Zeke’s Unchained Animal

The food was great… I had the lamb burger and my bf had a Philly I believe. I was surprised at how good the food was because the place itself leaves a lot to be desired. The interior isn’t very nice, sort of a unfinished feeling to it and the atmosphere was a little weird. We were there for lunch on a Saturday and we were the only people at a table… there were a few people at the bar who seemed to have perched up there for most of the day and we’re pretty intoxicated, not a huge deal but because they were the only other people in the place we felt like the outsiders crashing their party. I would go back again for the food, maybe at night with more people it would feel less awkward.

I need to return and try the food in order to make this review complete, but for now I’m rating it only on the quality of the aesthetics, bar selection, and service — which are all pretty great! I like the look of the place — the color schemes and textures — but there’s something that seems a little unfinished about it?
Bar selection… SO MUCH BEER ON TAP! Local beer. Yes. Stephanie-​Approved. Prices are a little higher than I’d prefer — but nothing I can’t handle. They also had a few shots on the board that were only $ 2.75 or something absurdly cheap like that. I am not sure that this is standard but I was not complaining!
Service was good but there were only two people working and we were there during Thursday night trivia which meant a full house. Be patient! They were nice and on top of things as well as they could be considering the crowd.

I live in the neighborhood so I’ve been to Zeke’s quite a few times. I’ve seen some live jazz music, participated in trivia, and just to get some grub. I really like their veggie burger and I appreciate their selection of beers. I’ve always had good service

What can you say about Zekes? If you like local beer it is a must stop if you are headed to the Twin Cities. Minnesota is becoming the land of great beers, particularly of the IPA variant. Zekes is exclusively local beer and features the outstanding Lake Monster.
The food is all local and awesome. Something for everyone including great salads and excellent very creative vegetarian and meat pizzas. The lamburger is outstanding. Zekes has live music every night. Check the calendar. The music is as eclectic as the beer selection.
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My update is about drinks/​experience only. I did not eat on my revisit, but the kitchen was closed and really, the food was outstanding my first time. The lamb burger. I kinda want one right now.
Antara (Owner) reached out of me a little while back to ask me to come back. I was hesitant, but some folks I know encouraged me to join them one evening so I did. As it turned out, she recognized me when I came in. The welcome was warm and the drinks were cold — and we had a great time. Our group sorta had the run of the place, as it was getting later, and we enjoyed ourselves very much.
Apparently they have trivia night. That may be my next adventure here. :-)

The place was nearly empty when we got there — couple of tables with people at them, and we sat down in the back area for a low table. Bartender/​waiter was nice, and brought my ladyfriend a couple of sample glasses of beer to try — she picked on and we were off. We ordered the red pepper hummus, and later found that they were out — as they were out of the Harriet Brewing beer that I would have liked to try — but the Fulton that I got instead was fabulous. We ended up getting some chicken wings for an app, some of the better wings I have had in recent past, they were done with no sauce, and the skin was crisp and flavorful, and the meat was hot and done to perfection IMHO. The sauces were pretty good, but I liked the wings without sauce better — good job Zeke (if that’s who ya are).
For dinner we had the burgers — Mediterranean and the Unchained (lamb) — both were cooked well and served with pretty good fries (homemade type — not precut). My lamb was delicious, and the Med burger was also pretty good — good buns, and decent toppings. It was suggested that the lamb burger be topped with a more flavorful cheese — feta or a blue would have been much better, but overall I think it was a pretty good burger — better than we expected looking at the menu.
I’ll still take the Nook for best burger, but they don;t have lamb, and the lamb burger is a great option. And this place is very close. As mentioned before, they need to do something (happy hour perhaps) to entice clientele — it helps if there are a lot of others in the place for atmosphere. But as far as an alternative to Merlins Rest, this place has better food and good beer — I like it.

The beer here is excellent, all local craft beers, everything we’ve tried has been great. The unchained fries were mega delicious and had toppings I’ve never had on fries before. Bartender was friendly and service was great, he even threw in two free beers because the keg of the draft we were drinking ran out. Animal friendly as well, we’ve brought our cat here while drinking outside and he felt very comfortable. Trivia night was a lot of fun here. It’s simple and straightforward, a place to grab a local beer and hang with your friends. For those complaining about ‘atmosphere/​lighting/​interior/​experience’, none of that bothered me at all! This is a local bar people, you get a beer and make a good time for yourself, take your bourgeois expectations to a corporate chain restaurant if that’s what you’re looking for.

