McGoon's Taxi Co (Rochester, MN)

McGoon's Taxi Co Pub and Restaurant

Tonight's evening of fun and laugh's was my first visit to this downtown location since it was O'Neill's Pizza Pub.  In fact, until an invitation by friends for dinner and open mic night, I avoided going into the old place where we spent so much time waiting for Dan's heart transplant.

Walking in, it's hard to recognize the old place when I walked into McGoon's for dinner. A themed restaurant like Friday's down to the taxicab menus, it's a very friendly and cozy place to chat and drink. Limited drafts on tap and different from what is listed online. Something to be said for how a server pitches a tap list, ending with the "dark and bitter" Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shutdown Ale, which was the best on the list. It seemed obvious that he wasn't a fan of hops, but it's nice that they have at least one hoppy beer on tap for those of use of the persuasion.  Oddly, in spite of having been to Lagunitas on vacation earlier this month, Undercover is as a draft is missing from my list. Sticking with Lagunitas for the night, the draft upstairs at Goonie's seemed a bit brighter than the tall I had downstairs.  No specific problem I noticed; both were served just fine.

After finishing a very good dinner, we headed upstairs to Goonie's Comedy Club for open mic night. All stand up comedians, each on a tight time limit.  An interesting mix of veteran comics with several on stage for the very first time. Going in with relatively low expectations (because I had no idea), I was pleasantly surprised by how often I laughed out loud. Most of the comics were good (or tolerable) and only a few that I would have been a good opportunity to get a drink, especially since there's no cover. A diverse crowd trickled in through the show until nearly full at the end and seemed quite merry.

Greek Veggie Wrap and potato salad

I found the night interesting, not just for the laughs, but to see the developing skill of each of the comedians as writers, especially the younger performers just starting out. I half-jokingly credit much of I initial knowledge of writing from my days as a bouncer during Comedy Caravan at Nick's, a nightclub on the levee at Purdue. Bored at my post since no one fights when drinking Long Island Ice Tea for a $1.75 while listening to top comics on the circuit from New York to LA. As a communications major, I took the time to analyze the structure of humor, much of which ended up in my "writing buddy" format that I use to teach freshmen. Tonight's open mic night was a flip side of this old practice by seeing budding comics as opposed to the professionals at Nick's.

McGoon's and Goonie's is an amusing diversion with good beer and food and more than a few laughs for a Thursday cheap date night, plus I would be optimistic that the full weekend comedy shows would be worth the price of admission.  While I was slightly disconcerted underneath from my personal history with the space, it was a great time that helped me erase ghosts of my past. While not a beer bar per se, there's a couple good drafts to while away an evening with in good humor, upstairs or down.

O'Neill's Pizza Pub (Rochester, MN)

O'Neill's "new" location in the Crossroads Shopping Center

July 2013

I love O'Neill's Pizza Pub.  Besides that I really love the pizza, the additional reasons are listed below in my original review of the pub in 2006. We continued to go to O'Neill's after Dan received his heart transplant for the additional six years Dan lived in town, but my wife and I don't get there much since his passing.

My bias for O'Neill's is clear and unabashed. However, back in the day with Dan, we tried restaurants all over town and nearly every slice of pizza. Our group honestly returned to O'Neill's because we preferred their food, beer list and friendly atmosphere. Luckily, my speech coach friends indulge my obsession to stop here, so we will have business and/or social meetings over pizza at the pub. Also, local friends agree that the pizza is unique and go there for "German Club" (code for an after school teacher happy hour), independent of my influence. So, I feel somewhat justified that my bias isn't just about nostalgia.

So, please stop by O'Neill's (any day but Sunday or Monday when closed) and help keep my favorite pub in Rochester serving great pizza and beer for a very long time.


BeerAdvocate review from 9/16/2006
My nephew Dan was in Rochester waiting for a heat transplant for a year and a half. My wife and I traveled from the Twin Cities to see him every Wednesday during that time, and for about nine months of it we went to O'Neill's for pizza, beer, and edited Dan's poetry (now a self published collection). With that said, I think O'Neill's is one of the most unique restaurants I've ever been and, obviously, one of my favorites.

I rarely miss the opportunity to have beer and pizza at O'Neill's when in Rochester.

O'Neill's bar area.  Free pizza set out at happy hour

Here's why. The beer list is excellent. Not as big as either Whistle Binkies, but well chosen and fresh. I've never once had a stale beer, bottle or draft, in the times I've visited. On my last visit, there were eight drafts ranging from Kul Lite to Mojo IPA, and, as an Irish Pub, Guinness, Bass, and Smithwick's are par for the course. Always a consistent range of bottles including Victory Golden Monkey, Sleeman, several Rogue, Hazed and Infused, Murphy's, Wexford Irish Creme, Kostritzer, Weihenstephaner, Erdinger, Wittekerke, Kwak, Orval, Tilburg Brown Ale, Lindemans Framboise, Belhaven's Twisted Thistle and a few others. The list doesn't change much, but sometimes the bottled beers will show up on tap. It's a carefully crafted selection of beers that sell well with few changes over time.

