Twisted Fork Grille

Never again.
Burnt Brussels sprouts. Second batch tasteless.
Inattentive server named Hillary.
Server Hillary checked to determine our satisfaction only once. Had to track her down for check and take out container– found her chatting with a friend at bar. Left us with check at bar to return to conversation with friend. A male server hung out with us as we completed paying… but not UNSERVER Hillary.
At least if food is not fabulous at least have server who as «serving skills» and personality.
Will never return.

I came here with an email coupon for a free dinner. The place was empty. The server was ultra casual, which is fine overall but she wasn’t very professional. Very nice though.
I ordered the pork tenderloin. It came out very pretty but was bland. The mozzarella rice cakes that came with it were also very bland and I didn’t finish them. I’m glad the meal was free because I would have been very disappointed if I had to pay for it. Overall nothing special and I see no reason to come back.

I LOVE their breakfast/​brunch items.
I do NOT love their lunch and dinner items.
If they could focus on making the lunch and dinner items taste as great as their breakfast, they would be a ‘go to’ for me.
Also, their service isn’t super quick. So, if you’re looking for a fast meal (or even one that is remotely time-​efficient), this isn’t the place for you. Every experience I’ve had there has been super friendly, though. I just wish their non-​breakfast food would have a little more flavor (the fish tacos, for example, were the most bland I have ever had).

Excellent! All the food we had was amazing and the service was even better. The space is a little bland as it’s an Green Mill, but the rest makes up for it. Spinach dip was great, the short rib was excellent, my friend had the steak and loved it, another friend had the pork loin and gave rave reviews. I will back!

Atmosphere was great for a cold MN night. Good wine list and ½ price apps and drinks at happy hour. Ordered the scallops app and my friend literally laugh out loud b/​c there were 3 quartered sized scallops, kind of a joke. Main entrees were just ok, but desserts were great!

My wife and I have been here twice, both for brunch, and both times have been great experiences, with only minor room for improvement on the second time. I also really like the menu, which is functionally pretty small, but fairly broad as far as tastes and accommodations for different palates and desires go.
The first jaunty adventure was a spur-​of-​the-​moment «Let’s eat something, oh this is nearby» type of decision. We ended up ordering the following:
— Strawberry and cream cheese stuffed french toast: This was actually amazing. I’ve gotten used to most french toast dishes being sort of bland and wildly overpriced, but for an extra dollar or two relative to some other places I’ve been (2 normal slices being $ 7 or so, but this boils down to about 4 with fixins for $ 10), not only was it a pretty amazing value but also extremely flavorful and delicious. Easily some of the best I’ve ever had and the value is definitely there.
— Some form of breakfast omelette, which I had no problems with
— Mango iced tea: What’s interesting about it is they use actual mango purée, but because mango is so fibrous, it doesn’t completely dissolve (which is completely fine). What I like about it is that it still tastes like unsweet tea, b

Took a while for the server to come to our table, she apologized and gave us a free dessert! Artichoke dip is amazing, entrees were splendid, drinks were reasonably priced, overall a very pleasant experience! I agree with the cold temperatures, be sure to bring a sweater. Also the seating is a little cramped. Great place to go with family! Thanks, Jenny!

We had a groupon so decided that it was a perfect reason to try a new restaurant. The restaurant is a great restaurant for families, small parties or a good happy hour. The service was good and food was delightful. They have a ton I great beers on tap! We had
Short ribs– highly would recommend
Glazed salmon — also really nice
Brussels sprouts– only ok, they were a bit to smoky for me, I was hoping for more of a roasted flavor
Overall I would go back, and definitely e there for happy hour!

Pretty poor experience. Went for breakfast around 10:30a on a holiday. Greet was fast but all else was not. Meals obviously sat in the kitchen too long and only one in our party was pleased with the food when finally delivered. Lemon curd French toast was well liked. Brisket Benedict was total chewy, discolored fail and came off the bill. Simple scrambled eggs hash brown & sausage sat so long I ate it only out of hunger. From staff discussions overheard it needs professional management. Most likely was not prepped well from the bar scene the night before. How was the bar you ask? Looked like the only reason to go.
You’re better off to wait for a table someplace more popular than to wait at a table here.

