The one gripe that I have about living in Eden Prairie is the lack of good beer bars. Now you could make the argument that Old Chicago is a great beer bar and it ain’t bad, but it’s no Muddy Pig. It’s no Buster’s on 28th. It’s no Stub and Herbs. Each of which are 22 miles, 14 miles and 17 miles from my house, respectively. Old Chicago is not a bad place, in fact that’s where I enjoyed many a beers while in my transitionary stage between macros and craft beers. There was always something new and exciting on tap and rarely did I have to drink the same beer twice. But, now that I’ve graduated to full flavored craft beers I rarely find anything there on tap that I want to drink. It’s not just the tap list. I don’t like the sports bar atmosphere unless I am at happy hour with friends. Let’s face it, it’s a chain restaurant and it's obvious. Sometimes when I’m in there, I have to ask myself, “Am I in Eden Prairie or is this Plymouth or Minnetonka or Sioux Falls or Denver?” I like a little more individuality. And I like to support my local guys too. Local bar owners and local brewers. I love Summit and Schell's but where’s the Surly, Liftbridge, Flat Earth, Brau Brothers? I can't bad talk them completely. There are times when I am thankful they are here, like the recent meet and greet with Lagunitas front man Tony Magee. But come on... Micro of the month - Summer Shandy??? Seriously!
Now I think I’ve finally found a cure for my beer bar blues. When I want to go and just sit peacefully pontificating over a good beer or three, I've found that the Gold Nugget is just the place. Just over five miles away this recently (re)opened bar in Minnetonka is both close and comfortable. This little burger joint has quite the past, unfortunately I know little about it. What I do know is that for most of the last 30 years the Gold Nugget was a small greasy spoon type dive bar that was famous for its burgers and onion rings. This is how it used to look. New developments in the area at Excelsior Blvd and County Rd 4 resulted in the demise of the old shack that housed it. In its place went apartments, condos and a stripmall. How sad. As someone who is still mourning the closing of Sherlock's Home nearly seven years later I can certainly empathize with the regulars who lost their favorite burger and beer joint. I think it's really cool that they incorporated the original stained-glass windows into the new restaurant.
I'll be honest, I never made it to the original bar but I have quickly grown fond of the new one. Coincidently I found the website for the old place. It's an old antiquated website and is actually quite entertaining. As for the new place, it's got that nice polished fresh feel. The dark wood, sharp lines and soft arches compliment each other nicely and are very inviting. Photos can be found on their website. In addition to a comfortable ambiance and atmosphere, the tap beer selection is pretty darned good. Local guys like Schell, Summit, Surly, Brau, Mantorville and Lake Superior. Craft breweries like Lagunitas, Founders, Bells, New Belgium and Boulevard. And they offer flights, they will pour four 4oz samples of any of their draft beers. In fact I had one on my first visit. This time however, I knew exactly what I wanted. It was a 3-pint flight of killer IPAs. It was Friday afternoon, I had some nagging homebrew follow up waiting for me at home but I convinced myself I could stop for a few. I deserved it, I earned it. I spent the previous two days working both jobs and I was due. Besides, the better half would be working until 10:30 and I had to warm up for the Autumn Brew Review.
I started with the Centennial IPA from Founders. Not the first time I'd had this one, but never a bad choice. Huge grapefruity hop aromas, sharp bitterness rounded out nicely with a heavy malt presence. I always enjoy this one, one of the best IPAs out there. I followed that up with a Lagunitas IPA. Less malt in this guy but perhaps a bit more bitter. Again, nice hop aroma but this time different fruit. More pineapple and lemon in the nose. This one also had a nice big body. I backed those up with perhaps the grandaddy of them all, Surly Furious. But before that I needed to eat. On their menu there are a few "originals" that remain from the former place. I chose the happy hour burger and onion rings both of which were originals and both were delicious. My one knock, albeit small, was that this combination was served in a basket. Nothing wrong with that but it just didn't fit the ambiance of the restaurant. Kinda like getting chinet at Manny's. I'm sure this was how it was always done in the old place so all is forgiven. Now that I had a nice base of beef and grease I could wash it all down with that Surly. Officially a double IPA, but what a great beer. Easily the most bitter of the three and again a great aroma. It's no secret the guys at Surly like hops and this one kneels to the hop gods. One of the best smelling beers ever brewed. The flavor is fantastic as well. All that bitter yumminess anchored by a substantial malt profile.
Hard to pick a favorite, so I didn't. These are all great hop bombs in their own right. I just considered myself lucky. While not really a beer bar per se, the Gold Nugget in Glen Lake is a warm, friendly, welcoming place with great service and an exceptional tap list. But alas it was time to go home... thankfully I didn't have far to go.
2 comments:
Good recommendation, Derek. I'll have to check this place out, never heard of it.
Aaron, I hope you do and hope you enjoy it as much as we do. I had never heard of it either until a fellow beer geek told me about it recently (at Old Chicago no less).
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