The Hanger Room

I visited this place last year but have just recently joined Unilocal so figured I’m due for a review. Here’s to my first review:
The Hanger Room offers a classy and comfortable dining environment, however my first experience left me feeling dissatisfied. My wife and I dined here on Valentines along with my brother, sister, and their spouses. I expected the place to be fully booked but upon arriving there was no wait line and we were seated in a room with 4 or 5 other parties. Great! Service should be quick and easy, right? Boy was I wrong. We waited nearly 45 minutes to receive our food and when it arrived, my expensive aged steak was heavily salted and overcooked (I ordered medium-​rare and got medium). It was borderline inedible and to this day I regret not sending it back. Stupid me, I know!
The wife’s salmon was good but not great and in all honesty, it could have been a great salmon had it been a bit warmer. It almost seemed like it sat on the hot plate 10 minutes too long. Our server also neglected us for a stretch of 30 minutes where I was thirsting for water from my salty steak. From the time we finished dining, it took an additional 15 minutes for our server just to run our credit cards and get our bills back to us.
From speaking with others who have dined here, the steaks are supposedly always perfectly seasoned/​cooked so I may have just been unlucky that evening but it still doesn’t excuse the poor service we received on a night when restaurants are supposed to push harder to make your experience memorable.

I love this place. Gigantic beer selection (around 80 taps) and the food is fantastic. I cannot speak for the steaks, as i usually get small plates off the the bar menu. Lots of homemade ingredients here, including the ketchup. I love the pizzas, the burgers are great, fish tacos are awesome. Even though this would send Gordon Ramsey into a fit of rage, the grilled romaine salad is one of my favorites.
Prices are slightly better than places closer to St. Paul.
I don’t know who the chef is here, but they really have something to be proud of.
Stop in for some great beer and food. You’ll be glad you did.

Hanger Room is one of my favorite destinations. Anytime my friends and I are out for a ride and going east, hanger room is always on our list of stops. The staff is always friendly, knowledgeable and professional. The beer is always delicious and the food always terrific.
Sadly though, there is never anyone else in the place. A friend and I were there on wednesday around 7pm. 1 table in the dining room and 5 people around the bar.
Maybe its the atmosphere. While the room is beautiful, I wonder if more folks wouldn’t frequent if the bar was more lively and comfortable. Frankly its very quiet and stuffy.

Overall I’d say it was a good experience, but there were a few things that made me cringe. The service was decent and the décor was extremely classy (Something about wood paneling that always makes me feel comfortable).
Ok, I’ll admit I don’t know that much about aged steak. I understand that it is bound to be a little drier than an ordinary cut would be and will have a slightly different flavor. I ordered a 60-​day aged steak, medium-​rare. What they brought me, however, was not only without a hint of moisture (again, that may be normal for all I know) but with barely a trace of pink in it. It was extremely disappointing as this is something we had been looking forward to for two weeks. For the price I guess I expected more.
On the positive side the appetizers and sides were delicious and my girlfriend’s wild boar medallions were amazing. They also have a variety of hamburgers that looked good and I would be very interested to try some day. Perhaps we’ll swing in for lunch some time, but the whole dinner thing is not going to happen again.

I wanted to see what they did to the old bowling ally so I took my special number one girl here for a nice relaxing dinner. We both were excited about this place with all the hype we have heard. I had an 52 day aged rib eye. It was cooked very nicely. The food and service were both top notch believed the cost was slightly high for what we got. It just barely got a 4 star from me. I think next time I’ll try to eat in the bar save a little money and have a good time.

My first time to the Hanger Room.
First, food is awesome. Awesome. Steaks, entrees, everything I tasted was delicious. Some of the best tasting food I’ve had. Ever.
Second, it’s expensive. They charge for their awesomeness – which I respect, though means I can’t come to enjoy it as often as I’d like to.
Third, service was ok, I wish our server had been more personable vs. stuffy and stiff.
Fourth, the beer and scotch menus were impressive – and tasty.
This place is on my list for special occations, maybe even a date night here and there with my husband when he’s hankering for a steak. Once you go dry aged steak… it’s hard to go back!
Here are my constructive comments:
They were out of a few things on the menu, and it seemed like our server was pushing the spendy-​er steaks on us when he said we needed to make a fast decision because the butcher needed time cutting. Really? It’s Friday night bub, you should have enough prepped. It really bugs me when resturaunts run out of items, specially signature items they are known for having. I don’t like feeling I need to make a quick decision on a $ 70 steak in front of our server… intentional or not, it seemed pushy.
Our hostess was friendly, however, our server, as I mentioned, was stiff, inpersonal, and almost forced humor to try to lighten the stiff atmosphere he created himself. Don’t misunderstand, the service was good, however, can be improved. When it is improved, the «special night out» experience there will be a home run. Customer Service is everything – especially when I’m spending a lot of money.

