Blog

We report on the restaurant news stories that interest the residents of Central Minnesota.

Police Seize a $12000 "Tip"

Stacy Knutson, a waitress at the Fryn' Pan restaurant in Moorhead, Minnesota, is suing the Moorhead Police Department.

She was working at the Fryn' Pan when a customer left behind a takeout box from a different restaurant. She followed the diner out to her car and attempted to return the box - but the woman said, "No, I am good, you keep it."

Turns out the box contained $12,000 in three wads of bills wrapped up in rubber bands.

Vote For The Best Fish Fry

It's the Lenten season in central Minnesota, and that means fish on Friday nights. Where is the best spot in our area to go out and enjoy a great fish fry?

The radio stations of Regent Broadcasting, including Mix 94.9, 98 Country and more, are sponsoring a contest to help find the answer. You can go online and vote for your favorite.

Best Of Central Minnesota 2012

Over 8000 people voted in the 2012 version of the St Cloud Times' annual Best of Central Minnesota.

Repeat winners abounded with Val's, Anton's, Bo Diddley's and Red Lobster all repeating in their categories.

It was close in the best pasta category, with Olive Garden edging Ciattis by only a few votes.

Nominations were gathered in January, and final voting ran from Feb 9 to March 1.

Best Burger
Repeat winner: Val’s Rapid Serv 1,546
5 Guys Burger and Fries 451
Granite City Food & Brewery 429
Frugals 264

Promising Restaurant Trends For 2012

Rieva Lesonsky of the site SmallBizTrendCast recently released ten food business trends to watch for in 2012. Here's hoping most of them come to fruition!

1. Artisanal Food: It's not new, but going strong and seems to be picking up steam - even trickling down to fast food and "artisanal" breads from Jack In The Box.

Minnesota Pizza Roll Magnate Dies

Jeno Paulucci, possibly best known for introducing the pizza roll to the world, has died at age 93.

He started in the business about sixty years ago when he came up with an idea to package take-home Chinese food - and Chun King was started. He initially made his Chinese food in a vegetable packing house and would make a truckload at a time. He did that until he had a plant in Duluth.

Paulucci patented his Divider-Pak which kept the food separate from the sauce in 1957, and later sold the company to R.J. Reynolds in 1966 for $63 million.

Millions to Eat Out on Black Friday

Over 60% of holiday shoppers plan to brave the lines on Black Friday (according to Citigroup), and of those the National Restaurant Association is estimating that 32 million will be dining out during their shopping day.

That's basically seven out of ten shoppers who plan to patronize a restaurant on November 25 - even though tips for power shoppers include bringing a snack and not wasting time at the food court.

Stop in at a restaurant and you may find deals on gift cards sold there.

Taste Of The Lakes for Kinship

Kinship Partners will be holding their annual Taste of the Lakes for the 25th time on November 18 at the Gull Lake Center at Grand View Lodge in Nisswa.

The event is the primary fundraiser for Kinship Partners - a nonprofit youth mentoring organization serving families in the region surrounding Brainerd and Baxter. Last year the event raised over $50,000 and every penny goes to benefit their programs.

Air Travelers Get Food Delivered To Their Gate

On the go travelers at the Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport can now have food delivered to them right at their departure gate.

A new smart phone application for iPhones and Androids called B4YOUBOARD allows you to order from three MSP restaurants - French Meadow Bakery & Cafe, Rock Bottom Restaurant and Chili's Too! Food will be delivered to you within twenty minutes of ordering (at least that's the goal).