Two topics for the price of one:
Last night my wife and I were dispatched to Molly Cool’s in Lakeville for a mini-review in an upcoming Minnesota Monthly. It was my first time at this place, and the server came out with a great attitude. I looked at the menu (which was huge!) and asked what was good. Brian Brent started telling us some things, then he said, “I’ve eaten absolutely everything on this menu. It’s 55% fantastic, 40% really good, and 5% eh.”
How awesome is that? I’m sure restaurant managers and chefs don’t want their staff describing the food as 5% “eh,” but as a diner, it was so refreshing to have a server who has tried everything. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone out to eat, asked about a dish and heard, “I’m a vegetarian, so I haven’t tried any of the meat.” What? I’m sorry. Not that vegetarians should be disqualified from working as a server… Ok, now that I think about it, maybe vegetarians should be disqualified from working as a server.
Brian Brent forgot to bring my wife her starter salad, and we didn’t even care. He was great. And we had a really nice experience, ordering things that were indeed in that 55% category. Great service matters.
Issue #2: The price of soda. Or is it pop? Or soda pop? Whatever you call it. I’m a Diet Coke drinker. Well, I’m actually a gin drinker, but that seems wrong for lunch. This week I had a pretty good lunch at Jason’s Deli in Eden Prairie (they have organic raspberry vinaigrette dressing—almost all of their food is fresh and organic). The lunch special was $8, I added the salad bar for $1 (well worth it—the salad bar is a great deal!), and then a soda which cost $1.99.
Diet Coke is super cheap for restaurants; the cost of the cup is generally higher than the actual product. And $1.99 isn’t even that bad. I’ve seen soda for $2.50-$3. Isn’t this getting out of control? It takes a reasonable $9-$10 lunch and pushes it to $11-$13. And that seems like too much, doesn’t it?
What’s the highest price you’ve seen? Can we demand a revolution in soda pricing? Or do I just need to skip my soda addiction?
Molly Cool’s Seafood Tavern
mollycools.com
17516 Dodd Blvd, Lakeville
952-432-2722
Jason’s Deli
jasonsdeli.com
11995 Singletree Lane, Eden Prairie
952-944-7200
