A sample of restaurants recommended for evening dining. These are more distant
from campus and have been rated I, M, X (inexpensive, moderate, expensive) by
typical cheapskate physicists.
Downtown Minneapolis
From campus, there are buses every few minutes along Washington Avenue.
- Brits Pub
- 1110 Nicollet Mall: "English-Kitsch" pub atmosphere, not-bad food; decent beer. Open late. (I)
- Buca
- 1204 Harmon Place: Family style Italian, noisy, boisterous, fun. (I)
- Cafe Brenda
- 300 1st Ave N: Gourmet vegetarian (M)
- Cafe Luxeford
- 1101 LaSalle Ave: Live Jazz, OK food, open late (I,M)
- D'Amico Cucina
- 100 N.6th St. (Butler square warehouse area); Excellent
Italian (M,X); good deals on Sunday evenings (I,M)
- Fine Line Music Cafe
- Live folk/country/??; OK food (I)
- Ichiban
- Japanese tepenyaki and sushi bar (M)
- Linguini and Bob
- 100 N.6th St.(Butler square warehouse area): Casual
family-style italian. (I,M)
- Loring Cafe
- 1624 Harmon Place at Loring Park; Theater folks, rather
weird but interesting (M)
- Murray's
- 26 S.6th St.; Classic old-style "fancy" with little old
ladies as waitresses; excellent steaks; (M,X); good deals before 6.30.
- New French Cafe
- 128 N 4th St.; very good French; (M,X)
- Palomino
- 825 Hennepin Ave; Yuppy, excellent place for seeing and
being seen; good place for a date! (M,X)
- Rock Bottom Brewery
- Street level below Palomino (above); microbrewery
ales made on the premises; noisy, fun, separate area with pool tables (I,M)
- Sawatdee
- 607 Washington Ave S.: spicy Thai (M)
Uptown
A bit further afield in Mpls. down Hennepin/Nicollet Avenues towards Uptown,
at Lake and Hennepin, which is a trendy, funky, noisy, green hair sort of area.
- Black Forest Inn
- Nicollet and 26th St: good, authentic German, has
an outside patio (M)
- Christo's Greek Restaurant
- 2632 Nicollet; (M)
- Figlio
- Uptown area at Lake St. and Hennepin; bistro atmosphere; one
of the best late night places; bar and restaurant areas. (I,M,X)
- Giorgio
- 2451 Hennepin Ave: excellent Tuscan specialties, small; (M,X)
- Green Mill
- 2626 Hennepin Avenue; variety of pizza types, popular,
there are several others in the suburbs (I,M)
- It's Greek To Me
- Lyndale and Lake St.(30th): excellent Greek
specialties (M)
- Sri Lanka Curry House
- 2821 Hennepin Ave; order mild or medium, hot is
ridiculous! (M)
- El Meson
- 3450 Lyndale Ave: Cuban/Spanish-American food. (I)
Also in South Minneapolis
- Broder's Pasta Bar
- at 50th St and Penn Ave; in a converted gas
station, probably the best pasta dishes in town, plenty of garlic; no
reservations unless you have more than 6 people, but call your name in a half
hour earlier and you'll be put on a list. (M) (Walk it off around scenic
Lake Harriet which is just 2 blocks north).
Mall of America
The mall (if you're not a snob!) has several decent restaurants, most notably:
- Rainforest
- Has tropical rainstorms, parrots, very popular, amazingly
good food, inc. burgers (I,M)
- Planet Hollywood
- Restaurant/nightclub, owned by movie stars who are
occasionally seen. No physicist has yet admitted to having been there.
St.Paul
You'll need a car or taxi for most of these...
- Cafe Latte
- 850 Grand Ave; noisy, very popular, great salads, soups,
sandwiches, desserts. (I,M)
- Dakota Bar and Grill
- In Bandana Square; The best known live jazz
place in the area, often featuring nationally known artists; (M)
- Caspers Cherokee Sirloin Room
- 886 S.Smith, W. St Paul, (several blocks
south over the High Bridge); old-fashioned steak/chop house (M)
- Lindey's Prime Steak House
- 3600 Snelling Ave N; only 3 things on the
menu: medium, large and X-large superb steaks. The fixings are poor, but you
won't care (M)
- Tavern on Grand
- 656 Grand Ave; eat the Minnesota state dish, which is
also the state fish (the walleye), prepared many ways. There are other things
on the menu (I,M)
- Cossetta's
- 211 W 7th St.; Italian cafeteria, has been in the
neighborhood for decades, close to downtown and the river (I)
- Khyber Pass
- 1399 St.Clair Ave; Afghani, small, great food (I)
- La Cucaracha
- Grand Ave at Dale St.; probably the best Mexican food in
the cities (I)
- Table of Contents
- 1648 Grand Ave; cosy restaurant/wine and espresso
bar in a wonderful bookstore, imaginative food (M). (Readings by authors on
many evenings in the store). They have recently opened a more pompous version
in Minneapolis, also called T of C.
- W.A. Frost
- Western and Selby Ave in Cathedral Hill area; in an
interesting restored 1880's building, restaurant and bistro indoors, check
these out but, in summer, the patio dining or drinking is to be preferred. (M)
Main street area
Site of the original Pillsbury flour mills and the origins of
Minneapolis at the St. Anthony's Falls (a longish walk from campus). Some of
the old warehouses were rehabilitated and filled with candle shops and
restaurants, most of which failed. Cobbled streets, etc. Good places to have a
beer al fresco and view the skyline over the river.
- Anthony's Wharf
- good seafood (M)
-
- Pracna on Main
- the original restaurant on old Main, serves mainly
burgers and beer. (I)
- Nicollet Island Inn
- a fancier restaurant, also overlooking the river
(M,X)
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Questions/comments to: Graham Allan (web, and additions to the guide), or
Keith Ruddick (food).
The URL of this page is http://www.hep.umn.edu/dpf96/tcfood.html
Last Updated: 6 July 1996