Burch Pizza, Minneapolis, MN

If you haven't already visited this relatively new restaurant in Minneapolis' Lowry Hill neighborhood, it would be well-worth your time to check it out.

 

In the space once occupied for decades by Burch Pharmacy, is now a first floor (street level) steak house and a basement pizza place. The outside was given a fresh look and the inside has been transformed into a welcoming, modern restaurant.

 

The pizza side is smaller space than the first floor, but prices are more reasonable, food is less fussy than the steak side (but still fussy enough), and you can get both menus served downstairs. This is not the case on the 1st floor...it's steak house menu only.

 

 

As I alluded to, the food is original, approachable, and quite good. We had an endive salad, brocollini side, and two of their house-designed pizzas...standard Margherita and a heartier option with roasted pork, red pepper and hazelnuts (a first on a pizza for me), known as the "Coppa Cotta". The salad items were very well presented and tasty too. Fresh and unique for both. The pizzas were also well done (as a artful pizza goes), but actually under done for my taste. With such a concentration on pizza and perhaps a dedicated oven, I was surprised how "blond" my outer crust was served and how doughy the center was presented on the plate. That withstanding, the pizzas were delicious and a bit adventurous, which makes dinner fun.

 

 

 

Wine was good, service was great (though a Monday night) and I'll easily recommend and look forward to going back...for more pizza or for a special occasion at the steak level.

Update #2: Admitting the problem is the first step...

... back in Feb2013 I updated this old post as I thought I was trading the cellphone I had at the time for an iPhone5. It didn't work out (lesson learned).

But, my Samsung Galaxy S3 pooped out on me again last week (battery issue) and I called AT&T again, having replaced the phone twice before (AT&T has this interesting rule that they won't send you a different make/model of phone until you've gone through the warranty process twice with the orginal model). Fine, I'll play along... 

I was able to warranty the S3 for a 2013 HTC One. As some tech-nerds and bloggers claim, this is HTC's last-ditch, all-out effort to get marketshare back from Apple and Samsung. To do this, they have made an all aluminum case and packed it with fast running on Android JellyBean. This version is also the only one really available this year from HTC and through all carriers. This helps avoid diluting this flagship product they put all their efforts into.

So far, it's an interesting phone, very handsome outside with a solid alloy body and only two "press-able" buttons (Power & Volume Up/Down). It has worked super fast inside. One of the more novel features is a TV Remote app preinstalled from HTC. You go through a simple set-up menu and soon enough your phone knows all your show favorites and can change the channel on your tv/cable box. Yes, the HTC One's Power button doubles as an IR port and can send out the requisite commands to tune your TV. Kinda cool, but I have found after a short test that my cable remote still seems easier.

Well, this one makes 22 now... er, like 21.5 if you could the iPhone5 fiasco.

Preserving Our Past

Preserving Our Past

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