Cuisine: American, Burgers, Pasta, Pizza

Restaurant Features: Banquet Rooms, Bar, Flat Screen TVs, Games, Happy Hour, On-Site Parking, Sports bar

Location: Vadnais Heights, MN

Address: 1132 County Road E E, St Paul, MN (651) 482-1100

Hours: Drink:  10AM – 1AM (Everyday)  Food:  10AM – 12 Midnight (Everyday)

Links: *Jimmy’s Website * Jimmy’s Facebook Page * Google Map

Atmosphere: There are actually three main parts to Jimmy’s: The Restaurant, the Bar, and the Banquet Center.  The restaurant itself is  smoke-free area with several booths and wooden tables, with several large flat-paneled TVs on the walls tuned in to various sports programming.  The large bar area is a very popular happy-hour hangout, with pool tables, dart boards, pull-tabs and other video games.  The banquet area accommodates up to 500 people and is available for wedding reception, conferences, etc.

Menu: Jimmy’s has a large selection of Appetizers including 13 flavors of chicken wings, Southwest Spring Rolls, Italian Dunkers, Spinach & Artichoke Dip, Walleye Fingers (beer-battered or Cajun), Coconut Chicken Fingers, and Quesadillas.  Check out the happy hour specials.

Sandwich selections include BBQ Pork sandwich, Chicken Caesar Wrap, Beefeater, French Dip, Monte Cristo, California Chicken, and Walleye.  There are also nearly 15 varieties of burgers.

Dinner entrees include Walleye prepared 5 different ways, Batter Fried Chicken, Champagne Chicken, Lasagna, Alfredo,  Seafood Linguine, Lasagna, Spaghetti, Battered Shrimp, Grilled Pork Chops, New York Steak and Baby Back Ribs.  Jimmy’s also has a selection of thin crust pizzas.

Price guide: Appetizers $6-9  Sandwiches $7-10 (fries $1.50 extra) Burgers $6-8  Entrees $12-19

What I ordered: My companion and I took advantage of Jimmy’s Happy House appetizer specials.  One thing we tried were the Cajun walleye fingers.  I’ve had the regular walleye fingers several times, but this was the first time I tried them Cajun-style.  I enjoyed the additional spiciness combined with the crispy batter and fresh tartar sauce.

We also wanted wings but I was debating whether I wanted the delicious teriyaki wings that I’ve had before or if I would try the spicy sesame.  The waiter recommended the sesame, so we tried those.  They were not at all what I expected, which was something more “Asian” inspired.  The “spice” in these wings tasted very much like their buffalo sauce, which I don’t particularly care for, topped with sesame seeds.  Won’t be ordering this flavor again, I will stick to the sweet, rich teriyaki.

Our other companion ordered the grilled chicken breast sandwich, served with honey mustard dressing and thought it was pretty good.

Service: Friendly, prompt.  There are usually free games going on for discounts on food or drink.

Overall Impression: Good happy hour specials, good place to meet with friends for happy hour or to shoot a game of pool.

Cuisine:  American, Fish & Seafood, Steak, Ribs, Chops

Restaurant Features: Bar, Games, Sports Bar, Target Center

Location: Minneapolis (Downtown)

Address:  Target Center 600 First Avenue North  Minneapolis, MN 55403    P: (612) 767-2960

Links: NBA City Website Google Map

Atmosphere: As one would expect, NBA City is a restaurant themed around Basketball. Have you ever wondered just how big the hands and feet are of some of the NBA Superstars like Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O'Neal, or Yao Ming? Check out their shoes and hand imprints on these bronze basketballs!

Or buy the jersey of your favorite Superstar in NBA City's Retail Store….

Or maybe you're more in the mood to have a seat at the Courtside Bar where you can watch a variety of NBA games on any of the many flat-panel plasma TVs that hang over the bar….

NBA City also has a private VIP seating area called the Wolves Den.

Menu: The Chef's at NBA City take great pride in their freshly-prepared dishes.  Appetizers include Chicken Wings (4 sauces), Pecan Chicken Fingers, Crab Rangoons, Mediterranean Flat Bread, Coconut Shrimp and Chicken Quesadillas. 

Pasta dishes include General Jin's Ginger Chicken, Chicken Bleu Cheese Pasta, Grilled Salmon and Bowtie Pasta, Lasagna and Angel Hair Pomodoro. 

Entrees include Grilled Mahi-Mahi, Sesame Crusted Grilled Walleye, Jambalaya, Baby Back Ribs, and Steak.

Price guide: Appetizers – $7-10, Salads- $7-11 Pastas-$10-16, Entrees- $15-22

What I ordered: Crab Rangoons.  Spring rolls filled with a mixture of snow crab, cream cheese, herb and spices lightly fried until crispy.  Served with a sweet Thai dipping sauce.  Love them!

General Jin's Ginger Chicken.  Chicken tenders sauteed in sesame oil, teriyaki, ginger and garlic, served with Asian noodles and vegetables in General Jin's mildly sweet and tangy sauce.  This was heaven! The flavor was wonderful and I especially loved all the fresh cilantro.  There were many more noodles than what it appears in the picture!

Service: My visit to NBA City happened to be on a night when there were no events happening at the Target Center, so the restaurant was almost empty.  We waited at the host stand for approx. 5 minutes, but no one was available to help us, so we sat ourselves at the bar.  The bartender was very friendly and was happy to answer any questions that I had about the menu and the restaurant.  The restaurant gets PACKED on game nights, so make sure you make your reservations early… even days ahead of time.

Overall Impression:  Fun atmosphere, excellent food.  Awesome Happy Hour specials!