01/26/09

Cozy place with exceptional food and service

by d88ee

This past weekend we made the trek to St. Paul to try The Strip Club. After finding it on citysearch and then searching out more articles to read about it I knew I had to try it.

Our reservations were for 7:30pm but we arrived a bit early, they weren't quite ready for us, so we found a spot at the very busy bar and waited for a table. Being the middle of winter I was hoping for a table upstairs and we got one! The downstairs is nice but the front door I would imagine could get quite drafty! The service was fantastic and even though there was a large party sat right near us, we never once felt forgotten about. There is a secret door upstairs leading into a huge room/office and our server offered the room to the large party as they were there to surprise someone, I thought that was a very nice offer.

The food was amazing; we ordered the Shrimp Scampi, Duck Confit, and the NY Strip. All cooked to perfection with amazing flavor. Don't expect to walk out of this place using pocket change, but the food and service is well worth the price.

They have several interesting small plates and several different sauces to chose from with your steak. A true gem in the way of restaurants, specifically steakhouses. A+++

• Pros: service and food!
• Cons: Street Parking only :(

01/18/09

Low key atmosphere with great food and service.

by saobrien0077

Great place to bring good friends. Even with a menu that speaks to gourmands (with some truly great fois gras) there's hardly an ounce of pretension in the place. Good drinks - good desserts... it's a place you'll want to frequent.

• Pros: Great variety of small plates - excellent food.
• Cons: Some dishes are pricey. Drafty by the door.

12/21/08

Great food and service.

by AMSnyder

We started out with the poutine and carpaccio off their small plates menu. Both were great but the poutine really shined. If you didn't know, poutine is french fries covered in gravy and cheese curds. Apparently it is drunk food from French Canada.

For our entree, we had duck and meatballs. Both were very good. For desert, we had a baked apple thing that was great!

There were only a couple things I would have changed. They need to get double front doors for Minnesota winters. It was definitely a little drafty. Plus their tables may be a little tight.

• Pros: Food, Service and Ambience
• Cons: A little drafty and seating is tight.

10/15/08

Fantastic Food, Fantastic Venue

by charleyswanson

I don't normally write reviews for places we've eaten, but my wife and I visited the Strip Club for the first time on her birthday and it was absolutely excellent. The building's renovations and decor are classic, fun and fancy enough to go out for a special occasion, but the place doesn't have an ounce of attitude or pretentiousness. The food isn't super cheap, but it's worth it -- the menu is creative and original, and the food itself was amazing. It was tough to decide what to try, but we were given excellent attention and recommendations from our server. Great food, great staff, and one-of-a-kind location... we watched the sun go down over downtown St. Paul upstairs by the fireplace on a beautiful fall evening. Even witnessed the secret door in action -- these guys really know how to design a space! Highly recommended, extremely authentic neighborhood find. New Twin Cities favorite.

• Pros: Ambiance, Service, Menu, Food
• Cons: Not clear that you can park across the street in a college lot... but you can!

07/26/08

Great food, great people, great building - you so rarely get it all...

by sjlboland

I admit I was skeptical of a locating a quality dining experience on Maria Avenue. I've lived on the East Side, and we had good food in places, but never great food, great service, and great atmosphere at the same time. This places brings it all together.

We were greeted at the door by the general manager, who clearly loves his work and loves sharing the experience with people who are out to have fun as well as enjoy food. We were given such a warm description of the menu, I really wanted to try it all. I settled for the signature dishes (caesar salad and the New York Strip), and was not disappointed. The food was flavorful, beautifully presented, and with excellent service.

I ordered a club soda, and while some restaurants will turn their nose up at not getting a big liquor bill, I was offered a little mix of soda and custom-made tonic with a twist. No other restaurant ever goes out of their way to enhance the dining experience for someone ordering a club soda, so I gave it a try. The light lavendar flavor in the tonic was a wonderful treat, very refreshing on a warm day. These folks are paying attention to every aspect of your time with them. If you don't normally talk to the staff when you're dining out, make an exception here. You'll be glad you did.

