I Heart Town Talk Diner

I fell in love last night, and no it wasn't with the foxy bartender at Bar Abilene.  (Babe, cutie pie, whatever your name was, if you can read this, email me so we can continue our discussion on the best late-night spots for pasta.)

No, it wasn't even a boy this time.  Last night, I fell in love with Town Talk Diner.  More specifically, I fell in love with the best f**king Manhattan in the whole, wide world.  I thought I was gonna fall off my chair, it was so good.  (Okay, I guess it was pretty strong, too, which may have also contributed to a possible equilibrium problem.) 

Observe the flawless construction: a long pour of smooth Maker's Mark, kirsch (fancy cherry liqueur), and a little ice, shaken in a cute little tin, then strained into a cute little martini glass and garnished with a real cherry that's been soaking in the same kirsch.  Real cherries.  Not those overpoweringly sweet maraschino cherries.  And there's no vermouth in sight.  I dunno, maybe this isn't even a real Manhattan, but whatever it is, ohpleasegod Town Talk Diner, do not stop making it.  Because every chance I get, I'll be bellied up to your ridiculous little diner counter, sipping on one.

I was quite tempted to order a second Manhattan, but I decided against it at the last second and asked the bartender to recommend something for me instead.  Oh, I'm so glad I did.  Because next came the Cherry Bomb, a grown-up ice cream shake with imported cherry schnapps and creme de cacao blended in.  It was topped with two of those kirsch-soaked cherries, one dipped in white chocolate.  Despite the impending brain freeze, I sucked down this absolutely delicious concoction even faster than the Manhattan.  In fact, I want another one.  Right.  Now.

The whole bar menu at Town Talk is like a playground for me.  Seriously, I haven't been this excited about drinks since Azia opened.  And you know how I love Azia.  I could only handle the two drinks on my visit to Town Talk last night, but I'll be back as many times as it takes to get through that list, two by two.

Did I even eat anything?  Why yes, I did.

My two friends and I ordered up a basket of frickles to start.  They're the housemade pickles, but sliced, battered, and deep-fried.  They were pretty good, tasting exactly how I expected them to taste: like deep-fried pickles.  They come with a creamy mustard dill sauce that's got a little horseradish kick to it.  We were then treated to an amuse-bouche of pickled hard-boiled eggs.  (Do those two things even belong in the same sentence?  "Diner-with-a-haute-cuisine-twist" is right, Steve Marsh.)  The eggs come out of a sweet, mustard-y brine that's so yellow it dyes the very outer edge of the whites the same color.  They're sliced open to reveal the yellow yolk, then dusted with paprika, for a rather lovely presentation.

All burgers and sandwiches are available with regular fries, garlic parsley fries, or a mixed greens salad.  Since there were three of us, we each got a different side.  I had the mixed greens salad with a red wine vinaigrette, which was basic but great.  Sometimes a vinaigrette is too bitter for me--especially when mixed greens are involved--but this one was really mellow.  It dressed the salad without taking it over.

In the future, when faced with the choice of regular fries or garlic parsley fries, I will forever choose garlic parsley fries.  Both are good, but one is fantastic.  I mean, why go plain when you can step it up?  The garlic parlsey fries are also served with a lemon mayo, which only enhances their deliciousness.

Alright, brace yourself, because I'm about to say something really important.  Okay, you ready?  Here goes: Town Talk's grilled cheese gives Grumpy's grilled cheese a run for its money.  Tangy cheddar and creamy gruyere, with fresh roma tomatoes on big, fat slices of bread.  Heaven.  Next time I'm at Town Talk, I'll have to see if they're willing to serve it on pumpernickel or rye instead of plain white.  If they do... oh man, I hate to say it, but that would make it the absolute best grilled cheese sandwich in town.  Grumpy's, forgive me.

My friends had burgers, which of course I didn't try, but both boys said they were outstanding.  The sheer size alone was impressive to me; neither friend actually finished his burger, let alone the gigantic pile of fries.

There's only one thing that stands out in my mind as sort of sucking, and that was the diner counter situation.  I know I'm asking for something I'll never get, but I'd love to see the stools and counter raised up a bit.  It feels weird (borderline awkward) to be sitting at a bar but not at a higher level.  I can't explain it; maybe I eat at the bar too often in restaurants (the service is always faster and usually friendlier), but being down so low just doesn't feel right to me.  I guess I'll test out the dining room next time, maybe that will be a little more comfortable.

Hmm, what else?  One friend had a couple of Miller High Life 7-ouncers with dinner, served in a mini cocktail glass.  And yes, they really do serve 40-ounce beers there, and our bartender/server/Flo said that it comes with champagne service.  Gimmicky?  Yeah, but it works. 

It all works.

So, yes, it's love.  I wanna marry Town Talk Diner and have babies with it.  We'll drink delicious drinks with fancy cherries together.  We'll take long walks down to the river, scoffing at all the other diners and their patrons.   I'm serious, don't try and stop me.

Comments

[taylor]

Urls and comments can be a huge source of hidden comedy.

And I don't have a man crush on Aaron. Only one man has my heart.

[taylor]

Oh, and Jason, you really should do a story on these guys.

[spacemanpete]

I went to the Town Talk the other day for a pancake fundraiser. And although they were doing them bit smaller than the original diner because they were pumping out hundreds for the event, I'm happy to say they still have damn good pancakes. They're cakes with a bit of weight to them, but not too thick, with an outside crispiness and good flavor but not too sweet.

With that said, $8.25 is a bit steep just for pancake nostalgia. I loooved the old Town Talk for what it was: a classic, working-class, neighborhod greasy spoon. It's not that anymore; so be it. I'm excited to see what the new TT has to offer . . . are the burgers as good as the Craftsman's? Or the Longfellow's (taylor, sorry, the Longfellow is beyond average in MANY ways)?

Meantime, if I'm looking for pancakes, there are a bunch of places around town I'd go to instead of TT, including for the corn pancakes at Maria's, the Lemon-Ricotta cakes (mentioned above) at Hell's Kitchen or, for standard cakes (but not average), Band Box.

[Aaron Landry]

Taylor / Jason-

Re: Google Video URL. There's actually a guy that does that locally. It's scary shit: BodyRock! I watched a bunch of his videos on MTN 17 by mistake a couple months ago and my life has been changed forever. I'm not sure if it was him lip synching on the top of some Minneapolis building shoot off roman candles from his crotch or if it was him lip synching to George Michael (IIRC) in a bubble bath with just enough nudity to not work on broadcast television. Maybe it was the video that was straight up voyeur-cam of men's crotches and abs on Minneapolis beaches? Either way, scroll down on this page to see some. These are pretty tame though; best catch it on MTN. Make sure you're secure with yourself first.

[Doghouse_Reilly]

The best pizza in town is Pizza Luce, hands down. I liked the pulled pork hash at Town Talk, even if was a bit skimpy. I'd like to go back and try the dinner menu. I prolly should have gone there last night instead of the Happy Gnome.