Prairie Ale House - David Witt Louie the Loon cartoon

Prairie Ale House in Eden Prairie

Prairie Ale House - David Witt Louie the Loon cartoon
DWITT / Heavy Table

6 Comments

  1. Kalle

    Louie the Loon jumps to the top of the local food writing community. Not kidding. This loon likes dives apparently (all loons do I guess). I’d like to see the loon check out a parasole property.

  2. Mike

    As a former denizen of Eden Prairie, this is consistent with all three of my trips to the Ale House. I wanted to like it, I was told by friends I should like it, I just couldn’t like it. When I have $20 to go somewhere for food, it’ll never go to the Ale House. Each of my three trips they were out of something fairly basic (like rootbeer or an advertised special), their menu was a little smaller than justified, they had some neat ideas that never lived up to their potential, the wait staff isn’t very good and the atmosphere sucks.

  3. BrianJ

    “neat ideas that never lived up to their potential”
    That about sums it up.

    I also don’t understand how they can put together such a nice beer list and yet still serve everything in frosted pint glasses. Save those for Coors Light please, a DIPA should never be served that way.

  4. splatgirl

    I agree with “more thought into presentation than how it tastes”
    The atmosphere is weird and the space is terrible. On that front I’d say more thought went into how to build out a pimp looking bar than on creating a cohesive, pleasant space. So besides the food being just not good, they have a serious branding issue. It’s a confusing mix of trying to be a hipster hangout, a pub, a classy bar, a sports bar and a foodie restaurant, none of which it even sort of achieves. So VERY Eden Prairie–faux everything.

  5. LauraA

    While I enjoy the pithy nature of “neat ideas that never lived up to their potential”, that would indicate that some thought actually went into the restaurant. Dark, atmospheric lighting to create a comfortable hovel/hole in the wall feel is one thing. Not being able to see a dish on the table as presented isn’t atmospheric–it’s inexcusable during brunch or early evening in the summer. Out of the three times I ate at the ale house, various relatively common menu items were not available. Wait staff weren’t clear on evening specials, nor were they well-versed to handle basic questions about menu items. At this point, competence should be the goal, before endeavoring to set a particular scene.

  6. CozierRoll

    Louie the Loon is brilliant. I have not enjoyed food review this much for quite a while. I have previously been only an occasional visitor to HT, but now plan to follow Louie’s migratory path.

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