Harry’s Food & Cocktails

500 Washington Ave S.
Minneapolis, MN
(612) 344-7000
http://www.harrysfood.com/
Category: American-Casual

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 6
Service: 7
Ambience: 6

Recommendation: Good. Harry’s serves some of the most inventive burgers in town. While the location is ideal for a pre-show meal, we feel the rest of the menu at Harry’s isn’t special enough to command its premium prices.

Harry’s is located in the former Nochee space on Washington Avenue, close to the Guthrie and the Mill City Museum. We first went to Harry’s when it opened in the Fall of 2007 (Steven Brown was head chef at the time) and were a lot more impressed with their menu at the time versus our recent visit a year later. Some of the unique dishes such as the Braised Pork Belly are now gone. The menu is geared towards classic American fare such as burgers, steak, chops, but their burgers are what set Harry’s apart. On the Sides menu, modern dishes such as Sauteed Arugula and Green Beans with Walnut Vinegarette are offered with classics such as Cole Slaw and Creamed Corn. As you enter the restaurant, you won’t miss the chandelier made with Grain Belt Premium bottles. Very unique! They have a much larger bar than Nochee had and an open kitchen. Seating is a mix between indoor large comfy booths that make you feel you are in the suburbs to the outdoor patio with a fire pit along with HCMC sirens that won’t let you forget you are in downtown. Parts of the place have a very retro feel to them…especially the restaurant’s logo, and parts feel like a chic loft with exposed brick and high ceilings. We feel Harry’s is trying to be a bit of something to everyone and it remains to be seen if this strategy will serve it well. On a recent Friday night, the place was practically empty.

They serve a good mix of Cocktails, beer, wine. The French Martini was great with just a hint of sweetness. We liked the Havana Sidecar (Rum, Cointreau, fresh lemon, sugar) although it was a bit strong. The Strawberry Shandy sounded very unique but the taste didn’t live up to it (Stoli Strawberry lemonade, and Honeyweiss). The homemade sweet and sour pickle mixture served with the drinks was excellent.

On our first visit, we tried several appetizers and were very impressed. The Fried Artichokes with Parmesan Dip served with Grilled bread was fabulous. It was unlike any other Artichoke dip we’ve had. The texture was very creamy and the dish was really rich, served with actual whole fried artichokes. It was very greasy, but given the delicious taste, who’s complaining? The Calamari was another winner. It was very lightly fried so it preserved some of the seafood flavors and was served with a spicy sauce and lemon. Unfortunately, the Braised Pork Belly, which was truly a signature dish is gone and the appetizer menu is a lot more mainstream - Shrimp, Chicken Wings, Cheese platter, and Cheese curds.

If you like burgers, this is definitely the place for you. Harry’s serves several different burgers including the Cowboy (Stuffed with BBQ Pork, Jalapeno Cheese). We’ve tried many of their burgers and have enjoyed them all - the Frenchie with Ham and Brie, the Espana with Smoked Paprika and Manchego, the Lonely Repairman with Blue Cheese, and the Harry’s, which had Cheddar Cheese and a Secret sauce. All burgers are served on a Potato flour bun, topped with raw or charred onions (yum!), with French fries on the side. The fries are thinly sliced, Belgian style. Unfortunately, their burger selection has also been cut down within the last year.

Harry’s serves a wide range of entrees including Red meats, Seafood, Chicken along with Salads and a variety of vegetable sides. We tried their Grilled Hangar Steak, which was served on a bed of cold Parsley, Pesto, and New Potato Salad. Although it came highly recommended by our server, we were very disappointed. The meat was cold and not flavored well at all. We ended up sending it back and substituting for a burger (of course!). The manager was very apologetic and came to our table personally to make sure we were ok, which was a nice gesture. The Wisconsin Fish Fry was not a winner at our table either. It was greasy and uninteresting. The Ahi Tuna salad was the only salad interesting enough on the Salad menu.

For desserts, we tried the very retro, Milk Chocolate Banana Cream Pie served with Malted Vanilla ice-cream. We loved it and would consider going back just for the dessert again. We felt the dish could have used more of the banana cream but overall it was delicious.

$$$. You can make reservations online at http://www.opentable.com/