Category: Restaurants

We had dinner at the Green Mill Restaurant and Bar which is located in Woodbury, Minnesota.

Green Mill Restaurant and Bar

The restaurant is right next to a hotel so I was not expecting the food to be very good.  We had received a $10 coupon in the mail — spend $30 and get $10 off.

Tortilla Soup

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

For the entree, I had the Butternut Squash Ravioli with asparagus.  I had expected the asparagus on the side but it was tossed in with the ravioli.  The ravioli didn’t have much flavor and was cooked too long as it tasted a little soggy.  This was served in a garlic cream sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, basil leaves and asiago and parmesan cheese.  

Butternut Squash Ravioli

My husband had the Bourbon Flat Iron Steak.  The steak was topped with a bleu cheese crust and served with asiago mashed potatoes and broccoli.  He said it tasted good.

Bourbon Flat Iron Steak

The service here was great.  The food was good overall.

A group of us went to Champps Restaurant in Woodbury, Minnesota.

Champps Restaurant in Woodbury, Minnesota

Inside of Champps Restaurant, Woodbury, Minnesota

This is definitely a sports bar.  There were over 20 televisions overhead with their channels on sports stations and the atmosphere was a little noisy.  When we entered, we were seated immediately.  There are booths, tables and sports bar-like stools.

Our group had a variety of food.

The Chicken Noodle soup was very good with large chunks of chicken, celery and carrots.

Chicken Noodle Soup

One of the entrees was the smothered chicken that was sauteed with mushrooms, garlic, butter Marsala wine and spinach.  The dish was served with green beans and yellow carrots.  This was a good entree.

Smothered Chicken

The Greek Salad was delicious and the portion served was enough so I could take half of it home.  Served with feta cheese, kalamata olives, eggs, and pepperonicini tossed with lettuce and seasoned chicken.

Greek Chicken Salad

The house salad was fresh and again, a large portion was served.

House Salad The last entree we had was the Mediterranean Pasta.  This entree was good also and approximately half of it was taken home as the portion served was large.  The entree includes fettuccine noodles tossed in a cream sauce with fresh kalamata olives, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes and chicken breast that was grilled.  This also included garlic toast. Both the food and service were good. Chammps is located at 8418 Tamarack Village, Woodbury, Minnesota.

For a quick hot chocolate and pastry, I went into the Dorothy Ann Bakery & Cafe in Woodbury, Minnesota.

Dorothy Ann Bakery & Cafe, Woodbury, Minnesota

The bakery has a few tables for sitting and it also has a small conference-like room that can be reserved for larger groups.  

Dorothy Ann Bakery & Cafe, Woodbury, Minnesota

My hot chocolate wasn’t the best, however, it wasn’t the worse I’ve had.  They do not use the powdered chocolate like I might expect in a small establishment.  Instead, they use hershey syrup with milk.

The pastry I had was a blueberry turnover.  It was very flaky but good and moist.

Blueberry turnover, Dorothy Ann Bakery & Cafe

In addition, this bakery also boasts a lot of sweet pastries, cookies, cakes, etc.  Although I didn’t sample them, they looked very good.  

Pastries at Dorothy Ann Bakery & Cafe, Woodbury, Minnesota

Dorothy Ann’s Bakery & Cafe is located at 710 Commerce Drive in Woodbury, Minnesota.

I went to the India Palace Restaurant in Woodbury, Minnesota for their buffet lunch.

India Palace Restaurant, Woodbury, Minnesota

The restaurant looks small on the outside but has quite a bit of seating on the inside.  They serve a buffet during the lunch hour which makes it worth going to — well, on the pocketbook, not on the waistline.

India Palace, Woodbury, Minnesota

Kheer, India Palace, Woodbury, Minnesota

The Sunsets Restaurant was recommended to us by our Realtor, Bridget Crepeau.

Sunsets Restaurant, Woodbury, Minnesota

We were seated immediately when we entered and the waitress was very efficient throughout our visit.

