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City Pages visits Lyndale Taphouse and Sauce Spirits & Soundbar
November 23, 2009
Sauce and the Lyndale Taphouse are two welcome new additions to the Lyn-Lake scene, having filled a couple spaces left open by the unfortunate closings of La Bodega and JP’s. In City Pages, Rachel Hutton makes a good argument that the two fill holes of another kind as well, niches that the neighborhood was previously lacking.
For example, Hutton says that until now, there wasn’t a good place in the area for a sports fan to go and enjoy the big game of the day while enjoying dinner or a couple drinks. The Lyndale Taphouse is changing all that. According to Hutton, “The Lyndale’s aims are perhaps closer to the more modest, value-oriented, middle-of-the-road approach of Bon Appetit. If you can stand the crowds and the scene, its food is better than what you’d expect for a place with so many TVs.”
She also says that Sauce’s soundbar concept might be just the thing to fill the void left by the closing of the Uptown Bar. “ Overall, Sauce has a comfortable, arty vibe. Abstract paintings and photographs of Twin Cities performers line the walls, and a vending machine sells CDs by local up-and-coming bands.” And the food? “ A stand-alone dinner at Sauce is likely to underwhelm, compared to the neighborhood’s other restaurant offerings. But I’d guess that showgoers will be thrilled to find more interesting fare than the typical rock-club mozzarella sticks and burgers.” I can personally attest that Sauce’s calamari is a culinary thing of beauty, and I also think that their lasagna stands up pretty well in its own right.
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