Munchin' on good food at good prices
By Turkey Times Staff
Published March 17, 2017
Mississippi Munch is the student-run restaurant at AHS featuring an array of tasty lunchtime fare ranging from burgers and hot sandwiches to wraps and salads. The restaurant is housed in the Family and Consumer Sciences classroom and has a backwoods river theme based around the Mighty Mississippi. While the location is not necessarily ideal, the staff at the restaurant spice up the room with the theme and sport camouflage uniforms, making the most of their space.
A nice touch at the restaurant is that Fridays are Mississippi Munch Brunch days, meaning patrons can order breakfast sandwiches, pancakes in stacks of two, and the classic biscuits & gravy breakfast dish. Tuesdays are Taco Tuesday and the restaurant serves Taco Salads on Thursday. Mississippi Munch also features homemade soup of the day by the cup or by the bowl.
Mississippi Munch is open Tuesday through Friday from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The public is welcome and reservations or to go orders can be placed by calling (218) 927-7177 or e-mailing [email protected].
Published March 17, 2017
Mississippi Munch is the student-run restaurant at AHS featuring an array of tasty lunchtime fare ranging from burgers and hot sandwiches to wraps and salads. The restaurant is housed in the Family and Consumer Sciences classroom and has a backwoods river theme based around the Mighty Mississippi. While the location is not necessarily ideal, the staff at the restaurant spice up the room with the theme and sport camouflage uniforms, making the most of their space.
A nice touch at the restaurant is that Fridays are Mississippi Munch Brunch days, meaning patrons can order breakfast sandwiches, pancakes in stacks of two, and the classic biscuits & gravy breakfast dish. Tuesdays are Taco Tuesday and the restaurant serves Taco Salads on Thursday. Mississippi Munch also features homemade soup of the day by the cup or by the bowl.
Mississippi Munch is open Tuesday through Friday from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The public is welcome and reservations or to go orders can be placed by calling (218) 927-7177 or e-mailing [email protected].
Cuban Griller
As far as atmosphere goes the restaurant is in a classroom, which is out of the students’ control. That being said they do the best they can with making it seem like an authentic restaurant. They had tables put together for us and set up the silverware and napkins. They spruced it up a bit with some camping themed table cloths. The restaurant was full, which I was told is unusual, but it did not make me feel like it was too crowded or noisy. The only complaint I would have about the atmosphere was the gum on the ceiling which was understandable considering it’s a high school classroom. The service was good as they took our drink orders right away and brought them out to us after a few minutes. They then took our food orders. While not rude they didn’t seem super enthusiastic, but they were classmates, so it could have been just as easily the level of comfortability they had towards a classmate. The meals seem to be easily affordable for most people. My meal ran about $5.50 and I got a decent sized meal. I’d say it was a much larger portion than what I’d call a snack, but not quite a full meal. Everything presented was set neatly. The sandwich was cut nicely down the middle and a good portion of chips were set next to it. Nothing was sitting in grease or cold and the plate size was perfectly proportionate to the meal.
I ordered Mississippi Munch’s Cuban sandwich, which is “Pulled pork, ham, salami, pickle and Swiss cheese with our special mustard sauce grilled on a whole wheat bun.” - Mississippi Munch Menu, found online at Aitkin High School’s home page linked here: http://home.isd1.org/upoads/1/2/5/6/12568878/mmunch_menu.pdf
The sandwich was warm, but not too hot. The bread was pretty standard whole wheat bread. I liked the way it flaked just a little bit. It held together fine and didn’t fall apart as I was eating it. The pulled pork, ham, and salami were all good. The lunch meats were great quality and didn’t have that bad lunch meat texture. The pulled pork was tender and they put plenty of it on the sandwich. The pickles added some nice tanginess to it and didn’t overtake the flavor of the sandwich either. The swiss cheese had a good amount on the sandwich as a lot of restaurants have trouble getting a good amount that doesn’t take over the sandwich with it’s unique flavor. The special mustard sauce was a little unnoticeable but I could still taste that nice tanginess and the sauce itself was good. It was nice to be able to tell this was grilled. I like it when restaurants do what they advertise.
3.5 out of 5 Vic’s Cookies
— Zack Simonson
I ordered Mississippi Munch’s Cuban sandwich, which is “Pulled pork, ham, salami, pickle and Swiss cheese with our special mustard sauce grilled on a whole wheat bun.” - Mississippi Munch Menu, found online at Aitkin High School’s home page linked here: http://home.isd1.org/upoads/1/2/5/6/12568878/mmunch_menu.pdf
The sandwich was warm, but not too hot. The bread was pretty standard whole wheat bread. I liked the way it flaked just a little bit. It held together fine and didn’t fall apart as I was eating it. The pulled pork, ham, and salami were all good. The lunch meats were great quality and didn’t have that bad lunch meat texture. The pulled pork was tender and they put plenty of it on the sandwich. The pickles added some nice tanginess to it and didn’t overtake the flavor of the sandwich either. The swiss cheese had a good amount on the sandwich as a lot of restaurants have trouble getting a good amount that doesn’t take over the sandwich with it’s unique flavor. The special mustard sauce was a little unnoticeable but I could still taste that nice tanginess and the sauce itself was good. It was nice to be able to tell this was grilled. I like it when restaurants do what they advertise.
