Heartland Restaurant & Farm Direct Market

Found this on Eater 38. Big space. Awesome waiter — loved him. Food took forever to come out and was so-​so and expensive. I think I’m just used to California.

Great views and vibe during a calm, early evening dinner. The service at Heartland was exceptional, and the staff were very accommodating. Fun fact I learned is that they change the menu daily, so you can always call in to hear their options!
I ordered the pork chop ($ 36 + tax), and it was a great dish. The entrée came with a side of endive, potatoes, and a sweet, creamy, remoulade.
Overall, it was a tad expensive at first glance, but the flavor and presentation made for a nice experience. I’d definitely come back to try a few more options.

I brought my date and her girlfriend here to try the burger menu and some beers. The facility is gorgeous and airy. The host and wait staff were attentive and very good. Unfortunately the kitchen failed and the server did not quality check the food and brought it to our table. The buns on our burgers were burned black on the edges and the black bean burger I orders was over cooked to the point that they were crunchy. My girlfriends burger was ordered medium rare and her burger was over cooked. Every burger was burned or over cooked. This happened on an empty tuesday night with 3 couples at the bar and 3 tables active in the entire restaurant. It’s clear the kitchen just wasn’t paying attention and still sent out sub par food. Beautiful facility but lack luster quality control and kitchen performance.

The service here is absolutely wonderful. We had great service and the food was pretty good too. I would definitely recommend the bar menu over their regular menu. The prices are a little more reasonable and you have more options by sitting in the lounge because of the ability to order off of both their regular menu and the bar menu. The only thing I have a problem with is the food is a little overpriced but overall it was a good experience and good food.

I was so excited to head to heartland for wonderful birthday dinner with my husband. We couldn’t decide between in the tasting menu ir ordering all a cart. He did the meet tasting menu and loved all of it. I decided to go all a cart. I started with a barley cheese it was wonderful by far my favorite part. I had the fish later on but didn’t think very much of it it was too greasy. They did top the meal off with a glass of sweet champagne which was such a wonderful treat the end the meal. The service was wonderful and parking is quite easy

LOVE the ambience here — it can work in any direction. Hot date? Check. Group dinner? Check. Meet the parents? Check. Out of town guests? Check. Work dinner? Check.
The service here is beyond amazing — the staff really know their stuff. They know their dishes, they know their ingredients, they know their wines, they know their service. They are top notch waitstaff. So knowledgeable, so nice.
Most of the table ordered the fauna prixe fixe (3 course meal), one person ordered the flora prixe fixe (3 course vegetarian meal), one ordered the filet, another person on a strict allergen diet ordered off the small plates and sides. The waiter was SO helpful that he helped customize her small dish to include a duck egg, add a little protein and richness in there. Everything we had was pretty good, including the amuse bouche. I wouldn’t come here often because it’s pricier than I’d go for regularly, but for a special occasion or a nice Friday/​Saturday night date, totally worth the expense. My fauna prixe fixe turned out to be $ 57 including tax and tip, and I always tip a little over 20%. Great place to knock off the list!
Note: If you’re in the dead of winter, St. Paul has ParkWhiz as their parking app so you don’t have to get out of your car, run down the street, to pay for your spot.

Like a number of other reviewers, we experienced uneven service but thought the food was amazing. I understand why the chef wins awards as he takes basic, recognizable ingredients and makes interesting, tasty and accessible dishes. Overall the food experience was fun and tasty, but the service kept us waiting a few times, waiter had to be reminded of a drink order, all small errors that you don’t expect at these top prices.

We were disappointed that the online menu was not the menu offered in the restaurant — the menu changes every day.
The flora menu was pretty average — we really didn’t enjoy the main course (chickpea cake) at all because it was so bland. The beet galette and cranberry dinner roll were good, and the ginger cake was on the dry side.
We had reservations and were seated at a very nice table by the window, which we liked. It’s too bad we didn’t enjoy it more because we just moved into the neighborhood!