My only time there was when I sat down and the server came over to take our order. I asked if there steak was «Prime» and the server replies no it is Angus. I then responded that I was asking if the steak grade was Prime or Choice. He then looked at me with a funny look (as if I was stupid) and replied no Sir it is Angus. Well that right there told me knew nothing of the US grades for beef. Any steakhouse would have figured out if I was asking what kind of beef as in Kobe, Angus, Grass-​fed, etc… but I obviously, I was referring to the quality of the beef. Duh?
I thought the restaurant was only fair with a dumb server. My steak was good tho but I would rather go to the Mpls Ruth’s Chris, Capital Grille (reason for Mpls is because some of the other locations in the US are not as good), or Mannys for a good steak.
I give it 2 ½ stars but the rating machine won’t let me.

I’ll admit that I had a pretty favorable impression of the Happy Gnome of the eastern burbs, er, I mean the Hanger Room, before even stepping through the doors for my first visit many months ago. 80 tap lines, an eclectic gastropub menu and dry-​aged steaks from one of the creators of my favorite pub in town (the Gnome) — this place could pretty much do no wrong in my mind.
All bias aside, the Hanger Room has lived up to my idealized expectations on a fairly consistent basis. First and foremost, the beer selection is great. It changes frequently, but you can always count on approximately 80 tap lines flowing with local, national and international craft brews; including a number of limited release batches.
As far as I know, the Hanger Room is the only restaurant in Minnesota that dry-​ages its own meat on premises. And while the dry-​aged goodness isn’t cheap, it is delicious. That said, I’m usually content ordering a few small plates or a sandwich from the bar menu. Previous hits include the game burger (elk, bison and bacon), carpaccio, fish tacos and tuna poke. It should be noted that their menu changes frequently and isn’t updated online all that often, but I have always been pleased with the number of options and quality of the food for the price (they source from many local farms).
While the location might not be the greatest for most in the Twin Cities, it’s definitely worth the occasional trek to Willernie, and unquestionably worth stopping in if you happen to live close by.

Overall meh. Beer List is awesome. Our server was sweet, but our service was slow. The menu has a lot of nothing special on it. I felt most of the food was overly salted and yet somehow still flavorless. My son had the gnocchi which was probably our favorite. Chicken wings, saltimboca sandwich, cheese burger were all blah. My husband had a steak which he enjoyed, but for the price, you should go to Manny’s and get the full package (service, ambiance, and excellent food). I would go back for happy hour, but not a meal.

I have been here a few times now. I find the service in the bar area to be much better. The steaks are great! Nice to find a place that does dry agining. The beer selection is awesome! The bar staff is quit knowledgeable about what beers they have also.
If its available order up the cream of asparagus soup with truffle. Out of this world tasty!
This places quality has been going up and down though. It seems to go through streaks of really really great with a menu that has a wonderful selection to just OK with a very «typical» menu. As of my last visit last week it was quite tasty. Hope they can maintain the quality.

My family had been very excited to try The Hanger Room, and even had a $ 100 gift card in hand. We had all looked at the menu online and had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to order for Sunday dinner. It began when the first 2 beers we asked for from the beer list were sold out. We noticed right away looking at the menu that the website did not have the current menu listed. We were further disappointed when 6 or 7 of the items on the moderately limited dinner menu (roughly 20 – 25 items, including the dry aged steaks) were sold out as well. It’s one thing to have one or two items sold out, but it was darn near a third of the menu, and included our first, second and even third choices for our dinners.
I understand that there’s no liquor or food deliveries on a Sunday… but this was exceessive. Needless to say, we paid for our drinks and took our business elsewhere. What a bummer. The silver lining was that our server was really great, and the menu did look tasty.

The Hanger Room is pricey, but the food didn’t equate the cost. I had the sushi and it was average. My husband had the prime rib and he was underwhelmed. I thought the wine and beer selection was excellent. I loved the atmosphere and also the fact the meat was acquired locally.