Food is good — burger and steak sandwich were exactly as hoped for. And, awesome beer selection of TC brews. Very reasonably priced, local flavor and nice wait staff.

Ever hear the one about the party of three that walks into an empty bar, should have taken that as a hint, but decided to give it a try anyway? Congrats Zeke’s…this was easily one of the worst customer service experiences I’ve ever had.
The only amazing thing was the co-owner/bartender’s lack of interest in our presence. Keep it simple: interact with the people who came to purposefully spend money at your establishment, show some personality, and hold off on doing shots with your staff until after your shift… or at least until the only 3 patrons in your establishment leave.
Mediocre food can be overlooked if the service is great. Alas, this was not the case at Zeke’s. The only time the co-​owner/​bartender perked up was when we were ready to pay.
Normally I would give a place a second chance, but there was not a single redeeming quality that would drive me to want to spend money here again.

I went here for dinner, drinks and trivia and will probably not be back. The service was slow, the food was just average, the lighting was weird, and the beers were $ 7 (!!!). That is an insane price to pay for a beer. The trivia was great, though, so I’m pretty sad that this restaurant is so overpriced.
Oh, and I should add that the beer prices were not on the menu, so when we got our bill it was a total shock.

Meh. I can’t say I expected anything too great, but I was indeed disappointed. Food was pretty good… service was slow despite it being next to empty inside. Band was 45 minutes late (which is not the restaurants fault…) but when they advertise live music at 7 and it doesn’t start until 8 — that caused my party to leave early and not buy another round or two of drinks.
Speak of drinks… $ 7 for a local craft beer? Are you kidding me? Had I known beforehand (since they didn’t show prices on the menu) I would have asked the server if it was a typo!

This place was recommended by a friend who lives in the neighborhood. Decent prices for beer and bar food. Live music was all right. We were looking for a place to hang out away from the craziness of downtown Minneapolis post final Holidazzle parade so we called Zeke’s to see what was going on. After arriving we found out that they had reserved a table for us even though we hadn’t specified it on the phone. They also had great beer glasses with the Minnesota state outline and names of our craft breweries on it. A friend wanted to get one for a Christmas present and they had them for sale. Overall, I’d definitely go here again.

I had high hopes for this place but it seemed everything they could do wrong, they do. The lighting is really bright and harsh, nobody wants to eat under a bright flood light. They need to invest in some lighting and décor. you feel like you are in a garage… not in a good way. The food was missing a very important piece… flavor. It was not seasoned at all. I tried all of the chicken wings and every single sauce was missing salt. it is a key ingredient. I have been here a couple of times and the music is always on the verge of terrible. The only good thing they have done is add happy hour.

I was waiting for an oil change and stopped here. Many local brews on tap. Bar food was ok. The pizzas are served on tortilla like crust so they are more like a light snack. Friendly service and not super loud. It’s not super atmospheric but nor is it a dive bar. A good local for a night cap.

I took a visit here with some friends to throw down in trivia.
Zeke’s is located in kind of an odd spot, but Merlin’s is across the street, making it seem like more businesses could open here and make the neighborhood more lively, so maybe the spot is great. There is plenty of street parking, though I’m unsure if there is a parking lot. The interior is slightly wild, but there was enough color photography to distract from the dirty looking floors. The bathrooms were wild as well, loud colors, children’s pictures, and a chalk board, but fun.
We weren’t greeted very quickly and I was feeling confused as to if I should go up to the bar or not, but eventually one of the bartenders approached us. They serve beer, wine, and cider, not hard liquor, which I feel whisky would fit in here really well, but that’s okay. They had a small but deliciously local selection of beer. There were no prices listed and I didn’t ask, but it ended up being $ 5 no matter what the beer was, which was nice for my 8.2% 612 — Shere Khan Spiced Ale, which was awesome (side note, I need to go to 612).
After we ordered, the service was more attentive and always friendly. I like being asked for a second beer when I have about a quarter of a glass left. I didn’t’ order any food, but it had what I think Zeke’s should have, apps, salad, pizza, and burgers.
The trivia ended up being fun, though I’m not telling you what place we got!

