Just Around the Corner

The day after attending the Minnesota State Fair it was time for us to head home to Las Vegas. However, we had one more stop to make. The Dari-ette Drive-In is another of our “Must Go” places when we come to Minnesota. Now I believe that the Dari-ette is one of the few places that I had been to first and then saw on TV and I have to tell you a quick story about seeing it on TV.

The Dari-ette has been a favorite of Joan’s for as long as she can remember. It is literally a five minute walk from the house that she grew up in and that her father still lives in. Well, one night we were watching Food Network and an ad for Alton Brown’s “Feasting on Asphalt 2: The River Run” came on. In this installment of “Feasting on Asphalt” Alton was riding his motorcycle up the Mississippi River and sampling all of the local road food. Well I said to Joan, “Maybe when he gets to St. Paul, he’ll go to the Dari-ette.” Her very quick response was, “He’s not going to go to the Dair-ette,” as if to say “Who would ever want to see the Dari-ette on TV?” Well, it wasn’t 10 seconds later that the latest episode of “Diners, Drive Ins and Dives” came on. Guy Fieri was in the Twin Cities and the last place he visited was none other than the Dari-ette. Joan’s shocked reaction was, “

No Freakin’ WAY

!”

So, on our last afternoon in town, we met Joan’s friend Kim and her three boys at Joan’s father’s place for lunch. Everyone drove over to the Dari-ette except Joan and I who walked the easy five minutes up the street and around the corner, stopping for a quick hello to Joan’s godparents on the way.

When we got there, it was time to eat. The Dari-ette does your standard Dairy Queen type ice cream and such, but they do something that you don’t see at your average ice cream place, killer Italian food. Since this was Tuesday, their special that day was “Buy any Pizza Burger and get a Root Beer Freeze free.” Sounds good to me, sign me up:

The burger was very good and the pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese added a great flavor to the meat that was done perfectly. The Root Beer Freeze was a slushy root beer shake. Great root beer taste which I love mixed with ice cream which, well how could you not love. After I finished off the burger, I needed just a little something more, and after seeing the segment on Triple D, I knew what I wanted:

The meatballs at the Dari-ette are just wonderful. If you saw the Triple D segment, you’ll know that they use a secret meat blend and then deep fry the meatballs. They then cover them with their wonderful sauce that, as owner Angela Fida told to Guy Fieri, has the secret ingredient of “love.” She makes the sauce herself and will only, from time to time, let other employees stir. In fact, we had the opportunity to talk with Angela for a few minutes after we ate. Joan’s friend Kim worked with her when they were both back in high school and they caught up for a few minutes. Then Angela had to get back to, what else, making sauce.

Before we left, I had to grab one more item. Now I know I already had the root beer freeze with my burger, but I needed the one thing I seem to always get at the Dari-ette, their fresh banana shake.

Like all shakes, this one was ice cream and milk but then mixed in there were wonderful chunks of fresh banana which gave the shake a wonderful natural banana flavor and not an artificial overpowering banana flavor. This has to be my favorite item on the ice cream side of the menu.

I know I recommend most of the places that we go, but really, if you’re in St. Paul, stop by the Dari-ette and get some of the best Italian food to ever come out of a Drive In. Now remember that they are closed in the winter, so you’ll have to visit them in the spring, summer or fall. I did take one more picture that I have to share with you just as a little extra enticement. Here's their menu (zoom in and you can see all the items for yourself):

Next up, back home and dinner with some friends at what has become my favorite restaurant in Las Vegas.

Until next time,

Mike

The Particulars

Restaurant: Dari-ette Drive-In

Location:

1440 Minnehaha Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN 55106

Website: None that I could find. But you can follow them on Facebook

Date of Visit: August 30, 2011

Time of Visit: 1:00pm, Lunch

Has It Been on TV?: The Dair-ette has been featured on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” as you saw above.