Twin Anchors

I may be missing a dedicated thread for Twin Anchors among the six Twin Cities entries, but if not, hereby is ye discussionplatz.

Beer list, ribs for their style, and onion rings were all very strong entries on a visit this week, to my surprise and delight. I actually thought the bartender was putting me on about the new all-natural barbecue sauce with brown sugar and hot dried chilies (not just the "zesty" which they've had for a while), and then it was delicious, if oversweet. Onion rings were archetypal, perfectly cooked. I had a Matilda and a then a Batch 19 just for the hell of it, and the rest of the list was better. Dining companions complimented their respective "double" Manhattan and martini, and I dug the atmosphere and staff.

Things do seem to be changing (slightly) here of late. Here are some other recent LTH-related mentions:

Raccoon lauding the beer selection:

viewtopic.php?p=357843#p357843

Hammond on spicy ribs:

viewtopic.php?p=352408#p352408

G Wiv and K Pang on the Bibs and ribs (and a mention of the burgers) at the Anchors:

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/ ... .html#more

Twin Anchors
1655 N Sedgwick Street
(between Concord Pl & Eugenie St)
(312) 266-1616
http://www.twinanchorsribs.com/

Also one of the main filming locations of the one movie I'm in, Return to Me with David Duchovney and Minnie Driver and Caroll O'Connor.

Tonight I had the ribs and some pepper jack creamed spinach with a jim beam manhattan. There is nothing Barbecue-ish at all about the ribs at Twin Anchors, but that does not make them un-delicious. The creamed spinach was just fantastic, slight spice from the pepperjack cheese cut some of the richness from usual creamed spinach that can lay a brick in your stomach. (not much, but a wee bit) As for the ribs, well, they are what they are. They are baked/steamed til the meat slides off the bone with a stern look, bowl of bbq sauce for dipping the hilariously tender bits of pork. I know that sounds like a dream for most of you. I love this place but I like the food.

As for the Jim Beam in the manhattan? He was my roommate sophomore year, will never turn my back on him. Love Jim.

I live just a few blocks away from TA, so it's in the regular rotation. They always have a good selection of interesting beers on tap and the bartenders seem to be very knowledgeable about them. I'm not really in to their style of ribs, so I generally get a cheeseburger with a side of onion rings and a cup of prohibition sauce to dip the rings in. They also have an excellent grilled chicken sandwich.

Agreed. Good burgers; terrible ribs.