Tilia Chef Steven Brown is one of Minneapolis’ greatest assets. At Tilia, he’s taken the concept of a comfortable neighborhood restaurant and perfected it—from the cozy atmosphere and kitchen counter seating, to the affordable, yet insanely delicious menu. It’s a place I can take my kid for breakfast, my wife for lunch and my lawyer… Read More →
Pineda Tacos Minneapolis may not have a dependable taqueria on every corner like Los Angeles, but head to Lake Street and you’ll discover plenty of authentic options. Pineda’s is a hidden gem of a place. What this sparse taco shop lacks in ambiance, it makes up for with flavor. I usually go for an order of four… Read More →
The Anchor Fish & Chips Well before the influx of destination breweries and galleries re-energized Minneapolis’ artsy Northeast neighborhood, The Anchor Fish & Chips was battering Alaskan cod and frying hand cut chips for the locals. The narrow restaurant with tin ceilings and deep red walls lined with cozy booths has a real deal fish… Read More →
Szechuan Spice Of all the great regional Chinese cuisines, Sichuan food holds a special place in my heart. While we don’t have as many great Chinese restaurants as I would like in Minnesota, we do have a few that absolutely blow me away and Szechuan Spice in Uptown is one of them. It’s best to… Read More →
Lowry Hill Meats When Erik Sather opened Lowry Hill Meats in the fall of 2015, let’s just say I was excited. There are less than a handful of great, old-world butcher shops in the Twin Cities, and LHM’s standard for every product they sell—from meat to eggs, cheese, spices and coffee—is exceptionally high. I always… Read More →
Authentic Vietnamese Food at Quang Home to a vibrant Vietnamese community, the Twin Cities are a pho-lover’s paradise. Quang Restaurant is family owned-and-operated, always packed and serves some of the best traditional Vietnamese beef noodle soup in America. Don’t let the line out the door scare you away—even at their peak hour, the wait will… Read More →
Hola Arepa One of the most popular Latin American restaurants in the Twin Cities, Hola Arepa started out as a food truck, slinging their take on the satisfying Venezuelan sandwiches on the streets of Minneapolis. For those unfamiliar with their eponymous arepas, think hefty griddled cornmeal cakes stuffed with all sorts of ingredients, from Argentinian-style… 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 →
Modern Scandinavian-Influenced Fare Located in a historic 19th-century brick-and-timber warehouse in Minneapolis’ North Loop neighborhood, The Bachelor Farmer celebrates Nordic-inspired cuisine made with ingredients sourced from local farmers or grown on the rooftop garden. They created small masterpieces on top of a humble piece of toast before it became a culinary craze, so order a few toasts as an… Read More →
Spoon and Stable After rising to chef stardom working for Daniel Boulud in NYC, Gavin Kaysen returned home in 2014 to open his first restaurant Spoon and Stable. Located in a beautifully renovated stable in the North Loop, it was the local restaurant opening of the decade. The hometown hero is one of the best… Read More →
Great Food Paired with Great Beer The folks behind Surly Brewing Co. are geniuses. Their new-ish destination brewery is an architectural stunner, with a wood and metal adorned taproom, glass-enclosed brewing facility, and a massive patio with fire pits and the occasional live music act. If I drank, I would be there all the time.… 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 →
