Location: 1610 Harmon Place, Minneapolis, MN 55403
Day: Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Temperature: Around 22 degrees
Indoor/Outdoor: Indoor
Well, this blog entry probably isn't going to win me a lot of friends, but blogs are about opinions, and this one is mine. Joe's Garage has been a neatly tucked away bar/restaurant that I've enjoyed many times over the years. The food is an excellent fare with a good price. In warmer weather you can choose to sit out on the sidewalk patio, or venture up to their open air, rooftop patio area. The location is nicely tucked off the busy Hennepin Avenue, and right along Loring park, making for a quiet get-away when gathering with friends. Parking car be a pain in the butt on evenings, but daytime parking has never been a problem for myself. There's a nice separation of the bar and the restaurant, giving both types of patrons a pleasant experience. The staff is well trained in what they do and are just the right amount of friendly to make you want to return again and again.
Now for the bad news. The Bloody Mary. The price was a moderate $7.20, which is about average for a downtown bar. The bartender was polite and even went so far as to inquire if I would like a beer chaser. I accepted the offer. The extra's that garnished the drink were both plentiful as well as flavorful. The complete offering of which included a pickle, and onion, a banana pepper an olive and a wedge of lime. The salt lining the glass rim had an odd flavor to it, and not in a 'good' type of odd. The drink also had an odd flavor to it. I wouldn't describe it as having a good tomato flavor. It was high on the spicy end of the spectrum, and what it lacked in flavor it made up for in burn. It wasn't watery, but it wasn't thick either. In fact, it had a perfect consistency for a Bloody May, just not a perfect taste. It wasn't overwhelming in alcohol flavor, which is what makes it difficult for me to describe.
The beer had a good taste to it, but if it were a bottled beer and I walked in knowing it's name, I wouldn't order it over an MGD. All in all, based on this experience, I doubt I will ever be ordering a Bloody Mary here again. That's ok though because they do a fine job mixing my other drinks of choice and there food more than makes up for a single bad experience with a drink.
End results:
Location : AParking: B ( Street Metered Parking) - Free on Sunday's
Bar/Restaurant Appearance: B
Staff: A
Bloody Mary Appearance: B
Bloody Mary Extras: A
Bloody Mary Itself: D
Price: C ( $7.20 )
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