I was shopping in the area and stopped by for lunch. Was greeted right away and requested to sit at the bar. The bartender started me off with a water and I asked for salad recommendations. She said the beet salad was her favorite. So, I went for it! Wow, the beet salad was delicious and the garlic goat cheese… fantastic! Highly recommend this restaurant to anyone in the St. Paul area.

Four of us arrived at Twisted Fork for happy hour and dinner. We were seated immediately and started with half price appetizers and beverages. We tried the walleye cakes and roasted Brussels sprouts. Both were very good. For dinner I had the turkey with cranberry sandwich. Excellent! Every bite was a flavorful treat. Another person had the bison meatloaf sandwich and was not impressed. Salmon and chicken were ordered by the others in our party and they said their meals were good but they weren’t reacting the way I did to my turkey sandwich.
The service was wonderful and our server was happy to answer any questions we had about the menu.

My husband and I just moved to Minnesota so we are scoping out neighborhoods and restaurants… this was a great find!
Had the Coconut Scallops app, which was delicious. I had the special, Surf and Turf, which was great. My husband had the Bison Meatloaf. He typically says things are «alright» and actually enjoyed this meal and said it was pretty good… that means it was great!
We will definitely be back!

I went here with a groupon; the hostess sat us quickly, good start.
The first spot we sat in was SO COLD. The vents were on blast and I don’t know why. It was like 75 degrees out but the vents wanted to make sure we were at around 60. After the table next to us left we commandeered their table and got up to about 65.
Our appetizer was good, the spinach and artichoke dip. The only thing we had worth going for. Someone else mentioned in their review that they got extra bread for their dip when they ran out. We did not. Maybe because our waitress only came to our table to take the order, bring the bill, and one time in between. Our food was delivered by someone else. She had some tables outside but really no reason for such infrequent visits, especially since she could see our table (and lack of refills) from the door every time she went outside.
Anyway, I had the chicken with mushroom risotto. Looked like it had a lot of ingredients, but tasted really, really bland. The risotto was not really creamy, and just tasted like mushed rice. I tried adding salt and pepper to get it to taste like something, but ended up leaving more than 50% of it on the plate.
My friends entrée was a little better, the seared tenderloin with arancini, but still a little bland.
Another annoyance, the hostess was cleaning tons of tables near us and also did not care about our empty glasses.
We planned on getting dessert, but after the tasteless entrees didn’t really want to bother.
Makes me sad when I can make a more tasteful meal at home with my 3 ingredient cookbook.

I have gone back a couple of times and the food seems to be going downhill. The scallop dish is still really good, but the other dishes I have tried were not.
The Minnesota Jambalaya, sautéed Chorizo sausage, Basmati rice, wild rice, shrimp, and scallops in our Creole tomato sauce topped with chopped parsley, was terrible. It tasted like eating hamburger helper. So dry and flavorless and was basically rice mixed with «chorizo» that tasted more like hamburger. You also only get 2 shrimps and 2 tiny scallops.
The Seared Pork Tenderloin with Arancini, two seared pork tenderloin medallions with our homemade Arancini, was ok. The pork tenderloin was so overcooked it was basically inedible, but the arancini was good.
A little tip is to join their e-​club. The send out coupons for free appetizers and stuff. They also often have Groupons.

Went last night to fulfill a Groupon and because the girlfriend wanted to try some other food there after having their amazing smoke salmon salad previously.
Was really happy with everything. If you look up and see «Twisted Fork» I’m not sure how you’d get confused about the entrance with Green Mill. But, to each their own. Greeted right away and sat immediately.
Server was very nice and helpful with the menu. Their bison meatloaf is killer. Just wish their was a bit more sauce flavor to compliment the gamey meat flavor of the buffalo (I will order this dang near everywhere I go — huge fan of the meat).
The girlfriends turkey sandwich with cranberry spread was amazing. Perfect mix of caramelized onions to cranberry and a the bread was perfectly selected.
My sweet tater chips were bit lacking, but the baby reds were on point.
Crème Brule was incredible. Just wish there was more of a fruit topping/​more fruit to go with it to compliment the flavor.
Overall, good stuff — left a little to be desired though with the flavors they present. Will definitely head back and sample a few more dishes that peaked my interest.

