Ringo

As husband-and-wife partners in Ringo Restaurants, Inc., Jim and Stephanie Ringo have opened the most ambitious place in town. (Well, not exactly in town, but in St. Louis Park’s Shops at West End.) 

They didn’t skimp on this 7,800-square-foot, 280-seat vessel, a handsome testament to Shea’s architectural aesthetic. Appointed with reclaimed barn wood from southern Minnesota and Thai carvings, the sweeping room with an open kitchen feels intimate and inviting. Curved booths, a sleek bar with wings spanning to seat groups of eight, and sexy lighting harmonize the swaggering space. Serving well-heeled middle-aged couples and smartly dressed professionals, the staff is professional and genuinely welcoming, making this an easy place to hang. 

Ringo’s menu covers a dizzying array of “time-honored international dishes” (paella, Brazilian steak), American comforts (crab cakes, walleye), and bar snacks. A separate “destination menu” offers a small selection of specialties from one country, which will change monthly. May’s Korean barbecue set sail for Brussels in June, with Belgian mussels, fries, and beer on the menu. 

It’s on that small menu that chef Ryan Aberle, formerly of NorthCoast, shows his talent. May’s Korean spiced lettuce-wrapped pork with house-fermented kimchi and sweet and sour pork riblets balanced heat with a vinegar kick. The octopus in hot chili sauce on soba noodles was smoky and rich. “The popular items on the ‘destination menu’ will become standard, everyday selections,” Aberle says. “We can try new things and see what people like.” 

On the everyday menu, a Caesar salad was prepared tableside by our chatty waitress, who clearly enjoyed vigorously mashing anchovies, garlic, and plucky preserved lemon with showy aplomb. A generously portioned appetizer of lamb “lollipops” was rare and juicy, but it was better suited to a meal. The “comforts” were clunkers. Two of the four “steaks from around the world” were tough, a caramel apple pork chop was cloyingly sweet, and the Alsatian chicken was flavorless. All were downright dull. 

Though intriguing, the menu lacks context and many of its choices appear random, having much to do with a “concept” but without regard for how flavors work together in a full meal. The effect leaves one feeling as though lost at sea. 

To finish, pass on the desserts for a good drink, such as The Garden, which is made with Hendrick’s gin, lime, chamomile syrup, cucumber juice, and mint. But avoid the bacon-infused libations. (The Bacon Old Fashioned does not “taste like breakfast.”) At $11 or so a drink, you might want two straws.

Three Great Plates
+ Sweet Potato with Almond Syrup. Sweet potatoes are neatly cubed and fried to be crispy outside and creamy within, then draped in almond syrup for an intriguing nosh.
+ Seafood Bisque. This thick puree of shellfish, rich and flavorful without cream, gets a nice spike from corn salsa.
+ Beef in a Stone Pot. Beef with carrots, shiitake, daikon, and cucumbers is served over fluffy rice and capped with an egg, sunny-side up, and hit with hot chili paste.

The Shops at West End, 5331 W. 16th St., St. Louis Park, 952-303-5574, ringorestaurant.com