Minnesota: Minneapolis

The highlights of the trip was avoiding the madhouse at the Mall of America and sampling out of the way restaurants and stores that were popular with the town's residents. Particularly noteworthy was Famous Dave's Chicago Style Barbeque joint. Who would have ever thought of visiting Minneapolis for barbeque??

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The bread they start you of with is excellent, and might make for a meal all by itself. I shared the maple flavored carrots as an appetizer with my Mom, which were fantastic. While the carrots remained fairly firm and their disinctive flavor, you couldn't escape the gooey richness of the authentic maple syrup.

The main course I chose was the parmesan encrusted chicken. This might sound fairly dull, but the preparation was excellent and elicited jealous remarks from my family who chose less wisely the apparently "just ok" beef dishes. If you're stuck at the Mall of America for any reason when visiting Minneapolis, make sure to nullify the soul-deadening experience with a great meal at this comfortable and delicious restuarant.

I gave up eating red meat about six years ago, but the ribs that my brother and sister-in-law were muching on sure looked good. There could be no doubt that the heavily sauced chicken was anything less than scrumptious, as I wolfed it all down though I wasn't the least bit hungry when first sitting down to eat (apparently New Yorkers tend to dine a little bit later than the folks in the Midwest). The mashed potatoes that accompanied the meal were excellent, and the biscuits and cornbread were also particularly good. Though I had no room whatsoever for dessert I just had to get a piece of the pecan pie to go, being the weak man that I am. Three hours later I was kicking myself for getting the whole pie to go!

I sampled the Mongolian chicken pizza, which was sort of unusual sounding but quite harmless. In fact, it sort of tasted like a typical Chines dish such as sesame chicken served on top of a cheese pizza. My father braved the pepperoni pizza like a trouper. Both were served as individual pizzas, but the size was enough for two not so hungry folks.

The real treat was dessert, where I splurged on the cheesecake topped with rum soaked peaches and raspberry sauce. And for some dramatic flair, a large spun sugar ornament floated high above the already frighteningly fatty treat. Dad was kind enough to help me finish it off...

The night that I went to Gay 90's was pretty sad, as the rather large space seemed near empty. The bartender said that this was not due to the approaching holiday but was fairly typical of most nights. It's too bad, as the club has many different thematic rooms and a large dance floor that all could be put to good use.