Oy vay. It took me awhile to get to this one. I had this spot on my to go list for awhile and when I finally got to try it out on my anniversary, much to my dismay I was extremely disappointed.
Thumbs up:
–Decent CS
–Vegetarian options
–Clean bathrooms, though kind of far (you have to go downstairs in a isolated area to get there)
–Large space, probably room for larger and private parties
Thumbs down:
So here it is in a nutshell. The anticipation of trying this place and hearing and reading great reviews, I was to say the least very much looking forward to dining here, but…
–Pricing for what you got and how it taste to options thumbs down.
–It took a good 7 – 10 minutes before we were even acknowledged. A big no no at any restaurant let alone a ‘finer’ dining one
–Bread arrived ‘fresh’ but was hard as a rock; sesame bun and wheat bun bread. I hit it on the table to emphasized my point knock knock. Got quite the jaw exercise.
–I had the vegetarian course option and my husband had the meat one. My soup was bland, my main dish was lukewarm to cold and had an overwhelming bell pepper and corn taste to it and look and had little to no mushrooms as it was advertised for the noodles. My husband meat was pork nothing special just pepper/​salt seasoning and a bit dry.
–We had the courses, 2 glasses of wine and a blueberry dessert thing that tasted like muffins from a grocery store, when it’s suppose to be a fancy cake torte for a grand total of over $ 120
–Horrible parking options
–Valet suggested we get our car ourselves since it was right across the street. So much for valet service. Also had us literally start our car again and pull up 2 feet so they could walk up to it closer in the beginning. Not a good start.
I wouldn’t try it again. There are very few restaurants I cross the river for and this isn’t one of them. I would give it a second shot if it didn’t shock me so much on how bad the food experience was for what it was.
There are plenty of good restaurants to go to spend your money on, let alone drop some dough Heartland you half to be on point.
Heartland. You did not steal my heart.
For what it was: price, ambiance, hype, it was NOT worth it.

They have the complete package. Smaller menu, but very unique and great flavours. service was too good, restaurant itself was in a old warehouse and had a very different vibe to it. Place was was very quite for a restaurant and felt very relaxing

Stopped in on a Friday night and sat in the deli market area vs the restaurant area. We had a wonderful French Dip which came with some tasty pickled yellow veggie, and enjoyed a couple glasses of wine. The deli/​wine bar area was pretty quiet and we had great food and wine and just chatted for a few hours A great place to unwind after work. My favorite happy hour in Lowertown so far. Can’t wait to try the restaurant proper.

