Kings Wine Bar

We celebrated the engagement of two friends at Kings on 2/​1, and our server went above and beyond to make it special. She talked to the kitchen and had them put together a «congratulations» dessert for our friends, and was very discreet about the whole thing so our friends were pleasantly surprised! The dessert (chocolate torte) was phenomenal as well. Additionally, I made reservations during trivia (on purpose since we like to play trivia), and Kings left me two voicemails ahead of time to make sure I knew that trivia would be happening and the environment would be a little louder than usual. The whole experience was lovely, and I felt as though the staff at Kings really cared about us having a good time.

Casual environment but pricy that’s probably best for date night. We shared a few small plates family style. The cheese plate was good; as were the crispy potstickers and chicken skewers.
The wine menu/​selection would warrant 4 – 5 stars on its own. However, I dinged the overall rating due to the limited food menu.
Good wine bar with nothing to really complain about. Worth checking out.

Nice ambiance. Weird, small selection of food. We got potstickers, which were okay, but were probably the most expensive potstickers I’ve ever eaten in my life.

I will go 3 stars for this place, I wanna do 4 for the taste of the Phở. The portions were small compared to other Phở places in town, that was immediately obvious just taking the meals out of the bag. Half the amount of broth that I’m used to, same for the amount of ingridents. The brisket had very few veggies, the beef short ribs had more. Both dishes really tasted good, really, really good, that’s what made up for this review. I had the beef short ribs Phở. I don’t know all my cuts of meat but I do make a lot of ribs. Ribs come with a lot of connective tissues, which helps tenderize the meat as it slow cooks. What I’m pretty sure of is that connective tissue does not disappear completely during cooking. This meat was very tender, but there was no fat or connective tissue. The meat looked dry and cooked to more than medium before I added the broth. The meat was tender, but I don’t think it was beef ribs. Tasty, but not rib meat. I want to get what I ordered. And again, list out all the ingredients to your dishes, my girl was very disappointed in the amount of veggies in her brisket Phở. The broth is really spot on, bring everything else to that same level and you will not be able to make enough Phở.

Went there for the 1^st time last night. Had the meat lovers phở and it was delicious. My husband had the Beef Bourguinone and it was very tasty. Had the crème brulee and banana tempura with carmelized bacon bits for dessert. Sooooo good! I could have eaten a bowl of the carmelized bacon. Can’t wait to go back and try their brisket phở and some of their sandwiches.

Kings used to be awesome. Went for trivia all the time. Food is solid. Last two times I’ve been here, though, after being seated, it has taken 20+ minutes for our sever to come and acknowledge that we were there. Actually had to go up to the empty bar to ask if we could just order from there. This drop in service seems to have correlated with the management change, but I don’t want to explicitly say that’s the core issue.

Hadn’t been here since they changed up the menu and brought in phở. My husband and I ordered takeout. I got the Veggie Phở and he had the Wonton Phở, we were both blown away! Definitely rivals other restaurants for the best phở in town!

I had a really good experience at the new Kings. I came at 8:30 on a Saturday and didn’t have a problem getting a seat. The server was friendly and attentive.
I had the salmon with brussels sprouts and we also got a Korean BBQ bowl. The salmon was good, and I really liked the brussel sprouts. Not the best salmon I’ve had, but I really liked the ginger sauce. The beef in the BBQ bowl was really tender.
Good experience overall.

I mean, I guess that I just don’t get what Kings is about. It’s an Asian restaurant, but kind of not. It’s a wine bar, but the food doesn’t seem to match the ambience? I had the Korean beef bowl. It was fine. Actually, that’s how I would describe the entire experience. It was fine. Nothing to write home about, but also nothing really to complain about. Just overall average. With so many great restaurants in S Mpls, Kings needs to find its niche.

This place confuses me. I’ve driven past it a million times and finally one afternoon settled on it for a happy hour drink. Cute little side patio tables, which where full, so we sat inside. It sort of feels like a run-​down wine bar, if that’s a thing. We ordered a delicious wine (they do have a pretty solid happy hour as well as daily specials).
I have nothing really negative to say about the place, its just off. The menu is strange for a wine bar and it smells faintly of fried spring rolls at all times. It has that dark wine bar vibe but in a sort of IKEA way.
I did here the phở was good– so I think I’ll check back for that. But, I say come here when the weather is great and you can sit outside and avoid the bizarre innards of the place.

Awkward and slow. Not sure why I attempted to revisit Kings on their grand reopening but I did. The owner of this restaurant has the most awkward interactions with his guests; you want to look away but can’t. Had the Mac & Cheese; dry and flavorless. Service was slow and tracking down our waitress needed a search party.

Went here on Saturday night as part of their Grand Opening event. They’ve been under new management for a few months, but decided they were ready to truly declare it.
It’s in our neighborhood, so I’m pre-​disposed to want to like the place – definitely like to support local. Unfortunately, they were short staffed and service suffered immensely. We managed to get a table immediately, but waited close to 30 minutes to even get water. We had to interrupt again to get someone to take our drink order which took another 15 minutes. The kitchen was way backed up, so I just ordered a basic salad, which had slices of pale pink tomatoes that I would have expected from Subway in the middle of winter, not in the heart of MN garden season w/​local farmers markets only a few blocks away. We had to flag someone down again so that we can pay and waited a long time for the processing. We ran into friends there who said they received their wine 40 minutes after they ordered it.
I’m reluctant to ding a place too much on a Grand Opening experience when they are short staffed (otherwise, I’d give one star), but then again, it’s my only reference point and you’d think they would have planned to be over staffed for the occasion. Everyone was nice and apologetic if you could get them to acknowledge you, but it was a disappointment.
This experience aside, I might go back for a beer on the outdoor seating if it looks like a slow night. The menu offered few vegetarian options and seemed a bit overpriced. For example, their price for phở was $ 14-​$ 15 vs. $ 8 you spend to get a great bowl on Eat Street (granted, it’s a different atmosphere).
We’ll give them another chance at some point, but not eager to get back.

