Someone wrote: > To the cool gourmets of Minneapolis-St. Paul-what are your favorite > restaurants? I'm looking for places where the food is great and the > atmosphere is notable. I'm not looking for white tablecloths and high > prices, just a great dining experience. Low price (under $10/person), great atmosphere and/or food: Mickey's Diner, St. Paul downtown (a dining car restaurant, open all nite) cash only. This is where it's AT people. Al's Breakfast, Mpls (dinkytown near the U of M) CC Club, Mpls Lyndale Ave @ 27th or 28th (where the Replacements used to hang out) That Place On Como, Mpls Como Ave (natch!) coffee house Mannings, Mpls and St. Paul Como Ave. burgers, big burgers Emily's Lebanese Deli, Mpls University Ave W. Mediterranean Pepito's, Mpls Chicago and 48th St. Mexican Cosetta's, St. Paul Italian very very tasty Moderate price ($10-20/person): Pattaya Thai, Mpls Franklin Ave off I-94 @ 25th Royal Orchid Thai, Mpls Nicolett Ave just outside of downtown Sawat Dee Thai are you noticing a pattern here?! Khan's Mongolian Barbeque, a couple locations Caravan Serai, St. Paul, Ford Parkway Afghani/North Indian Joe's Garage, Mpls Loring Park off Hennepin American, really good burgers and super fast, friendly service Eli's, Mpls. Hennepin Ave food and cocktails, friendly service. Small Gasthof Zur Gemutlichkeit, Mpls. University W of Broadway German, the atmosphere is breathtaking and portions are about twice as big as the menu says they are. Sherlock's Home, ummm....Eden Prairie maybe?... British food. Real ales brewed on premises. Great atmosphere. Green Mill, several locations good one on Hennepin and about 25th in Mpls. pizza--some say the best pizza in the Twin Cities who am I to argue. Campiello, Mpls Lake Street a couple blocks from Hennepin I've only had brunch there and the service is like Loring cast-offs. But I've heard nothing but good about their wood-fired pizza and other delicacies. Sydney's several locations wood fired pizza, etc. Good service, good atmosphere, they just do things right. Figlio's, Mpls Hennepin and Lake Italian Shelley's Woodroast, St. Louis Park northwoods favorites, good beer Don Pablo's, several locations Mexican Expensive ($20+/person) 128 Cafe, St. Paul Cleveland Ave. small American and Euro-continental 510 Restaurant, Mpls Hennepin and Groveland Continental Gustino's, Mpls downtown in Radisson Northern Italian singing wait staff many of whom sing with the MN Opera Loring Cafe and Bar, Mpls Hennepin @ Loring Park. Rumor has it that people take their New York friends here to be properly abused by the wait staff. Fairly pretentious but the atmosphere is great. D'Amico Cucina, Mpls 6th St. near the Target Center in downtown. Hands down my favorite restaurant in the whole tri-state area. The service is impeccable. The food is stupendous. Wine list is VERY impressive. I dined alone there and spent $85. Other famous places I haven't been to but with good recommendations: Murray's (steak), Goodfellows (rated very highly by several national restaurant book survey thingys), Table of Contents, Giorgio's, Barbary Fig (mediterranean), Jax Cafe, St. Paul Grille, Boca Chica (mexican). Check a City Pages (free weekly newspaper) they have a good restaurant guide every week organized by cuisine. Good luck, if you need more info. just ask! JonO
Minneapolis, MN