Minnesota State Fair Eating Strategy There are a few simple rules when it comes to a successful day of eating at the fair. First, don’t overload on your deep-fried fantasies in the first hour. Go with friends so you can indulge in your favorite fair classics along with a couple new food items. Do a… Read More →
Minnesota Honey Producers at the State Fair After you’ve had your cheese curd fix in the Food Building, make your way next door to the iconic octagon-shaped Agriculture & Horticulture Building for a scoop of honey ice cream and a quick lesson on beekeeping. There’s a large footprint dedicated to honey and honey products made… Read More →
The Story of Cinnie Smiths I always make a stop at Cinnie Smiths a priority. The cinnamon rolls are made in the booth from scratch right to order, with real butter, real cinnamon and real sugar. I’m getting hungry right now thinking about the gooey center of the warm cinnamon rolls, dipped in their homemade creamy… Read More →
Gizmo Sandwiches at the Minnesota State Fair Carla Wood and her Gizmo sandwich embody everything I love about the fair. The Gizmo is a ground beef and Italian sausage sandwich covered in their secret red sauce, topped with melted mozzarella. Every sandwich is made on premise from scratch. It’s an edible torpedo of pleasure and my idea… Read More →
Pajarito Just over a year old, Pajarito’s contemporary Mexican cuisine is still satisfying a packed house every night. Located on St. Paul’s West 7th St. in the historic Glockenspiel building, it’s proven to be the right combination of quality ingredients, superb flavors, affordable plates, great service and a sophisticated, inviting atmosphere. I love a cheap… Read More →
On’s Thai Kitchen Located in Midway on University Avenue, On’s Thai Kitchen always makes it onto my list of top 10 favorite restaurants in the Twin Cities. There are many excellent choices for Thai cuisine in my hometown, but none transport me to Thailand quite like On’s. The 105-item menu has many recognizable standbys like fresh herby… Read More →
Pho 79 As the cold weather settles in, all I’m craving is a steaming bowl of pho with rich, flavorful beef broth. Lucky for me, the Twin Cities are a pho-lover’s paradise. And in a town chock-full of great Vietnamese restaurants, it’s difficult to name the best, so I won’t go there. What I can… Read More →
Black Sheep Pizza One of my favorite pizzerias in the Twin Cities, Black Sheep Pizza brings something different to the table. While I love traditional Neapolitan-style, blistery thin crust pies, Black Sheep’s coal-fired pizza—with its chewy, crisp, sturdy and slightly charred crust—has a nostalgic East Coast vibe that always hits the spot. The menu is… Read More →
My Top 3 Favorite New Foods As you probably already know, I’m an evangelist for the classics. Despite my inherent bias, I still think it was one of the weakest years ever for new State Fair foods. There’s just too much gimmick—think deep fried red liquorice— too many unworthy things on a stick, too much… Read More →
Gizmo Sandwiches I would rather be at the Minnesota State Fair than anywhere else in the world. Why? The people, the food, the sense of community and tradition. Carla Wood and her Gizmo sandwich embody everything I love about the fair. The Gizmo is a ground beef and Italian sausage sandwich covered in their secret… Read More →
St. Paul’s Hmongtown Marketplace A pillar of the Twin Cities’ Hmong community—which is the largest in the country—the sprawling Hmongtown Marketplace in St. Paul is the next best thing to hopping a flight to Southeast Asia. This market and those making the food represent centuries of Hmong traditions. In warmer months, you’ll find people selling plants,… Read More →
Blue Door Pub If burgers stuffed with cheese aren’t on your list when you visit Minnesota, then you’re not doing it right. We Minnesotans love to debate who does the best juicy Lucy. There are plenty of spots serving up classic beef burgers with a molten hot cheddar cheese filling, such as perennial favorites Matt’s… Read More →
Revival St. Paul This town was a barbecue waste land, until my friends Thomas Boemer and Nick Rancone opened their second location of Revival in St. Paul and decided to add classic smoked meats to the menu, celebrating Boemer’s southern roots. The fried chicken and burger were reason enough to battle the crowds getting their southern comfort… Read More →
Brasa Rotisserie For years, Brasa Rotisserie has been the go-to for Creole-style rotisserie chicken and Southern-inspired sides. From the mind of James Beard award-winning chef Alex Roberts, Brasa is a casual, convivial spot where meals are best had family style. They’re known for a mash-up of Southern-Caribbean-Mexican-Creole dishes, like slow roasted pork doused with fresh… Read More →
Mucci’s Italian Owned by local restaurateur Tim Niver, Mucci’s Italian is one of the best new restaurants to come to the Twin Cities. In a tiny, unmarked brick building in St. Paul, you’ll find incredible food and service in a beautiful, yet unpretentious setting. With lacquered wood tabletops, black leather banquettes and chairs, the cozy… Read More →