My wife and I were invted to join a few of our friends for the Jazz In the Dark event last Staurday night. We were excited to visit the restaurant because we recently discovered it’s existence and we live nearby. Honestly I wanted to like this place. I tried very hard to like this place. But we will never go back. Here’s why.
Short version:
I paid way too much money for bland food and awkward service.
Long Version:
The space is odd. Feels dark and damp. The décor doesn’t really make sense. You have beatiful photography mounted on spray painted corrugated metal. Uncomfortable booths.
There was only one other table present when we showed up at 6pm on Saturday. Our waiter, one of the owners was very friendly, but seemed very nervous and unfamiliar with waiting tables.
He recommended the Garlic Poppers. They were awful. Like, really awful. It’s like someone took garlic cloves and doused them in chili powder and fried them and then gave you a side dish of Boursin cheese to dip them in. They were way too spicy and way to dry. Not worth $ 9.
We then ordered the two person, 3 course dinner for Jazz in the Dark which consists of one appetizer, a side salad, two steaks with potatos, one desert, a bottle of wine.
They had chicken tacos for the appetizer. They were the best thing we had. I would like to eat them again. I have had better tacos, but they were definitely tastey.
Our side salad was a simple apple, fennel, spinach salad. It was not bad, but nothing special.
The steaks were dry and completely flavorless and unseasoned. It came with a Chimichurri sauce that was almost totally devoid of flavor. It tasted like pureed parsely. I would have killed for some A1 sauce. The potatos that came with the stake were also very bland.
Our dessert was a chocolate bread pudding. My wife liked it (because it had almost no moisture at all). I personally like bread pudding and this was not bread pudding.
The service was seriously weird. We had to ask for a bunch of stuff. Water, salt, spoons, steak knives, more water, etc.
Again, they were very friendly and seemed like they were happy to please. They even offered us a bottle of wine on the house later on in the evening (even though we hadn’t complained about anything).
It seems like a very «burgers, fries, beer» sort of place. I definitely think they should stay out of the 3 course dinner arena. It was not worth the $ 85 (w tax & tip) that I spent.
We went to the Longfellow Grill for breakfast yesterday and were reminded what good waitering and good food is like.
I hope Zekes does better and sticks to bar food.

We really need a decent, affordable restaurant in Longfellow. I will go to Zeke’s because it fits the bill but they could do oh, so much better. It’s interesting that it is run by a bunch of culinary students because the food really seems like an after thought, often missing some key flavor. Food is a really cheap though. If I didn’t know better I would assume this place wanted to be a bar and assembled some quick food options to get their license in order. For instance an avocado or some mayo would do wonders for the veggie sandwich. The homemade chips are always a bit burnt, too salty and no hint of vinegar. The atmosphere is nice and the price is right. They are always friendly.

This place was 2 ½ weeks old when I visited. The lamb burger was superb, but you gotta like lamb. Very flavorful. Just what I was looking for.
I’ll be back to try more. Menu is limited but looks fun: salads, burgers, pizza, beers and wine. Someday I’ll pop an extra lipitor and try their Basket of Bacon. (No kidding)

Zeke’s took over the old Lake Street Garage space and has a great vibe. Terrific photos on the walls of local musicians (one of the owners is a musician). The menu is well thought out and the beer list though small, is thoughtful as well. They also serve wine. A happy hour would be a plus! There are offerings for vegetarians and being a carb counter, I found things to enjoy as well! We didn’t go away hungry. Will check this place out again.

F&B-wise, a happy hour deal would make this Lake St Garage replacement restaurant a little more tempting. (It packs them in at BlueDoor.)
As it is, 2 $ 5 taps plus a couple of appetizer-​size pizzas will set a party of two back about $ 30 (incl nominal tip). Add a second round and you’re up to over $ 40. A third round you say? You do the math…
No beer or wine list.
By the way, the pizza was rather good, but I’m still hungry.
Update: I went here with an awful hangover a few days ago. For some reason, this was the only place I wanted to go. It was the middle of the day, I would get good service from the guy who was running the place, and I knew the food and beer would be good. And it all was. After slow but deliberately munching down a pizza with two beers, my hangover was much improved. I went home happy and back to bed.