Northbound Smokehouse & Brewpub

The Northbound Smokehouse & Brewpub is a new brewpub in the Longfellow neighborhood of South Minneapolis. They made news before their doors even opened when they offered free beer for life to early investors. Now that they're open, they're serving their house-made brews along with a full bar menu, with nearly everything, including the beer, touched by smoke.

Their burger is billed as a 7oz black angus patty served on an egg bun. Standard acoutrements are mayo, lettuce, and tomato for the $7.25 base price. I added fried onion ($0.50) and 2 slices of smoked cheddar ($1.50) to bring the grand total to $9.25. I ordered mine medium.

I had mixed impressions when it arrived. On the plus side, the thick coating of melted cheese permeated the small pile of fried onions atop the bun, and the lettuce provided was a few leaves of Bibb lettuce -- not something you normally see on a brewpub (or anywhere) burger. On the other hand, the patty itself had a distinctly 'prefab' appearance, with those squared edges that, at best, betray a burger patty made in a burger press but at worst imply something out of a Sysco truck. The cross section showed the meat was cooked very nearly to well-done -- nowhere near the medium requested.

Still, it's the taste that matters. And again, a mixed bag. The beef was decently seasoned, for the most part, but a bit on the dry side and not particularly distinctive on its own. The cheese, when tasted alone, had a nice smokiness to it, but it was hard to detect that flavor in the whole ensemble. The fried onions, though, were great -- they were slightly undercooked so they still had a little bit of that raw onion bite, in both flavor and texture, along with the sweetness of grilled onion. And the bun was fan-frickin'-tastic. Definitely the best bun I've had in a long while here in the Twin Cities -- extremely fresh, a little sweet, tough enough not to fall apart in your hands but soft enough to not interfere with the burger eating experience (I'm looking at you, Rye Deli onion bialy bun), and moist without being soggy.

In the end, though, the bun's perfection wasn't enough to overcome the more fundamental issue with the burger -- the meat's just average flavor and it's overcooked-ness. If you're here getting a beer, the burger is an ok choice, but I'd probably choose something else next time -- like maybe the waffle-batter-dipped fried chicken sandwich, which my friend said was quite good, and is served on the same awesome egg bun.

Northbound Smokehouse & Brewpub

2716 East 38th Street

Minneapolis, MN 55406

(612) 328-1450

Convention Grill

I had been meaning to go to Convention Grill for a while, based on a good friend's recommendation, but I never seem to find myself out that way (I mean seriously, who goes to Edina?). But this past weekend I was hungry and craving a cheeseburger (as is often the case) and decided to make the trek out to the 'burbs and see if it truly lived up to the hype.

The decor in the place is distinctively retro, if not actually old -- fine dining this is not. But hey, it doesn't need to be, as cheeseburgers know no socioeconomic boundaries. The basic burger at Convention Grill is described as "lean ground beef cooked medium-well on a hearty bun" for $4.95. To this you can add cheese of one of a few varieties ($0.95), get it "California style", with lettuce, tomato, and mayo ($0.95), or with both as a "California cheeseburger" -- for $1.95. Indulge me for a brief moment while I complain: They're charging me MORE for getting two things together? It's only 5 cents, but...that's not how it's supposed to work. Ok. Breathe. Ok I'm good. On to the burger. I ordered the California cheeseburger with "smokey cheddar" and grilled onions.

When it arrived, I took note of the following: Two nice looking tomato slices, a big romaine leaf, and not-fully-melted cheese. As at Smashburger, the nicely grilled onions were placed underneath the cheese. I had thought I had escaped the dreaded pickles, but it turns out they were hiding underneath the lettuce leaf. For those who do like pickles, the three miniscule pickle chips provided would barely cover a third of the nicely-seared patty. The bun was sadly untoasted. Cutting it in half, I saw the patty was cooked to what appeared to my eye to be well-done rather than medium-well -- nary a hint of pink to be found. Not surprisingly, given the "lean" description of the meat used, it was not particularly abundant in juice.

On the flavor front, it was actually pretty good. The meat was seasoned quite nicely, and smoked cheddar really should be mandatory for any cheeseburger. On the downside, it was on the dry end of acceptable. The bun was soft and fresh but otherwise nothing special. And the lack of toasting in my mind really hurts -- why wouldn't you take the opportunity to add another layer of texture, flavor, and, ideally, butter?

Still, I enjoyed the burger. Not great, but the good seasoning and smoked cheddar was enough to elevate it from "meh" to "pretty good" in spite of its shortcomings. While I probably wouldn't make the trip just for it, especially given that I have what I consider to be a better option right in my neighborhood, if I were out there anyway I'd definitely consider it if I was in the mood for a cheeseburger -- as is often the case.

Convention Grill & Fountain
3912 Sunnyside Rd, Edina, MN
55424-1211
(952) 920-6881 () ‎