Restaurant Review: The Village Pub, St. Anthony, MN
SH and I visited this new neighborhood restaurant/bar last Sunday evening (when he was the only one who made it to Vespers…but that’s besides the point.)
The Village Pub is a replacement place for the Stonehouse, a long-standing neighborhood pub/dive that was razed along with the St. Anthony firehouse when they committed gentrification to the little shopping mall. It was a place we used to go for TGIF when I was teaching nearby. It was dark and filled with regulars.
This new place is very different. High ceilings, lots of natural light, outdoor seating (required for the smokers). Decor is of the GreenMill variety. Dark wood. Booths, high bar stools and tables, green naugahyde upholstery (ok, actually probably vinyl.) Nothing very interesting on the walls, unless you count enourmous flat panel TVs. Included the requisite reach through to the shiny stainless steel kitchen complete with 4 guys in chef hats standing behind it.
Generally overpriced for average food and tap beers. Two sandwich entrees and four beers (2 large and 2 small) came to fifty bucks! I ordered the buffalo chicken wrap and the waffle fries. SH ordered the cantina chicken sandwich, and waffle fries. The buffalo spice was a little spicy, not exactly Minnesota bland, but not blast-your-tongue-off hot either. Still, it overpowered the taste of everything else. The chicken sandwich came with a generous side of guacomole, but again, fairly average.
If the owner is going to hope to make this place work, he’s got to coach his wait staff to do a little more selling. Here’s a little exchange from the begining of our visit:
Me (to waitress): So what would you recommend? Is there a specialty?
waitress: It’s a new restaurant and I haven’t tried everything yet.
Me: Ok. But of the things you’ve tried, would you recommend anything?
watiress: bland stare
We should have taken it as a clue. At the end of the meal there was no “sample” of dessert, just a generic “did you save room for dessert?” query. Of course, if you’re getting all your food off a Sysco truck then there’s nothing to be proud of…or to tantalize people with and lure them back.
This restaurant doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. It’s close to the city and could be a very hip city-type pub hangout. Instead it has chosen to go the generica America suburban route and try to imitate what it could really be, both in decor and in menu. Too bad.
Edit: I have re-visited this restaurant, now that it is under new management. A lot has changed. Read more here.
— — —
A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…
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flickr = love/hate 2007
Endorsement “conversation” 2007
“putting up” is much different than “putting out” 2006
I’m really not trying to do this…. 2006
— — —
A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…
-
flickr = love/hate 2007
Endorsement “conversation” 2007
“putting up” is much different than “putting out” 2006
I’m really not trying to do this…. 2006
— — —
A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…
June 7th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
I know for a fact that the Village Pub is under new ownership, and they are improving the place quite a bit. They are decorating the walls up, they hired a chef from the TPC golf course in Michigan, and the are constructing a brand new menu. It is going to be a very exciting place once all of the changes are through.
June 7th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
OK. anonymous. this is hilarious. I wrote this post nine months ago. It repeatedly ranks as one of the most visited posts.
You say there’s new management/ownership/chef? Since last August, when it reopened? Ok. I’ll take you up on it. I’ll revisit and re-review. We’ll see if it can rise above suburban chain-wannabe.
September 27th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
My wife and I live in St. Anthony and have revisited the Village Pub since it’s initial opening. We happened to go on a Friday when their Daily special was an all-you-can-eat fish fry. We got real fish pieces, not processed and their homemade tartar sauce was excellent. And the price was very reasonable! We’ve gone back a few times since.
November 4th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
[...] of the most surprising things about this here blog space is the number of hits I get on the review I wrote for this restaurant last August. And the number of flaming comments I got on said review (most of which I just deleted. So, sue [...]
May 31st, 2008 at 10:53 pm
this restaurant has made considerable changes. i went there last week for happy hour and throughly enjoyed the drinks appetizers and the our charming waitress was unforgettable. They have a new chef since then and he has really snapped up the menu and brought the prices to a place they should be for a neighborhood bar
May 31st, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Hey! St. Anthony Resident….try reading the whole post. I agree with you sweetie. Click through to the second review, written a year after the restaurant opened and after the new management took over.
It’s not my fault that the Google lists my reviews in the chronological order they were written instead of by relevance. …. sheesh.