3.5 out of 5 Vic’s Cookies
— Zack Simonson
Turkey Southwestern Wrap
From the decorations displayed on the tables that give it a picnic look to the camouflage that the employees are wearing all contributes to the overall feel of the school restaurant. The Mississippi Munch is cute and quiet, nothing too flashy but it does the theme justice. We must have stumbled in on one of their busier days for the service was inconsistent at times. With experience as a waitress I know how stressful it can be with many people, but keeping a smile on your face and timeliness go a long way to the customer. I ordered the Turkey Southwestern Wrap with the Curly Fries and I wasn’t disappointed. It was a good portion, served neatly, and tasted fresh and delicious. I am a sucker for good guacamole and it was packed full. The only critique I have is that I was expecting a little more kick being it was served with jalapeno cream cheese. But, all in all it was a good experience with even better food at a reasonable price, $7 for the wrap plus fries.
4 out of 5 Vic’s Cookies
— Taylor Crotty
4 out of 5 Vic’s Cookies
— Taylor Crotty
Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap
The Mississippi Munch is a nice, comforting, quiet, cute place to eat. The tables were set very nicely with tablecloths and silverware, while servers and staff all had matching aprons or hats. Students run the restaurant along with their teacher. We came in pleasantly surprised at how many people were in there, which was good to see, but at times service was a little slow and inconsistent. The Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap comes with chicken, bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped tomatoes, lettuce, onions, ranch dressing, and some chips on the side. I left off the tomatoes and onions. I ended up liking it a lot, which is a surprise with how picky of an eater I am. The prices were very reasonable. I got my wrap for $5 and my drink for 75 cents.
4 out of 5 Vic’s Cookies.
— Rachael Coombs
4 out of 5 Vic’s Cookies.
— Rachael Coombs
Reuben Panini
I ate a to-go order from the Mississippi Munch on Wednesday, March 15. I had a Reuben Panini Sandwich, or what was advertized as a Reuben Panini, with homemade chips. I liked the service and the sandwich was very cheap ($4.50) for the type of sandwich it was. I liked the taste of the sandwich, but the meat was a little tough. I also liked the chips except a few were very crispy. I thought the service was terrific; they were quick and knew how to count the correct change.
3.75 out of 5 Vic’s Cookies
— Caleb Curtiss
3.75 out of 5 Vic’s Cookies
— Caleb Curtiss
Cheeseburger
The Mississippi Munch was a nice place to eat. When walking in there are five tables set up with a tablecloth and some knick knacks here and there. When getting seated there was only one table left open for us, the rest were filled up, which is a good sign to see. When the server took our order I did notice some arguing and confusion coming from the cooks and waiters, which didn't surprise me since the place was packed. After we ordered, it wasn't that long of a wait, but it was a little longer than what I was expecting. I ordered a cheeseburger, and it came with the burger and cheese held together by two simple, original buns that came with a side of chips. For just an original cheeseburger it was still pretty impressive, the price came out to be $3 total for the burger, chips, and a water — a very good price for what you are getting compared to other restaurants. Overall the Mississippi Munch is a very good restaurant when it comes to service, food, atmosphere and prices and I would definitely come back again.
4 out of 5 Vic’s cookies
— Tom Petersen
4 out of 5 Vic’s cookies
— Tom Petersen
California Burger
The California Burger was pretty good. My fries were warm, but not very warm , same with my burger. The price was fair, it cost $6.50 and for how much was served I thought that was okay and the food was presented well, too. The service was good but they didn’t seem too enthusiastic about being there. There was also gum on the ceiling, but they probably hadn't noticed that and it's not like the setting of the restaurant is in the best place because it is in a school, after all.
3.1415 out of 5 Vic’s Cookies
— Nick Smith
3.1415 out of 5 Vic’s Cookies
— Nick Smith
Bacon Cheeseburger
I had a bacon cheeseburger from Mississippi Munch. When I walked into the restaurant, the customers and the cabin-themed settings were nice. The wait staff got to the point immediately, taking our drink orders and coming back shortly. Later they took our orders. I timed them and it took approximately 20 minutes plus they were up to their knees in customers, so even swamped they did okay. The burger itself was the star of the plate but the homemade chips deserve an honorable mention so I will give credit where it’s due. Top down view, a bun, four slices of medium done bacon, a slice of cheese, a tender, juicy, medium done patty, and a bun. The chips were seasoned and fried to perfection and the two worked together very well.
The burger was a good value at $2.50. The place looked okay and they tried their best and made good with what they had. Nice chatty older people gave the restaurant ambient noise with no real disturbances. It was a great burger and even though I prefer near raw patties, it’s good to be safe. The staff were quick but it would be nice if they were friendlier. All in all a good place to hangout and eat.
4 out of 5 Vic’s cookies
— Brogen Jensrud-Peura
The burger was a good value at $2.50. The place looked okay and they tried their best and made good with what they had. Nice chatty older people gave the restaurant ambient noise with no real disturbances. It was a great burger and even though I prefer near raw patties, it’s good to be safe. The staff were quick but it would be nice if they were friendlier. All in all a good place to hangout and eat.
4 out of 5 Vic’s cookies
— Brogen Jensrud-Peura