| Venue name |
Area |
Type |
Price |
Rating |

112 Eatery |
Minneapolis: Warehouse District |
American, American contemporary |
$$ |
|

112 Eatery |
Minneapolis: Warehouse District |
American, American contemporary |
$$ |
|
|
Capsule review: Chef-owner Isaac Becker does beautiful work with such high-brow fare as sea scallops with wild mushrooms and seared ahi tuna with chimichurri sauce. But don't miss his great takes on basic bar grub: the sweet-and-sour crab salad, cold cuts-pickles plate, bacon-harissa sandwich, the Twin Cities' best burger. Full menu served to 1 a.m. Monday-Saturday. The restaurant was the Star Tribune's 2005 restaurant of the year. Becker is a 2008 nominee for the James Beard Award's Best Chef: Midwest.
612-343-7696
112 N. 3rd St.
Minneapolis, MN
more details
| website
|

128 Cafe |
St. Paul: Summit/Grand, St. Paul: Macalester/Highland |
American, American casual, American contemporary |
$$$ |
|

128 Cafe |
St. Paul: Summit/Grand, St. Paul: Macalester/Highland |
American, American casual, American contemporary |
$$$ |
|
|
Capsule review: When co-owners Brock and Natalie Obee called it quits in June 2007 after 11 great years, server Jill Wilson stepped in and bought the place lock, stock and recipe. Cafe 128, version 2.0, is still a swell just-under-the-radar charmer. Chef Ian Pierce is a master of the restaurant's signature dish, slowly braised pork baby back ribs. Other highlights: fork-tender beef tenderloin in an exceptional red wine demi-glace; pan-roasted chicken served with creamy polenta and a robust bacon-rosemary pan sauce; tender cod cakes with energetic Thai flavors, and zesty harissa-glazed shrimp.
651-645-4128
128 N. Cleveland Av.
St. Paul, MN
more details
| website
|

20.21 Restaurant and Bar |
Minneapolis: Downtown, Minneapolis: Uptown |
American, American fine dining, Asian |
$$$$ |
|

20.21 Restaurant and Bar |
Minneapolis: Downtown, Minneapolis: Uptown |
American, American fine dining, Asian |
$$$$ |
|
|
Capsule review: As part of its $130 million expansion, the Walker Art Center turned to celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck to elevate the food and drink arts to match the museum's adventurous programming mix. At the starkly chic 20.21, Puck's A-list staff channel Puck's fusion of French techniques, local ingredients and Thai-Chinese-Korean-Japanese flavors. Outsize portions encourage sharing. The restaurant is one of the city's top lunch destinations, and happy hour (5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday) is a merry list of $5 appetizer and drink specials.
612-253-3410
1750 Hennepin Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN
more details
| website
| reserve a table
|

3 Squares Restaurant |
Northwest suburbs, West metro |
|
|
|

3 Squares Restaurant |
Northwest suburbs, West metro |
|
|
|
651-343-2923
12690 N. Arbor Lakes Pkwy.
Maple Grove, MN
more details
| website
|

5-8 Club Tavern & Grill |
Minneapolis |
American |
|
|

5-8 Club Tavern & Grill |
Minneapolis |
American |
|
|
612-823-5858
5800 Cedar Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN
more details
| website
|

5-8 Club Tavern & Grill Champlin |
Northwest suburbs, North metro |
|
|
|

5-8 Club Tavern & Grill Champlin |
Northwest suburbs, North metro |
|
|
|
763-425-5858
6251 Douglas Court
Champlin, MN
more details
| website
|

5-8 Club Tavern & Grill Maplewood |
East suburbs |
|
|
|

5-8 Club Tavern & Grill Maplewood |
East suburbs |
|
|
|
651-735-5858
2289 Minnehaha Av. E.
Maplewood, MN
more details
| website
|

8th Street Grill & Tavern |
Minneapolis: Downtown |
American, American casual |
$ |
|

8th Street Grill & Tavern |
Minneapolis: Downtown |
American, American casual |
$ |
|
|
Capsule review: Downtown restaurant and bar, serving an all-American menu of sandwiches, burgers and more. During the warm-weather months, the restaurant operates a large, shaded and very popular patio.
612-349-5717
800 Marquette Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN
more details
|