Now the food. The first pizza here we had was a Greek pizza with feta, tomatoes, and black olives. In the original location (moved recently), Irish and Greek flags flew in the rafters. And it is probably the only Irish Pub that you can have baklava for dessert. Evidently, one of the O'Neill daughters married into Greek cuisine. Our "usual" is a Golden Monkey for myself, a Kostritzer for my wife, a Triple-Double (our name, not O'Nei'll's, for double crust, double sauce, double cheese) and baklava for dessert. The pizza sauce is the heart of it, sweet and tasty, very different than an Italian style oregano and basil sauce. Not sure what it is, but it is very unique and good. We enjoy our multi-continent meal several times a year when we visit my nephew, who lives and goes to school in Rochester now and is doing well with his new heart
Even wrote an ode. Irish for Pizza is a T-shirt slogan of ONeills that I borrowed for the title. Allison no longer works there (graduated and joined the service), but we've kept some contact and we were still recognized when we had a Greek pizza yesterday for lunch.

My expository poem from Do chicks really dig scars?, a collection of poems written by Dan and revised by me. Click on the Poetry tab on the blog's home page for a link to buy our book.  

Irish for Pizza

Restaurant seating

ONeills Pizza Pub, family run, marked only
by a small yellow neon sign, an Irish pub with
Greek food (both flags fly from the rafters) and
an Irish/German/American beer list worthy of
   Slainte!      Prosit!      and        Cheers!

A daughters marriage, we were told, changed the
menu so that ordering baklava with Guinness or a
hefeweizen as dessert to a feta cheese pizza with
tomatoes and olives, somehow, makes great sense.

Every Wednesday night, our ill-formed group
(get it—Dan's sick, illness formed...…never mind)
picks the center booth, puts quarters quickly in
the jukebox, and then, we wait not-so-patiently for

Draft list on last visit in June 2013

Johnny Cash to rumble out Ring of Fire.

Allison, our Supergirl waitress, as much a part
of Wednesdays with Dan as we are, takes our
high maintenance order:

a Schwarzbier for Aunt Gloria, triple-double pizza
(double crustdouble cheeseand always double
of their Oh! so sweet Greek pizza sauce), best beer
on this week's list for Uncle Cal, soda and poetry
for Dan, and whatever conversation that's on tap.

When Dan went back in the hospital, briefly, we
even ordered a pizza to-go, an excuse to tell Allison
that Dan's ok, just couldn't make it that week, tied
up with hospital tubing and an infection.

We came for pizza and a pub, and stayed for a big
booth with quiet nights to write and laugh and cry
(some tears happy, some sad) with great food and
fine drink and people who care—a sense of home
in a very hard time.

Newt's North (Rochester, MN)

 

5/27/12

For years, I've driven by Newt's on Hwy 52 through Rochester and never took the opportunity to stop.  In reality, it was vegetarian bias since it looks like a local meat-centric burger joint. In this case, it seems to have been a mistake. 

Some teacher friends (thanks Scott and Heather!) are regulars (after school happy hour), so when several coaches got together here for some Sunday afternoon out-of-season socializing, Newt's feel like our local.  Newt's is a fine pub with a very friendly feel and a solid beer list to keep you entertained.

Let's start with beer. Not recognizing what the 21st Amendment Dark could be, I asked and the server wasn't impressed with the beer.  It turned out to be Brew Free or Die IPA, one of my favorites (I'm drinking it at home right now!) and not Dark at all.  The beer list is respectable, especially for Rochester, so that's fine, but the staff doesn't seem to be overly knowledgeable of craft beer.  But I'm use to Al at the Blue Nile as a guide, so maybe I'm spoiled.  But the staff made up for it in friendliness, even joining in our group photo.

It doesn't say it on the menu, but Heather said she knew of others that ask for a Boca Burger on any of the main burger combos.  So, I ordered the Shroom Burger with a veggie substitute, which was good and reheated well as left overs.  While just a Boca Burger, it was still very good and something I couldn't make as well at home (an eating out food criteria for me).  However, it would be great if that was listed on the menu so I wouldn't have to feel so high maintenance by ordering off the menu.

Ended with after lunch drafts of Alaskan Amber and Lagunitas IPA.  Both were well served and the beer is taken care of well at Newt's.  Inside information--a member of our group is related to the line cleaner of Newt's, so we know that it's done by someone we trust.  And, it shows in clean pints that taste fresh. Taking a closer look at my list, I evidently visited Newt's back in 2001 and had a Mantorville Stagecoach Ale.  My memory of this stop is vague, but it doesn't seem to mesh with Newt's North so I'm guessing I was at the downtown location (and the pictures online do seem to mesh with my memory).  Newt's is not a beer destination for those out of state, but it is a great local bastion of craft beer.

Whistle Binkies on the Lake (Rochester, MN)

12/28/11

Whistle Binkies on the Lake from front door Because of an unfortunate and unexpected closing of O'Neill's Pizza Pub until 4 pm, a group of friends huddled in the cold decided to move our gathering to Whistle Binkies on the Lake (WBL) for an afternoon of chatting over the holiday break.   While I expected the company and the conversation to be fun, my memory of WBL wasn't as positive.  However, WBL has improved significantly since my last visit in 2006 (original review below).   My wife notes that I can be excessively influenced by context (which is true), but I don't think it was just the lively banter and good time that made WBL better.  Compared to 2006, the beer variety and serving have both improved, as well as a friendlier menu for this oversized vegetarian.