• Pros: Amazing passion from the staff for your experience. Great food to back it up.
• Cons: The wonderful inside isn't clear from the location. Get inside the building. Trust me.

07/24/08

Amazing Food & Service

by RDFT

My wife and I walked into the Strip Club one Tuesday night with no expectations. I am the chef and owner of a small restaurant and she and I rarely get to go out to eat. We walked into the restaurant and the gentleman behind the bar greeted us like we were old friends. We found out that he was not only the bartender but one of the owners of the restaurant. He was very warm, knowledgable, and funny. So we decide to eat dinner at the bar. We settled on trying a bunch of the small plates because they all sounded so interesting. We also ordered the strip steak and shared it. We absolutely loved the scallop and the deviiled eggs. 2 of the 5 deviled eggs were pickled in beet juice and they were delicious. Perfectly seasoned and full of flavor. I loved the duck confit and the beans and toast. All of the appetizers were amazing and something different. The steak was cooked perfectly and also seasoned very well. We rarely find a restaurant that we want to go back to over and over and we will definitely be back to this restaurant. We loved everything about it the food, the atmosphere and the service.

• Pros: Food, atmosphere, and service
• Cons: Parking is limited

06/20/08

Spectacular Addition to the Neighborhood

by Jexica

I've been to Strip Club half a dozen times and will keep going back. After the first time I ate there the staff started to recognize me. Repeat business will get you progressively better service, not that it was bad to start with. It's a fancy place with medium level prices. At the end of the evening most people will be satisfied with the portions, no leftovers, because it isn't that kind of place. Make sure to try the deviled eggs, they are different and better than you'd expect, especially the pink ones. The bar has a lot of housemade options, like the tonic and the blackberry brandy. Try one of their old fashioned drinks, or a simple gin and tonic, they're just better when mixed by a real professional with quality ingredients. Make reservations if you're going on Friday or Saturday night, especially with a party bigger than two. A few of the balcony tables have a great view of the sun setting over downtown, they'd be great for a first date.

• Pros: Good food, quality drinks, close-knit staff, adorable location.
• Cons: No parking lot, just street and the Metro State pay lot. Not very many tables so turnover can be a problem.

05/05/08

over rated, over priced

by nsp50

After reading many fabulous reviews about this restaurant, could hardly

wait to go. Now I admit I'm not foodie of the year or anything, but I do know

some things. For a place that says steakhouse,and seafood ,the choices

were abysmal. Just one very small strip, and some tuna. This is the only

place we have ever been that has the nerve to charge for bread to go with

your salad.

O.K. lets get to my major complaint. The famous N.Y. which it names it self

after is very good, but be warned. For $28.00 ,it is maybe 8 oz,, comes with a

grilled 1/2 lemon and maybe an ounce of poached carrots.

The $5.00 side of mashed potatoes would have left a toddler hungry.

Oh, I don't want to forget the catfish fingers ( which should have been called

nuggets since they were about the size of a peanut M&M, and they only give you 6)

So ,as much as I would like to support a local restaurant that is quite quaint,

I am not eating out on an expense account. There are just too many other steak

places in the cities that serve meat that is just as good, if not better, and when

you leave you may have leftovers. After eating here we had to go to Culvers!!

• Pros: quaint neighborhood restaurant
• Cons: way over priced

Restaurateurs Tim Niver and Aaron Johnson bring old-school meaty charm to a dark strip of St. Paul.

by Molly Priesmeyer

In Short
Restaurateurs Tim Niver and Aaron Johnson know a thing or two about sprucing up a place: The duo brought the famous Town Talk Diner back to life and turned it into hipster gold. Now the pair has turned an old brick building on a hidden street in St. Paul into a gem for meat and fish fiends. In this gangster-inspired spot, giant appetites and an old-school St. Paul setting are as big and bold as the slabs of meat. Leave the corn-fed hormone-injected beef to the big guys in town. The cows that make these generous cuts of meat are all grass-fed and even come loaded with plenty of healthy omega-3s for good measure.