Royals fan looking for information

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

Back at you, KC?

 

Best BBQ in KC? Oklahoma Joes, Gates, Woodyard? What's your pick?

[John Bonnes]

Is the food scene really exploding that much up there? I live in CA but was born in MN always think about moving back. I am a chef and the image burned into my mind from childhood is chain restaurants and diners (though I never did live in the cities), and I want no part of that.

 

It has completely exploded. It's huge in Minneapolis. IN the suburbs, there are a lot of chains. But in the Minneapolis neighborhoods, the number of small indy places is impressive, IMHO.

[John Bonnes]

OK. Let's break this down....

 

SEATS - Don't buy very early. Buy from Ticket King, who can hand you the tickets downtown and get them much cheaper than from the Twins. There will be plenty available the day of or before the game.

 

In terms of location, the best beer is down the right field line, and also the best food, IMHO, which is the Butcher and Boar rib tips. Those are also damn good seats - you miss deep in right field, but you have a great view of the infield. I'd also highly recommend batting practice, which can be gorgeous on a summer day.

 

If you want to go really cheap on tickets AND are more interested in the bar scene than sitting down and watching the game, just get the cheapest seats you can, get there early, and camp out at the bar on the 2nd level down the left field line. It's first come-first serve, standing rail spots and very active if you like to socialize.

 

Finally, this post should help a bunch for beer drinkers at Target Field:

 

http://twinsdaily.com/content.php/1786-Message-From-The-King-The-Best-(Beer)-Seats-In-The-House

 

BEERS - Two great breweries within blocks of the ballparks, Fulton and Freehouse, which I'll proudly pimp as they're a supporter of Twins Daily. There are also numerous good places around the ballpark (like Masons) that serve local beers as the Twin Cities has something like 20 local breweries suddenly. There are several within a couple miles of the ballpark (short taxi), including 612 Brew, who supplied beer for the Twins Daily Meltdown. I don't know from your post if you care much about local beer, but it is popular here.

 

Hotels: I'm a huge believer in Priceline, but if you have a bunch of guy splitting a room or need multiple rooms, also try Hotwire's secret deals. There is a 95% chance you'll end up in a hotel you'll like in downtown Minneapolis.

 

SHHHH - It's possible there would be a Twins Daily event that day, ala the Grand Drunk Railroad from last year when Glen Perkins bought us beers. It's not finalized, that might not be the date and you didn't hear it from me. Ignore this paragraph.

[BigTrane]

Hmm I have been back many times to visit my Dad, but they are not big foodies so PF Changs is kinda their go to. I will have to look into it because gastropub is right up my alley, and there is not a big scene for it where I am, more wineries and seafood here.

 

PFC? You're killing me.

 

As I write, I am in Hong Kong, home of Dim Sum. I'm not putting you down, but there's so much going on in the TC esp. w/Vietnamese food.

Things have changed- celebrae it.

 

If you want good Chinese Dim Sum, go to SLP, go to the Yangtze. The managers and servers come from where I'm teaching. It's the real deal.

 

As for beer, the change in laws in the last 2 years has led to an explosion of brew pubs, especially in NE. Game-changer.

[Longdistancetwins]

is the "Disco" maybe some kind of hidden code that I don't have?

 

Seriously? Hosken has got the best name on TD!

[twinsnorth49]

Don't forget TD members get a discount from Ticket King. See the Ticket King thread in the Minnesota Twins Talk forum for how to redeem the voucher.

 

Go to Matt's

Book downtown through Priceline ( countless decent hotels)

Do Fultons

Have a Kramarchuks sausage at the game.

[KC]

OK, well, now that we are a week from our arrival in the Twin Cites, I thought that I would bump this thread with our plans - we bought seats in the left field bleachers, section 131. This is the location folks wanted most, so that's where we are. We get in on Friday sometime, depending on when we actually leave. I'm betting it will be between 10 and 11, so I think that put us there somewhere in the 6-7 range. We're talking about Matt's for dinner, and then beers - somewhere, maybe Surly, or somewhere else.

 

Saturday will start with a tour of Indeed, and then maybe a trip to Dangerous Man. Then we'll go somewhere before the game, probably close to the ballpark - Fulton maybe? We leave on Sunday, sometime, and one of the guys wants to go to the Mall of America. I have no clue why, but, he wants to, so we need to fit that in sometime as well.

 

If you see some 4 random guys wandering around in Royals gear, say hi! We'll all have a beer, and chat baseball or whatever else!

[KC]

Also, best BBQ in KC is a loaded question around these parts. So much depends on what you want (ribs, pork, brisket, etc). However, I would go with Oklahoma Joe's from the ones you mentioned.

 

There's also a couple new places that I put in the same class. One is called Plowboys. They are in Blue Springs, which is east of KC, maybe 20 minutes from the K. The other is downtown in the Westport area, and called Q39. Both of these are great places that have amazing food.

 

Plowboys will actually be on a show on the Travel Channel called BBQ Crawl next week. It's on either Tuesdays or Wednesdays.

[Willihammer]

We leave on Sunday, sometime, and one of the guys wants to go to the Mall of America. I have no clue why, but, he wants to, so we need to fit that in sometime as well.

