Casper's & Runyon's Nook

Casper's and Runyon's nook is a tiny neighborhood bar in St. Paul's Highland Park. The bar has been well known locally for years, but when it was featured on national television it became a sensation: people queued down the street for their famous burgers and fries.

Casper's and Runyon's Nook advertises itself as "a small place with big burgers" and it is certainly small, squashed up against a supermarket and a bowling alley. The Nook has a pool table, who knows how they got it inside, but I can imagine some awkward shots as the bar is a scant few feet wider than the table itself.

And how about the burgers? Not especially big in size, but gargantuan in taste. Gorgeous, juicy, tasty, carnivorous goodness. No lettuce or tomato in these burgers, just meat and bun, and whatever toppings you order. The Juicy Lucy - called a Nookie Burger here - tops local "best burger" lists again and again and it's a deserved winner.

The food is great, the happy hours are all night long, and the televisions are plentiful. There's no better place in St. Paul to get fed and watch a game. The only problem is that everyone else knows about this tiny place.

So Mr Caspar and Mr Runyon started looking for another location. So as well as The Nook, there is also the recently opened Shamrocks: The Irish Nook at 997 West Seventh Street in St. Paul. The new place is much larger, serves the same fantastic burgers, and Irish-styled food too. I haven't been to Shamrocks (yet) but if it serves the same burgers, and has more space, it must be worth a visit.