I've had the Groveland Tap on my "Restaurants to Visit" list for awhile now, mainly because I was somewhat of a fan of the restaurant group that owned that restaurant/bar and many others around the Twin Cities. Having some time one afternoon on a recent visit up to the Twin Cities, I decided to head over to St. Paul and have lunch at the Groveland Tap.
In the early 1990's, David Burley and Stephanie Shimp worked together as servers in the restaurant the Nicollet Island Inn, an upscale hotel in downtown Minneapolis. After their shifts were over, the two would have drinks and talk about their shared dream of running their own restaurants some day. Both agreed that the Twin Cities didn't have enough places that served good, hearty breakfasts. Burley and Shimp decided that they should join forces and came up with a business plan to open their own place. The two couldn't get a loan from a bank, so they scrimped and saved - Shimp sold her car to help fund the start-up of a restaurant. They found a building that had previously been an ice cream parlor on S. Cleveland Ave. in St. Paul, and in 1993 they opened the Highland Grill, a trendy breakfast cafe that served made-from-scratch foods in their kitchen.
With friends and relatives helping out - sometimes working for free - it wasn't long before Highland Grill was a success and Burley and Shimp set their sites on buying another long time St. Paul institution - the Groveland Tap. The two then formed their own restaurant group - Blue Plate Restaurant Company - and expanded into a number of other restaurant concepts including The Lowry, the Longfellow Grill, the Edina Grill, Bottle Rocket, and The Freehouse all located around the Twin Cities.
Pictured right - David Burley and Stephanie Shimp. Photo by Shari Fleming.
I first became familiar with the Blue Plate Restaurant Company when I dined at the Red Cow, an upscale burger place in Edina in the summer of 2013. (Click here to read about Road Tips' visit to Red Cow.) Stephanie Shimp's younger brother, Luke, was a minor investor in the Blue Plate restaurants and he opened Red Cow in early 2013. (Luke Shimp now heads three Red Cow restaurants in both Edina and Minneapolis.) Later that summer, I dined at The Lowry in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis. (Click here to see the Road Tips review on The Lowry.) I've had some of the other Blue Plate restaurants on my radar since then, but the Groveland Tap is the first one I've been to since my visit (and subsequent visits) to The Lowry 4 1/2 years ago.
The Groveland Tap is located near the corner of St. Clair Ave. and S. Fairview Ave. in St. Paul. (see map) The Bottle Rocket is located across Fairview to the east of the Groveland Tap and the two share a parking lot on the southwest corner of Fairview and St. Clair. It was an unseasonably warm day for mid-fall in the Twin Cities and there were a small group of ladies that were seated out front at one of the tables they have for sidewalk dining at the Groveland Tap.
Stepping inside the Groveland Tap, I found a small dining area up front with some wooden tables and chairs along with small number of high-backed wooden booths along the wall. Beer signs and a number of beer spigot handles hung from the walls in the dining area.
There was a back room to the Groveland Tap that also featured high-backed wooden booths, more beer signs and even more beer spigot handles hanging on the wall. It was a pretty impressive collection of handles at the place. If I had time, I would have lingered a bit longer to take a look to see all the different ones they had.
I ended up seated at the small bar that's in the center of the place tying the front and back dining areas together. I was greeted by Andy who was in charge behind the bar that day. He gave me a menu and I ordered up a Summit Oktoberfest that they had on tap. They had about 3 dozen different types of craft brews available on tap.
The menu - while extensive - is actually pretty basic with a number of appetizers, sandwiches, and burgers. They had their own versions of the Twin Cities staple "Juicy Lucy" cheese-stuffed burger. And that's what I went with - the Cajun Lucy that was stuffed with pepperjack cheese and jalapeƱos. Fries or cole slaw came with the burger, but I told Andy that I wasn't really interested in either. He said that for a slight upcharge I could get an order of their onion rings. "They're very good," he said to me. I went that route.
Some Juicy Lucy burgers I've had around the Twin Cities have gone from "meh!" to "very good". And this one at the Groveland Tap was in that very good category. The cheese oozed out from inside the burger, but didn't explode when I initially bit into it. (I learned a long time ago to let a Juicy Lucy burger cool down a bit after it's placed in front of me.) The burger patties were nice and juicy, not overcooked, and it had a bit of a spicy bite with the pepperjack cheese and the jalapeƱos stuffed in. Andy also didn't steer me wrong when I picked the onion rings. They were beer-battered, thick cut and delicious. I didn't even bother tasting the cole slaw because the burger and the onion rings were a great tasting combination.
The Groveland Tap is a nice cozy little neighborhood place that has good burgers and a good selection of craft beers. The bartender was friendly and did a good job of taking care of me that day. And there's some interesting decor on the walls in terms of their beer spigot handle collection. The Groveland Tap is nothing fancy, nor is the menu all that exciting. But it more than makes up for it in terms of the interesting burgers they have and the comfortable surroundings in the place.
Happy you had a good meal. We love walking here in the summer for burgers and beer. The happy hour is so generous too. And bartenders are fantastic.
Posted by: Jeni F. | February 21, 2018 at 06:56 PM
One of these days, Jake, you and I will have to get together for a burger and a beer at some place in the Twins.
Posted by: Road Tips | February 21, 2018 at 07:35 PM