• Baked Gnocchi with cheese sauce (shared) $6
• Grilled fish special - marlin $18
• Chocolate roll $5.50

Loring Park always affords some good people watching. The night we went to Nick and Eddie we were not disappointed. It was a beautiful evening so we sat out on the sidewalk and got to see people going to and from the music that was in back. One thing it did remind me of was how old I am. It was a Sunday evening and I was planning on pretty much going to bed after we got home from dinner, but many of the people we overheard were just getting started and planned on being out much, much later. I also overheard what a particular female security guard was packing and I will be careful to be nice to security guards in the future.

Nick and Eddie had an interesting wine list ranging the gamut from $6 glasses of Portuguese Vinho Verde to $12 glasses of Veuve Clicquot. It really made me want to have a couple of glasses to try some different things. The food was good. The gnocchi were a nice light version, with a cream sauce that could have a used a bit more flavor. My fish was great perfectly grilled with a very flavorful salsa verde on top and maybe more appealing perfectly perfect french fries on the side. My dessert was unique, in you don't often see a chocolate roll attempted, but it was a good rendition. The cake may have been a bit dry, but the whipped cream helped it all go down no problem.

From now on when I am in the Loring Park area and looking for something to eat, I may not so easily default to Joe's Garage.

• Linguine with chicken, arugula, garlic & tomatoes $16
• Butterscotch pudding $5.50

Renee explained to me that the baked gnocchi was French style. That is, it is the same dough used to make profiteroles baked and served in cream sauce. Nick and Eddie serves a large quantity of the appetizer, but it’s not all that great. The sauce was good, not great. I remember reading an interview with Bono of U2 as they were recording How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. He said that good is the opposite of great. I can understand that. Good leaves you wanting so much more that you wish to do it over again, but cannot, and leaves you wanting for great.

Nick and Eddie serves a copious quantity of linguine along with real pieces of flavorful chicken. The broth, however, was too salty and the garlic was not cooked (I have a gastrointestinal issue with uncooked garlic). The overall dish seemed uninspired and plain.

The butterscotch pudding was nothing special. I thought it was daring to put butterscotch pudding on the dessert menu. But then it takes something special to impress, something other than everyday butterscotch pudding. This was everyday butterscotch pudding.

The wildlife was particularly interesting the night we visited and sat outside. We saw lots of leather, piercings, and makeup, even for Loring Park . It was a rocking crowd that showed for a band playing in the alley behind Joe’s Garage. We overheard a security worker list off her crowd control tools. I only wish that the food was better to make the people watching that much better.