Harry’s Food & Cocktails 10/12/07
Last night we checked out Harry’s Food and Cocktails, in Minneapolis on Washington Ave. It’s in the old Nochee space next to the depot, with the Botero sculpture in front. It’s chef Steven Brown’s new place, and has an old-fashioned American steakhouse vibe, with simple, dark decor to match.
The table had a dish of mostly sweet and slightly sour homemade pickles, and the Sunday night special was a green goddess salad with a pork chop. G. and I got an appetizer of calamari and tried two of the many burger variations. The calamari were good, but not great. The pieces were sweet and tender, but the coating was slightly greasy, and thus a bit doughy. The accompanying pepper aioli had a nice kick, though.
I got the Harry’s burger, which the menu said had cheddar cheese and special sauce. It arrived cooked to my order (medium), but with an unexpected giant pile of sweet, sauteed onions. They were good, but overwhelmed the taste of everything else, so I had no idea what the special sauce tasted of. G. had made the better choice with the Dara burger, named for the City Pages food critic. It was a revision of the burger Brown did at Rock Star, with crispy prosciutto, a melty blue cheese, and a burger whose flavor at medium-rare blasted out of the bun. The fries were very good, and at the end we were beyond full, so while the dessert list looked good, we had to pass.
The service was good but not exceptional, and my water glass dipped low several times. I was disappointed that they didn’t have a local root beer on tap. They’re still within weeks of opening, though, so these are all fixable issues. The vibe was reminiscent of Ike’s, another old-time-y steakhouse that started strong, but couldn’t maintain momentum. I hope that Harry’s can do better.
I’ll certainly go back to Harry’s, not least because I didn’t see the french fries with cheese curds and gravy. The quality and flavor of the food was quite good, and our check arrived with four mini homemade chocolate chip cookies. I think next time I’ll try a salad, split a medium-rare burger with the gravy fries, and have a go at one of the decadent-sounding desserts.