The Bulldog Downtown

Gave me the wrong order at first but when I got the right one it was delicious! Great food and service, nice atmosphere after a Twins game. Recommend! Good tater tots.

Had dinner and a beer before a show at the State Theater, really liked the food and selection of beers. Had the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich with tater tots. Really good. Unfortunately the service left something to be desired, my wife ordered the bacon cheddar burger. Requested no bun and onion rings instead of fries. Server clarified twice and the order still came with bun and fries, no onion rings. They did make it right, but…
So, good bar food, I’d rate a 3.5 if available.

really like this place, it’s a great bar. walk in from hennepin and there are high top tables and lower eating tables. about halfway in there is a large U-​shaped bar with standing room on either side. wooden chairs with padded bottom and back support. several HDTVs on the walls. stone bar top with no rail. bar center is mainly shelves. windows that look towards 11^th. service is great and the food is above average if you stick with bar basics. other patrons range in age with some correlation to the time of day, every is minnesota nice.

How small can you legally pour a shot of whiskey? Go to the Bulldog Downtown to find out! That said, and it’s a major complaint, the food is good. Meatloaf sliders are a tasty food choice at the bar. It’s a cool bar with cool people working in it, so expect the very minimum of service for a big, fat, downtown price tag.

I was left feeling disappointed by the experience I had on Saturday, September 5. It was late, but the restaurant seemed a little understaffed. I sat in a section away from the majority of the customers. The waitress appeared not to want to take the time to come over to my table, preferring to spend her time flirting with the bar tender.
I looked at the menu and saw highlighted options, which I interpreted as the restaurant saying, «These are the items on our menu that we are most proud of,» rather than «We dare you to eat this.»
Taking an unfortunate cue from the highlighting, I chose «The Steakhouse» burger, which was described as being adorned with onions, blue cheese, bacon, and Angus steak. As the waitress brought it over to my table, and I could smell it before I could see it, I knew I was going to be disappointed.
Blue cheese is a strong condiment. This item was listed as a premier choice on the menu. I took that to mean that the staff knew what they were doing when they prepared it. I was wrong. The way it was presented to me — there must have been some mistake in the preparation or the portioning of blue cheese – otherwise, the restaurant should rename the item, «BLUE CHEESE SANDWICH – THE HIGHLIGHTING MEANS WE DARE YOU TO EAT THIS.»
As I scraped off the heated blue cheese that scoured every crevice of the burger, I could only feel sad for the cow that gave its life for this tragedy of culinary indifference. What a shame. This was the worst burger I had eaten in quite some time.
I would never have written a Unilocal review though, if it wasn’t for the attitude of the waitress, which inescapably projected the vibe of, «Oh, well you’re alone, and you’re eating in a section far away from me, so CLEARLY you are wasting my time.» I watched the minutes tick off the clock after she handed me the check and I waited for her to return to run my credit card.
I watched her flirt with the bartender, run a table, and go back to flirting with the bartender. After 11 minutes, I replaced my card with a pile of cash in an exasperated fashion. I feel petty writing this review but I was so inescapably disrespected by this experience I felt compelled to.
What a shame.

I had one of the worst service experiences I’ve ever had at a restaurant here last Saturday. The restaurant was clearly way understaffed, but that wasn’t half of it. The server was awful. It took literally 20 minutes to get water to the table. (I went up to the bar and tipped the bartender for some water long before that.) The server could have easily defused the inadequate staffing issue by just getting us some drinks and then acknowledging the problem; we would have been much more patient for food in that circumstance.
The food was ok, but clearly not good enough to make up for the service. The icing on the cake was when the server brought a leaking pen (I kid you not) with our credit card receipt; the ink got all over the place.
Nothing was comped on the bill and again there were no apologies for the atrocious service. I will definitely not be returning.

I recently went in here after a Twins game. I sat down and said to the bartender that I would like something similar to a Fat Tire. He said something like «I don’t know that. I only know beer.» meanwhile this place has like 30 different types of beers. Anyway, I finally ordered what I wanted without having to actually just say I want «beer.» (if I wanted beef in this place what I just say I want meat?). I found the guy to be a jerk and rude and I’ll never go in there again. Good prices but I go out for service, not for the bartender to say he only serves just beer and then toss me the beer list.

