The Original Gabe’s by the Park

I gave this 1 star simply from seeing the pictures of other people’s food on Unilocal and reading the terrible reviews.

Had lunch on the deck on Tuesday. I think it has been 10 years since I was there. It was a beautiful day and we wanted to eat outside. They need to get some flowers in their planters. It was taco Tuesday and I had taco salad. It was very good. My lunch buddy had a Reuben that she enjoyed. Our waitress was very attentive. The place is a little shabby. The location is great and they should spruce up the deck.

Bar time, I have had some good memories at Gabe’s. It was a convenient place to go for a drinks or host a casual get together, they apparently also cater.
It is a pretty versatile bar. it was easy to have a large group there and watch sports or something more intimate. They have a number of different nooks that make this place a fun casual hang out. They catered an event for school there and had a very good spread of catered food in their oversized back room. I even had the pleasure of playing «Heads Up» in their high top bar table area, so that tells you that they are pretty chill about people having a good time.
When it comes to there drink and food, I enjoy their Vegas bombs shots. Most of the time we had appetizers. I have enjoyed their cheese curds, sampled the steak and onion ring pizza among other appetizers such as their potato skis minus the bacon and their Buffalo wings are also good.

I’ve only ever ordered delivery from here, so I can’t comment on atmosphere, but I have some things to say about the quality of the food.
The burgers are horrible. The toppings and bun are fine, but the quality of the meat is about what I’d expect from a fast food burger place like McDonald’s, rather than a restaurant. Burnt to a crisp, not well seasoned, and weirdly squared edges — meaning they receive them pre-​made and frozen. Avoid the burgers.
However, some of the appetizers are pretty good. I tried both the quesadillas with added chicken and the pot stickers, and they’re fairly decent.
Delivery comes pretty fast too. And they were nice on the phone.

I am in total shock by the lack of service and the unexpected aggression I received from the manager here!!! Our server and her assistant were completely rude and had attitudes. They got our order wrong and the imbecile of a manager, Tom, came up to my friend and I and yelled at us very aggressively!!! He accused us of lying and contaminating our food. He slammed the Sriracha down, mocked me when I tried to explain the situation and then proceeded to try to change his tune when other customers approched. I will be calling the corporate office ASAP!!! This was a very disappointing and unacceptable experience!!! Do not go here if want to be treated like a human being!!! I am still in shock!!!

With all of the negative reviews this place is receiving you’d think I would stay away, but my recent visit was a vendor lunch and I didn’t have to pay. I guess if it was going to be as negative as all these reviews (which after reading most of them, they’re not serious foodies!), the rep. I was with would have probably stayed away as well.
Sure, I didn’t give this place huge marks, but the last time I had food at this place was about 10+ years ago. So I’m basically considering this my first time. I was going back and forth between building my own burger and the Kobe Wagyu Dip. I decided on the Wagyu and glad I did.
One of the better dips I’ve been able to enjoy and the au jus was outstanding. I held off from the horsey sauce and added peppers and onions. Not a bad dip at all and you should definitely get it!
Staff were friendly, very much «old school» with a lot of local retirees in to enjoy lunch. Just so happened to be Taco Tuesday — $ 2 tacos (beef or chicken), I’m guessing they’re nothing to brag about…

So delicious! One of the best burger places around! To start, the nachos are so dang tasty and cheesy, with shredded chicken that’s so juicy and seasoned just right! Also they have Pepsi products so that always wins my heart. It’s almost always busy here! Tonight I ordered the holy cheeseburger: cheddar, smoked Gouda, cheese curds, onion straws, bacon, and green onion. Was absolutely delicious, definitely in my top 3 best burgers I have ever had! Served with fries and a side of ranch (my usual) I normally can eat my full meal, but tonight I’m getting a to go box. This place also has a full bar, trivia cards at the tables, and a shuttle that takes you to wild games. Cannot wait to get out on the patio soon! Absolutely in love with this place!