«The bill came… $ 130.36, we paid, walked out and was left thinking WTF just happened.»
It took a real terrible culinary experience to put me back into Unilocal reviews and this was it. Solid 2 stars, thanks for that!
This was me and the Mrs. first time here and we’ve been waiting to come here for a long time and we were here for anniversary. The service was OK but not great, the ambiance was amazing as we got a window seat but it was a bit loud for such a large space but the food was disappointing to say the least. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t inedible or anything but definitely not worth the price.
Before we get into it, I’m comparing this to other Twin Cities restaurants at this $$$$ price point, Alma, Borough, Butcher and the Boar…
Beverages:
We had wine, muscato for the the lady and I had a Cab, it came out prompt and tasted fine, white was cold, red was room temp and it was not soured.
Starters:
A gift from the chef, it was goat cheese whip with a sliver of cracker, cracked black pepper and topped with some type of oil. It was very good! They also brought bread for each person and we had a choice, sesame or wheat. I chose the wheat as my wife chose the sesame, this was the hardest bread I have ever had. It would have been fine if it was a whole loaf, but it was about the size of a dinner roll and it had the full on sour dough shell, it was basically for a jaw warm up exercise for the big game. The butter it came with though was real tasty!
Appetizer:
My wife, vegetarian, chose the flora (vegetarian set meal) and course 1 was a gazpacho soup, it is served cold which is fine but pretty much felt like they served us a bowl of salsa. After thought on this, gazpacho is not the best vegetarian soup, it really needed some bite, maybe some seafood or something, seasoning was fine but I couldn’t help her finish is because I didn’t have any Tostitos. I ordered the bison tartare, it was paired with mushrooms which were good. As a whole the tartare was a tad of the acidic side but the crackers it came with was stale. I would give the soup ²⁄₅ and the tartare ³⁄₅.
Main event:
Flora was a porcine fettuccine, think about it… mushroom pasta, what could go wrong… everything. The pasta arrived, it was a very small portion, luckily it wasn’t good so we didn’t waste much. First it arrived lukewarm and there was more corn than anything. Secondly, it had zero mushroom flavor, the flavor that was over powering the entire dish was bell peppers.
**I think bell peppers and celery taste like dirty towel water** So if you like bell peppers that this is your dish, not for me or my wife ¹⁄₅.
I ordered the pork chop, it wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad, but for $ 36 it was very bad. It wasn’t a thick cut pork chop, minimally seasoned, just salt and pepper, which is fine and it was on a bed of green beans, peach gastric and a croquette. The peach gastric tasted like Heinz 57 sauce, which I like, plus! The croquette was good. If it was an Applebee’s I would have given it ⁴⁄₅ but its not, ²⁄₅.
Dessert:
I didn’t even bother looking at the menu, but the Flora included one. Blueberry torte, honey granola, sorbet, blueberry coulis. This was like… like a blueberry cupcake from any chain grocery store except a cardamom or cinnamon bomb exploded all over it. The sorbet and everything tasted of it, over powering and we took 1 bite each and let it go in peace. The bill came… $ 130.36, we paid, walked out and was left thinking WTF just happened.
I think Joe C, but it pretty well too: «Often times the seasoning is off, the food comes out on the cool side, and while the ingredients are locally-​sourced, organic, etc. etc., there’s little done to highlight the purported farm-​to-​fork quality»
Final Words:
Stay away. Its downtown St. Paul parking so it is a B, valet is $ 10 :(and there is so MANY other places to eat at this price point.
I give this place a Solid D+ from the temperature how the food was delivered to the flavor. Either lower the prices or up the game!

I went here for new years eve and several weeks later for a friends birthday dinner. The food was excellent both times, but the service was inconsisten-​great the first time, just fine the second time.
You can’t go wrong with their pre-​fix menue, in my opinion.

This is a place that doesn’t disappoint!
I have been here a number of times over the years and love how innovative Lenny Russo is with his menu and offerings!
I have to say that I’m sad that the deli went away. I loved to go in there to put together a perfect tailored lunch for me of charcuterie and other delights. It made for an affordably gourmet and nutrient-​dense afternoon tickle to the tummy. Oh well, I guess some people are happier with the wine bar taking its place ;-)
REGARDLESS, the food offerings in the restaurant are fantastic! Local, organic, humanely, and sustainably raised. Heartland, or more, Lenny Russo, has been a one of the pioneers in the Twin Cities to give us Minnesotans a much more satisfying and more easily-​attained dining experience because of it!
The menu is going to reflect the Minnesotan seasons and are always (ALWAYS) delicious. But what am I going to highlight? Prepare yourselves. The fries.
I know… I know, I know, I know.
Why the fries?
Because Heartland is the ONLY restaurant that I’ve found in the Twin Cities that actually and consistently fries their fries in honest-​to-​goodness old-​fashioned tallow! Even Julia Child’s made her commentary on the fries at McDonald’s not being as tasty any longer after they stopped frying in the tallow back during the ‘80s (tallow has a higher smoke point than the other oils). I’ve been surprised at how many organic/​local focused restaurants in the Twin Cities who still use canola or soybean oil and say that they want to appeal to their vegetarians, too. I get that, but can we PLEASE have a few more restaurants that a carnivore can just be a carnivore? So from the deepest place in my heart, thank you, Heartland, for letting this carnivore enjoy her fries again.