98 Pounds Buffet |
Southwest suburbs, West metro |
Asian, Chinese |
|
|

98 Pounds Buffet |
Southwest suburbs, West metro |
Asian, Chinese |
|
|
952-881-1088
824 W. 98th St.
Bloomington, MN
more details
| website
|

Acadia Café |
Minneapolis: University |
American, American casual, Coffee, Deli |
$ |
|

Acadia Café |
Minneapolis: University |
American, American casual, Coffee, Deli |
$ |
|
|
Capsule review: At this laid-back coffeehouse, expect to find an ambitious live-music schedule (performed in an adjacent music room), a nicely retro setting and inexpensive fare that effortlessly swings from breakfast (burritos, oatmeal, waffles) to dinner (black-bean burger, smoked trout salad, aoili/three-cheese grilled sandwich). Beyond coffee, there's an impressive beer selection (including 24 tap choices, from Bell's Oberon Ale to Frostop root beer) and more than a dozen affordable wines by the glass.
612-874-8702
329 Cedar Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN
more details
| website
|

Acme Deli |
St. Paul |
|
|
|

Acme Deli |
St. Paul |
|
|
|
651-698-8191
1552 Saint Clair Av.
St. Paul, MN
more details
| website
|

Acqua Restaurant and Wine Bar |
East suburbs |
American, American casual, American contemporary |
$$$ |
|

Acqua Restaurant and Wine Bar |
East suburbs |
American, American casual, American contemporary |
$$$ |
|
|
Capsule review: Daron Close and chef Chris Whalen, formerly of Campiello and other D'Amico properties, have struck out on their own to open a small suburban restaurant. Acqua features a non-trendy menu of specials and entrees that unlocks the flavors lurking deep inside ingredients, whether it's a succulent, slow-braised pork shank or oven-roasted cauliflower. While I quibbled with a perfunctory thin-crust pizza and a few over-salted dishes, this place does a great job balancing the unexpected with the standard.
651-407-7317
4453 Lake Av. S.
White Bear Lake, MN
more details
| website
|

Adele's Frozen Custard |
Southwest suburbs, West metro |
Ice cream |
|
|

Adele's Frozen Custard |
Southwest suburbs, West metro |
Ice cream |
|
|
952-470-0035
800 Excelsior Blvd.
Excelsior, MN
more details
|

Adrian's Tavern |
Minneapolis: Hiawatha |
American, American casual |
$ |
|

Adrian's Tavern |
Minneapolis: Hiawatha |
American, American casual |
$ |
|
|
Capsule review: A genuine neighborhood bar and grill offering a long menu of burgers, from basics (cheeseburgers, California burgers) to exotic (black bean with lettuce and salsa, cheese with sauerkraut, turkey with tomatoes and mayo), grilled chicken, fish and chips and a dozen deep-fried bar snacks.
612-824-4011
4812 Chicago Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
more details
| website
|

Afton House Inn |
East suburbs |
American, American casual |
|
|

Afton House Inn |
East suburbs |
American, American casual |
|
|
|
Capsule review: A rare bastion of tableside preparation, with a charming
country house warmth and ambience that suggests chicken pot pie rather than steak Diane. But its ambitious menu offers not only flaming steak Diane but authentic Caesar salad and those virtually extinct flaming desserts, bananas Foster and cherries jubilee, with all the appropriate hoopla and pyrotechnics. The performances are first-rate, but the result is often not. So it goes. Times change and culinary fashions change. It's easy to get sentimental about those dishes, but the reality is that they often weren't really that good, even in their heyday. What was different? We were.
651-436-8883
3291 S. St. Croix Trail
Afton, MN
more details
| website
| reserve a table
|

Al Vento |
Minneapolis: Hiawatha |
European, Italian |
$$$ |
|

Al Vento |
Minneapolis: Hiawatha |
European, Italian |
$$$ |
|
|
Capsule review: An Italian cafe/neighborhood bistro with simple but authentic Southern Italian fare, moderate prices and minimal decor. The level of cuisine is many notches above the typical "red sauce" restaurant, where everything tastes the same because everything is smothered in the same heavy-handed
tomato sauce. Working with skill and finesse, chef-owner Jonathan Hunt changes his menu daily, but usually prepares house-made pastas, several bruschettas, small pizzas, braised meats, grilled fish and simple, satisfying desserts. One of the Star Tribune's 2004 best restaurants of the year.
Wine list: Interesting, mostly Italian selection. All bottles half-price on Monday evenings.
612-724-3009
5001 34th Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN
more details
| website
| reserve a table
|

