Bar Abilene

Bar Abilene
1300 Lagoon Ave
Minneapolis, MN

Date: Sunday, March 18

Last Sunday, I met my brothers and one of the girlfriend's for brunch at Bar Abilene. My oldest brother Drew first "discovered" brunch there a few years ago and since then, whenever he is involved in a brunch decision, he chooses Bar Abilene. Bar Abilene is "Cowboy Cuisine", so it's a mix of the tex mex flavors and traditional American breakfast. It is easy, reasonably priced, not too busy, and you can eat lots of food. Enough to be filled up for an entire day!

I have never actually looked to see if they have a menu for brunch. They have a menu for other times of the day, but the brunch is an all-you-can eat buffet for $10.95 (and kids are free! Rowan was not with me at this meal, as she was with her dad and out protesting the war or something in lieu of eating. A radical at age 4! But, that is beside the point, which is breakfast/brunch, which she could have gotten for free had she been with me.). The brunch buffet has not once changed since I have been there. Your options are:

• Chicken/Tofu fajitas with choices of sour cream, salsas, cheese, etc. for toppings
  
• fresh fruit
  
• mini regular waffles; mini chocolate waffles (these topped with whipped cream are pretty much the best thing ever!)
  
• french toast (just okay)
  
• biscuits and southwest gravy (never tried it; not my thing)
  
• sausage links
  
• bacon
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• the best potatoes ever

Plus, a build your own omelette station (which are pretty good, but can take a while), a meat station (I did not pay attention to that, but usually they serve prime rib and/or ham), and a table full of desserts.

It never changes, and for me and my love of stability, this is a good thing.

We arrived a little bit before 10:00am, and had to wait outside for a bit for the place to open. My brothers are a little naughty and were entertaining Karla and I with stories of "Jayzerz" the blue jay and amphibious hummers. Not entirely related to the food, but fun anyhow.



My other brother joined us in a bit and the doors opened and we were seated and served right away (we were the first people there, after all). It should be noted that they have excellent coffee and are fairly prompt with the refills. We all managed to stuff ourselves silly and have a good time. No complaints here, and the food, as always, was good. Especially the potatoes.


Fajita and potatoes: weird, but delicious, breakfast combination.


Brothers.

I would definitely recommend Bar Abilene for people who want to eat a lot (seriously: enough for the whole day!) and who like traditional breakfast foods with a slight twist on them. Also, if you value bang for your buck, then Bar Abilene delivers. For $11, you do get a good variety and can eat exactly as much as your heart desires. And, it doesn't have that icky feeling that many buffets have, since the Sunday brunch is a once a week deal and not their regular fare.