Dive Night - Meister's ~ Scandia

Dive Night is a once monthly adventure undertaken by me and Husby, along with our friends Ruthie and Ray. Each couple alternates choosing a restaurant, one which must come under the category of "dive." Our definition of dive: a neighborhood gathering spot hiding under the radar. Casual atmosphere and good food. We're out to find the best food in the Minneapolis/St Paul area without having to pay a fortune or dress up. A sip of beer or wine doesn't hurt either.  See a list and links to the previous dive night posts here.

Last year when we started the whole Dive Night routine Ruthie and Ray kicked it off by taking us to a place called Meister's in Stillwater, MN.  Husby and I were surprised when they did a Meister's reprise.  Who knew there was another one?  In Scandia, MN?  We make it a policy not to choose chains for Dive Night, but I don't think the Meister's would be considered such.  Behold, Meister's:

I love these bar/grill establishments, and this one was one worth visiting.  It's a small place, but didn't seem crowded, even though there were plenty of people there.  The service was wonderful.  We were not only waited on by our waitress, the owner also checked on us and made sure everything was satisfactory.

We started out with cocktails and appetizers.  Ruthie had a glass of wine, Ray and Husby had beer, and because I had a somewhat difficult week I decided to go for it and have a Cosmo.  The Cosmo was delicious, but on the weak side.  For appetizers we chose deep fried cauliflower with a ranch dipping sauce and smelt served with tartar sauce.  The smelt was fileted!  Ruthie and I had never had smelt before, and don't you know we had been missing out on a treat our whole lives.  The cauliflower was delicious too; I had been craving it for so long.  Both appetizers were really hot when they arrived at our table.

Next came the entrees.  None of us had any complaints, and we were all so hungry there was no need for to-go boxes.  The fries were great, and the sandwiches were big, juicy, and very flavorful.  Our choices, right-to-left top:  Husby=chicken sandwich, plain and simple, Ruthie=mushroom swiss burger; bottom: me=bacon barbeque burger, Ray=bacon cheeseburger.  The burgers were 1/3 pound and perfectly cooked.  Mine came with fried onions, much to Husby's delight...not, but I loved them!

Of course we have to assess the bathrooms too.  This was in the stall of the ladies room:

Pretty funny.  A poster-sized print made to look like a window.  I didn't hear any reports of peeping Tomasina (female version of peeping Tom?) in the men's room. Both bathrooms were clean and fresh-smelling.

I give high praise to Meister's in Scandia, MN, with a small demerit for the weak Cosmo.  All of us agreed we'd certainly visit again.