Al's Breakfast |
Minneapolis: University |
American, American casual |
$ |
|

Al's Breakfast |
Minneapolis: University |
American, American casual |
$ |
|
|
Capsule review: A Minnesota dining icon. Unscripted short-order theatrics ("Short stack, two smoky mush with ham on a round and short-short whole-wheat Wally blues") are an off-the-menu side dish that's usually served up at tiny, 14-seat Al's. And the main course? Pancakes. You can't find better ones anywhere, particularly the slightly tangy buttermilks, which fry up hazelnut brown and laced with crunchy walnuts and pert blueberries. Al's griddlemasters also craft the best waffles in the state, sizzling bacon, perfectly poached eggs and big fluffy stuffed omelets. A Dinkytown institution, Al's is a 2004 winner of the James Beard Foundation's "America's Classics" award.
612-331-9991
413 14th Av. SE.
Minneapolis, MN
more details
|

Alaska Eatery |
Southwest suburbs, West metro |
Seafood |
|
|

Alaska Eatery |
Southwest suburbs, West metro |
Seafood |
|
|
952-345-0505
6501 Wayzata Blvd.
St. Louis Park, MN
more details
| website
|

Amazing Thailand |
Minneapolis: Uptown |
Asian, Thai |
|
|

Amazing Thailand |
Minneapolis: Uptown |
Asian, Thai |
|
|
612-822-5588
3024 Hennepin Av.
Minneapolis, MN
more details
| website
|

America's Harvest |
Northwest suburbs, North metro |
American, American casual, Seafood |
$$$ |
|

America's Harvest |
Northwest suburbs, North metro |
American, American casual, Seafood |
$$$ |
|
763-536-8300
7025 Northland Drive
Brooklyn Park, MN
more details
|

Amore Coffee |
St. Paul |
Coffee |
|
|

Amore Coffee |
St. Paul |
Coffee |
|
|
651-222-6770
917 Grand Av.
St. Paul, MN
more details
| website
|

Amore Victoria |
Minneapolis: Uptown |
European, Italian |
$$$ |
|

Amore Victoria |
Minneapolis: Uptown |
European, Italian |
$$$ |
|
|
Capsule review: Definitely Italian-American rather than "authentic" Italian, but it offers more variety and better quality than the usual red sauce restaurant. The restaurant does have deep-fried mozzarella sticks on its menu, and chicken wings, lasagna, manicotti and spaghetti and meatballs. But its more sophisticated offerings range from a lively, garlicky
bruschetta with tomatoes; gnocchi with pistachios and Gorgonzola; a chicken breast Gradiola with spinach leaves, pine nuts, walnuts and pecans, and lobster-filled ravioli topped with caviar. Portion sizes are definitely Italian-American: They are enormous. The weekend brunch menu, served a la carte, includes frittata, omelets and a tasty dish of eggs scrambled with pesto and pasta.
Wine list: Good selection of inexpensive California and Italian wines by the bottle or glass, plus a few more expensive
prestige labels.
612-823-0250
1601 W. Lake St.
Minneapolis, MN
more details
| website
| reserve a table
|

Anchor Fish & Chips |
Minneapolis: Northeast |
|
|
|

Anchor Fish & Chips |
Minneapolis: Northeast |
|
|
|
612-676-1300
302 13th Av. NE.
Minneapolis, MN
more details
|

Andrea Pizza |
Minneapolis: Downtown |
Pizza |
|
|

Andrea Pizza |
Minneapolis: Downtown |
Pizza |
|
|
612-630-2882
811 LaSalle Av.
Minneapolis, MN
more details
| website
|

Anemoni Sushi Bar |
Minneapolis: Eat Street |
Asian, Japanese |
|
|

Anemoni Sushi Bar |
Minneapolis: Eat Street |
Asian, Japanese |
|
|
612-813-1200
2550 Nicollet Av. S
Minneapolis, MN
more details
| website
|