I FINALLY stopped by Fat Lorenzo’s for dinner this evening after years of driving by and saying, “Hmm, I should check it out.” I was surprised and pleased to see they have a very respectable beer menu. They aren’t loaded with MN craft beers, but their overall craft selection is pretty good. Here are the highlights (not complete, ignores imports, etc.).
Summit EPA
Bell’s (2 Hearted, 3rd Coast, Pale, Oberon)
Furthermore Fatty Boombalatty
Brau Bros Sheep Head
Rush River Small Axe Golden Pale
Two Brothers Ebel’s Weiss
New Holland Dragon’s Milk
Southern Tier Imperial Iniquity
Goose Island Matilda
New Belgium (Mothership Wit, Fat Tire)
Oh yeah, and all the beers are priced at $3.50 except for the Goose Island ($4.00) and the Southern Tier ($8.00). The Dragon’s Milk might have been more than $3.50 also. And they have gelato!!!
You can find Fat Lorenzo’s at the southern edge of Lake Nokomis in Mpls (Cedar Ave. and Edgewater Blvd.)
Huh, they told me they didn’t serve anything but EPA when I was there back in the fall. Lame.
They have had a good selection of bottled beer for quite some time and their pizza is fantastic.
You really should specify if these beers are on tap or in bottle because it makes a huge difference. For example, I would make a trip if New Holland Dragon’s Milk was on tap but it’s not hard to find in a bottle if you know where to look.
Why “ignores imports”?
I’m an importer and I am in Minnesota. Does that not count as MNBeer?
‘cuz if that’s true, I’ll stop hipping you to the stuff we do.
Lanny
Nate, mostly bottles (including the Dragon’s Milk). Truth be told, I don’t know what they had on tap. My visit was mostly coincidental and for a purpose other than making note of their beer, so I wasn’t really prepared or in a position to take very good notes.
Lanny, the point of the blurb wasn’t to provide a complete list of all beers. The point was to highlight a surprising beer selection at a small restaurant not noted for anything other than gelato and ‘za. They certainly had imports and some interesting ones, but the list of imports wasn’t quite as notable as the list of domestic craft, in my opinion. I’ll reference my response to Nate regarding why the list wasn’t complete. Point taken, though, that imports cannot be ignored. We don’t spend a lot of time providing info on offerings from the big domestics, nor the more accessible imports. However, there’s no reason why more attention can’t be given to noteworthy imports (e.g. maybe we can safely ignore Sapporo, but Urthel is worth mentioning).
A fair and reasoned response. Thank you!
I get my undies in a bunch sometimes because high-quality specialty imports, like the ones I sell, are a very important part of the beer landscape here in Minnesota. Like it or not, we live in a global beer world and without the influence of beer from all over the local stuff would be less interesting.
Thanks for what you do.
True dat. It’s awfully easy to get solely focused on American craft beer (how typically American, huh), but that doesn’t mean it’s healthy to do so. Thanks for keeping us honest, so to speak.
Been going to fat’s for years. Easily one of the best pizza places in town (biased, as I can walk/bike there, but I haven’t found anything as good lately). I’m almost positive everything is in a bottle. Once you see the space, you realize there is no room for kegs. Have to wait at times to get seated as it gets crowded but is certainly worth the wait. Nice to try out beers I’ve not been introduced to eat great pizza and top it off with authentic gelato – they ordered the machine from Italy I think.
They don’t have any beers on tap right now. But they are trying to find a place to fit in a keg of Coffee bender.
As for imported beer they have a decent selection, but dont count on seeing the same beers everytime. The selection changes frequently. The owner and staff like their beer and seem to have bigger eyes than coolers when it comes to what they carry.
And as a side Tip. Order the Pablos Pasta, its not on the menu but I have to have have it every time I go there. Its a version of their chicken alfrado.
I guess finding useful, reliable ifnormation on the internet isn’t hopeless after all.