Review of RJ’s American Grill - St Cloud, MN

Originally posted July 8, 2009

RJ’s American Grill4221 Clearwater Rd

St Cloud, MN 56301

You know the old adage about the most important thing when buying a building for home or business? It’s all about LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! Well, in spite of this fact RJ’s American Grill has squirreled itself behind a truck stop in an out of the way strip mall presumably to make you look for it like a buried pirate treasure. The ground is not marked with an “X”, but it definitely holds a wealth of dining experiences.

Food: 9

RJ’s is definitely Americana, but dances to the beat of their own tuba. Tuba you ask? Well, their spin on American dining fare is so unique, I felt it needed more emphasis and what has more POW than a tuba…but I digress. The menu, which is online, is filled with very original accents to the traditional slab of meat. Rarely do you see such things as kalamata olives or Gorgonzola cheese on a menu anywhere around here. Very few things are as quintessentially American as a burger and, to be honest, it is hard to find new things that peak taste buds. That is just what happened though.

I had the RJ’s Crispy Cheddar Burger with the sweet potato fries and was pleased. The cheddar was shredded and the tactile taste of slightly crunchy slow cooked cheddar was amazing. During my cooking escapades I determined that given the right amount of heat everything melts, but it takes skill to cook cheese without melting it into a indiscriminate blob. Kudos. Sweet potatoes, which are usually relegated to some traditional holiday meal and bathed in melted marshmallows, was definitely a different experience to eat but very tasty. I even had cause to eat them without any condiments what so ever.

Also, eaten was a Black and Blue Burger. The slight Cajun flavoring sat in good contrast to the applewood smoked bacon and blue cheese. This burger is immensely sloppy to eat, or maybe that was just me.

The kids options for meals had a couple different options. Buttered noodles for the finicky toddler and mini burgers for small eaters. The mini burgers fit nicely when children refuse to eat well outside of the home. The second burger can easily be boxed up and taken home.

For desert? Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches with 2 chocolate chip cookies as bookends to a generous portion of ice cream. You can tell they were not prepared on the fly as they were thoroughly frozen, but not everything  that is called homemade is made on the spot.

Prices are a little over average for dining out and the menu is laid out with round numbers rather than $8.95. I for one have seem more restaurants do this on menus and it seems to be more of a true pricing. Every time I see .99 cents on the end of a price I think of the old commercials for “Viking Chevrolet in downtown Fridley.”

Service: 9

I am tough on servers. Never do I show even a small sign of discontent, but the relationship between the server and the patron can, and often does, outshine the food. If people feel they are getting great service they may feel like eating mediocre food again just so they can get that warm fuzzy feeling. I don’t care how good the food is or how neat the digs are. If the service is lousy, so will be your experience.

Our server was OUTSTANDING! That is a word that seldom comes out in a review. She was attentive, interested in serving our needs, watched for the appropriate time to visit the table, and even swooped in like Superwoman with crayons and pictures to color for our squirmy children. That was definitely the big thing. Its standard for a restaurant to have crayons and a pre-packaged menu for kids to draw on. These pictures she brought us where from a website that had no advertising and no menu. Someone actually took the time to deliver a unique drawing experience to my children. I was amazed!

Food was timely and spaced out perfectly between appetizer, entree, and desert.

Atmosphere: 8

A lot of restaurants are moving toward decorative stonework. The problem with that is unless it is decorated enough, it can appear cold and uninviting. This restaurant blends an original stone design on a focal wall with warm lighting, and contemporary decorations to produce an upscale eatery. Dining is compartmentalized enough so that the perception of intimacy or privacy is maintained from almost every point in the dining rooms. There is a good sized meeting room in the back of the main dining area for meetings.

Overall: 9

If looking for Americana, this place should definitely be on your short list of places to try in the St Cloud area. The triumvirate of Food, Service, and Atmosphere play excellently here and so few restaurants can say they have all the pieces working in unison. The only concern I have is the location, but that can be overcome with effort on the owner’s part. The presentation is spot on!

Check out their website for more information

This entry was posted on October 12, 2009 at 13:47 and is filed under Grub Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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