People walk into the Pillsbury Club braced for something fussy. Carved oak from English castles, leaded glass, a coffered ceiling, a staircase that arrived by ship — surely the menu matches, and surely it comes with a wine pairing and a lecture.

It does not. What you get is cheese curds.

The food: Minnesota fair food, taken seriously

Our kitchen went in a direction nobody expects in a Gilded Age mansion, and it is the best decision on the menu. The dishes are approachable American food with a Minnesota accent, and several of them are quietly named after the state fair and the streets outside:

• Great Northern Cheese Curds — garlic cheese curds with jalapeño ranch and marinara. $16
• State Fair Pretzel Bites — baked pretzel bites on a stick with gouda cheese dip. $17
• Lake Street Nachos — tortilla chips with seasonal toppings, sour cream and salsa. $17
• Midway Funnel Cake Fries — funnel cake fries with powdered sugar. $15
• Southern Style Chicken Strips — four seasoned breaded tenders with your choice of dipping sauce. $16
• Crispy Chicken Sandwich — crispy chicken breast, swiss, bacon and sriracha mayo. $19
• Pillsbury Club Smashburger — two smashed beef patties on a potato bun with aged cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and mayo. $22
• Royal Smashburger — two smashed patties with shaved onions, aged cheddar, bacon and garlic aioli. $22

Funnel cake fries served under centuries-old carved English oak is a joke the building is entirely in on. It is also the reason the Club works as an actual night out rather than a museum with a bar attached — you can bring people here who would never book a tasting menu.

The bar

Beer is short and local: Grain Belt Premium and Surly Furious IPA, both from Minneapolis, both $10 for a 12oz pour. Wine is $11 for an 8oz glass across the list — Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc, Hahn Pinot Noir, William Hill Chardonnay, La Jolie Fleur Rosé and La Marca Prosecco.

Spirits run from the everyday to the good stuff, and the pricing is honest about which is which: Prairie Organic vodka from Minnesota at $9, Bombay Sapphire gin at $9, up through Empress 1908 gin at $14 and Belvedere or Beefeater at $20. Rum is Captain Morgan, Bacardi and Malibu at $10. There is also a range of hemp-derived THC seltzers from Onward — Cosmo, Lemondrop, Passion Fruit, Paloma and Berrysmash, 10mg, $12 — which is a very Minnesota thing to find on a mansion drinks list.

Prices and offerings here are as published on our dining page; that page is the live version, so check it before you plan around a specific bottle.

Where you eat it matters

The rooms are the other half of the menu. Rich woodwork, stained glass and vintage character make a dining room that feels like nowhere else in the city, and the bar is a speakeasy-style room with the kind of low light that makes an ordinary Tuesday feel like an occasion. If you want somewhere more private, the club rooms include the Emerald Suite, a second-floor VIP lounge that seats up to ten — good for a birthday, a small celebration, or a group that wants a door.

How to actually get in

One thing to know before you drive over: the Pillsbury Club is a private, members-style club, and reservations are required in advance. That is not velvet-rope theatre — it is a house, and there are only so many seats. Hours and policies live on Plan Your Visit, and you can book through reservations.

Make an evening of it. A guided mansion tour and a Club experience before dinner is the standard order; the trolley leaves from our door if you would rather see the city first. If you are staying at 300 Clifton, your booking comes with a $20 dining voucher to spend here. And the Club sits close enough to downtown that dinner before a show at the Walker or the theatre district is an easy piece of planning.

As for the oak the cheese curds are served under — that came from English houses centuries older than this one, and the full story of how it got to 100 East 22nd Street is in the History Journal. The mansion has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974, and the fortune that built it is told at the Mill City Museum. Come for the burger; stay because the room is 500 years older than the menu.

Keep reading: what to do in the hour before your Minneapolis holiday lights trolley ride.

Keep reading: Why Did a 1913 Newspaper Call the Pillsbury Mansion’s Pantry Perfect?