The Independent

Calhoun Square, 2nd Floor
3001 Hennepin Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55408
(612) 378-1905
http://www.theindependent-uptown.com/

Category: American-Casual

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 7
Service: 7
Ambience: 7

Recommendation: Good. A casual restaurant, with an urban feel, that has a great happy hour.

The Independent is located on the 2nd floor of Calhoun Square. When you first step into this restaurant, it’s hard to pin what market it caters to, but the experience led us to categorize Independent as a urban, casual, retro restaurant with just enough of a “cool” factor to capture the trendy uptown crowd. This isn’t a Chino Latino or Bar Abilene – they’ve skipped the “upscale” atmosphere and as a result it is more reasonably priced. We sat at one of the bar tables with a window overlooking Lake St – there are other seating options as well including regular tables as well as lounge seating. The Happy Hour is why we were here – 2 for 1 drinks, $5 martinis from their extensive martini list, $3 select taps and house wines, and $5 appetizers go from 3pm to 7pm M-F and 10pm to 2am every night.

The Martini list is extensive and there’s lots of goodness to choose from – we highly recommend the Genetini (Grey Goose, Pineapple Juice, Chambord) which is perfect if you are craving something on the sweet side and the Independent (Absolut Mandarin, Amaretto, Lime Juice) which has sophisticated adult flavors. And don’t worry – they don’t water down their martinis at happy hour. We ordered a large array of appetizers and our favorites were the Chicken Sausage Corn Dog (served with three sauces), Margherita Pizza, Ahi Tuna (seared rare with sushi rice, cucumber salad, and wasabi and honey-chili paste), and the Nachos. The Corn Dogs were a slight twist on what you find at the state fair while the pizza was light and crispy. The tuna had some great flavors – the fish was fresh and the different sauces and the sweet and crunchy cucumber salad gave this dish a Vietnamese influence and the Nachos were piled high with lots of toppings, all with good complimentary flavors (and mind you…not all Nachos are created equal). We would recommend skipping the Dim Sum platter, which surprisingly, did not impress and neither did the Shrimp cocktail (both the dumplings and shrimp were overcooked). For entrees, the Sun Dried Tomato Ravioli was very good and it melted in your mouth. Skip the “Chef’s Salad” (Bar) which wasn’t much of a gourmet salad – just a heap of different toppings. If you want dessert, the Banana Split is delicious (and huge). Home made crepes hold scoops of Sebastian Joe’s ice cream and the flavors are decadent – this is a must try for all. Our server was attentive and we were well taken care of.

Oh, by the way, check out the unisex restrooms – do note that women’s stalls are separated from the men’s….in the same bathroom!

$$. Appetizers mostly under $10 and entrees under $20. Happy hour is great value.