Our entrees included salad and/or soup and bread.  The Cream of Chicken Rice soup was said to be okay.  The salad was good.  I liked that they added sunflower seeds.  The bread was also good.

Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

House Salad with sunflower seeds at the Sunsets Restaurant

Bread served with the entree at the Sunsets Restaurant

Originally, I had wanted to order the Kung Pao Beef.  Although this wasn’t an Asian restaurant, it sounded good.  When asked, the waitress told me that the sauce is spicy so I opted out and had the 

Chicken Stir Fry instead.

Chicken Stir Fry

Meatloaf ala Marsala

Broiled Walleye

The Chicken Stir Fry was really good.  They didn’t have very many pieces of chicken but it wasn’t missed as the vegetables were really good.

The presentation of the Walleye was not very good.  They served the garlic mashed potatoes on a separate little plate which left the the main dish looking like it was lacking in food.  But the Walleye was good.

And the Meatloaf ala Marsala was also good.

There are many large screen TV’s in this restaurant so it’s not very cozy.

Overall our experience was good.  Especially since we had a really nice waitress who kept checking in on us.

Breakfast at the San Pedro Cafe was delightful.

San Pedro Cafe in Hudson, Wisconsin

We arrived a little after the restaurant opened at 8:00 a.m.  There are both tables and booths.

San Pedro Cafe, Hudson, Wisconsin

Our party had 3 entrees the Hammock Breakfast, Pedro’s French Toast and the Vegetable Frittata.  All entrees were heartily eaten.

Hammock Breakfast

Pedro’s French Toast with blueberries on ciabatta bread

Vegetable Frittata

I’d recommend this place for breakfast.  The food, atmosphere and service were all good.

Paninos is an Italian restaurant located in North Oaks, Minnesota at the Village Center.

Paninos Restaurant in North Oaks, Minnesota

We stumbled upon this restaurant after looking at houses late in the evening.

The restaurant was well lit and we were greeted well when we entered.  It has tables and booths and a relaxed atmosphere.  Murals are on the walls throughout the establishment.

Mural on wall of Paninos Restaurant in North Oaks, Mn

Mural on wall of Paninos Restaurant in North Oaks, Mn

The garlic bread did not really taste like garlic although the presentation was good.

Garlic Bread at Paninos Restaurant

We had an appetizer for one of our entrees called the Cracker Pizza.  The crust was thin as expected.  Just the right amount of cheese and ground beef.  The crust was a little soft since we expected a crunchier crust due to the name “cracker” pizza.

Cracker Pizza at Paninos Restaurant

The second entree was the cavatappi bolognese.  It was okay.  We probably could have made this better at home.

Cavatappi Bolognese

It’s hard to find a good place to eat in the Woodbury, Minnesota area.  They mostly have a lot of fast food or franchise-type restaurants.

After viewing a couple homes in Hudson, Wisconsin, we headed into their small town looking for a place to have dinner.

Fortunately for us, the place we were going to eat was having a large dinner party and was closed.

Then it happened.  We found the Agave Kitchen located in downtown Hudson, Wisconsin.  The food was delicious and was similar to what we are used to coming from Seattle, WA which has so many good restaurants to choose from.

When you enter, there is a bar area with booths off to the left.  In the back, which is where we sat, there are more booths.  The noise level may have been high had we been sitting closer to the front of the restaurant, but in the back, it was fine.

They have a mini menu that you can order things from (and it’s cheaper) which worked great for me because I didn’t want a big meal.

We decided to start with a couple appetizers.  (So much for a small dinner … )

Our first appetizer was the portabella mushroom fries.

Portabella Mushroom Fries

My husband and son ate them up rather quickly so I have to assume they were good.

Agave Kitchen Onion Rings

The waitress had warned us that the onion rings were not round.  So — who cares?  What she should have warned us (me particularly since I don’t like spicy food) was that they have a bit of a spice added to them.  I couldn’t figure out what it was.  However, they were so good, I kept eating them in spite of the spice.  Delicious!  Even if they are a little greasy.

