Restaurant review: Don Pablo's, Eden Prairie MN

Even though I’d been to Don Pablo’s in Eden Prairie with others before, it took several years to learn how to get there.

You can easily see it cruising along where 494 starts to head north. But it’s nestled between a couple hotels – over the underpass and through the service roads . . .

Over the years, we’ve had several failed attempts to get there where in which we simply gave up and went somewhere else. Now, after a couple times of reaching the destination, maybe the changes in plans weren’t so bad.

The best thing about Don Pablo’s was the pre-meal basket of chips, which come out slightly warmed. We hurried through these, and a second basket, so fast, it took the edge off the appetite for the meal. Although the chips were delicious, the salsa serving was on the stingy side.

Otherwise, things were extremely average. Nothing wrong, but nothing to get excited about. Plenty of menu choices. The food was ok, but just didn’t have the flavor like El Mazatlan.

And by the time we’re done, the tab runs up faster and higher than the value received. Although we know how to get there now, I don’t have a reason to hurry back.

Restaurant review: Biaggi's, Eden Prairie MN

Got the opportunity to visit Biaggi’s wine room with a group of friends – a private dining experience with house-selected foods paired with samples of wine.

Unfortunately, since I’m not much of a wine guy and not too refined on the whole fine dining thing, I neither fully grasped the experience or am qualified to evaluate the offerings.

The service was excellent with a brief introduction before each of the four courses, explaining what was before us, both the food and accompanying wine.

Everything was tasty enough, but from my humble view, it turned out to be what I somewhat expected: as with fine dining, it’s about the atmosphere and presentation, not the quantity. This ain’t no casino buffet. We really could have used at least twice as much food as was served for the number of people present.

So if you choose to spend the money, know what you’re getting into. If that’s your scene, it’s a wonderful night out. If you’re more into the food itself than elegance, make a different choice.

Someone joked about stopping at Burger King on the way home. Which wouldn’t have been a bad idea.