I must preface this by saying I love Bulldog, and I have always loved Bulldog, and I am probably biased. Their burgers are moist and flavorful and then they add an array of delicious toppings. *drool*
In addition, extensive (affordable and largely local) beer list and bar shuffleboard. Hello. Is there even a question, here? Don’t think, just go.
Yes, I mean right now.

Staff is nice and their selection of craft beer is great. I’m moving across the street and pretty sure this is going to be my «Cheers». It’s great!

burgers are ok. they do the job, unique beers is what draws me in, bartenders have good suggestions and I always try something new.
I prefer this location over the NorthEast one. Northeast’s food isn’t consistent.
overall good bar food and better beer

We live in the apartment complex across the street, so favored this place for a while due to the nice beer selection and tasty pub food. The hot dog & beer special on the weekends is especially worthwhile, and the ½ off appetizers are worth making it for happy hour if you can make it.
However, the service has really put us off of the Bulldog downtown. In the last several times we’ve gone, it’s just been mediocre to bad, and the staff seem badly organized for handling any size crowd. The most recent time, we were completely and utterly forgotten after being served our beers, and after being ignored by the staff (including our assigned waitress) when we tried to catch their eye, finally had to go to the bar staff to ask for help. Once she finally returned, the waitress explained that she’d completely forgotten that she was assigned to us and laughed it off, but made no attempt to compensate us or even properly apologize when we’d been sitting there hungry for 20 minutes just trying to get a chance to order.
It seems like a reasonable expectation that any of the staff would have noticed us sitting there looking like we needed something for that length of time, let alone that our waitress’ memory might have been jogged that she had previously been serving us – but no one seemed to have an interest in being proactive or even paying attention.
Before this incident the service had been pretty consistently slow and inattentive but nothing to really fuss too much about — but after this we were just fed up, tired of dealing with it.

I was a little concerned when I walked in, but I had heard good things, so I sat down at the bar.
If you know anything about Happy Hour in Minneapolis, you know that most places fill up quickly with after work drinkers. The Bulldog Downtown was empty.
I sat down and asked the bartender to recommend a beer and he looked at the taps and shrugged his shoulders he started listing the beers and I took a red IPA.
I ordered the Humpty Dumpty burger while not feeling very good about my experience. The burger saved it. It was amazing. One of the best burgers I’ve ever had. I know it’s kind of hard to mess up tater-​tots, but those were also absolutely delicious.
I’d go back for the food, but as a solo diner in town for business, the atmosphere is a little intimidating.

Can’t
Speak to
Large menu
But as a bar
The beer list was meh. Place designed poorly.

I really like their food, their popper burger is great, but service and atmosphere can sometimes be a bit disappointing.
If you come in the winter and plan to sit up front make sure to wear a coat. Their big windows must be pretty thin because they are awful at keeping the heat in, last time I came in the winter I froze.
I have been a few times since that frigid trip, the last being after the City Pages Beer festival. Bulldog is the closet restaurant to the festival so it was packed. Our waitress was clearly frustrated and overwhelmed but she was also extremely rude and unprofessional, I left her an okay tip because I pitied her but she did not deserve it.
I will be coming back because it is good bar food but this restaurant will stay on our backup list until it becomes a bit more fun and inviting.
Lastly, I am still sad about Bullfrog closing, can we merge some of the great menu items from that onto your Bulldog menu, pretty please? :)

Make sure if you meet a friend at the bulldog, you specify which one as there a four now!
Solid beer list albeit a bit pricey, comfortable high top tables, good seating for small and big groups. The downsides are no parking and the prices for the craft beers. There are televisions but not a good place to watch sports due to the odd viewing angles.

I am a big fan of Bulldog in NE because their food and drinks are better than the other locations. I heard they have different owners. This location is alright. I like their happy hour drinks though because it is cheap. Their food is alright, bar food. The staffs are friendly. Parking might be a problem since it is located in downtown. There is a ramp parking behind the building for 5 bucks.

