The Early Word on 7th Street Social: 'Beset with Problems'

In today's review at the Heavy Table, James Norton heads to recently opened St. Paul spot Seventh Street Social (no relation to Minneapolis restaurants Eat Street Social and Northeast Social) and finds his $90 diner for two "beset with problems from beginning to end."

To begin, after a seemingly bourbon-less blackberry old-fashioned ($11), Norton makes a DIY $18 cocktail by adding a $7 shot of Bulleit (which also requires a 15-minute wait and two reminders to the "sweet and profoundly oblivious" server). Things are not off to a good start. Norton believes this one drink encapsulates all the problems of Seventh Street Social, namely "sloppy attention to detail, inattentive service, and expensive, expensive prices."

Still, Norton soldiers on, with the fried chicken and biscuit ($18), which "ranks above KFC but below Popeyes, Pollo Campero, and my own homemade." He ends up doing a second DIY with the chicken, taking it home and doctoring up the leftovers. A cheeseburger and salt-and-pepper fries are underseasoned (oh, the irony).

Dessert brings MInneapolis's newest cronut imitator, which might be news for celebration, but then again: "Imagine smearing peanut butter and chocolate bar chunks all over a series of thin, tough doughnuts. I sort of enjoyed it, but also realized that I was wrong to do so. "

Dessert also brings an extended metaphor comparing a bad seasonal fruit cobbler to Brutus's betrayal of Caesar; needless to say, according to Norton, it's the Ides of March at Seventh Street: "Our cobbler tasted precisely like microwaved industrial-grade pie filling, either because it was microwaved industrial-grade pie filling, or because the cooks at Seventh Street Social have found a way to transform season fruit into something that tastes overly sweet and insipid."
· Seventh Street Social in St. Paul [Heavy Table]
· All Coverage of Seventh Street Social [Eater MPLS]
· All Previous Week in Reviews [Eater MPLS]