Harry’s Food & Cocktail

Been here twice as it was close to my office, in few words it’s OK as a bar only (expensive) as for the food it’s a complete joke, send someone you really don’t like to Harry’s for dinner.

Atmosphere is nice. Burger was nothing special and a little over priced. Fries small and in bag. Nice patio if you want a drink on a nice day.

While I will admit the burger was good and the carmelized onions were perfect, the accompanying skinny fries were a bunch of overdone stubs hidden by a retro-​print paper bag of shame.
We meant to get there for Happy Hour in the nice outdoor seating area (and when the drink and food specials make going there economically feasible), but missed it so had to fork over $ 9.98 for a Sidecar. While very good, it was not worth a ten spot. Friend had an old fashioned, half a roast chicken (about the size of half a cornish game hen) and cornbread and was starving afterward. Our bill was $ 60 before tip so for round 2 we headed over to Harry’s antithesis, The Joint, on the west bank, for cheap drinks and fabulous skinny fries ($ 3.50).

We were staying at the Renaissance Hotel next door and were looking for a place to eat nearby… Harry’s was recommended by the front desk.
This place has a great bar and lots of outdoor seating. I’m not sure if we hit it on the wrong night but we were almost the only diners in the entire place and after we were seated we were told that they would only be serving the bar menu (sigh).
The food at Harry’s was decent. The patio seating was great. Worth visiting if you are nearby.

We went here on a Sunday evening before going to a play at the Guthrie. The food itself was fine. However, while we had just sat down, two extremely intoxicated kids came to eat, clearly coming from the baseball game. The guy climbed over the fence and fell on to the patio, while the server ignored this and served them alcohol anyway. Throughout the whole meal, the kid could not even sit up straight (he fell into me once), kept dropping things and was being loud and rude. I was extremely offended by this, particularly by the fact that they would still serve him alcohol. Finally, when the server came over to our table, I told him to STOP giving the kids alcohol. Harry’s is extremely lucky they did not get fined for this, as serving alcohol to someone who is clearly intoxicated can be a huge problem, at a bar. Throughout the whole meal, the kid would get up, walk around, try to climb the fence and at one point fell onto the sidewalk. It was ridiculous. Finally after about an hour I think they asked them to leave, but it ruined my dining experience.

I think that the Unilocal consensus on Harry’s is a bit unfair. After reading reviews I didn’t want to go here at all. I almost thought my stomach would hurt just walking into the place. My group ended up here anyways, mostly because we didn’t feel like walking all that far for dinner on a lazy Friday night. I must say that we were pleasantly surprised!
The food wasn’t low-​quality as many reviews describe, and the beer selection was fine. While the walleye sandwich I had wasn’t anything to brag about (thus the 3-​star review) I left feeling perfectly content. I wouldn’t go out of my way to return to Harry’s or anything, but if you are in this area of downtown and want a place that isn’t too crowded or expensive, try Harry’s. Also a good place if you want to watch a game outside of the house.

The best part was my beer.

I live a block away from Harry’s and go there once every couple of months. I normally have great food there (I would highly recommend the roasted vegetables or the grilled ceasar salad, both delicious!).
However, I went here on Friday night and got a couple of drinks with my husband and an appetizer. We ordered the artichoke dip with focaccia bread. The dip was SUPER garlicky! I normally love garlic but this had so much in it it was actually spicy! The artichoke to garlic ratio was almost 1:1. I would not reccomend… you will smell worse than you do coming out of Buca!
Otherwise the place is a good spot to grab a cocktail.

