Firelake Grill House

31 South 7th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55402
http://www.firelakerestaurant.com/

The Firelake Grill House is located in the Raddison Hotel in downtown Minneapolis on South 7th street not far from Nicollet Mall. I learned about Firelake last year from Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine's "Best Of" in 2007. What intrigued me was that they emphasized locally grown and raised food in their dishes. I have returned three times since my original visit and unlike many downtown restaurants there food is always consistently good.

My family and I arrived 5 minutes before our 7:30pm reservation. We found that the restaurant was quite empty for it being a Saturday night in Minneapolis. If you walk into the restaurant through the revolving doors on South 7th Street, you will find yourself standing in the bar. Its actually a bit confusing for the first time patron because the host/hostess stand is located at the entrance in the lobby of the Raddison Hotel. You have to walk through the restaurant to get to the host stand. The Kitchen is located at the back of the restaurant from the street and is an open style allowing patrons to see the cooks scurrying about. The main seating area of the restaurant is not very big but when you include the bar, its decent size. They also have two private party areas one separated by a curtain and a larger one with doors on it. If there is one negative about this restaurant it is the atmosphere, some people may be turned off by the fact that its located in a hotel.

If it can be grilled, pan fried or cooked in a rotisserie, there is a good chance you might see it on the menu at Firelake. For starters we chose the ciabatta brushetta with three spreads and the Walleye Sliders. We get the brushetta every time. I love the three different spreads that come with, Olive, Pesto and Tomato. This was the first time I tried the Walleye Sliders. I don't know why they call them sliders, when they are more like a fish cake. Two for $2.95 and I would take them over most crab cakes found in other Minneapolis restaurants. For our second course, my brother and I both had the grilled goddess salad. I am not a big fan of grilled salads but this was pretty good and the homemade green goddess dressing was exceptional. My dinner course consisted of the hickory rotisserie lamb that had a marjoram mustard glaze with farro and English pea risotto. I definitely made the right choice, the lamb was cooked medium and it had a nice crust on the outside from the wood fired rotisserie. The glaze and risotto went along with it perfectly. The ladies both had their award winning heirloom corn crusted walleye with lemon-tarragon remoulade which lived up to its reputation. Because it was fresh water fish month my brother had to the sunnies shore lunch dinner, which had the same heirloom corn crust served with fries and lemon-tarragon remoulade. Although not as enthusiastic as me over the lamb, he seemed more than satisfied with his Sunnies.

The service was a bit slow but nothing worth complaining about. I have to give the waitress kudos for the lamb recommendation. However, she could of been a little faster with greeting and drink service.

Firelake is a staple for me and my family because their food is always consistently good. Chef Paul Lynch continues to put out a great product and has received many awards and accolades for his accomplishments. I love the fact that he uses locally grown and produced foods in his menus. I do wish that he would bring back the elk steak, there was something really special about that. My only worry is the is the sustainability of Firelake, the restaurant was only half full at 7:30pm on a Saturday night. Lets hope this is related to high school graduation parties and the exceptional weather rather than the atmosphere of the restaurant. One thing is for sure, this is not our last visit to Firelake.

Ratings from 1-10:

Food 9

Atmosphere 3

Service 5

Noise 4

Price: Moderate (not much on the menu is over $25)