Agave Kitchen Filet Mignon Sliders

I had never had a “slider” before.  These were tiny and served with carmelized onions and bleu cheese crumbles topped with green olives.  Again, delicious.  I was not disappointed that they were tiny either because they filled the empty spot in my stomach just fine.

Agave Kitchen Chicken Enchilada

This looked way too cheesy for me but … it got eaten.  The enchilada has shredded chicken mixed with a creamy verde mushroom sauce, covered with more cheese and then baked.  It also came with rice and beans.  The sides looked a little dry to the eye.

We have been to the Outback Steakhouse before and decided to try it again.  This time we had a little challenge in getting the food right.

Being a creature of habit, I ordered the same thing as I did before, the Outback Special which includes a 6 ounce sirloin with 2 sides.  I selected the Sweet Potato and the Blue Cheese Pecan Chopped Salad.

They always serve a wonderful warm bread with soft butter on the side.

Outback Steakhouse bread

Then the Blue Cheese Pecan chopped salad is served.  This is always one of my favorites.  It has the right amount of “bite” to it.

Outback Steakhouse Blue Cheese Pecan Salad

Lastly, the sirloin is served.  I always ask for it to be cooked well done — no pink!  When I received it, the first thing I did was cut into the steak.  Sure enough, it was not well done.  Back it went.  The manager personally delivered the next steak and kneeled next to the table while I cut into it to make sure it was well done.  Nope!  Back it went.  The third time they got it right.

The manager explained that they had a new cook.  

The sirloin was moist and was seasoned very nicely.  

Outback Steakhouse Sirloin with Sweet Potato

I always forget to ask them not to put brown sugar and butter in the sweet potato.  A sweet potato tastes fine with no added flavoring.

My husband ordered the steak fried steak that comes with green beans and garlic mashed potatoes.  I took a bite and it tasted fine.  Kind’ve reminded me of my mother’s Puerto Rican empanadas (steak coated in crumbled crackers and then fried).

Steak fried steak

When we received the bill, the manager had deducted the price of the sirloin.

Way to go Outback!

Outback Steakhouse Gift Card

We went to Cafe Cravings in White Bear Lake, Minnesota for breakfast.

Cafe Cravings in White Bear Lake, MN

There was a special listed on the board of walnut apple pancakes for $7.45 which I thought sounded delicious.  I picked up the menu to see what else they had and noticed that the price for that same “special” was actually less.  When I asked the cashier about the discrepancy, I was told that the menu had changed.

Since there were 3 of us, I asked what else had changed and they told me they could tell us as we chose.  Hmmmm …. I expected them to offer the lower price for my menu item but no offer was forthcoming.

Then I asked if they had hot chocolate made from an espresso machine (the milk).  The gentleman said “We can do that.”  When I received my hot chocolate, it was the cheaper powdered one.

Batting zero for zero.

Apple walnut pancakes

The pancakes were pretty good although they were a little too moist, ie. a lot of butter was used.  I also tasted a hint of bacon and wondered if they had been grilled on the same griddle.

Blueberry Muffin

This was huge!  I didn’t taste it but my husband said there weren’t very many blueberries.

Cheesy Potatoes

The potatoes were fresh and not frozen.  I heard no complaints from the person who ordered this.

Garden Omelette

The presentation of this menu item was good.  Then I heard “I think I got the wrong thing.”  It was a good garden omelette, just a little different than what was expected.  Again, the potatoes were made from scratch.

Powdered Hot Chocolate

I enjoy hot chocolate.  So when I specifically ask if it’s from one of those old-fashioned machines that spew it out with water or if it’s powdered, and I’m led to believe it’s not, I’m disappointed.

This was my fault though for not being specific enough.  I thought my question was understood but those with me thought I could have been more specific.

The older I get, the more I want to get what I pay for with my money.