Gus Gus TODOTC.com To Do in the Twin Cities Restaurants Gus Gus Date: Jan 26, 2023 128 Cleveland Ave N St Paul, MN 55104 Phone: (651) 645-4128 www.gusgusmn.com

Tonight we are at Gus Gus across from St Thomas in St Paul. Auna is our server. At first glance this place could be a pub straight out of the London underground. Wait there's a mounted deers head. Maybe Glasgow underground.

The place is tight, but everyone fits comfy. Tonight is the coldest night of the year and we are seated right next to the door. Also, right next to radiator heat, the most pleasant heat in the world.

Like all smart businesses north of the Mason Dixon, Gus Gus has an antechamber entrance. Two doors at the entrance separated by at least six feet. That's important because some idiot always tries to open both at the same time flooding the place with fridge cold. For the most part Gus Gus is toasty.

Parking is starting to become an important part of deciding where to go out lately. When I found out Gus Gus was across the street from St Thomas Catholic University and we could park in their indoor lot, I was fine. Perhaps I spoke early. Sure, it was half a block away but as you drove into the St Thomas lot; I got no parking voucher from a machine. I simply paused and said this could be interesting. I then walked out of a door that locked behind me. No worries time to eat.

E was in Gus Gus already waiting for our table with two other couples. The waiting area next to the door is a bit clumsy but it appears to be a half hour exercise that unless you are there, it is not a big deal. And there servers are great at their job, they talked to E within a minute after she entered, was aware of her reservation and it would be a few minutes.

Within ten minutes we were seated. We had a nice little corner table next to the door but it was fine. And though Gus Gus is a small pubish type of place, it has very quiet acoustics, which is appreciated when you just want to relax on a Friday night. Unless the table next to you have friends that stand in your face for ten minutes and talk of old times… Seems to happen to us a lot lately.

The decor of Gus Gus is highlighted by a deer head next to the door. Something I'm sure someone is proud of that lends the place a certain charm. I'm a deer hunter and yes, we have mounted horns in our family room. The small bar on the north side looks like it could mix up any exotic drink you could imagine.

So, we sat at a small 2-foot table that was big enough to handle anything we would have that night. As usual we started with wine. There are four red wines by the glass. E had her usual Cab Sav from Scholar & Mason of Napa and I went with a Nebbiolo from Wonderwall in Santa Barbara where we will be going for our annual wine vacation in July. Yes, like last year in Willamette I will be taking you with us as we tour. Both wines were good pours and good tasting California wines. The rest of Gus Gus wine menu featured: two Sparklings, two Rose's, four whites, in addition to the same number of bottle wines. Enough for an average evening out.

On to the menu. E and I like French fries like most of the civilized world. And the great chefs all have their version of fries. Tonight we had Fries with Bagna Cauda Ailoli for $7. The translation for those of us that spent our time in Latin class looking at legs instead of listening means "Hot Bath" dipping sauce. It was good.

Our salad course was called a Gem Salad. With Gem Lettuce, watermelon radishes, carrots, fennel & pistachios all for $9 which we split. Gem lettuce is a cross between Romain and butter lettuce it is becoming very popular at restaurants.

For our entrée we had Gnocchi. Gnocchi is an Italian Dumpling. Gus Gus Gnocchi is served with Squash Beurre blanc, mushrooms & Mascarpone for $24. Oh my god was it good. A year or two ago we decide to start researching and learning about mushrooms. We even join the MN Mushroom Society. This entrée had incredible mushrooms. Auna is our server knew about mushrooms and even told us about local mushroom hunting she had done. The earthiness of the mushrooms and the Italian Dumpling brought an indescribable grand climax to a great evening.

And when the bill came with three glasses of wine it was under $100 was a great feeling. Now to get back in our SUV. We asked Auna about the procedure and she was unsure. I'm going out on a limb here but if you tell your customers to park somewhere, maybe you should know how to get out their car.

So we walked across the street to the underground parking at St Thomas and went to the locked door. I went to the entrance keyboard and hit the call button. A nice attendant came on the speaker and opened the door for us on the coldest night of the year in MN. I still had no ticket so we drove to the exit and the door opened… we were FREE! I'll pay the $5 in the Sunday collection plate. Gus Gus is a very good place you could drive past and never know it's there but don't. Stop on in at Cleveland & Laurel across the street from St Thomas of St Paul, you'll be pleasantly surprised. We'll be back!

Contact us Dennis@ToDoTC.com