Now Open: 246 Grill in the Uptown VFW

Karaoke and good burgers? Finally, this year is panning out.

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In our little burger obsessed corner of the Universe, Mik German is something of a bodhisattva. An enlightened burger being, his opinion and good works are highly respected among the seekers of worthy patties. 

German has been a chef around town for a long time, cooking for Alary's Bar and other restaurant companies, but it's his menu out at the St. Paul Park American Legion that cemented his burger following. German launched the 328 Grill at the Legion earlier this year as his own scratch kitchen operating out of the legion. It was his chance to cook what we wanted to, and the fans followed.

The Tailgater is an angus patty topped with beer cheese soup and fried onions. The Walk of Shame is an angus burger with maple butter, American cheese, applewood smoked bacon, and an egg on an award-winning Brissant bun. But it tends to be the burger of the week that gets the most splash and attention on the burger boards.

But St. Paul Park is out there. Like over the river and through the woods, almost to Cottage Grove for cripes sake. Which means that there are plenty of burger humans who have yet to be enlightened. 

So. Good thing that at 3 p.m. today, German and his trusty chef Marisol Herling will be launching the 246 Grill at the Uptown VFW. They are running basically the same menu as the 328 with a few extras and flourishes for the James Ballantine VFW regulars. The bar remains the same, you can now just get actual scratch-made bar food by a crew that cares. Happy New Year.

Herling, who has been working with German in St. Paul, will be running the kitchen in Uptown, while German remains at the 328. The Bacon Brussel burger was a beautiful mess, topped with bacon Brussel sprout chutney, some Swiss cheese, and an herby mayo slather to keep it all going. "Why Brussels? Because, Brussels," Herling joked with me when she set it down. 

Because Uptown has a slightly different demographic than the far reaches of St. Paul Park, they wanted to make sure and add some vegan dishes. This is their club sandwich with marinated tempeh, vegan cheese, and spicy aioli on gluten free bread. 

And. There is more than just burgers on the menu. Find other sandwiches (The Reuben has a good reputation), cheese curds, totchos, plus brunchy scramblers on the weekends. This dish is what German calls MN Poutine: tater tots topped with Ellsworth cheese curds and chicken wild rice soup. It's like a reverse hot dish. It's the most un-fancy thing you can imagine and I reckon it will fix a broken heart, cure a bad hair cut, and get you through the darkest days of January. You're welcome.

246 Grill opens today, at 3 p.m., and the Uptown VFW on Lyndale is open seven days a week. Also: Karaoke is BACK, Tues-Sat. Burgers make a good base for belting out tunes.