I really wanted to like this place because I respect what they do and I have heard such great things. However, our experience was one of the most disappointing I’ve had in awhile.
First off, our waiter was not very attentive or helpful. It took an hour to order food and another hour to get it. Our server did let us know that he told the kitchen to put a rush on it, but the food was disappointing once it came.
My boyfriend ordered the beef tenderloin – which our server said came medium rare. «Perfect!», we said. They beef came RARE. My flauna beef course was not hot, and therefore – chewy.
When we asked to merely share our experience with the manager, he listened, but seemed disinterested. I wouldn’t go back here based in the overall experience, and I wish it would have turned out quite differently…

I would have to say this is one of my fave restaurants in Minneapolis and St. Paul!
Food is straight from the farm and delicious, always.
But I just wanted to add quickly, THEIR COCKTAILS ARE DELICIOUS!!!
That’s all.
Give it a try!

Had the fauna 3-​course meal: 4 star flavor, 2 stars for portion size.
APP: prosciutto duck breast cake — 3.5 stars
MAIN: beef roast w/​spinach and potato dumplings — 4 stars, but SO TINY
DESSERT: mousse trio — 4 stars, loved this!
Too expensive and pretentious for a HUNGRY a person. But not bad experience. Great service.
Will be back to try the bar menu, much less expensive and actually has a lot of interesting items like beef fat fries!

The ambiance was really nice and the service was good. But the food was mediocre. The bread was too hard, the food was overly salty, and for the price I expected more. My friend had the chicken and I had the fish. It was ok…

Two stars for the service. My dinner mate and I were here over the weekend. We had a reservation and were seated right away. Our server acted like we killed her dog. She was inattentive and did not listen at all. On top of that, she must have forgotten to put our food order in or left it sit because we waited over an hour to receive our entrées. Every meal item was so slow to come out it was like they were growing the vegetables right then. Even my dinner mate’s one glass of wine took forever. Additionally his food was room temperature once it finally arrived.
I really wanted to like this restaurant. My meal actually was very good, and it’s just too bad the service was so terrible. We did speak to the manager, but she seemed somewhat dismissive. We received a free dessert, but it really did not make up for the disappointing experience. Also, even after we complained the service did not improve at all.
I’d like to give them another chance, but if we have the same awful service again… grrrrr.

I’ve been here twice now: once for a Valentine’s dinner and once for a business dinner. While the food has been fine both times, it never lives up to hype and is woefully overpriced. The deli/​market sandwiches have been consistently great, which definitely bumps up the overall rating. However, the chasm between the food and the price tag bring things right back down.
First of all, the ambience is great. It’s unpretentious in a Midwestern woodsy way, but it’s just refined enough to convey the sense that you’re about to have a fine dining experience. The service is professional and more helpful than friendly, which doesn’t help or hurt.
The food, though, leaves me scratching my head. I’m no great chef by any stretch, but I could prepare any of the meals I’ve had here just as well if not better. Often times the seasoning is off, the food comes out on the cool side, and while the ingredients are locally-​sourced, organic, etc. etc., there’s little done to highlight the purported farm-​to-​fork quality. Between my visits I’ve eaten or sampled from five different meals, and every single one suffered from these issues. I was definitely disappointed since the deli/​market side was consistently so good, so I was left dumbfounded by the mediocrity of the fine dining side. I’ve also sampled five desserts, and the story there is even worse. Two of them were left alone after just one bite, and the other three were unremarkable. Best just to avoid these.
If the food were 30−40% less expensive I might not be so jaded, but both times the bill came I felt like I’d been duped. There are many better meals to be had in the cities at this price point. I won’t say don’t bother, but I sadly can’t recommend Heartland and won’t be going back.

