Parlour – Minneapolis, Minnesota

I have mentioned my love of hamburgers many times over. And I have also probably mentioned I am not terribly discriminatory either. As long as it is totally not wretched I will enjoy it. But there is one hamburger that will live in infamy that all others are held up to, Au Cheval in Chicago. This is not about that burger, but it comes pretty dang close.

Knowing my love of hamburgers and old fashioned a good friend and co-worker insisted on taking me to Parlour the lower level bar of the rather nice dining establishment Borough.

I was sold the second I walked in. The sub-street level establishment is somehow richly but simplistically decorated in leather and dark teal velvet, the open beams and concrete walls make for a prefect after work vibe.
We started out with the Pineapple Bacon Popcorn, which caused much debate for the rest of the week as no one could quite figure out how they managed to make popcorn taste exactly like pineapple without making it soggy. They did it and it was incredible and somehow (though not surprisingly) we managed to order more as the night progressed.

We also all started with their Old Fashions which matched those served at Au Cheval, one down before our burgers even came. Burgers were consumed, fries were consumed. The burgers as I said were a close second to Au Cheval if not a tie. It’s hard to tell without a side by side.

Shortly after burgers and a round of old fashions things got out of hand. Single old fashions turned into too many old fashions and somehow a member of our party got talked into eating 5 burgers in an attempt to impress the waitress. Needless to say the waitress was neither impressed nor single as it turned out. And only 4.5 burgers were finished by the challenged. When midnight rolled around and he taped out the rest of us descended on the remaining burger like vultures before we skipped on home for the evening.
All in all it was one of the best nights I have had in the Minneapolis area and would highly suggest stopping in if you are looking for a casual night out. The restaurant and bar are both clean, the wait staff friendly and helpful and the food and drinks were clearly superb.