Update: Just do finished «How to Phở in Love» class and it was amazing! Any class that ends with food is a great class!

At King’s Grand Reopening event and it is fabulous! Just attended the Phở class. Meeting people from the neighborhood, great vibe all around. Live music tonight! :-)

Love this place! I don’t know why, but it’s never full on the weekends. It’s a hidden in plain sight type of place that has good food, good wine, and good prices. It’s rare to have to wait for a table unlike most of the places in South Mpls. Whenever another place says it’s a 50min wait we go to King’s instead. Old reliable with a changing menu and reasonable prices!

I came here several times about a year ago and enjoyed it. I went a couple of weeks ago and found it had gone way downhill. I had remembered a cozy wine bar that served high calorie noshes galore with decent service. This time the menu was all over the place – Asian, tex-​mex, American, french, and Italian fare. Frankly, I think that the gleaming neon phở sign in the window clashes with the wine bar concept. I had the pasta, which was decent but a small portion for $ 16. The charcuterie platter was sub-​par, with disgusting, fishy gravlax and dried out meats of unknowable stock. The best thing on the plate was the warm bread, and they only gave us 4 tiny slices, so we needed to keep asking the waiter to bring more.
The service was terribly unfortunate, and our waiter disappeared for about 20 minutes. When we asked another server to bring us more bread and a dinner menu, he curtly responded that he was not our waiter, before begrudgingly bringing us 4 more tiny morsels of bread. Granted, the hostess noticed how horrible our service was and brought us two complimentary glasses of prosecco without our having to say anything, which was a nice gesture.

Like Kate L, I like Kings, but I’m not a huge fan.
I’ve been here twice and it’s overall just okay. The first time I went it was for a Happy Hour. We each had a couple of glasses and split the tots as an app. They were’t bad. I did like the blue cheese. We also each got a sandwich, I had a grilled cheese. It was decent and I was pleased with the flavor and portion size.
The next time we came in it was a little later at night and we wanted to have a couple glasses of wine, but alas no where to sit and no hostess to seat us. We waited while everyone buzzed around and no one cared that we just walked out the door.
Chances are good, I may not go back. The atmosphere isn’t bad, but the service isn’t all that friendly. I might just stick to the other wine place not far with much better service.

Can you give this less than one star?
We have been coming to Kings for years. We love the atmosphere and it’s within walking distance from our house. About 9 months ago, we noticed this place going downhill, and the last few times I have been to Kings were disasters.
About a month ago, five of us girlfriends went to Kings on a Friday night at 9pm — after 30 minutes of waiting for service, we got up and left. Let me stress that each waitress and waiter walked by us several times with zero acknowledgement. One waiter was so bored that he was spinning a quarter on the counter-​top near the register. As we left, the hostess did tell us to ‘have a good night’ — so that was nice. Let’s just say, Café Ena did welcome our 10 glasses of wine and appetizers!
The most recent trip was last Friday — I went out on a limb and ordered the Phở with meatballs. I took a few ‘sips’ and decided that my glass of water had more flavor than this dish. After making a great effort, I chose not to finish. The waiter approached me about not liking my dish, and I shyly admitted that it did not have much flavor (I wasn’t planning on saying anything). He seemed to agree and took the item off our bill voluntarily (very nice).
In summary, I want Kings to be great, but I will not be coming back until I witness menu changes and better Unilocal reviews.

Sorry to report that Ben, our favorite chef, left Kings «abruptly.» Folks, this wine bar is so over! New owners, cooks in back eating while working (news flash: we can see you through the window!), looking sloppy and repeatedly coming out for no apparent reason, chatting at the bar while your wine glass sits empty and your next date night course takes a llllooong time to get to you. And when the food finally hits your buds, it is less than mediocre. I won’t even bother to describe the food other than that although the words are similar on the menu, the art of the product is absolutely gone.
We were noticing the difference in the vibe, decorum of the staff and drop in service before we got the news about Ben’s departure. Then it all made sense. So sad. RIP Kings. It’s like the loss of a good friend. We are on the hunt for our new favorite place. We’ll keep you posted.

I have been coming to King’s for years. I’ve always loved the place. Very consistent, imaginative, and quality food. The wine list is great and the beer is always exceptional. But, something happened in the fall of 2014. We have experienced very salty food (even on a salad) and the food was just okay. I think the ownership changed hands and the entire wait staff is new. I think the new owner was hovering around some of the wait staff too and it was a bit disconcerting. At any rate, I think the new owners have done a huge disservice to a great little neighborhood gem.
I will go back maybe one or two more times to see if they are working out the kinks. But, I’ve been back 4 times and still not convinced the change in ownership is good. We will see.