The Blue Door Pub

1811 Selby Ave
St Paul, MN
651-493-1865
http://www.thebdp.com/

Category: American-Casual

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 9
Service: 8
Ambience: 7

Recommendation: Excellent. The BDP offers some serious competition to other burger joints in the TCs. Other than the Vincent burger, they might serve the best burgers in the Cities.

If you want to get into a heated discussion with a local, ask them “Who invented the Juicy Lucy?” or better yet, get a couple of locals going on what lucy is better – Matt’s Bar or the 5-8 Club. The origin of this stuffed burger is disputed, but regardless, if you haven’t had one, you’re missing out. Welcome, BDP – this burger joint has taken the concept of the Juicy Lucy one step further and for our money they serve the best Lucy’s in the cities. On our first visit, we had to wait 30 minutes for a seat because this tiny space was jam-packed in the middle of the afternoon. This homely pub houses a dozen booths and tables that are packed closely. The rugged dark wood furniture adds an element of “dive” to this joint.

The menu consists sandwiches and apps, but the draw here is the Blucy – the BDP’s take on the stuffed burger. In addition to “The Blucy” that’s stuffed with blue cheese, there are another dozen or so attractive burger options. We started our meal with the Beer Battered Green Beans ($6.50) – awesome; a light batter coats the flash fried crunchy beans. We ended up trying four different Blucys – the least interesting of which was the “Classic”, a tribute to the creator(s) of the Juicy Lucy. Don’t get us wrong, it was a good burger, but there are far more interesting options on the menu. The Blucy, had a generous helping of a creamy, pungent blue cheese – if you’re a fan of blue, don’t miss this one. However, the two winners in our book were the Frenchy and the Bangkok Blucy; the former consisting of swiss cheese, caramelized onions and an au jus, while the latter had a myriad of interesting flavors with the pickled carrots and cucumber and a spicy curry dipping sauce. What really makes these burgers pop is the hunk of quality beef that has been seasoned just right and cooked to perfection – sounds simple, but it’s hard to do. The accompanying crispy fries are also a winner – it’s hard to stop eating them. We thought the Tater-Tots were good, but we’d stick with the fries. And in the event you’re thirsty, there’s a nice selection of beers on tap. We tried the Copperhook Ale, which had a nice malty flavor to accent the burgers.

Service was great – although you may have to wait for a table, the food comes out quickly and there’s always people watching in this crowded bar. The burgers are a great value – at $7 or less, you’d be hard pressed to find better burger value.

$. Lots of street parking – there’s also a lot on the side/back.

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