Punch Pizza There are plenty of great pizza places in the Twin Cities, but Punch will always have a special place in my heart. Now with eight locations across the metro, their first location, which opened back in 1996 in St. Paul’s Highland Park, is my favorite. Co-founders John Soranno, who grew up in Milan,… Read More →
Southern Soul Food Takes Root When you think about Minnesotan food, the first thing that comes to mind is… well, anything BUT fried chicken. Lucky for us Northerners, chef Thomas Boemer filled the city’s Southern-food-void with crunchy, succulent Tennessee hot chicken, Johnnycakes and crispy pigs’ ears. They’re also serving one of the best burgers in town… Read More →
We are the North. Let’s celebrate it. Northerners don’t apologize for winter—they embrace it. The Great Northern, a new collaborative winter experience founded by event leaders in the Twin Cities, has recently announced an exciting lineup of 10 days of outdoor winter dining events. It’s time to celebrate this place we call home (and the weather that comes with it).… Read More →
Morning, Noon & Night at Tejas Express Located at the corner of Underwood Street and Dan Patch Avenue in The Garden, Tejas Express is an institution at the Minnesota State Fair. They’re serving restaurant quality food reminiscent of the Southwest-inspired menu at the original location, which closed in 2009 after whopping 22 successful years in… Read More →
The Best Thing I Ate Last Week By Andrew Zimmern I wait all year for the first foot long hot dog from my favorite booth. The first bite is a toe curler. The snap of the skin, the peppery frank, the well done caramelized onions and kraut. It’s simply the best bite of the year… Read More →
We tasted new food at the Minnesota State Fair – here’s our take. By AndrewZimmern.com Staff Tasked with sampling a slew of new foods at the State Fair, we skipped breakfast and headed out early Thursday morning with empty stomachs and open minds. There were pleasant surprises (maple bacon shaved ice!), a few safe bets (anything with… Read More →
Eat Andrew Zimmern’s favorite fair foods and share your pics for a chance to win. There’s a reason Andrew finds himself at the Minnesota State Fair for every one of its 12 days: the food. Sure, every year brings new booths to peruse and novelties to try, but nothing beats traditional state fair chow from… Read More →
52 Things to Look for at the MN State Fair Looking for a fun way to explore the Minnesota State Fair this year? Try completing this State Fair scavenger hunt. Mullets, crazy tattoos, award-winning baked goods, celebrities, fair hair… if you can think of it, you can find it at the Great Minnesota Get-Together. So… Read More →
Where to Eat at the Minnesota State Fair I love the Minnesota State Fair so much that I try to go all 12 days. Every year there’s a list of new food booths, serving all types of novelty deep-fried on-a-stick creations, but I’m a traditionalist when it comes to state fair chow. What’s the key… Read More →
The Twin Cities’ Best Vietnamese Restaurants Home to a vibrant Vietnamese community, the Twin Cities are a pho-lover’s paradise. And in a town chock-full of great Vietnamese restaurants, it’s difficult to name the best. From fantastic noodle soups to Banh mi sandwiches, bao to broken rice platters here are our favorite Vietnamese spots. Quang If… Read More →
The Good Acre Food Hub Open House Friday, October 30th The mission of The Good Acre is to enhance how food is grown and shared in the Twin Cities region, to improve marketplace opportunities for diverse independent farmers, and to increase access for all consumers to healthy, locally-grown fresh produce. The acre of land next… Read More →
Minnesota Restaurants Supporting Local Farms I love all four seasons, but there are few greater things in life than the first days of a Minnesota spring. We love celebrating another winter survived, and if you’re anything like me, food plays a huge role. I can’t wait until restaurants unveil their spring menus, teeming with fresh… Read More →
Embrace the Cold A lot of people think I’m nuts when I tell them I live in Minnesota. Yeah, it’s cold here. However, the difference between Minnesotans and most other folks is that we embrace the cold. We ski, ice fish, skate and sled. We even still cook outdoors. We pack our weekends with loads… Read More →
Where to Eat at the Great Minnesota Get-Together I love the Minnesota State Fair so much that I try to go all 12 days. Every year there’s a list of new food booths, serving every type of novelty deep-fried and on-a-stick creations, but when it comes down to it, half of the food sales comes… Read More →
New State Fair Foods for 2014 Every year there’s a host of new foods at the Great Minnesota Get-Together, and while the imaginative deep-fried-on-a-stick creations can be hit or miss, sometimes the shear novelty is worth shelling out a few bucks to try. Without further ado, here’s the line up for 2014: Photographs courtesy… Read More →