I had the opportunity to dine at Harry’s on a Sunday night– it was just after 9pm when we arrived, and we knew they closed at 10pm. There were two other tables in the place, and while the server was friendly, I watched an exchange between the men in the kitchen which made me feel like they didn’t want to make more food.
I felt pressured to order quickly.
My date had the prime rib, and I think she liked it (she wasn’t as over the moon as she was about her steak at Erte last month), and it was served with a large micro greens salad dressed with a dijon vinaigrette. I enjoyed the salad. The prime rib came with mashed potatoes and green beans.
I ordered the strip steak medium rare (which was served a solid medium). It came over a bed of asparagus and two gratin potatoes, which were very rich and delicious.
The service was fine– we were the only table in there by the end and I had to flag the server down to get a water refill. They were out of the dessert we wanted, so we opted to skip dessert. I know my date enjoyed her coffee.
I worked in restaurants for years, and I’m sure that had we gone earlier, it would have been better– but for a nice joint in downtown MPLS, I should be able to walk in and have a great experience any time the door is open.

Service was good. Food was mediocre. Salad was coated in salt, appetizers were slathered in sauce. Pot roast was bland/​disappointing. they tried spicing it up by putting horseradish on it, but that just covered up the lack of any flavor.

Wandered in cuz the location was convenient and was pleasantly surprised. The bartender was savvy and whipped up some bevys for us to sample. Rediscovered my love of the Premium, especially in a boilermaker. Ordered a seasonal veggie plate to nibble on and it was inexpensive and delicious — veggies tossed with a bit of bacon. The only bummer is they were so dead they shut down early so we had to leave.

I will start this review out by saying that if I had been paying for the meal, I wouldn’t have chosen to stay at Harry’s. I was out on a date, and it was his selection. Who can say no to a free meal? :)
The menu seemed limited, but that can be a good thing. Often, restaurants will have a small menu that they execute VERY WELL. Everything we ordered seemed to fit this school of thought. We shared an artichoke dip as an appetizer that was GREAT. The salad I ordered was good, but a small portion for the price. He said that his steak was good, but nothing outrageously so.
I liked the outdoor seating. It was night time with nicer weather, so they had outdoor fires lit. Lots of interesting furniture choices, and the chubby dancing statues were cute. :) Inside, the décor was fun, too. Not something you’d expect for a ‘fancier’ Downtown place.
Service was decent. I think we saw other servers more often than we saw ours. I drink A LOT of water, and my glass was always full. Again, somewhere I would go on someone else’s dime, not mine.

I am being generous with my two star rating. I suggest you avoid Harry’s if at all possible. I was in from out of town and staying at the Renaissance. As Harry’s is a block away and it was raining, we gave it a try. The service was adequate. Our table had a basket of crackers, but no bread and/​or butter were offered. We both had the Thursday duck special, but it was dry and poorly seasaoned. Our entrée was accompanied by «mushroom risotto». This dish was overwhelmed by a tasteless orange vegatable. When I asked the waiter what it was, he shrugged is shoulders and said that he didn’t know but it could be some kind of a squash. The interior seemed modern and clean, but the food just didn’t cut it.

Maybe not exactly my idea of great food. We were there with another couple to celebrate her birthday. We were seated promptly. My husband’s stomach was upset after leaving. He and the birthday girl ordered the pot roast. The roast was OK and the potatoes were real, but the vegetables were undercooked. My husband also ordered a salad that was grilled. Not an option known to him. The other person ordered the fish and really liked it and the coleslaw, but said they left the french fries in the oil way too long. I had the bistro steak which was very tough. It did come with shells and cheese and green beans and they were both good. They have made this a place of comfort foods. My husband left half of his entrée on his plate. The other person hauled home a box of leftovers. We think they could use a different chef. We don’t feel we will go back as it wasn’t wonderful: plenty of other restaurants are.

Harry’s was a place I’d been past several times, just never got around to trying out. I decided after a slew of restaurants that were closed at 11pm on a saturday…(tough times… eek!) we’d try Harry’s with a group of 11.
There was ample patio seating, and when they offered to put us inside next to a group of suits, we asked (for the suits’ sake) to sit outside.
The host accepted the «change of brainstorm» cheerfully and we took to the patio.
It was a huge drink selection, we tried a varied spectrum of mojitos, martinis and margaritas. It was really easy to find something for everyone.
There was a lot of food, but what I loved was the Minnesota version of Poutine. Yes… actual poutine. I love ordering it becasue everyon’e face always does the same thing… followd by «what’s that?»