4 Stars for Food, 2 Stars for Service
This location is right across from my apartment and I wanted to grab dinner before the Twins game. I had heard about some really good food here and I was craving a burger. They have a huge variety of bar food and be aware, that every location of Bulldog has something different so your favorites may not always be there!
My friend recommended the Hawaiian Volcano, a burger topped with bacon, grilled pineapple, jalapeño and smoke gouda. Amazing burger! It was a great combination of salty, spicy and sweet flavors, but be aware, I love spicy food and I could taste the fresh jalapenos. I would def. get this again!
My friend got the Danger Dog, which is a hot dog, wrapped in bacon, deep fried and covered in cheese and onions. I had a bite and it was good, but it was a smaller portion and I think that the burgers are a better deal.
Now to the service, I was so disappointed! The bar was ¾ full and our waitress was so rude! She didn’t want to answer our questions and gave us a lot of attitude. The food was brought out in a timely fashion but would it kill to get a smile here or there?
Either way, the food was great so now I want to try even more of the burgers and also their cheese curds.

I am happy that this place is within walking distance from my work. Having a few options around here is useful.
I like the interior, it’s dark, but with windows if you want to look outside. I happen to like my bars on the dark side, not to be confused with the dark side of the force. This place is not evil. I had a special where if you bought a hot dog lunch, you had a free beer. In my case, I had a Chicago Style hot dog with an Amstel Light.
Food was portioned pretty well. I did not feel like a blimp when I left, yet I did not feel cheated out of food. I thought it was reasonably priced and had a good lunch.
I have heard good things about the night scene and will try that out at some point.

WIIIIINGS!
Do yourself a favor if you already haven’t and stop in for some wings. Seriously, I’ve had a burger, salad, soup, a hot dog, nachos, etc. But, I can say that nothing compares to the wings. I always opt out of the chili sauce and instead sub it for ranch.
The beer list is decent. They have $ 4 PBR’s, how can you go wrong? Also, they make most of their cocktails pretty stiff — always a plus.
My only complaint is the games that are usually on TV. The staff tries to accommodate everyone and will usually try and change the channel for you on request but it’s not always the case. Sometimes one is in the mood to watch basketball or golf instead of watching the Twins get slapped around like a hood baby mama!
Overall, Bulldog Downtown has a different vibe from its sister bars — in a good I want-​to-​come-​back type of way. Now go check it out.

It is rare that I give a bar 5 stars, especially one that I’ve only been to once. But I had to say the Bulldog knocked it out of the park for me. We were immediately sat at a table large enough to accommodate us, and they made sure we had ample TVs to watch the Kentucky Derby (at our request!)
We were brought water, which was filled frequently throughout our stay. Between the two very attentive bar tender/​servers that we had, we were well-​taken care of at all times. And the first gentleman that helped us told me about their dog+beer special which featured any of their premium hot dogs (bacon, beans and coleslaw! pulled pork! chili & habanero relish!) and one of three beers for just $ 7. I was sold.
I got the oinker dog, which as it sounds, was full of pork: pulled pork, cheese sauce & bacon bits. The dog was supreme, and was served with crispy kettle chips, a bonus that didn’t go unnoticed by my friends who kept stealing them off of my plate.
Our table shared the fried cheese curds and cheesy tater tots as well, which were excellent companions to the craft beers we were served and all the build up to the 5 minute horse race we watched.
A great find in Minneapolis, with an awesome beer list, tasty food and out of this world service. Give this dog a bone.

Our team had a lunch here on a Friday. I ordered a Diet Coke and a Cuban with a side salad sub for the chips. $ 2 not bad.
The salad was really good on the side and the Cuban was just okay. On my Cuban I want a s load of juicy pulled pork on a panini style bread.
There was hardly any pork and only a few slices of ham. I was disappointed. How hard is it to just make a garbage dump of pork on some bread? My friends along with me agreed. Cuban = Juicy (Like super juicy) pulled pork and panini style!
Jason: Bread. Jason. Dump a bunch of pulled pork. Jason. A slab of ham. Jason: A couple slices of pickle and a crap load of mustard. Perfect Cuban.
Not bad, but way from the best Cuban’s in the cities.
Our waitress didn’t refill our sodas for 20 minutes at a time. A big minus 1 star. She was nice, but guess what, your job is to fill my Diet Coke when it is empty.