Only came for restaurant week. We had appetizers, entrees, and dessert. All of our items were bland, if not completely lacking in taste. I’m still wondering if my seafood Mac n cheese was imitation or not. The service was poor, as I knew going in.

Yuck. This place is not worth the groupon or living social. The location is so confusing, with another restaurant’s sign right under the door, we didn’t know if we were at the right place. Right from the start, the host was not very welcoming. We got there right around 7 pm and had just about a ten minute wait, no big deal, we sat at the bar, which wasn’t busy. The bartender didn’t give us much thought, took our order and was never to be seen again.
As soon as we sat down, our server greeted us nicely, but another server came over, interrupted her and said, «you want to go home?» As she replied, «yes», I knew we wouldn’t see much of her either. Not in front of the guests, dude.
We started with the walleye cakes, which were tasteless. Yes I know walleye isn’t a super flavorful fish, but there was no seasoning at all and the aoli was just plain mayo. Even a slice of lemon would have helped with appetizer out (and I had one from my tea, that was never asked to be refilled)
I had the roasted veggie sandwich. The veggies were SO oily and buttery, this supposedly healthy dish was packed with extra calories and fat that Paula Dean wouldn’t even eat it! And the bread that is was on was wet! Just soaked in oil! The sweet potato chips were good. Again this dish was lacking seasoning completely.
My boyfriend had the «seared» pork tenderloin with rice cakes, spinach, tomatoes and balsamic sauce. It was baked and no color of the meat, and dry dry dry. Again with the seasoning! I’m not sure the kitchen has salt orpepper. He didn’t even finish his plate and he has been a member of the clean plate club since 1990.
The twisted fork may be good for breakfast and brunch do to the very affordable prices, but we will never be back to find out after the brushed off service and stomach aches we received there.

The hubby and I decided to go out for lunch yesterday and we ended up at the Twisted Fork. I hadn’t been here in a few years, so I was excited to give it another try. Unfortunately, I left underwhelmed, just like last time.
I was excited to see that they have a homemade veggie burger on the menu, so I immediately decided to order that. My husband had the huevos rancheros. Let me start with his meal. It was basically an egg over 5 beans and a few kernels of corn with a side of guac. Definitely the most unimpressive huevos I have ever seen. It was so skimpy on the beans, I couldn’t believe it and beans are cheap! He was also served hash browns instead of the new potatoes he ordered, but the waitress didn’t come back to check so we couldn’t correct the order.
My burger had good texture and I really liked the rosemary bun. However, the actual burger lacked any flavor. I think they forgot to season it.
Based on my two experiences, I won’t be back again.

This is one location I can take off my «to try» list.
Stopped in with a friend for lunch and almost felt like we needed to go out and grab lunch afterwards.
We both ordered the fish tacos. She liked hers a little more than I cared for mine. My fish seemed a little dried out and by the last bite of second taco, I didn’t feel all that great.
We both ordered water. Was never given or offered a refill. Glad we didn’t order anything else.
Server was non-​existent until she came to deliver our check. We weren’t offered anything else, dessert, refill etc.
The space is small and a strange set up. It felt like the Green Mill next door had too many tables and decided to give this place some to open a restaurant. Maybe that’s the case.
Menu wasn’t overflowing with choices.
Atmosphere is not the warmest or friendliest.
Food and choices are a bit dull.

Conceptually, Twisted Fork is a bit of an enigma. It’s attached to and owned by Green Mill, shares the same kitchen, has a bit more of an upscale/​wine bar vibe and touts it’s commitment to using local and sustainable ingredients. Based upon the menu items I’m not sure how true the latter is, though they do reference Coastal Seafoods, a local bakery and some other regional producers on their menu.
Regardless, I give them credit for at least making the effort to think local and sustainable, even if it is purely capitalizing off a growing (and admirable) trend. Sadly though, the meals that I have had here have been pretty disappointing. On different occasions I’ve had a luke warm at best pot roast sandwich and some overcooked sea scallops.
The service has always been friendly, on par with what you’d expect from a neighborhood restaurant. Ultimately, Twisted Fork feels like a nicer bar within a bar and there’s not much that differentiates it from Green Mill, other than the menus.