Top Restaurants in Southwestern Minnesota

Jeremy M.   -   11/29/12 Worthington MN. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Four out of five of us were real sick from the food served at 3am. The biggest ... more

Jeremy M.   -   11/29/12 Worthington MN. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Four out of five of us were real sick from the food served at 3am. The biggest problem I had was that I told her that I would never come back to this establishment ever again, and the female manager did not seam to care. She did say that she would look into it. Looks like she don't care about me or anyone in our group. I will go out of my way for others to know what the sanitary conditions are for this crappy place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! less

Liz A.   -   Another GREAT dining experience at Mi Famiglia. The service was top notch and everything from the salads and entrees to the appetizer were exceptional ... more

Liz A.   -   Another GREAT dining experience at Mi Famiglia. The service was top notch and everything from the salads and entrees to the appetizer were exceptional. NO one does calamari like this place! Not your typical battered rubbery rings- these are light and tender with just a sprinkling of breading. The red sauce is rich and hearty but not overly spiced so you can taste the food through the sauce, which is not true of many places. The decor is unlike anything in St. Cloud- very posh and upscale- it rivals some of the nicer dining in New York City. less

Jane R.   -   I tried out the "Italian Market" last week for the second time, and be sure of this it will be the LAST... when i first went there months ag ... more

Jane R.   -   I tried out the "Italian Market" last week for the second time, and be sure of this it will be the LAST... when i first went there months ago it was great. This time it was unorganized crap.. the owner was out for a bit and... what a dink... ha. Lets just say this place is awful. They go on and on and on and on and on about how the food is sooo fresh and amazing and imported from Italy.. umm.. most of it is stamped with canada or california or some other place.. and their pasta salads are AWFUL... but this was a monday... might have just been the person working that day. I also had a latte... WAS NOT a latte. That machine is shit. Make it the good way and use the steamer wand you morons! and the espresso is bitter poop. less

Bob H.   -   I dined at Mi Famiglia on a saturday evening. Since it was my first time there i was expecting a gorgeous fine dining restaurant like the reviews said ... more

Bob H.   -   I dined at Mi Famiglia on a saturday evening. Since it was my first time there i was expecting a gorgeous fine dining restaurant like the reviews said on the mi famiglia website (of course it did). You first walk down dim lit hallway to then enter the lounge and dining area. To be honest the decor was quite TACKY. I dont know who decorated it but it probably was the owners wife (who i hear more and more now, is CRAZY.) We were seated and had a wonderful waiter named Darren. The menu was a decent size but the prices for what the food was are redichulous. Now, i am a huge foodie and i know what good real food is and well... it was quite plain, lame and very unoriginal. I first started with a creamy rosa pomodoro soup that was apsolutley inedible (it smelt like vomit and tasted like rotten cheese) the "chef" who made it should not be allowed to cook anything...... I then moved on (quickly) to the eggplant rollatini which was mush and tasted like rotten basil. The entree i ordered was the chicken marsala with risotto. That is NOT RISOTTO. Its just a pile of cheesy rice. The owner Ray came by our table and asked how our food was and i told him my concern in a polite way, and he did not take it very well. He is a very arrogant full of himself prick. He totally stuck his nose up at us, but why?? He has nothing to be proud of. He should be embarassed to serve crap. I mean its $16 for spaghetti and meatballs!! and its not even good! but people in the stearns county area dont know any better, so Ray just gets more full of himself. Do not support this place. Especially if you knew how he treated sooo many people! less

Jared R.   -   I'd call it upscale pub, the food is above average with large portions. It can tend to get a little loud, since it's usually busy and the musi ... more

Jared R.   -   I'd call it upscale pub, the food is above average with large portions. It can tend to get a little loud, since it's usually busy and the music is usually loud. Despite it's appearance they do not brew there own beer, it's delivered just like any other pub. One of the top 10 restuarants in St.Cloud for overall dining experience. less

Rich P.   -   This chain (OCB) does lots of things right. For example, I sold commercial furniture for two decades [but never to this restaurant organization]. The ... more

Rich P.   -   This chain (OCB) does lots of things right. For example, I sold commercial furniture for two decades [but never to this restaurant organization]. The customer chairs they buy are about 5 times as expensive as ordinary restaurant chairs. The comfortable chair backs actually spring back a bit. What first attracted me to OCB was when about two decades ago I read an article about OCB in a business magazine. There was one sentence in that article that GRABBED me: "OCB spends a higher percentage of their revenue on FOOD than any of their competitors." Wow. Think about that. What's most important to you? - That another restaurant: * spends more on advertising? * pays their CEO an amazing salary? * pays a higher lease in a more prestigious location? * has lower food costs? OCB uses fresh food in many cases where other restaurants use canned food. Frozen is second choice for OCB. As you make multiple trips to get food, your table is usually cleared of used dishes promptly. I've found the staff is very accommodating. For example, if I ask, "Would there be some hot cheese sauce to go on this?" I usually have hot cheese sauce from the kitchen in a few minutes. Are you picky about sweeteners at your table? They have a bigger variety than most restaurants. Do you like tea? They have a premium tea, not just ordinary tea. I like their ice tea so much, I located their supplier and ordered a case. The Mankato OCB has 3 soup choices out each day and those choices rotate. They do a good job with their soups. Do you like Mexican? They offer Mexican favorites every day. Is dessert a highlight for you? OCB has an amazing variety, and combining is fun. For example soft serve ice cream on top of apple or peach cobbler is yummy. Do you like salads? They have both prepared salads and a LARGE variety of choices for you to make your own salad. A recent addition to the menu is New Orleans Bourbon Street Chicken. It's a winner! Note that many of their buffet items rotate during the week. So, if have a special food in mind, ask what days it's available. I happen to like to lean in the direction of eating healthy. So I tend to avoid most of their white flour pasta type products. But that reflects a positive feature of OCB - a person can CHOOSE their eating focus, because there are ample choices every day. I love to get value when I eat out. So I have a senior discount card, which costs $1 per year. And I often take advantage of their senior lunch special - which runs from 1 to 3 PM: a standard lunch for $5.99 [as of Jan. 2009] plus tax. Seniors typically have the flexibility to eat AFTER the normal lunch rush hour. So by shifting a lot of the seniors to a later lunch, it's a way for the restaurant to add capacity without adding more physical space. Smart. And that's indicative of how OCB management thinks. Some people shy away from a buffet because they're afraid they'll eat too much. So for people who'd like to go lite, they offer a salad/soup/beverage buffet for $4.99 plus tax during lunch hours [no additional discount]. You can easily spend more than $4.99 on just a salad alone at most restaurants, and your salad wouldn't be as good. Innovation: The Mankato OCB recently (11/2008) added a take out option - giving them another way to earn revenue from their existing facility. Dinner is just like you'd guess - more expensive than lunch. But hey they gotta make some money too. You also get more, including more higher end main dish options. THE ULTIMATE RESTAURANT RATING In my opinion, THE best gauge of what the public really thinks of a restaurant is, "How busy are they at 2:00 PM?" If you haven't been to an OCB before, you may be surprised if you come at 2:00 PM and find the restaurant at least half full. That's VERY unusual for the average restaurant. Of course, there is variability, depending on the weather and special events in town. FINALLY You may wonder, if I'm just a diner, how do I know so much about OCB. That's a fair question. I've been a customer of theirs ever since they opened up their first restaurant at 66th and Nicollet in Richfield. Over the decades I TALK with management at the various OCB restaurants. I've found them to be congenial, helpful, and willing to share information about OCB. Note also that these days OCB has buffets under various names around the USA. less