As a suburbanite, finding family-friendly, family-owned, scratch-cooking kitchens isn’t easy. So Friday night when I was the emcee of the Robbinsdale Cooper marching band fundraising concert (sorry for partying, people!), I asked on Twitter if anyone had any suggestions. Paul Merrill and Jen Wendt both said Milton’s!

So off to Milton’s, where my kids immediately noticed some sort of boxing game at the entrance. The place is adorable, and it’s perfect for families. My boys and I immediately sat down, and were taken care of by a very attentive server (the receipt said Chrissy).

They have a full bar, lots of wine and beer (the taps seemed a little pricey to me for a place in Crystal, Surly was $7.50). But what a value the food is: Jen recommended the jerk chicken, and for $11.95 I got a huge side salad with a delicious green goddess dressing (Chrissy said she made it herself):

Then came the entree: a couple pieces of chicken, a side of kale salad, and another side (I chose an apple/cheese salad, you could go french fries or mac and cheese). What a huge amount of food for the money!

And it was good. It wasn’t “pack up the kids and drive from South Minneapolis to Crystal” good, but it was “drive from the neighborhood and enjoy” good. Make sense?

 

Everything was a little oversalted for my taste: my kids inhaled the fried pickles, but I thought the saltiness of the pickle plus the saltiness of the breading made it almost overwhelming.

The kale salad also tasted salty, but I really enjoyed the chicken. 

They were great with my kids – there’s no specific “kids menu” at Milton’s (which seems like a mistake considering the clientele), but they were super-happy to suggest things the kitchen could make for my sons.  Their buttered noodles with Parmesan cheese looked delicious ($3).

Bottom line: I enjoyed finding a family-owned restaurant in an under-served part of town. The service was great, the vibe is good, and the value is there (I spent under $25 for the three of us!). Milton’s is adorable, if not knock-your-socks off memorable from a food perspective.

Milton’s Vittles, Vino and Beer
3545 Douglas Drive, Crystal, MN
http://miltonsvvb.com/