Went back in today post a message on Unilocal from the restaurant. Tried the jerk dry rub + mango habanero wings, chips and salsa. Store bought salsa and some mediocre wing sauce /​rub. Nothing spectacular about the food. The waitress was very nice and the happy hour made up for it. Nothing much has changed since the last time ! Typical hang out for locals and regulars for drinks. Else it’s not a place I would recommend or take anyone !

I never thought I would come back here. But one day the new manager messaged me on Unilocal to let me know they are under new management and they wanted to make up for my previous terrible experience. So they sent me a $ 15 gift certificate. I honestly was not expecting it to be much better but…
The server was awesome. She was apologetic about our previous experience, she was smily, friendly and talkative. She was attentive without being overbearing, prompt with drink refills and got our orders perfect.
The food I still wouldn’t describe as spectacular, but it was a leaps and bounds ahead of what we had last time. And very good for the price point. Portions were generous and everything was very fresh and seasoned well. No complaints this time around! Keep this up, guys.

Shame on me for not checking the Unilocal reviews!!! The food was horrible! I had the New York New York Reuben with Cajun seasoned fries. I must’ve gotten a no-show’s order from earlier in the day. I couldn’t even eat one of the hard cold fries. The pastrami was mostly dried out, hard and cold. I also had the Walleye Fries which were so full of grease I became nauseous after just two. What a waste! Stay away!!!

Sat at the bat alone and the bartender took forever to ask what I wanted b/​c she assumed I was waiting on someone. She scooped ice with the glass instead of the ice scooper which you shouldn’t do as glass can break and blend in with the ice.
Salad was okay. Slow service and trashy customers

The food is OK, but this service is pretty low key. Super annoying that they don’t have a drink menu. There are much better places in the cities, but this isn’t terrible.

The Buffalo wings were AMAZING! So much more meat and sauce than other places– and I guess the other sauces are just as good if not better (I’m a Buffalo girl myself). The service was nice and helpful as well (a tad slow but we weren’t in a hurry). We had a lovely time sitting on the patio. Also, we’ve taken the shuttle to saints games before and it’s so convenient! Definitely a great place to hit before (or after) a game!

What mom says goes, especially on her birthday. But don’t tell mom she’s not always right. With this place she missed the mark, but boy do I still love her!
It was a busy Sunday full of Bingo, sports and Groupon patrons. I’m all for the fun and craziness, but waiting 15 minutes to be greeted at our table was a not acceptable. Especially, when the waitresses passed us by three times.
When we finally received our meals we were less than thrilled. The birthday gal ordered the black and blue beef tips that promised to be Cajun seasoned and seared tenderloin. What she received was a chewy plate of less than seasoned meat on a bed of wilted haystack onions. To the dishes delight, the vodka blue cheese sauce was actually quite good. But, when is vodka blue cheese sauce not good?
My sister and I opted for the quesadilla which was your stereotypical quesadilla on a grilled tortilla filled with Monterey jack and cheddar cheese, and served with lettuce, pico de gallo, black olives, guacamole, salsa, and sour cream. It was what you would expect from a place like Gabe’s. Nothing to write home about — just regular bar food.
When looking around at the clientele it seemed to be a regulars type of bar. The people that go there, go there because they have been for the past 5 — 10 years. For the others, I am doubting that the regular status will ever develop.
Unless you are starving and are desperate for a place to catch a glimpse of the game, you are going to want to drive on down the street for a satisfying taste to eat.

I had the most unpleasant experience with this place.
Pro: Shuttle to Saints Game
Cons: Manager’s People Skills
Bought a Groupon that had a buffet here (don’t expect much) and then a shuttle to a Saints game. During the bar/​restaurant buffet I noticed that almost everyone had a beverage. So I asked a server if were able to get a soda with our meal and he said the other waiter will take care of it. So I asked the waiter if a coke would be possible with my meal? And he said yes and didn’t say anything else. At the end I received a small bill for my drink, confused I asked my waiter about the bill. And all the waiter said was ‘oh drinks are not included but i can get the manager’. Next was the most unpleasant 5 minutes of my life to the point I cried because I felt so disrespected. The manager stormed up to us and flew his arms up telling me that drinks are not included. I explained why the situation was so confusing. And right away he goes, ‘well we all have to make a living! And this is a GREAT DEAL!’ And went on to tell me that I was accusing him of this and that. His voice raised so loudly that people were looking over. Seriously?! People next to us were even telling me that was unnecessary.
All he had to say was, ‘I’m sorry no one explained that to you. We will make sure customers know before hand in the future.” Because 1. Seriously, no one said anything about paying for a soda. 2. Is the manager seriously going to fight a customer on a 2.25 soda? 3. The groupon doesn’t say anything about there being soda or no soda. 4. It isn’t that good of a deal $ 50 for two for food and tickets. Tickets are 10 – 15 bucks each, metro transit is free, and I can go eat someone elses delicious food.

