The Sample Room

2124 Marshall St NE
Minneapolis, MN
612-789-0333
http://the-sample-room.com/

Category: American - Casual

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 8
Service: 7
Ambience: 7

Recommendation: Very Good. American style “tapas” served in a cozy tavern type setting.

We ended up at Sample Room in Northeast Minneapolis after a friend of ours recommended it. It is located in a beautiful historic building in the middle of a residential area. The interior gives a cozy feeling with its high ceilings, roomy booths, and large bar. The Sample Room is like a neighborhood bar, except that the menu is more sophisticated than the standard deep fried fare. It consists of various small plates – Cheese, Veggies, Meat, and Seafood. It is set up like a tapas restaurant where a table can order several different small plates and share. The menu also has soups, salads, sandwiches, and entrees but we stuck to the small plates.

We ordered the Warm Camembert with Caramelized Onions from the Cheese section. It was a delicious pairing – the strong creamy cheese went really with the slightly sweet onions. From the Meat section, we ordered the Bratwurst with Spicy Mustard and Pork Ribs with Bourbon BBQ sauce. The brat was flavorful and juicy, the ribs were ok. The Seared Rare Tuna with Miso Glaze was another winner at our table and so was the Gulf Shrimp with Garlic, EVOO, and Lemon. Although vegetarian dishes aren't top of mind when ordering, we couldn’t resist getting the Roasted Veggie Torte – a flaky pastry stuffed with spinach, tomatoes, eggplant, and goat cheese served with a red pepper sour cream. It was excellent. Our server took great care of all the four tables that were occupied at the time we were there, even though they were down one server. He had some great recommendations.

$-$$. Most plates cost between $5-$8.