Might be in wrong forum.
Looking for recos. Restaurants, bars etc…
Quite a few choices Gerald - be a little more specific - are you looking for fun wine bars? Beer bars? Pick up joints?
The Twin Cities may be the weakest area in the Midwest for restaurants, but a great amount of cool bars and fun night spots abound.
Really looking wine bar that might have an enotech/coravin system where I might be able to sample a few things.
Yah, this should probably be in the Epicurean forum or the travel forum. Until then…
For wine bars, a couple of places come to mind. The first one is Terzo. The wines are 100% Italian, and I believe they have an enotech system. The food is also quite good, particularly the salumi platter. Location is south Minneapolis.
Another place is Toast. The list here is going to be more “off the beaten path,” and the menu has many tasty items. I really can’t recall their preservation system. Location is in Minneapolis’s North Loop district, not far from Target Field.
There are other wine bars, but they would not be the first ones I would recommend. There are also restaurants with good wine programs, and attractive by-the-glass lists. They definitely don’t have an enotech system, though. If you are interested in any of those, reply back or PM me. Same goes if you want to narrow things to a specific geography.
La Belle Vie- pricey, but interesting wine flights paired with tasting menu. They have a bar with more casual menu too. Recently I have brought wine and paid corkage at 112 Eatery and Piccolo, really liked Piccolo. Their wine lists may be on line. Napa Valley Grill down by M of A had a lot of wine by the glass, that was some time ago.
Breakfast/brunch at French Meadow Bakery Cafe or Hell’s Kitchen.
In addition to a nice downtown, I love walking around Lake of the Isles.
I Realize these wren’ wine bars per se, but they were good food/wine experiences in recent visits.
You aren’t going to find much in the line of older/rare wines by the glass in the Twin Cities - especially ones that use preservation systems - but TOAST is by far the best wine bar in the Twin Cities. The owner Scott is usually found behind the bar and is a great guy. A terrific small plates menu as well. And well priced.
Thanks guys. Keep em coming. Only in town for one night. Would have loved to do a last minute offline but not enough time in my schedule
Happy Gnome for a beer?
I was going to mention the Happy Gnome. The Twin Cities has a bunch of great beer bars, The Muddy Pig down the road from The Happy Gnome is another terrific beer bar with a pretty creative menu as well. Across from Surdyks Liquor Store in Minneapolis (great wine store by the way) is a couple of fun beer bars as well -
Oceannaire for seafood. Decent wine list.
Napa Valley Grill at MoA (mentioned above) is now closed.
And good riddance to the Napa Valley Grill at MOA. I had a recent dinner there over Christmas. Fly in my tap beer and my bottle of wine arrived after I had finished my steak.
Que? As opposed to the culinary capitals of Kansas City, Indianapolis and Cleveland I’d say we’re doing pretty good.
not wine bars but if you are downtown and want meat, good beer and bourbon it is hard to beat the butcher and the boar. 112, bar la grassa, bachelor farmer and borough are all good places to eat. if you want great food and drinks outside of the downtown scene travail and the rookery are very good
Where are you coming from (locally, before dinner) and/or where are you staying? I could likely recommend a place close to either for you, if that would help.
Kansas City is a great foodie town - so many great little hole in the wall restaurants - The BBQ is legendary. And frankly, it’s not that I don’t think we have great restaurants in the Twin Cities - just horribly overpriced restaurants. Not a fan of ordering a piece of fish for $38 and then paying $14 more for a side salad. Oh and the $12 glasses of cheap Chardonnay doesn’t make things better… And I can go on and on and on…
I don’t quite agree with the overpriced comment. Not yet. If you want Midwest overpriced, try going to what passes for fine dining in Des Moines.
Goodness gracious, people. Ocenaire and the now-defunct Napa Valley Grille, seriously??? Enough with the false Midwestern, aw-shucks modesty. I think the Twin Cities has an absolutely fantastic restaurant scene. Here’s a list of restaurants that I like, many of which have James Beard regional semifinalists at the helm… and a few of which have regional and national James Beard-winning chefs. Many of these are corkage-friendly, just call and ask.
Tilia
Travail
Meritage
Alma
Bachelor Farmer
Borough
La Belle Vie
Heartland
Piccolo
Haute Dish
Burch Steak
Corner Table
Saffron
112 Eatery
Bar La Grassa
Sea Change
Lucia’s
Craftsman
Sushi Fix
Levain
The Kenwood
Rincon 38
The Rabbit Hole
Sen Yai Sen Lek
Pizzeria Lola
Pig Ate My Pizza
Cossetta’s
Brasa
Sonora Grill
Andale Taqueria
World St. Kitchen
FIKA
Patisserie 46
Rustica
For wine bars specifically, +1 on Brad’s recommendation of Terzo.
-Steve
Oh, and if you happen to come back later this year…
Gavin Kaysen will be opening Merchant in the North Loop district of Minneapolis. Michelin-starred chef from Cafe Boulud in NYC…
Erik Anderson has returned to Minneapolis after cooking at the Catbird Seat in Nashville…
Jim Christensen and Loren Zinter are about to open the Heyday Cafe in Uptown…
And Russell Klein (Meritage) is a few months away from opening Brasserie Zentral downtown.
-Steve