Trying out Pat's Tap

Last night I went with friends to the new-ish Pat's Tap on Nicollet in South Minneapolis. It's been a while since I tried a new hot spot in the Minneapple, so I was almost giddy on the approach.

So giddy I almost forgot how annoying it is to wait for a table at said hot spots. We arrived to find an anticipated wait time of an hour and a half. Eesh. That was my first reaction anyway. We saddled up to the overly crowded bar and waited to place our drink orders. We weren't off to such a great start. But, then we remembered Pat's is both a gastro pub AND skee-club. That's right, kids. Good old-fashioned gaming fun :)

To drink, I wanted to try the Brooklyn Brewery pumpkin ale, being fall and all...but alas, they were all out. So instead I went with the pilsner at the recommendation of the bartender. Pretty darn good. Problem is, I can't remember what kind it was...
 

Before we knew it, our table was ready, and we were perusing the menu of tempting eats. Our server brought out some fancy-looking homemade cheez-its. So scrumdiddlyumptious. 
 

There were so many items we wanted to try off the menu, so we ended up ordering a smattering of things. Like the fried pickles served with Ranch dressing. OMG. I could have eaten every last one of these all by myself.

And the buffalo chicken terrine, which comes with bleu cheese and shaved celery. It was served cold. Not sure why that took me by surprise. Regardless it was really interesting and flavorful. A good dish to share as a group.

For my entree, I went with the carbonara: peas, egg and smoked ham hock. With an interesting kind of noodle I'd never had before. Kind of macaroni, kind of not. I loved this. Of course, there isn't much you can't love about rich and creamy pasta, right?

In our spirit of sharing, we all nibbled off each other's plates, and I also got to try the gougeres (small cheesy buns - ah-mazing), fried green beans with ginger orange sauce (pretty good) and steak (braised beef shoulder - also pretty darn good).

All in all, I was kind of in love with Pat's Tap. It has a fun atmosphere and great food. Can't beat that.