wooden booths, a non-dive dive type atmosphere, and a very large beer selection.
As previously described, the purpose of our search is to find a laid back place, with good food, preferably with great hamburgers, where you can also enjoy sitting back and having a few beers. The Nook failed on most of these counts, and the Groveland Tap quite succeeds.
The burger itself is nicely juicy, with fixings that have flavor but don’t overwhelm. It does have a nice griddle/grease flavor, but could use a bit more bite and spice. But otherwise, it’s everything I’m looking for. It’s anything but dry, and the cheese is nicely melted. The accompanying fries were nice and fresh. They weren’t fabulous, but were good, salty, and satisfying.
And yes, for those Juicy Lucy nuttos, the Groveland Tap has those as well.
Perhaps the thing that stood out to me most, though, was the Groveland Tap’s large draught beer selection, including many various pale ales, amber ales, lagers, etc. Better yet, seven days a week, from 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM, they have Summit pints for $2.25. That’s the best Summit deal I’ve ever seen in the Twin Cities.
As such, I can certainly see myself grabbing a few pints on their front patio this summer.
One of the main failings of The Nook, not counting the mediocre burgers, is that it’s constantly jammed with people, so getting a table is a process. We’ve only been to the Groveland Tap once, and it was quite empty when we went, but it was on a Sunday afternoon. Almost undoubtedly, the place gets very busy in the evenings, especially with their beer selection. But because of the food and the atmosphere, I’d be far more willing to wait for a table there.
Overall, the Groveland Tap is very comfortable, with friendly wait-staff, and very good bar food.
Cheers,
Charlie
Comrus 