St Clair Broiler

This is our second time here since they re-​tooled the menu. Tonight we both had the all you can eat fish fry. The fish was hot and crunchy and came with fries and good cole slaw. We also enjoyed a basket of frickles (fried pickles) with the new spicy Snelling sauce. Our server was great, too. All in all a great way to start the weekend!

I have been going to the Broiler for over 40 years and have seen many changes. It had been a few years since I was there and my family and I decided to have lunch. First of all, the 3^rd dining room where we were seated still smelled of the musty smell I remembered from before which was not pleasant. The seats could use some new springs as there was one big dip where people sat in the past. I noticed that the menu had changed since our last visit and the choices were rather sparse. Nothing really appealed to me or my family, so we settled for what they had. We placed our orders and when I ordered chips as one of my choices with my burger, I was told that only fries were served; the fruit and chip choices were not available. There were 3 of us in our party and we received only 2 waters. The food was good, not spectacular, certainly nothing that could command what the price was. I am sorry that my experience was a negative one, I am sad to think that I will consider not going there again.

Terrible experience!!! Lousy food, small portions, high prices and poor service… what more can a diner ask for??? So sad, as this place has been an icon in the neighborhood for many, many years with fair prices and decent food. Will never go back as there are too many other good choices…

This place is relatively close to my apartment and my boyfriend and I always wonder why we don’t eat there more often, but then we go and we know why. It’s just okay food that’s pretty pricey. The diner can’t seem to shake that musty smell either. The menu has changed over the years and has become more of the classic burger place, rather than a wider variety of diner food.
Due to the proximity to my house, I’ll probably return if I’m feeling lazy and not feeling like venturing out too far.

Great place! While it seems like a dive place to go, considering each section looks like an add-​on, the food and atmosphere are excellent! Went there for a fish fry and was taken away by their service and quality of fish. The staff was friendly and inviting, the service as quick, professional, and polite. Was a bit doubtful at first, considering I was looking for a good place that has a good fish fry. This was the place! My family ordered seconds and thirds of the fish, which is rare considering we have been to many fish frys in the past and were let down.

You can order off menu if you want. They have a long list of «fancy» burgers. If you want a regular old fashioned burger you have to ask for that. Their malts are phenomenal!!! Loved that malt.
It’s still a burger and fries joint and nothing special except their prices are specially high. $ 35 for two burgers with fries, two beverages and a malt.
Oh that malt was great!

My husband and I went to St. Clair Broiler because we were craving a good ruben, and we have had one here in the past! Well we were disappointed to find out that they completely changed there menu! Burgers have now taken over the lunch/​dinner menu, most of them sounding pretty good! I was disappointed to see that the nice selection of sandwich choices have been replaced by the basic BLT and 2 chicken sandwiches named chicken sandwich one and two. Mainly just disappointed that the nice variety of sandwiches, plated dinners etc has now be replaced with other things.
My husband tried the kitchen sink burger and loved it, super spicy and tasty. I had the chicken sandwich 1 and it was boring. Had NO flavor and was very charred. I also asked for no tomatoes but found half of the sandwich was full of them.
The service was still up to St. Clair Broiler standards! Super nice and on top of things server, our drinks were always full!

Not a fan of the new menu, prices, or portion sizes and the AC doesn’t seem to work either. The menu items I went there for (the Southwest BBQ chicken salad was at the top of my list) are gone. My wife’s salmon salad was more like a starter and calling it a salad is a stretch.

Not loving the «update». The restaurant still smells musty.
The food was good, but pricey ($ 10.95 for an omelette).
The service was poor. Our waitress (dark hair/​pony tail) answered questions about the menu in a curt and snotty tone. After a while she stopped coming to our table and another staff person finally refilled the coffee.
I won’t rush back.

I would 0 star this if I could. I came in on a hot day and the restaurant was absolutely SWELTERING. No working AC (or at least it felt that way), rude staff. In the time I was there I saw (what I assume was) the manager yell at his wait staff AND kitchen staff. Keep it professional maybe? Can’t even remember what I got, too appalled at the whole ordeal.

I’ve been here many times over many years, though not recently until a week ago. I have good memories of the place (like chatting with Hubert Humphrey at the counter once!) and always liked the food. But this recent visit hit a real low.
The good: Great neighborhood, comfortable, clean, well-​maintained up-​scale diner, excellent service in this case, at least. The food was pretty good diner-​plus fare. Nothing creative, but «pretty good» is the key concept.
Not so good:
Big thumbs-​down for the music – a steady stream of 1950’s top 40, playing too loud. This stuff was good once, half a century ago. Now it’s boring, at best, and frankly it annoys the heck out of me. Just because I remember those songs when they were fresh doesn’t mean I want to hear them now.
What happened to round plates? Who decided plates with corners were good, or cute, or trendy? They’re just annoying and stupid IMHO. I’ve watched Gordon Ramsey smash better tableware on Kitchen Nightmares.
Why are Tater Tots on any restaurant menu anywhere? I can understand serving them for school lunch, or using them at home. But if I’m paying for a meal out, even in a diner like this, why would I want processed, frozen potato by-​product? They offered these but no hash browns. Seriously? And what does this say about their mashed potatoes. Any bets on where those come from?
I’m putting a note on the file, «Stay away until 2017.» Then maybe I’ll give the St. Clair Broiler another try.

