Washington Square Bar and Grill, White Bear Lake, Minnesota

After our Volksmarch in Madison, Nancy and I headed west to St. Paul, and went to our hotel, the Fairfield Inn Northeast, in the far northeastern reaches of the Metro area. I had three reasons for selecting the hotel: (1) Marriott affiliation (brand loyalty pays), (2) price, and (3) proximity to Marine on St. Croix. Once we arrived and checked, we found that there was another reason. We were just a few miles from White Bear Lake, a charming town of shops and restaurants — and the lake.

We received some restaurant guidance from the two folks at the hotel front desk, who must have thought we were a lot more prosperous than we are, and finally settled on an early dinner at the Washington Square Bar and Grill. We arrived and found a nice place with lots of outdoor seating surrounded by flowers. It was lovely, but there were lots of people in the outdoor seating and more waiting. Nancy and I had an early start for the next day’s walk, so we decided to eat in the interior, which was also nice. I ordered a local Big Wood Fine! IPA, which was delicious, and Nancy had a house cabernet … or did I coax her into upgrading? Anyway, the wine elicited no complaints.

Since I was in Minnesota, I ordered the walleye, grilled.

That’s a nice piece of fish. I like Walleye, and this was fresh (eat local) and nicely cooked just through. You can see the accompanying tater tots and broccoli and, if you look carefully, you’ll note a pat of butter for the broccoli. Butter should always accompany steamed broccoli. The broccoli was further enhanced by the tartar sauce. The tots were average, which means that they were good. 

Nancy ordered shrimp fajita. That is a skillet of shrimp and vegetables,

and a whole lot of goodies to go with them.

Nancy was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of food, but she soldiered through.  The shrimp weren’t awful, but then we’re pretty spoiled in Southern Maryland. I think they cooked the thawed shrimp wet rather than carefully dry, season, and sear the frozen shrimp.

After our meal we took a walk through some White Bear Lake neighborhoods. It’s a pretty lake surrounded by shady streets and attractive homes. All in all it was a fine evening, and we’d both recommend a visit to the lake and indeed a meal at the Washington Square Bar and Grill. Order locally.

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