Wow, it's been a long while since I had brunch...although it was great to blaze back into it in the best form with Kelsie and her friends! They had a great day of holiday shopping and the Macy's 8th floor planned, and we kicked it all off visiting a Minneapolis institution...Hell's Kitchen!
Location/Ambiance:
Obviously a restaurant called Hell's Kitchen is bound to be a bit unorthodox, decor-wise...located in the basement of a downtown office building, the entrance is unassuming enough, apart from the fun marquee.
Get inside, though, and it's...well...hellish. Wrought-iron gates, giant "stone" angels and demons, and some very interesting artwork. Not the brunchiest atmosphere, but the novelty of it was definitely fun.
Ambiance-wise, we didn't know that the Hell's Kitchen weekend brunch featured live music! While it was a bit loud and hard to converse at times, it added a fun spin to a girls' brunch to have a (fairly good) band to watch and listen to while we sipped our drinks!
Score: 7/10
Beverage:
The big selling point at Hell's Kitchen is the dual Bloody Mary and Mimosa bar, which features absolutely insane build-your-own mimosas and bloodies. For $15, and not bottomless, however, it seemed a bit rich for our group (especially considering usually my Prosecco costs less than $15 for an entire bottle!). Instead, we stuck to the classic drink menu. A few of us tried Tequila Mockingbirds and Salty Dogs, but I went with the "Dante's Screw," a classic screwdriver with infused vodka. Remembering how good the vanilla vodka concoction was at Haute Dish, I went with vanilla and it was fantastic.
Score: 8/10 (points off for the ridiculously expensive mimosa bar)
Food:
Hell's Kitchen was always one of my favorite places we'd order dinner from during public accounting busy season...BiteSquad delivered and they were open super late, so it didn't matter when we got hungry. My favorite dish back then was and still is their "Ham and Pear Crisp" sandwich. The combination of thick-sliced ham, cinnamon-poached pears, and fontina is ridiculously decadent...even more so on cinnamon-spiced sourdough. I ordered it with sweet potato fries and barely dented it...enough leftovers for lunch the next day is always a win.
Score: 10/10
To check out Hell's Kitchen for yourself, head here...or else visit one of my other favorites from my Brunch Challenge!