MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL Dinner & Drinks Do - Sat July 14

**Sweet Willie** · Jul 4, 12, 2:21 pm

I'll be in the Twin Cities on Saturday July 14, anyone around for dinner/drinks?

I'm staying in Bloomington.

PS: Any locals see this show? www.byebyeliver.com/twincities/

DINNER VENUE:
Salut Bar American
5034 France Ave South
Edina, MN 55410
www.salutbaramericain.com

DINNER TIME: 5:30pm or 7:45pm per the below

Drinks & dinner:
Willie +2
cliburn
KMA26
toomanybooks
MSPeconomist

Maybe:
pinniped

No Can Do:
MikeMpls
Comicwoman

cliburn · Jul 6, 12, 9:09 am

I will be around and can do dinner and/or drinks. I suspect there may be a few of these coming up given the Park Plaza promo...

Never heard of the show.

pinniped · Jul 6, 12, 9:41 am

I'll be there with family...no idea what our plans are though. Might make it out for a late-night beverage. Staying at the Eden Prairie Residence Inn...needed a 2-bedroom suite and have a Marriott gift card to kill...

What is the Park Plaza promo?

EDIT: Are you talking about this Ultimate Night promotion...one stay for 50k points? I know little about Club Carlson other than the fact that it *could* generate a US Airways Grand Slam hit for me later this fall. In your opinion, what are 50k points worth...assuming I use a few for the minimum GS hit and the rest for hotels?

2-3 times a year we find ourselves on a roadtrip far from the land of Starwoods and Marriotts. So the points could have some use to me... I have some Priority Club points for this purpose as well.

cliburn · Jul 6, 12, 9:53 am

But the only North American hotel is in Bloomington.

https://www.parkplazaultimatenightgiveaway.com/

**Sweet Willie** · Jul 6, 12, 12:02 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by cliburn

I suspect there may be a few of these coming up given the Park Plaza promo..

nice job of connecting the dots

Quote:

Originally Posted by cliburn

I will be around and can do dinner and/or drinks.

very good

Quote:

Originally Posted by pinniped

I'll be there with family...no idea what our plans are though. Might make it out for a late-night beverage.

great

Quote:

Originally Posted by pinniped

In your opinion, what are 50k points worth...assuming I use a few for the minimum GS hit and the rest for hotels?

I can't recall when GS starts up, the Park Plaza promo ends ~3rd week in Aug. Personally my 50k will either be used for a free night at a top tier European property or for multiple free nights at a Country Inn & Suites for when I find myself in the land where Hyatt, SPG, etc do not exist.

MSPeconomist · Jul 6, 12, 12:15 pm

I'm interested, so please count me as maybe plus.

I can't think of any unique/ethnic places in the south metro area. In fact, the only foodie places I can think of down there would be in Southdale or Galleria. Or we could think in terms of maybe the 50th and France neighborhood, which is on the south side of Minneapolis and thus more easily accessible than downtown/uptown etc.

**Sweet Willie** · Jul 6, 12, 12:17 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSPeconomist

I'm interested, so please count me as maybe plus.

great

I'll have a car so can travel anywhere in the twin cities area and am very willing to do so for local flavor &/or good ethnic eats.

cliburn · Jul 6, 12, 1:26 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSPeconomist

I'm interested, so please count me as maybe plus.

I can't think of any unique/ethnic places in the south metro area. In fact, the only foodie places I can think of down there would be in Southdale or Galleria. Or we could think in terms of maybe the 50th and France neighborhood, which is on the south side of Minneapolis and thus more easily accessible than downtown/uptown etc.

There is a pretty good Chinese place on Lyndale (Mandarin Kitchen)... otherwise we should probably hit the eat street section of hennepin ave for ethnic food.

cliburn · Jul 6, 12, 1:38 pm

guess it depends if you want ethnic or foodie... if you want both, this is a good bet: http://saffronmpls.com/

**Sweet Willie** · Jul 6, 12, 6:17 pm

thanks for the suggestions cliburn

MSPeconomist suggested Salut Bar American as the 14th is Bastille Day (as well as the menu having everything from burgers/salads to French).

I currently have a reservation for 8 people at 5:30pm

I've held a number of Do's on weekend nights and it can be near impossible to increase the number of attendees (if required) if the reservation is more at a prime time (6-8pm), so hence the early time which hopefully will allow flexibility to increase the number if needed. It is always easier to reduce a res.

I'll edit the first post as to location/time/restaurant website.

KMA26 · Jul 6, 12, 8:07 pm

I am interested in this one SW and have sent you a message to advise you of my situation on the logistics.

Hopefully I will be seeing everyone on the 14th.

cliburn · Jul 6, 12, 8:23 pm

Salut is fine with me.

MSPeconomist · Jul 6, 12, 9:14 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweet Willie

thanks for the suggestions cliburn

MSPeconomist suggested Salut Bar American as the 14th is Bastille Day (as well as the menu having everything from burgers/salads to French).

I currently have a reservation for 8 people at 5:30pm

I've held a number of Do's on weekend nights and it can be near impossible to increase the number of attendees (if required) if the reservation is more at a prime time (6-8pm), so hence the early time which hopefully will allow flexibility to increase the number if needed. It is always easier to reduce a res.

I'll edit the first post as to location/time/restaurant website.

.....and I made a reservation for 8 at 7:45 pm just in case. I called them to ask about parking (it's free) and was worried that it might be hard to get in on a Saturday night if we wait.

We can cancel one reservation later and adjust the numbers if needed. I could have had a table for 6 at 7:30 but nothing at 7 when I called late this afternoon.

**Sweet Willie** · Jul 7, 12, 8:03 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by mspeconomist

.....and i made a reservation for 8 at 7:45 pm just in case. I called them to ask about parking (it's free) and was worried that it might be hard to get in on a saturday night if we wait.

We can cancel one reservation later and adjust the numbers if needed. I could have had a table for 6 at 7:30 but nothing at 7 when i called late this afternoon.

excellent !

pinniped · Jul 7, 12, 11:03 am

Dammit Willie, now you've got me thinking about this Park Plaza thing. I have a backup reservation there now...still on the fence about whether to dump the Residence Inn reservation and grab the 50k CC points. 1-bedroom suite, $115/nt. Almost exactly what we'd pay for the 2-bedroom at the RI, but we'd survive fine in the 1-bdrm (two adults, two kids)...

One contributing factor is that I'm really souring on the Marriott Megabonus that I'd be working toward with the RI stay. The Cat 4 certs are getting harder and harder to use.

I could do a night at each but I suspect wife/kids would bristle at the hotel move...

Safe to say we won't make the dinner. Drinks, especially if we do end up at the PP, would be in the cards though.