Stillwater, Hopping Restaurants

Stone's Restaurant
and Lounge
324 S. Main St., Stillwater
651.439.1900
www.stonesstillwater.com

BT Doyle's Rib Joint
423 S. Main St., Stillwater
651.439.2852
www.doylesribjoint.com

We are all of us somewhere in the seven stages of grief regarding the traffic pile-up at the south end of Stillwater, where Highway 95 seizes up in a dead halt in response to the convergence of stoplight, horse and carriage ride, tourists and baby stroller, and that one Harley dude wearing as his backpack a grape-schnapps-drunk bleachy chick.

Denial is one of the most popular stages in regarding this pile-up, often including the thought: It's a cloudy Tuesday, there won't be stock-still traffic...wrong. Anger, of course, is another highly favored stage, and leads to counterintuitive but true statements such as: "The PT Cruiser furiously executed a three-point turn in the face of oncoming traffic" or "The Vanagon raged forward a few inches." Not me, though. I have, by neither leaning in nor looking away, by being with my breathing and by being mindful with my compassion, not only accepted the parking-lot highway that greets Stillwater visitors, I have come to enjoy it, in the same way that I kind of enjoy wrestling with wrapping paper in the days before Christmas—this is the hassle that precedes the happiness. Happiness like what? Like a dinner at one of Stillwater's newest restaurants, like Stone's.

Stone's is the product of a kind of supergroup of local restaurateurs—and I mean a really super supergroup, a Band Aid-sized, Supernova-sized group, which includes Toby Nidetz, of legendary, long-gone Coco Lezzone and a million, billion others; Josh Thoma, of La Belle Vie and Solera; Charlie Burroughs, of Axel's and the Bonfire Grill; Chip Isaacson, formerly of the Pickled Parrot and currently of Ike's, that famous retro burger joint in downtown Minneapolis; and, last but not least, Michael Stone, the main proprietor, who seems to have responded to this formidable Justice League of super-restaurateurs by scurrying around and putting stones everywhere so you don't forget about him—you'll find rocks in the entry foyer, in wire cages by the doors, in the drainage troughs of the artsy concrete sinks in the restrooms, and in a quarry-rivaling quantity in the lovely outdoor patio. As with any supergroup, Stone's was founded to cart money to the bank in overflowing wheelbarrows, and no doubt will: The place is essentially a game of tee-ball resulting in a thousand home runs.

The menu at Stone's is everything people like to eat today: appetizers of ahi tuna, calamari, mini-burgers, and crab-cakes; entrees of steak, barbecue, burgers, tuna, salmon, and (meaty) salads priced mostly around $12; cakes and cobblers for dessert that are priced for one person and feed four. I liked almost everything I tried at Stone's. The mini crab-cake sliders ($9.95) were sweet and buttery, and given a bit of pop with a chunky house tartar sauce. Calamari ($8.50) was pebbly and crisp with a distinct cornmeal crust, a crust that contrasted nicely with the unusually thick, wide, and tender lengths of squid that made up the dish. Pepper-edged "pastrami" smoked salmon ($8.95) was served as a personal sculpture garden on a giant white plate, featuring trapezoids of hand-chopped pickle, pretty squares of rye toast fanned out like a deck of cards, and an artful, spatula-rolled wand of mustard—it was a notably festive rendition of an old restaurant workhorse.

I wouldn't order the seared yellowfin tuna entree ($16) again; when I did, the tuna itself was limp and flavorless, though it veered alarmingly in the other direction when swabbed by the intensely salty ponzu sauce on the plate, and the accompanying broiled Japanese eggplant was so well charred that there was only maybe a bite or two that was edible. On the other hand, barbecued baby back pork ribs are sweet, smoky, and fall from the bone in classic candied-meat glory. (The pork ribs are available in an appetizer portion for $9.95, or as an entree solo or paired with a barbecued chicken quarter for $12.95.) I liked Stone's barbecued chicken ($10.95) even more than the ribs, because the tender smoke-saturated meat was accented, instead of dominated, by the peppery barbecue sauce. If there's a complaint to be made with the kitchen at Stone's, it's that they have a tendency to, of all things, over-pepper the food: Skip the too-wet, too-muddled stuffed and pepper-crusted blue cheese burger ($9.95), which is overwhelmed with wet caramelized onions and peppercorn steak sauce, in favor of one of the plainer burgers, and beware the gremolata on the otherwise excellent rosemary-grilled flatiron steak ($17.25), for the traditional combination of parsley, garlic, and lemon rind is here made mostly with crushed green pepper-corns, and that first bite is a doozy. The second bite, though, showcases a well marinated, nicely grilled steak, and as you alternate between it and the accompanying pile of matchstick truffle-oil sprinkled fries, you will no doubt feel happy and relaxed.