4 stars instead of 5, only because of unfamiliarity. My review is for the bar, where my food has been 5-​star all the way, though I think it could do with a smidge lower lighting. Pretty expensive, but in my experience the food’s been worth what we have paid, as it has been consistently amazing.
One note: the barbacoa tacos are now off their bar menu, and were fabulously priced as well as created. I LOVED those. They were $ 9.00, and a steal for that price. I would have gone there about weekly if they’d stayed on the menu.
BUT, everything I’ve ordered here has been really delicious. And the beer list is awesome as many mention. I’ve not had a stellar wine here, though trust they do exist on the list. I guess when I ask the server, I like to get an amazing recommendation, which I have not, yet, here.
Our server (we have had the same server most times) is friendly, and we like her. There’s another one we’ve had a few times also, not quite as… reserved /​good of service from, alas. But, we try to get our usual server, and we like her.
When /​if they bring back the barbacoa tacos, definitely try them. They were a knock-​out!
One day we’ll try the dining room side, and I’ll write another review, or update this one.

It was unexpected to drive so far out of St. Paul to a small little town-​vibe strip and have such an amazing experience. Their on-​tap beer list was extensive, their menu was very intriguing and atmosphere was very classy. White linen dining room but upscale high top bars separated the dining room from the bar but complimented each other. The spinach salad we started with was wonderful and fresh. The Elk burger and fries were made even better by the side of ketchup they make in-​house. My maple glazed salmon over risotto was among the best I’ve ever had. We finished the meal with banana egg rolls with ice cream and caramel sauce was perfect.
Worth the drive from the cities.

Had an awesome experience at the Hanger Room tonight. We choose to do their tasting menu which was an awesome experience and one I highly recommend. Our waiter, Jason, was also the manger and was outstanding. He had wonderful ideas for pairing when we asked and in general excellent suggestions. Normally I would be all over the steak; however my favorite dish on the tasting menu was the pork with wilted spinach. When paired with the Surly Smoke, it brought the menu to a whole new level… who knew that spinach could taste that fantastic. Can’t wait to go back.

Decent beer list but service is WAY off. Kind of aloof. Slow. Food is pricey. Only 2 TVs.

Both food and drinks were pretty good. Not the service which, when it wasn’t slow, was inattentive. Sat for over 15 minutes before having to ask the hostess to find our waiter so we could order. Similar gaffes during the meal and waited for 10 minutes after the bill was presented for the waiter to take payment. Normally I would have said something to the front of the house but it was deserted when we left. Not sure the food adequately offset the service and thus not sure I’ll return.

Bar Only Review. I met a group of friends at The Hanger Room for a midweek happy hour. It’s out of my way but close to their work. It was pretty empty– but was fine for a group. It would not have been a good place to mingle with strangers and make new friends.
The beer selection was AMAZING. The beer menu is a binder– with descriptions, ABV and price of each beer. Descriptions are a huge plus when faced with so many options! As a recent transplant from the east coast– I was thrilled that they have Magic Hat in addition to a wide range of regional beers.
The service was good and the bathrooms had real towels.

It has been a while since my review, they have been open longer and I felt it no longer applied.
The service staff has come into their own since our first visit. They are well versed in the menu, the beer selection, etc. Service has been crisp and attentive in our follow up visits.
I still have not ordered the MN Game Burger, but the friends I recommended it to said it was the best burger they’ve ever eaten. I finally got the BLT with an egg on it one Sunday on brunch, it was worth the wait! Their fries are fantastic, fresh cut potatoes, crisp and potatoey, yum. The only menu item I was unimpressed with was the fish tacos.
I stop as often as I can for a beer, their selection never lets you down. They always have a $ 3 tap selection and there have been some real gems offered. However, I generally stop for the rare hard to find beer they offer. I mean, they aged a keg of Sami Claus for a year before putting on tap (which is good because fresh Sami Claus is a bit cloying, it really does well after a year or more).
I am grading the price as moderate because you can certainly eat for under $ 20, but if you want the house aged steaks you are going to get into the Spendy range pretty easily.
Love this place, the staff, food and beer are awesome and I have not even touched on their wine, scotch, bourbon or cocktails.

Absolutely beautiful place! We had a table of 8 and everyone loved their food. I had prosciutto wrapped cod. It was delicious and sat on a bed of roasted tomato and accompanied by a delicate handmade ravioli. The portions appear small but the flavors were so rich and superb, it was perfect. my husband had the much touted 42 day aged ribeye, which was tender, earthy and wonderful.
Tremendous selection of beers and wines! Gorgeous bar This is a place we will return to often.