Usually I’m long-​winded (after all I am from Chicago) when writing Unilocal but I’ll keep this one short and sweet like their tasty Wings. Harry’s is at a wonderful location (close to Mill Ruins Park, the riverfront, the Twins stadium – for the time being, the Guthrie…) yet its also a wonderful Happy Hour option between 4 and 6 pm daily. Certain Apps only $ 5 ($ 6 mini burgers) and a select red & white wine only $ 4 a cup.
I recommend the finger-​licking worthy Rooster Wings (instead of BBQ sauce they have soy, honey and vinegar — identical to Panda Express yet not fake) and the Mini Burgers (a dollar more than the average appetizer but they come with varying cheeses and sauces). I will forewarn you to take your Tums, PeptoBismol or Prilosec prior to eating but definitely worth a shot!
When walking in or sitting on their pleasantly breezy patio, don’t miss a picture opp with the two naked statues! (See business photos to see for yourself.)

Updated after I read Darren’s review…
He’s right, the empty tables were for folks who made reservations. The problem was that the hostess admitted that the reservation people were late, and they felt like they had to hold the tables for 20 minutes, even though the place was packed with waiting customers. Other people waiting were pretty upset about this policy too. The kicker was that our table, and at least 1 other went to the waiting folks because the reservation people never showed. I don’t know much about the restaurant biz, but I would think on a busy game day they’d either a) not take reservations or b) strictly enforce the reservations to avoid making hungry football fans wait.

I took a client to dinner at Harry’s, and having not been there since it was Nochee, I was excited to check it out. I figured it would be very busy, seeing it was a Thursday night (best night of the week to go out, IMO). Anywho, it was, uh, not. There were only a few other people there. Hmm. The décor is great, like the other reviewers said, the Grain Belt chandelier is very clever and cool. I ordered the pot roast, which was quite tasty (but no where near as good as the Café Havana pot roast, yum!). My dinner companions were just so-​so about their meals. So overall, it was average. Service was fine, bar is fine, zzzz… Nothing to write home about. I want to go back in the summer and sit outside, great place for cocktails outside on a warm summer night.

I had high hopes for Harry’s, but I’ve been in three times and each time I leave feeling a little (or a lot) let down. I’ll start with the positives: The décor is lovely, especially the Grain Belt chandelier… so pretty it almost makes me want to order a Grain Belt despite my aversion to beer. The french fries come in a paper bag like the kind you get at In-​N-​Out, and they are terrific: thin cut and super crispy. The outdoor patio is a great place to kick back and enjoy a summer afternoon. Now the downsides: The food is overpriced, and not great. I tried a burger that I think was called the Maytag, which came with truffle oil, and it seemed like a poor imitation of the 112 cheeseburger. Also, I made the mistake of ordering an apple salad, which to my surprise was composed not of lettuce or spinach or something resembling, you know, SALAD, but of little shaved apple sticks and frisee. That’s it. NOT cool. I ate about three bites, and when the server saw my nearly untouched plate, she didn’t say a word. Come on. I’ve been a server and you know when someone isn’t happy with their meal. For the sake of your tip, at least attempt to ascertain and rectify the problem. Sigh. There are other items on the menu that sound good, but I probably won’t be back to find out.

This place has a kick ass location and a great outdoor seating area, but the burgers fall short of anything delicious. Starting at $ 12 a pop, they are seriously overpriced as well… and you don’t even get lettuce and tomato with it. Our service was fine. No complaints there. The honey asian wings were ok, but again, nothing to write home about.
The all you can eat fish fry on friday’s looked ok.
Will I come back? Not on purpose.