The Weedeater: Cajun Philly Cheesesteak Fries from RacketMN
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE
Openings, closings, and other changes
After many trials and roadblocks, including a devastating fire just weeks before a planned opening, Khue’s Kitchen finally opened on March 6 at 693 Raymond Avenue in South St. Anthony Park. A week later, there was the opening of Café Yoto and its “udon noodle machine” in the North Loop of Minneapolis.
Two notable recent closings: Saint Dinette decided to call it quits when their lease expired, and the last day of service was March 22. And Hamburguesas El Gordo is now down to just two locations, with the March closing of its West St. Paul eatery.
Food opinions
I have become a super-consumer of Substack, a monetizable, subscription-based, sort-of-like blogging platform, comprising writers ranging from the world famous to weird local cranks. One of my latest favorites, local but very good, is beyondbeurreblanc.substack.com. She recently rocked my world by calling out something my subconscious knew but my conscious was oblivious to: that today’s food influencers and critics are blurring the line between “new” and “good.” Specifically,
Khue’s Kitchen Sticky Jicama Ribs
Eater.com (which I still love!) publishes constant “Best of” pieces that list 95 to 100 percent places that have been open less than a year. Think about how improbable it is that the last 35 places to open just happen to be the “best”. The takeaway — 1) don’t follow influencers (including me, I guess) and 2) be loyal to good restaurants.
Test that theory out on Twin Cities Eater’s latest opinion piece, “The Best Soup in the TC.” Actually, they did pretty good; only a few newbies and lots of classics in their 18 choices.
Food facts
I recently reposted on Facebook a chart (see chart) from the Subversive Cooking page. “This chart shows the average weekly diet of a working-class family from Oxfordshire in England, in 1912. It was included in the book ‘How the Labourer Lives: A Study of the Rural Labour Problem.’” It has a shocking amount of bread, tea, and lard, and only one vegetable per week.
Miscellaneous news
From MinnPost — In March, a piece in the Star Tribune describing rocketing rates of food shelf use was cited in The Glean. Food shelf use in MN broke all records at over 9 million visits in 2024.
From Eater.com — A March 19 article by senior reporter Bettina Makalintal details the ongoing legal battle between Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream and its parent company Unilever. Despite a takeover contract that specified Ben &Jerry’s rights to continue its B Corp activism, they say Unilever fired their CEO over just that. If you’re thinking of boycotting Ben & Jerry’s, DON’T. Boycott every other Unilever product but Ben & Jerry’s, as they remain the only major ice cream to never use child-slavery tainted chocolate in their products.
Also from Eater, a piece by Amy McCarthy on the terrible impacts of Trump’s reckless imposition of tariffs. She highlights which foods will rise dramatically in prices, how much of various foods we import from Canada, Mexico, and China, and the blows to our own agricultural economy of the retaliatory tariffs.
Zakia Deli Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Racketmn.com’s regular column “Weedeater” tells us how to make THC-dosed Cajun Philly Steak Fries with a cheesy sauce. Their too-random-to-be-regular Best Budget Bites is the $9.49 Grilled Chicken Sandwich from Zakia Deli, a popular Lebanese place near the Quarry in NE Minneapolis.
Mini-review
I have lived less than half a mile from the Cardinal Bar for 13 years now and up until a couple weeks ago, I had never been there. I knew this was a serious lack in my life, so I started planning for it to be my April mini-review in late February. I tried recruiting dining companions by peppering all my Signal chats with an open invitation. At one time I had five takers, but they all backed out at the last minute except for one. That one was an old friend, Janet, who I originally knew from Walker Church, but then she joined DSA. So, there we were, two old ladies with deep South
Senior Meals at The Cardinal Bar
Minneapolis roots who had never been to the Cardinal Bar before.
First impression — the “multiracial working class” is alive and well and you can find them in the Cardinal Bar. It wasn’t that full when we first arrived, and yet all of humanity was there. Little kids, family and neighbor groupings, dating couples both queer and non, every nationality, every gender. It was that rare 70-degree day, and they had the big garage door open to 38th Street so we could see people passing by. I saw an old friend and her son walk by and she saw me, and we waved at each other. Urban life at its best.
Oh yeah, the food. Janet thought to ask if they had a Senior menu and they did! I had a massive plate of fish and chips for $7.95, along with iced tea. Janet had the same price meal with jumbo shrimp, and a root beer float. We both loved it.