Can’t even have pulltabs open for normal hours and the service is sub par. Too bad, it is a prime location.

The food, just like the service, is always a hit or miss. I live right next door to Gabe’s, so it’s convenient for me to walk over and grab a beer and some food. However, if I did not live right next door, I would seldom come here, if ever.
Right when you walk into Gabe’s there is a «please wait to be seated» sign. Every single time I have visited Gabe’s, I stand at the sign awkwardly for about a minute or two waiting to be seated, all while servers are walking right by me and the bar tender makes eye contact with me never bothering to offer some assistance. As a result, every single time I have come to Gabe’s I end up settling to seat myself in a bar booth. I don’t mind seating myself and I don’t mind sitting in the bar area, but don’t place a sign at the entrance saying you must wait to be seated if you’re not going to seat anyone at all.
The food here is always pretty sub par. The last time I visited Gabe’s I ordered the Margherita pizza, which was lacking in flavor. I asked my server for some parmesan cheese to give it some flavor, which was never received, and neither was the second beer I ordered. If you’re going to come here at all, the burgers are probably the best thing on the menu, but don’t expect to get them prepared as you ordered. On multiple occasions I have ordered a medium rare burger, only to have my burger served well-​done every single time.
The only reason Gabe’s is receiving two stars instead of one, is because of the convenient shuttles they provide to sporting events, which often brings in a pretty big crowd on the weekends. I am certain that if Gabe’s did not provide these free shuttles, there is no way they would still be in business as certainly no one would go out of their way to pay for lousy service and lousy food.

As long as I’ve lived in Mn this is my first time here. HH if you have cash $ 2 for your first drink and then regular HH prices after mos def a HH joint/​pit stop

Once upon a time, I used to come to Gabe’s quite regularly. It was walking distance from home, the food was good (buffalo chicken wrap was my jam) and the service got the job done.
Somewhere along the line, things have gone off the rails a bit. The food is ok. No wrap to be seen. The biggest difference is the service. I’ve stopped by a few times over the last couple years and had not great service. Mostly just slow.
Last weekend, Gabe’s was the «headquarters» for the winter classic broomball tournament. Immediately, a few things should come to mind. It’s going to be busy, there are going to be hungry/​thirsty dudes and there are going to be people that need to get in/​out on a schedule.
These things did not seem to occur to management.
We came in at 10am. No food until 11am. Huh? You couldn’t have set up a little breakfast buffet or had a fryer going for some chicken strips? Wow. Service was adequate.
Came back in at 12:30. It was busy but not insane. They were terribly understaffed. Our server did her best but she was managing way too many tables. My walleye sandwich was pretty good but everything was overshadowed by our paranoia of clock watching and attempting to negotiate food/​drinks/​bills/​payment/​gettingthehellouttathere.

This is a place where people seem to go for a quick and convenient meet up place after work.
Back in the day on occasion, on Wednesday nights, my parents and I used to visit for their Wed night steak special. It was actually pretty good. A decent steak, potato for a decent price. We always seemed to get the same server, Melissa who was great.
That was awhile ago.
On a more recent visit after their revamp, the service and food seemed to have declined. Everything was just kind of boring and didn’t seem all that fresh or have any kind of taste.
It’s an ok place for a quick meet up, some appetizers and catch up, but for great food, I’m not sure this place is a top choice.