Mosaic Cafe

Mosaic Cafe is a relative newcomer to the Twin Cities restaurant scene, taking over the former Glaciers Cafe spot in an oddly-shaped lot near Minnehaha Ave and Lake Street in the Longfellow neighborhood of South Minneapolis. They have a pretty standard cafe menu, with coffee drinks, sandwiches, frozen desserts, beer and wine, and, of course, burgers to please any dietary needs in beef, turkey, and vegan varieties.

They advertise their burgers as using the well-regarded 1000 Hills Cattle Company's local, grass-fed beef. Their standard burgers use a 1/3-lb patty, with 1/2 lb available at a nominal extra charge, and a multigrain bun served with a side of kettle chips. I decided to get their 1/3-lb Farmhouse burger ($9.50), served with lettuce, tomato, red onion, and aioli, to which I added a slice of cheddar cheese ($0.50) and a side of their oven-baked rosemary garlic fries in place of the chips ($3.00) for a total of $12.00. As usual, I requested it cooked medium.

It arrived looking like a solid burger construction -- the meat was well and properly seared and the cheese fully melted. The tomato was sliced generously, and a decent amount of green leaf lettuce and red onions finished out the toppings. The aioli was generously slathered on the bottom bun and both buns were lightly toasted. Upon slicing through, the meat was shown to be cooked to a perfect medium, though it was a bit asymmetric as if it had been left to cook too long on one side.

As for flavor -- it was solid. The meat was, as expected, of good quality, and properly seasoned. The aioli flavor was mild but still contributed a nice pungence to the burger. And the bun -- I'll tell you, I'm always a little leery of multigrain buns on cheeseburgers -- with all the seeds and whole grain flours, the texture tends to be a bit distracting from the burger itself. But this bun was probably the best multigrain burger bun I've ever had, with a subtle earthy flavor and no distracting bits. It was, however, a little on the dry side.

All in all, a good performance from a neighborhood newcomer. I'd definitely get another burger from here if I was looking for a good quality burger within walking distance from my house!

Mosaic Cafe 
3019 Minnehaha Avenue

Minneapolis, MN 55406

(612) 746-1504

NB: The oven baked fries are advertised as cooked "in a special oven so they get that crispy goodness we all love without unhealthy frying." But the fries were as greasy or greasier than any deep-fried fries I've ever had. Ah, marketing!

Red Stag Supperclub

I am a fan of Red Stag Supperclub. Located in the Central/University (St. Anthony East) area of Northeast Minneapolis, I have consistently had great food and a great experience -- so much so that my wife and I decided to have a pre-wedding family dinner there. Despite having been there numerous times, I had yet to have their cheeseburger. So, I decided to change that.

On paper, the burger looks great. Heirloom Limousin beef, pickled red onions, and garlic aioli? Hell yes. I ordered mine medium. With the included fries and the addition of a slice of white medium cheddar, the total was $13.50.

Upon arrival, I was dismayed -- why would you list everything that comes on the burger except the pickles? Luckily, the pickles were sweet pickles and not dill pickles, so the inevitable pickle juice contamination was not too severe. The burger looked to be about a half pound, fit the nicely griddled bun well, and had a good amount of nicely melted cheese. When cut in half, the meat was cooked to a perfect medium-to-medium-rare in the middle, transitioning to medium-well at the edges.

On the flavor front, this burger was darn near perfect. The beef itself was delicious and perfectly seasoned, and the garlic aioli and pickled onions added a kick that really went well with the rest of the burger. The bun was just hearty enough to make it a perfect complement to density of the meat without being overly tough or chewy. My only complaint is the unevenness of the meat's done-ness -- towards the edges where it was cooked more, the meat tended towards dryness and that particular well-done beef flavor. Still, overall -- an excellent performance. I would definitely get this burger again.

Red Stag Supperclub

509 1st Avenue Northeast

Minneapolis, MN 55413

(612) 767-7766