Jax Cafe

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Is Jax Cafe the Lexington of northeast Minneapolis, or is the Lex the Jax of St. Paul? It's hard to say. Both have been around for ages, both share the comfortable feeling of a private club that occasionally opens its doors to the public, and both specialize in the kind of classic all-American fare that have made them popular destinations since Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in his first term at the White House. But Jax has one up on the Lex: the remarkable Kozlak family, which has presided over the corner of University Av. and 20th St. in northeast Minneapolis for four generations. Jax remains a special place because it is still, if you'll pardon the tired cliche, a place where everybody knows your name. Besides the food - Jax grills up a great bone-in tenderloin (a tradition that goes back to the first menu in '33, which featured a 50-cent steak dinner) and the kitchen knows its stuff when it comes to trout - it's the little touches that keep the crowds coming. When you arrive at your reserved table, you'll find a matchbook monogrammed with your name. Ordering trout? You can catch it yourself in the trout stream out back, a popular Jax attraction since 1954. A Jax staffer will even capture you and you and your dinner on a Polaroid. Customers nurture lifelong associations with Jax, turning to the restaurant for every important occasion in their lives, from baptisms to birthdays to retirement dinners. Jax hosts two or three groom's dinners every Friday, and a weekend doesn't go by when a wedding reception isn't held in the large upstairs banquet room.