This is a terrible idea.

 

Final word to the wise - if at any point you want to get a lap dance, don't get lured into Deja Vu (on Washington, 3 blocks east of TF). Instead, go straight up Washington to West Broadway to a little place called BJ's. You won't be disappointed.

[John Bonnes]

Ticket King is highly recommended. They support TwinsDaily, they're local, and they always have good, cheap tickets available.

 

There's not really a bad seat in Target Field so you can't go wrong.

 

You can also get 10% off your tickets from Ticket King using the promo code DAILYDOUBLE

[John Bonnes]

OK, well, now that we are a week from our arrival in the Twin Cites, I thought that I would bump this thread with our plans - we bought seats in the left field bleachers, section 131. This is the location folks wanted most, so that's where we are. We get in on Friday sometime, depending on when we actually leave. I'm betting it will be between 10 and 11, so I think that put us there somewhere in the 6-7 range. We're talking about Matt's for dinner, and then beers - somewhere, maybe Surly, or somewhere else.

 

Saturday will start with a tour of Indeed, and then maybe a trip to Dangerous Man. Then we'll go somewhere before the game, probably close to the ballpark - Fulton maybe? We leave on Sunday, sometime, and one of the guys wants to go to the Mall of America. I have no clue why, but, he wants to, so we need to fit that in sometime as well.

 

If you see some 4 random guys wandering around in Royals gear, say hi! We'll all have a beer, and chat baseball or whatever else!

 

Also, just FYI, there are several other breweries within walking distance of Dangerous Man and Indeed. 612 Brew is right by there and so is Sociable Cider Werks. I *think* that a new brewery, Bauhaus, has just opened near there too. 

 

Send the dude to MOA by himself. Or stop there on the way out of town on Sunday.

[KC]

I agree that it's a terrible idea. But, I'm sure at some point I'll want to do something the other people won't want to do on one of these trips, so I don't want to go down the path of not letting them do so. Surely there's someplace that serves either beer, or fizzy yellow liquid that has alcohol in it. Maybe I'll just stay at one of those places in the mall and let him come get me when he's done.

 

Also, I could get my son a souvenir there. I don't know that my wife would appreciate me getting him a brewery t-shirt. 

[KC]

The original Bryant's is great. The neighborhood is not good, but if you go during the day, it's not bad. Any other Bryant's location has not been great, though.

[zenser]

KC, what is the name of the BBQ place that is close to the Boulevard Brewing Co?  I was thinking it was on StateLine Rd and just into Missouri. 

[spanman2]

Thanks for all the info, guys. Our group is only 4, so it sounds like waiting for tickets may be the way to go. We do have one guy that is weird about heights, so we need to be in a lower level, which if Target field is anything like the K most of the time, that doesn't mean we can't buy a higher level ticket and move down. I would feel bad doing that though on the off chance we have to sit high, and he's not able to enjoy the game.

 

We definitely are going to try to check out a brewery, and go on a tour if possible. We are in only the second year of our quest to see a game in every ballpark, and we're going to see the Royals as much as possible (We're doing Chicago next year, and are hoping to do parks, like a Sox/KC Cubs/Cards trip would be great) as well as hit a local brewery and take a tour if possible. We went to St. Louis last year, and went to Schlafly, and well, if any of you are ever there, they are some of the coolest guys ever.

 

I was looking at Surly as a possiblity for the brewery to visit. I hear great things about their beer, and I can't get it here (Summit is available here, so I want to try some new things I can't get at home). Hopefully they're doing tours that Saturday (or better on Friday).

 

As far as staying and opening a real BBQ joint, I'd love to, but money and a lack of resturaunt experience would make it tough. I do a few competitions throughout the year, though, and think I make some mighty fine burnt ends.

Go to Fulton Brewery...right by the ballpark!!!

[KC]

If it's the one by Boulevard, it's on Southwest Boulevard, and is called Danny Edward's Boulevard BBQ, and it's great too.

[James]

Also, just FYI, there are several other breweries within walking distance of Dangerous Man and Indeed. 612 Brew is right by there and so is Sociable Cider Werks. I *think* that a new brewery, Bauhaus, has just opened near there too. 

 

Send the dude to MOA by himself. Or stop there on the way out of town on Sunday.

Bauhaus is now open and right by 612 brew.  Bauhaus and 612 Brew are about a block away from each other, and about 3 or 4 blocks from Indeed.  Dangerous Man is a little further away from indeed (Roughly 11 blocks).  Dangerous Man is worth the trip.  If you want food around there, I suggest hitting The Anchor, getting fish and chips to go and head over to Dangerous Man (they let you bring food in).

 

I wouldn't take time to go to Surly.  It's out in the suburbs.  It's fairly close as suburbs go, but there are plenty of bars around town that serve their beer.  There is even a place in Target Field to buy Surly (right field, right by the main gate).

[FattCrapps]

Danny Edwards is the truth, as are Jack Stack's lamb ribs. 

 

Willi, great suggestion with BJ's  A night he'll never forget.

[KC]

Jack Stack's beans, too. There's so much meat in them, I don't know if it's right to call them beans.