A cosmic dining experience. This is organic, fresh, local food at its finest. Every ingredient on your plate has a purpose on how it makes the dish taste and feel on the palate. The only thing that was not delicious or even tasty was the bread but «oh well» that’s not what the meal is about. We had the winter greens with sweet potato crisps and bleu cheese mousse. The mousse was one of the best bleu cheese dishes I’ve bet tried and wanted to literally «lick the remnants off the plate» — lol. We also tried a very tasty grilled Bok Choy dish. For and entrée we split the Trout entrée and a side of roasted beets with rhubarb. Trout has a new definition and Heartland set a new benchmark. Although expensive, one must always remember the work and source where this food comes from and a meal at Heartland is worth every penny.

We went here again for New Year’s Eve. They were doing a special menu. You had 3 different choices for 4 course meals — a meat one, a fish one and a vegetarian one. We both chose the meat (unusual for me but it looked good). It was amazing!
Not only was the food top notch but the service was excellent. Timing between courses was perfect. Server paid just the right amount of attention to us. Would definitely go back again for another holiday.

Enjoyed a delicious dinner here with coworkers tonight! Two of us ordered the fauna, and two got large plates. Among the four of us, we had beef, chicken, and fish, and all were delicious. The bread was so good. The desserts were fantastic. I got the pumpkin flan, which came with candied pumpkin, and it was a delightful finish to the meal. (I also got to try a few bites of the chocolate mousse, and it was so good that I got made fun of for how thoroughly I made sure not to leave any of it on the spoon.)
The charcuterie plate wasn’t a hit quite as much as our meals were (maybe it was just too fancy for us), but it wasn’t bad. Next time, I’d rather get two desserts. :)
We especially appreciated our server’s wine recommendation. We wanted to get a bottle that would go well with our variety of dishes, and he spoke very knowledgeably about the different wines and where they were from. The bottle we got paired really well with the food.
The only thing that disappointed me was the fact that I was seated facing a wall, so I didn’t get the opportunity to really enjoy the spacious and beautiful surroundings. The lovely old building has high ceilings and a lot of charm.
This is definitely someplace I’d love to return to for a special occasion.

We stopped in for a quick supper before a jazz set. There were not many options in the area and Heartland boasted valet parking which killed two birds with one stone.
The space is really interesting, a little drafty, but definitely enjoyable. Their homemade bread is out of this world, but filling in a way you aren’t dying for another piece. Which is saying a lot since bread is one of my favorite food groups. I had the ryewitness cocktail which is a smoky old-​fashioned made with michter’s rye. If it’s on the menu order it! if it’s not see if the bartender will kindly oblige you. I’m a snob for old-​fashioneds and this was one of the best I’ve had in ages. My beau had drink-​envy he tried a beer he had never heard of.
We shared the beet salad which was perfection and very well suited for sharing. A red and pink beet with a poached pear and some charred cabbage. We shared the whitefish which was done perfectly. A lovely crisp skin, but fork tender. Served with summer squash, garbanzos and a light and slightly tinged with vinegar broth/​sauce. We also had a side of the cauliflower with romesco sauce. The cauliflower was purple, green and white and roasted. The cauliflower was just heavenly. I could have eaten several portions of it!
My beau commented it was one of the best meals we have shared in awhile and I wholeheartedly agree. Definitely a winner!

Never been to the old location so can’t compare but the couple sitting next to us said there was a more modern feel here. The server told us they still had artifacts from the owner’s farm like wood from the barn as decoration. Our server was very attentive and took her time explaing the menu since it was our first time. I was tempted to do both the fauna and flora 3 course but we opted to do the fauna and try a side dish along with a full entrée.
The lamb our server recommended was delicious. Very tender and flavorful. Not too big of a fan of the potatoes. I also found it a bit odd how they tried to incorporate bok choy and chinese brocolli into the entrées since I typically just stir fry those at home. Maybe they were trying to make the dishes more exotic but I don’t think they were going for asian fusion. Overall the ambiance was very open and friendly. If the bill didn’t end up being over $ 100 we might come here more often or consider purchasing ice cream from their store attached to the restaurant.