I had an appointment with an account in Bloomington late one afternoon and I was looking for a place not too far from the meeting place for a late lunch. I had noticed a restaurant in an office building that was set back from the road just north of 494 in Bloomington and decided to give it a try for dinner on a previous trip to the Twin Cities, but it turned out that the place was packed. However, this day it was late enough that it was well past the noon rush. This time I was going to have lunch at the very popular Ike's restaurant with five locations around the Twin Cities.
Gene Winstead worked for a vending and gaming machine company and worked with a number of bars and restaurants in the area over the years. Gene epitomized the term "Minnesota Nice" as he was highly respected in Bloomington, a city that he had made his home back in the mid-70's. He served on many civic and governmental commissions over the years, and in 1995 Gene was appointed to the city council in Bloomington. In 2000 he was elected to his first term as mayor of the city. Gene has been re-elected four times and continues to be a popular leader for the City of Bloomington.
In the early 2000's, Winstead (whose sister Lizz Winstead is an author/comedienne/satire writer and co-founder of The Daily Show) partnered with restaurateur Carl "Chip" Isaacson to open the original Ike's in downtown Minneapolis. Styled after post-World War II supper clubs, Ike's classy setting was also inviting and warm to patrons who would be going to and from shows and sporting events in downtown Minneapolis.
After putting an Ike's location in the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport in 2005, Winstead and Isaacson set their sights on a location in Bloomington in 2008. They had a signed a letter of intent to lease a location in the city, but that fell through at the last moment. Isaacson was determined to put an Ike's in the suburbs of Minneapolis and he found a spot in what was the former Primo Italian restaurant. Isaacson decided he wanted to focus fully on the Minnetonka location, so he sold his partnership in the downtown and airport Ike's location and opened the new Ike's in 2012 as a licensed franchisee from Winstead.
Pictured right - Gene Winstead. Photo courtesy Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine.
Two MarketPointe is a multi-use office building along 78th St. W. in Bloomington. Built in 2008, it houses a number of corporate offices and featured a seafood restaurant - Blue Point Oyster Bar - that went out of business in 2015. Winstead hashed out a deal with the building's owners and took possession of the space in Nov. of 2015. After months of renovations, the Bloomington Ike's opened in the spring of 2016. (There is also an Ike's location inside the new U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis.)
There's a parking lot in front of the entrance to Ike's and I was able to find a spot in there. (see map) Walking into the lobby of the building, I found the interior entrance to Ike's. A dark walnut facade with windows flanked either side of the entry. A maroon canopy with the Ike's logo was above the front entrance.
I walked into the restaurant and there was literally no one in there. I waited for a moment at the hostess stand and finally a bartender came out of the back. She asked if she could help me and I asked if they were open. "Sure," she said enthusiastically. "You can sit anywhere you like." When I asked if I could sit at the bar, she said that was fine. She introduced herself as Paige and gave me a menu to look over. I ordered up a Schell's Oktoberfest beer, but I saw a picture of a bloody mary that they serve at Ike's that looked pretty good. "It is very good," Paige said when I enquired about it. I thought about getting one, but remembered that I had another appointment later that day.
The bar area also featured a lot of dark walnut accents. The bar was two sided with a number of booths along the walls and tables in the middle of the room. A number of reprints of portraits and photographs were on the walls around the booths. This looked to be the main dining area of the place.
There's also a dining area off to the left side as you walk into Ike's. It is usually closed for the lunch hours, but is open at night for overflow dining.
From what I could tell, the lunch menu didn't seem to be much different from the dinner menu minus some entrees that appeared to be only served in the evening. It was heavy on salads, appetizers, sandwiches, burgers and small plate selections. They also had a daily feature each day of the week and this particular day it was the house-made pot roast. Mmmm.... That sounded yummy!
But so did a couple three other things on the lunch menu. The wine-soaked sautéed mushrooms and Swiss cheese burger sounded very good. As did the smoked turkey and bacon club sandwich. And they also have the same steak sandwich on the menu that is a very popular item at the U.S. Bank Stadium.
I was reading about their chili - they use three different types of meats, three different types of beans and three different types of peppers in their chili along with a proprietorial blend of spices and herbs. I ended up ordering a cup of that. It came with a side of cheese, chopped green onions and sour cream - just the way I like my chili served. (I've also learned to like chili with chopped lettuce on top with the other stuff, as well.) There were big chunks of meat in the chili, but it wasn't thick. And I like a that isn't quite so thick where the place brags that you can stand a spoon up in it and it won't fall over. No, I'd rather have some chili that is a bit runny, thank you. And this was very good.
I couldn't help it - I had to go with the pot roast special they had that day. They braise the Angus beef in the pot roast all day along with vegetables in a mixture of herbs, spices, and a dark beer. It was served on a bed of garlic-mashed potatoes covered with a beef gravy with a side of peas. A side of creamy horseradish came with the pot roast, but I had Paige get me some fresh ground horseradish.
The portion served was the perfect size for lunch, especially after having a cup of chili. The pot roast was wonderful - tender, moist, flavorful. A large steak knife came out with the plate, but the beef was so tender that I didn't need it. This was simply a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs type of meal.
After I finished, Paige brought out a chocolate chip cookie as a free signature dessert at Ike's. It was warm and gooey and I mentioned that they needed to serve milk with the cookie. Paige said, "Yeah, something like a shot of milk! That's a good idea!" Frankly, I thought she would get me a small glass of milk to go along with it, but she didn't. And that was fine.
I usually stay near the Ike's location in Bloomington and I made a mental note to put this place on my rotation of restaurants in the area. There were a lot of interesting items on the menu - I'll have to try one of their burgers on my next visit - and they had a good craft beer list and, of course, a tantalizing bloody mary. And I can't say enough about the professional and friendly service I received. It didn't hurt that there was a very light lunch crowd when I was there. Still, Ike's was a nice, laid-back place with what I would call a very upscale bar menu - one of the kind of places that I like to seek out when I travel.
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