I love this place! Great service, cool atmosphere, and delicious food. Chicken pot pie was enormous and perfect. The fries here are recommended too. And the shakes.

Veggie burger did not disappoint, excellent flavor with a bit of a crunch. We will be back for sure. Great fries/​tots and excellent customer service.

Great food. Great service. Enjoyed a juicy burger & fries. With a chocolate banana Malt. Our waiter was on point. Did a great job, and enjoyed how they make the orange juice right in front of you. Good location. Overall, good spot!

I’m a vegetarian and this place has the best veggie burger in the Twin Cities. It’s not handmade, which is good because I’ve never had a housemade veggie burger that tasted very good, but it’s delicious.
I also love the fries and coleslaw here. The coleslaw isn’t for everyone, but I like it. They used to give it on the side of every burger, and now it’s given as an alternative to the fries. I hate that, because the slaw is just a small taste and not really comparable to a plate of fries. So, now I have to pay $ 1 for it on the side, which I think is a ripoff for what you get… but I still order it since I like it. Should be free.
The service is good and friendly here and the beer selection is acceptable. Also, there is rarely a wait on Friday and Saturday nights, which is shocking to me since I think the food is great here. (my wife is not vegetarian and she loves the beef burgers here)
Update 1÷24÷16
They changed the menu recently and made it worse. All of their meat and veggie burgers are oily/​fatty, fancy, and they no longer have the build your own burger (although my wife and I still customized our burgers). Also, they are more expensive. We used to eat here all the time and we haven’t been back in many months.

Hubby and I were in the Twin Cities area for several days, and while we were there, it was our practice to seek out little neighborhood diners for our lunches. We found this place the second day we were there and it was fantastic. We both ordered burgers, and hubby said that this was/​is the second best burger he’s ever had (sorry, the best one is in Albuquerque and won’t be relegated to a lower level). My burger was wonderful.
In fact, we enjoyed our lunch there so much that we took niece and nephew there for dinner the night before we left the area, and introduced them to a new place to eat. Y’all are doing everything right, so keep it up!

A lovely place. The salad is now my gold standard for salads. The staff is kind and efficient. My son loves that they have Kraft mac & cheese on the kids’ menu. Upscale comfort food. Love the faux tv dinner idea.

It’s funny, I ate here about two weeks ago and my recollection of the experience somehow faded dramatically, but then, I’d say that’s a fair assessment of this classic American diner. I swear I had a cobb salad, but the online menu currently doesn’t list one, so I’m left wondering if the online menu isn’t current or, perhaps, if my memory of the salad is simply so unremarkable that I forgot all about it. (Or, obviously, if I’m getting old and so is my noggin.) Doesn’t matter. This is a true diner with a few Minnesota twists, come here to eat comfortable food that won’t get in the way of a great conversation.
It’s precisely the kind of place Macalester college should have in the ‘hood, a nice spot for students catching up on studies or grabbing a bite with the ‘rents. Annie’s right about the outside signage, it’s a marvel, harking back to a time when sandwich shops like this truly served up the best eats in town. So consider this a very positive three star shout-​out: come here for burgers and walleye, forget the salads. Literally.

I will admit, i used to love the Broiler. As a mac undergrad i would spend many friday afternoons abusing the all you can eat fish fry with a chocolate malt and far too many cigrettes in the booths against the windows on St. Clair. Sadly, those times are gone.
For the most part, this place fell off entirely when it was acquired by Rudolph’s in Minneapolis. Rather than a diner feel, it has a vaguely yuppie feel. The food is still ok, but its dramatically overpriced and the greasy undercooked patty melts and burgers that made it great seem to have become health-​ified in the worst way possible. The plates are all very «crate and barrel» plain white, squares and rectangles that don’t go at all with what the vibe used to be. Even breakfast is just so-​so.
The malts are still excellent. In all honesty, its the only reason worth going in. Wish it weren’t so, but its not the Broiler you once loved.

This was the first time I’d been to St Clair Broiler for breakfast. I ordered the Greek frittata. I must warn you that it’s nothing like a frittata, but a super puffy omelet. The dish is huge, which was not expected. It was tasty and ended up being breakfast for two days.
The boys got pancakes and were deeply in love with what they had. The pancakes are gigantic and fluffy.
If you’re hungry and looking to start off your morning with a full belly, this is the place for you.