When the first Burton Ale from Schell's came out in a Budweiser glass, I thought that I was at the same old WBL.  However, besides that the Burton Ale was extremely good, it was well served and was in great condition.  Head was a little thin, but not unexpected at a bar not catering to beer geeks, or it could be the beer as much as the bar. Next, I had a Lagunitas Sucks (yes, that's the name) holiday ale from Lagunitas that I guessed to be a Belgian IPA while tasting it, but BA has it listed as a Double IPA.  Either way, it was a very good beer and served in a tulip glass with a nice head.  Very pretty in the glass and very tasty.  As the afternoon was waning, I ordered one last beer: Odell's Bourbon Barrel Stout on draft.  A nice beer to sip to finish the afternoon of chatting.  However, the three strong taps took their toll, so those of us left ordered dinner.

Schell's Burton Ale

I referenced several vegetarian options in the old review, but I don't remember what they were and I definitely don't remember having a veggie burger option last time.  At any rate, I tried the veggie patty (black bean burger, I think) as The Bourbon: bourbon glaze, swiss cheese and sauteed mushrooms.  Excellent.  WBL does burgers that way I wish a lot more places would do it--just offer a veggie burger option with a range of choices.  Eight burger choices work with the veggie patty after eliminating the two bacon laden alternatives.  Since the burger was enough (calories), I skipped the fries and had the very acceptable coleslaw instead.  A testament to the mix of clientele that WBL must cater to in Rochester, there is also a low carb option of no bun and no potatoes.

Rochester is a unique place with an incredible range of people for a small town, and WBL seems to have adapted to both the changing beer tastes as well as offering a range of food options to match the diversity. While I was struggling in 2006 to find a solid craft beer served well, now the beer list kept me entertained for an afternoon and I left some on the menu to try another day.  Their beer menu has clearly skewed towards the hoppy end of the spectrum, but they seem to be selling enough of it that the Lagunitas Sucks was fresh and clean even though this seasonal has been on the market for a while.  With a veggie burger that I'd return for to boot, Whistle Binkies on the Lake has definitely left me happy that I was able to give them a second chance for a new impression.

Original BeerAdvocate review from Sept 2006 

Brand new building on the south side of town. Odd though that the sign is actually on the back of the building facing the freeway. I get why, but not a very pretty building. It's big and monolithic, especially from the front since there is no sign on a blank side except a very small one on the door frame. Neat and clean, feels sorta like a small town country club next to a golf course.

Whistle Binkies on the Lake 2011

"On the Lake" is a bit of a stretch too. I suppose it is technically a lake but many ponds are as large. View is ok over the lake, but local freeways come together around this restaurant in the middle of a industrial area. Most of the viewing is probably of young college kids for a night with one of numerous drink specials advertised in the bar and bathrooms, or on one of two sand volleyball nets outside the main entrance. Inside the building is shiny new sports bar with large and small screen TVs in all directions, wireless internet, and the wait staff is the standard pretty working through college girl in small tops.

Both Whistle Binkies (Scottish name according to the menu history) are billed as Scottish (English/Irish???) pubs, so the food includes Fish and Chips, Scotch Eggs, Bangers and Mash besides the standard bar food appetizers and burgers. I only had Loaded Potato Skins (w/o bacon--vegetarian), which were fine, a bit bland and underdone, but good. Unlike most sports bars, there were several vegetarian selections, including a pasta special for the day. A bit more enlightened than normal and wish I had been there for lunch to give the special a try.

WBL taps 2011

The beer list is the real selling point. Thirty tap lines from Grain Belt to Erdinger Hefeweizen, and local favorites Summit, Finnegan's, and Rush River. There's the option of a sampler of six beers for five bucks--good price for four ounce samples. I counted about 160 bottles ranging from Smirnoff Ice to Triple Karmeliet, and a lot in between from all over the U.S. and every major beer country. Great place to go for variety when Rochester boasts no brewpubs or other extensive beer bars (that I know of) except O'Neill's Pizza Pub and their own Olde World Pub. Which compared to the other Whistle Binkie, I prefer the new one over the old. Beside the fresh clean feel, it seems a bit more upscale and the menu is a definite improvement over the Olde location--I think I had onion rings there as one of the only veggie options. On the Lake is a bit more TGIFridays.

Overall, it's a nice place that I'll go to again. My Anchor Steam didn't seem to be 100% but the Summit Scandia was good, though still not as good one I had in the Twin Cites a few days ago. I'm a bit of a beer bar skeptic when they have so many, scared of old beers sitting around that the Miller Light and Jagermeister crowd just don't get around to drink, but my initial tastings seemed to be ok. I didn't drink any bottles, so that eval will have to wait for another trip. With whatever reservations mentioned or implied above, it was nicer and better than I expected walking