It was girls’ night out on Saturday, but the girls said that Rob could join us. It was my turn to choose, so I chose the The Strip Club in St. Paul.

Oh, did I forget to mention that The Strip Club is a restaurant? A steak house to be exact. Well, actually, it’s officially called The Strip Club Meat & Fish. It’s been recommended by a few friends, so I thought that now would be the time to try it out.

I made reservations for this past Saturday for us on the Wednesday prior. When I requested 7pm, I was told that they could only do a 5:45pm or a 9pm. Whoops. I guess I shouldn’t have waited that long to reserve. Knowing that Rob and I would probably have a hard time staying out late after having done the Dog Day 5k that morning, I chose the 5:45pm time slot.

I must say that the décor and ambiance of this place is really cool. It’s sort of supper club meets saloon. There’s something old world about it. It’s very small inside. TIP: So make those reservations early!

You should start off with one of their hand-crafted cocktails. I personally love anything with St. Germain. There are just a few beers on tap, which I believed were all local. {Bottled beers are also available as well as bottled specialty sodas.} However, there are more wines on their menu than there are food items! And most aren’t your run-of-the-mill wines either. I like when they can keep it interesting. My friend Jen enjoyed her glass of Tempranillo, one with which I was not familiar. Kim enjoyed a White Bordeaux and I chose a Viognier-Marsanne blend from Australia to go with my fish. Rob had the Fulton Insurrection, a local Imperial IPA which was on tap that evening.

Our server was knowledgeable, yet quirky. We loved him! It wasn’t until I pulled up the website to write this post that learned from the video that he is part owner and manager. Hey, I’m glad he’s about entertaining his guests, too! Our friend Oosh said that the first time he and his fiancée tried The Strip Club, they didn’t get a chance to make it back for another six months. But when they did, they were remembered!

The menu has just enough offerings to keep it interesting, but not too many to overwhelm you. I personally loved the following listed at the bottom of it:

All of our beef is grass fed and hormone-free, supplied by Thousand Hills Cattle Company and Grassrun Farms
Substitutions politely declined
Vegetarians regarded with benevolent amusement

Although I forgot to photo it, I wanted to tell you about the Meat on a Stick ($6.50). It was listed under “small plates” and Tim explained that it was New York Strip skewered and placed atop a pesto sauce with some sort of greens {pea shoots, maybe?} We decided to split it amongst the table. It was perfect because there were two skewers with two pieces of meat each. I tend to like my steaks and burgers cooked medium rare. However, this one was cooked a little bit less than that. I still thought it was fine, but some others thought it was a bit too chewy. The flavor of the dipping pesto with the meat was incredible, though!

Now for our entrées:

This was Kim’s dish and she really enjoyed it. I had a taste and while the flavor was good {I love horseradish!}, I’m still more of a filet girl. So you’d think I’d have ordered the filet mignon, right? WRONG! I had been eating more steak in the last couple weeks than I’d had in a long time. When Tim read off the specials, I was intrigued by the fish special.

The flavor was good, but the salmon did seem to be a little overcooked. Someone commented about how small the portion size was, but I’m really more about quality than quantity.

Both Jen and Rob ordered this:

Jen asked what would be on the burger after she ordered. It was more out of curiosity. When Tim said it came with cheese, mushrooms, bacon and tomato, she was surprised. You’d think it’d be more of a specialty burger. And while Tim said, “No, it’s just what you’d expect!” ….

It really wasn’t!

I didn’t expect this burger to be as good as it is! And I was only lucky enough to have two bites. Incredible. Sure, it sounds basic, but every part of this burger was awesome:

High Quality, Grass Fed Beef

I love restaurants that use seasonal ingredients and buy locally. You can taste the difference in terms of quality and freshness.

Cheese

You won’t believe I’m going to say this, but there wasn’t much cheese flavor… but it wasn’t needed. Yes, I just said that about CHEESE! Normally, I complain about the lack of cheese on burgers. In those cases, I feel like I’m being cheated. However, there is so much going on in this burger that the cheese didn’t matter. {Did I really just type that?} It definitely was a necessary component, but there was just the right amount to keep the flavors well balanced.

Bacon

I will say the same about the bacon. If you’ve been reading for a while, you’ll know that I’m that strange person who doesn’t like bacon on my food. I like a slice by itself from time to time, but not on my sandwiches or in any dishes.Most of the time, the bacon flavor overpowers the dish. However, this locally-sourced, handcrafted bacon was perfect on this burger. The photo doesn’t do it justice. Rob said that it’s the best bacon he’s ever had.

Mushrooms

These were perfectly sautéed and again, there was the right amount to keep the flavors balanced.

Tomato

My friend Jen said it best when she said, “This tomato actually tastes like tomato!” It’s hard to find a good tomato this time of year, but this one tasted like one you’d find during the peak season of the summer in Minnesota. Rob doesn’t eat tomatoes on his burger, so I got to savor his two slices!

And lastly, while they were offered, this  burger needs no condiments.

Yeah, it’s that good.

This burger must take a list on Rob’s Top 10 Burgers of the Twin Cities list. I just need him to decide which one to kick out. 😉

The fries were good, too. Rob wasn’t as much as a fan of us girls. However, it is a rare occasion when the ladies eat fries, so they were a treat.

I ordered an espresso while the others ordered a final round of drinks. Though the place was small, they didn’t seem to mind letting us linger a bit.

I need to remember that when I’m having a hankering for a burger, this is the place to go. This is one Strip Club this girl won’t pass up! We will be back.

Describe a new place you’ve tried recently!

Cheers~
Carrie