"I live in South Minneapolis, and some time ago, my neighborhood suffered a great loss when Curran's closed. It was a special place. Not unique, but special. The kind of place that always seems to have 6 to 8 of the same roasting group of a dozen or so elderly patrons. Where the TVs are always playing whatever sports are on, where the decor clearly hasn't changed for a couple of decades, and where the menu goes on just a page or two longer than it seems like it should. I've been looking for my new Curran's ever since they closed. This place is a strong front-runner. My girlfriend and I gave the menu a thorough once-over before selecting the items that are absolutely mandatory for a place like this to get right. Burger with fries, Reuben with onion rings, chicken finger appetizer. Her burger came with incorrect toppings at first, but once the mistake was noticed, a replacement was out in mere minutes. The Reuben was top notch. Corned beef was tender but not the prepackaged grocery store cold-cut beef you sometimes get at chain restaurants. Kraut and dressing ratios were spot-on. The replacement burger was nicely charred and cooked to a perfect medium as requested. The chicken fingers were actually kind of exceptional, surprisingly, with a satisfyiny shatter to the coating, and the honey mustard had exactly the right level of honey. The perfect replacement for Curran's would serve breakfast all day instead of just breakfast hours, but as the Rolling Stones said, you can't always get a waffle with your club sandwich. I'll definitely be back some morning to check out that breakfast menu, as well, I imagine, as to order, you know, an actual pizza from what is nominally a pizzeria. Keep up the good work, TJ's."
