 Media Credit: Jason Risberg With the main course being beer, Travis Boyd (left), Jeff Buck (not pictured), Todd Kohnert, Dave Blanchard, Chris Reinholdz and Mathew Kay enjoyed some free appetizers Friday during happy hour at McRudy�s.
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 Media Credit: Jason Risberg Josh Swanson, a fourth year Communication Studies major, and Katie Scholzen, a fourth year Community Health major, enjoyed free appetizers during happy hour Friday at McRudy�s.
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by Paul Solsrud
D.B. Searle's
I believe they have been voted St. Cloud's best happy hour. Not sure who did the survey, and not sure if it had those exact results, however, judging from the large quantity of people and the relatively large chicken and taco bar, it definitely ranks near the top. With a selection of soft or hard shell tacos, chicken and nachos, one could easily afford to cough up a few bucks for beer. However, one might want to steer clear of the chicken, it looks a little shady.
Red Carpet
Two drink minimum?? I've spent too much there to deserve this treatment!!
Also, I'd tell you how the food was, but I didn't want to hurt the feelings of a perfectly good paper plate. It was on to stop three.
M.C.'s Dugout
It's a good thing their food bar is self-serve, for the staff was a bit on the edgy side, but I digress. The food, including tacos, hot wings, soup and some potato things were prepared to the superb quality any bar cook dreams of. Using a scale of relativity, the tacos were in the top two, however, the option for the crispy taco was not available. I like the crispy ones. The wings were spicy and potato things (elongated tatertots with cheese inside) were, well, they were amazing. Maybe not quite as amazing as the wonders of a rice-filled burrito, but it was right up there. They were, and I don't think I've ever said this before, delightful.
Superstar's
Upon entering the quaint atmosphere, I was only able to differentiate my location by the jerseys hanging on the wall. My companions and I were leery. The sign proclaimed "free burger baskets." Free they were, however, what the sign failed to mention was just how good these burger baskets were. Pretty amazing considering they were free, they even had pickles. I like pickles.
The burgers were definitely worth the 15-minute wait, apparently the rest of the occupants of the bar felt the same, as it was nearly full when we left for our final destination.
McRudy's
The Irish theme maybe ran deeper than the pictures of leprechauns all over.
The darkness enhanced the likelihood that anyone would eat what was on the food bar stuck in the corner. The bar did contain burgers (white castle size), a large assortment of wings and potato wedges. Playing the devil's advocate, I will comment that it was nearing the end of happy hour when we arrived. Also, the fact that I had been pretty well impressed at the three other stops, may have lowered the score. I will, however, discount the alcohol factor because the three tap beers I had until that point weren't persuading me either way. In the end, the darkness was our friend and the potato wedges, our allies. As one customer added: "it's free food, what can you expect?"
by Jason Risberg
D.B. Searle's
They had a make your own taco with a variety of toppings. Also there were nacho chips and a cup of jalapeno peppers for those brave enough to try them. The meat was somewhat of a mystery, but I figure it can't be any worse than Taco Bell. All in all, a good place to start the evening. I gave D. B.'s 3 out of 5 stars. No, make that 3 out of 5 brews.
Red Carpet
After getting lost in the place trying to find the food, we came across a poor excuse for a buffet and a rather large sign that stated "2 drink minimum" if you want to eat. Two drink minimum? And for what? Some greasy pizzas and a couple of ice-cold tater tots? No thanks. Zero out of 5 brews.
M.C.'s Dugout
I have to admit, I've never been in the place, but upon entering, I was pleasantly surprised, especially after I saw the buffet. Like D.B.'s, they had a make your own taco bar, along with some other goodies like buffalo wings and some fried potato things filled with cream cheese, I think. The buffalo wings and potato things were great, and the tacos weren't bad. M.C., one word of advice: offer soft AND hard shell tacos. Because of the variety of foods, I gave M.C.'s 4 out of 5 brews.
Superstar's
After forcing down another couple of drinks, we were off to Superstar's. I have to say that this was the best food of the night. One problem was that the service was a little slow. They waited just long enough for us to order another pitcher of beer before giving us our food, but I guess you can't blame them for wanting to make money. The waitress came with our free hamburgers and fries, which were cooked to perfection. I gave Superstar's 5 out of 5 brews.
McRudy's
By this point my stomach was so stuffed with tacos, burgers and barley and hops, I wasn't even hungry. I decided I better take some pictures for this story, so I passed on McRudy's free happy hour food. By the looks on my colleagues' faces after eating here, I didn't feel like I was missing much.
by Andy Rennecke
D.B. Searle's
The tacos brought me back to my high school cafeteria. But boy, were those tacos good. The meat was adequate and had a special hint of spice in it. Add that with some shredded cheese and you've consumed a quality Mexican tortilla. Chips were adequate, but could have been saltier. Nonetheless, they went down well with the refreshing bottle of brew.
Rating: 2.5 Colt 45's (you'll begin to understand the meaning of the rating system eventually).
Red Carpet
I felt like I was ripped-off even though I didn't eat anything here. They had three cheese balls, two egg rolls and four tater tots in a warming vat. They also had three Aunt Mabel's pizzas in a hot dog warming apparatus. If you wanted to eat this crap you had to buy two drinks. There was no way in Hell that was going to happen so we bolted
Rating: not even worth a rating
M.C.'s Dugout
The taco I devoured was the best out of any I ate. It tasted like I was eating quality meat with extra get-up in it. The softshell choice also helped. The chips were unbelievably good (do they make their own?) and went down well with my Sloe Gin/7, minus the 7.
The only problem was the potato/cream cheese thing. Going into the bite, I thought I was getting just a mozzarella cheese stick, but instead I ended up eating something that resembled spooge.
Rating: 3 Colts...cream cheese thing sets it back here. Demanding waitress didn't help either.
Superstar's
This brought me back to when I used to eat at my local American Legion. Quality hamburger meat tasted especially juicy and had me craving more. I wolfed down the fries in a matter of no time.
They were greasy, but hey, grease is good with beer.
Rating: 4 Colts. This gets the job done for happy hour
McRudy's
We arrived at McRudy's fairly late for their happy hour, but that still doesn't excuse the atrocities we witnessed at their table. The set-up gave you an eerie Shawshank Redemption-type feeling. It was like you were in prison and serving yourself with a cement trowel of diarrhea-like taco meat. You also couldn't fit your food on anything except the Dixie Cup plates they provided you. I engaged my first taco bite with great apprehension. After I swallowed, I knew I had made a big mistake. It was horribly bad and I threw it away. I swallowed the White Castle hamburger with ease, but Superstar's was far better because it was made on the grill and not served up in a large vat of bullion juice. The wedges were cold and reminded me of eating two-day old French fries from McDonald's.
Rating: 1 Colt.
