March 8, 2018

Two months after opening a bricks-and-mortar version of its popular food truck, Swamp Daddy’s Cajun Kitchen has added dinner hours two nights a week. The restaurant started serving lunch in January in the Jones421 marketplace on North Phillips Avenue. Now, the flavors of New Orleans also are available from 5 to 9:30 Friday and Saturday nights. Lunch hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Now that the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites near Elmwood Golf Course is open, the adjoining Crooked Pint Ale House is serving breakfast. Diners can orders standards such as eggs, bacon, hash browns and pancakes, but there also are more interesting choices such as a breakfast flatbread, sausage hash and sunrise tacos. Playing off of its native Minnesota stuffed Lucy burgers, Crooked Pint serves a morning version. The dish includes peanut butter sandwiched between slices of French toast that are topped with caramelized bananas and maple syrup. Breakfast is served from 6 to 10 a.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the weekend.

Spring must be here! The B&G Milkyway at 69th Street and Louise Avenue opened Wednesday. It’s the first one in the area to crank on the ice cream machines; the other B&Gs will open Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

Bros Brasserie Americano is ready for barbecue weather even though the snow won’t go away. The downtown restaurant has resumed its BBQ Sundays from 3:30 to 8 p.m. The meats are smoked in-house, and the menu includes brisket, ribs, pulled pork, three house-made sauces and several a la carte sides.

Last year, Flyboy Donuts owner Ben Duenwald fell for his niece’s pitch and bought 20 boxes of Thin Mints from the Girl Scout. He featured the cookies in a chocolate and mint doughnut. This year, she and Facebook followers convinced him to add a variety using Samoas, the cookie coated in caramel, sprinkled with toasted coconut and striped with a dark chocolaty coating. The cookie choices are available for a limited time every day in the store at The Bridges at 57th but usually sell out quickly. If it’s a must-have thing, the doughnuts can be ordered in advance online.

Parker’s Bistro is in the midst of rolling out its new seasonal menu. The downtown restaurant has released half of the new dishes, owner Stacy Newcomb-Weiland said. Some of the small plate choices have been tweaked or reappear with new flavors. The hummus is made with Meyer lemons, falafel and tzatziki. The mussels are in a harissa-spiced tomato broth with Spanish chorizo and a cilantro vinaigrette. New entrees include a vegetarian ramen and scallops with white cheddar grits, lardons, sorrel mushrooms and a smoked tomato aioli. There’s also a souvlaki pork chop served with a marinated fava bean puree, roasted garlic, quinoa and roasted baby artichokes. Three or four new entrees will find their way to the menu in coming weeks, Weiland said.

Hydra Beer Co. breathes metal music as part of its brand, so this collaboration and guest appearance by David Ellefson of Megadeth make perfect sense. On March 16, the brewery will release Urban Legend Coffee Stout, made with dark roast beans from Ellefson Coffee Co. The Minnesota native will be at the brewery, 2425 S. Shirley Ave., from 7 to 9 p.m. The Ron Keel Band will perform.

This pairing uses a local craft beer for the flavoring. Stensland Family Farms blended Fernson Brewing Co.’s Wagonplane Porter into its ice cream to make Porter Tipsy Cow Toffee. It’s available this month by the scoop at the farm’s ice cream shop and retail store on West 41st Street. Co-owner Leah Moller said another collaboration will be coming out soon. Kool Beans Coffee and Roasterie in Brookings approached the farm near Larchwood, Iowa, about making an ice cream using its coffee. The creation will be sold at the coffee shop in Brookings and at the 41st Street store.

Subway could be called Wrapway, too. The chain has introduced its “Signature Wraps Collection” nationwide. Instead of the in-store baked bread, customers can choose tomato basil or spinach wraps to hold their meat, cheese and veggies. Subway has created three versions – Chipotle Southwest Steak & Cheese; Turkey, Bacon & Guacamole; and Savory Rotisserie-Style Chicken Caesar – but customers can pick their own ingredients. The wraps feature twice as much meat as a 6-inch sub.