For lunch on Saturday, we went to what appears to be a really rockin’ bar. At least at night, I bet. During the day, it was laid back enough for us to take a big table by the back and get a few burgers.
But despite the innocent looking setup, this was not you average lunch. It was, in fact, the first time anyone could remember that Mark, aka AJ, did not finish his burger.
Dun-dun-dun! He had ordered the Insanity burger, and it was, indeed, so insanely spicy that he could not finish it. The culprit? Dave’s Insanity Sauce, a sauce so hot that it has its own wikipedia entry.
Yes, he was a bit ashamed. But also happy to know that he was beaten only by something that once held the title of “World’s Hottest Sauce.” More photos of the food — and the family, with Samantha, of course! — after the jump.
After our walk through Sibley Park, we stopped for a beer at Pub 500, which SCF fans may remember from such posts as “Historic Mankato Pub Crawl: Pub 500.” We had some craft beer and a helping of very delicious homemade potato chips.
Wow. If we had a co-op like this in Nyack, I’d be in heaven. (Hmmm. Business idea?)
It is definitely taking its cue from Whole Foods, in that it’s one of those mainly organic stores that have taken the “health food store” stigma and vitamin aroma out of the equation.
For our Saturday evening activity, we headed out to Indian Island, a new winery that just completed construction on its tasting room and grounds. (Are you sensing a pattern here? Brewery, pizza, farmers market, winery? Well certainly Bob and Ann planned activities to suit their audience!) We had a bunch of fun:
For our fourth and final stop on the Mankato Historic Pub Crawl, we hit Red Sky Lounge. It is by far the hippest spot on the tour, but alas, we learned the least about its history. Instead, we heard more about what bars it had been over the years, and how the current owners came to take it over and what they’d done to renovate. Still, worth a look.
The third spot on the pub crawl was a spot called Pub 500. For a long time, it was a gas station, conveniently located near a tire store (that’s still in business). Today, it’s a pub and restaurant, owned by the same people who own the Happy Chef chain of restaurants. Betcha didn’t know the Happy Chef was based in Mankato, Minn., didya?
Schell’s Brewery in New Ulm, Minn. was established in 1860, making it the second oldest brewery in the US. (The first is Yuengling.) We went for a tour and a tasting on a beautiful Friday afternoon.
Jake’s Stadium Pizza — one of Greg’s favorites because of its thin, crackery crust and fun toppings, such as Canadian bacon — is moving to make way for a CVS. We were there on its last weekend in the old location.
After lunch, we took the car out to the prairie for some sightseeing and nostalgic visits to places like “the home place,” where Greg’s dad grew up. When the wind whistles the tall grass and it sways back and forth like waves along the fields, you start to understand such references as “for amber waves of grain.” Even though these are green.
 Oldest U.S. Brewery){kind=link}
