My Guide to the Twin Cities
I’ve lived in the Twin Cities since 2009, and have become pretty familiar. These are all things that I’ve either personally visited or done, or someone close to me has told me is worth visiting or doing.
Please let me know if you’d like to make any suggestions for additions or fix errors!
Last updated on January 16, 2023
Food
- Chimborazo - An Ecuadorian restaurant that my wife and I just recently discovered, and has become one of our new favorites.
- Kyatchi - My favorite sushi restaurant. They also serve Japanese style hot dogs.
- French Meadow - Great organic and vegetarian food.
- Wok in the Park - My favorite asian (non-sushi) restaurant.
- Holy Land Deli - A well known Middle Eastern restaurant and grocery store.
- J. Selby’s - A new vegan restaurant in town.
- Sebastian Joe’s Ice Cream - Simply put, the best ice cream in town.
- A Baker’s Wife - The best donuts in town. They’ve also got lots of other great baked goods.
- Brit’s Pub - This one could fall under both the food and entertainment sections. I actually haven’t had much of the food here (although I hear it’s good), but the highlight is their rooftop lawn bowling. They also show movies on the roof from time to time as well.
- Kramarczuk’s German Deli - No, I don’t know how to pronounce the name, but I do know that they have the best German sausages I’ve had outside of Germany. My wife and I get fancy sausage here frequently.
- Ghorka Palace - This is my favorite Indian restaurant in town (it’s actually Nepali, Indian, and Tibetan). This is a dream for gluten free folks. Do not skip their veggie pakora!
- The Wienery - The best Chicago dog I ever had was in Minneapolis, MN at The Wienery. Seriously, I never thought a hot dog could taste so good. Definitely get there if you can. They even have vegan options!
🍕 Pizza
- Parkway Pizza - My new favorite pizza place. Don’t sleep on their sausage!
- Boludo - Boludo started as a small empanada stand. When they bought a slightly larger space, they added pizza to the menu, and it is VERY good. They add some salt or seasoning to the crust that makes it the best pizza crust in town in my opinion.
- Football Pizza - This used to be called Crescent Moon Bakery, but their football-shaped pizza became so popular that they just renamed the place. Their crust is really unique, and not just in its shape. I recommend the House Special, which includes gyro beef, green peppers, and onions.
Drink
Places for drinking alcohol and/or coffee/tea.
- Merlins Rest - Go here if you like Scotch or you’d like to try it. They’ve got the most options I’ve ever seen at a bar.
- Surdyk’s Liquor and Cheese Shop - The place to go if you have… expensive taste. They’ve got a large selection of wines, whiskeys, and other alcohols from around the world.
- The Riverview Wine Bar - A great little wine bar in South Minneapolis that often hosts live jazz music, and also serves fancy food.
🍺 Breweries
- Surly Brewing Beer Hall - Surly is the most well known Minnesota brewery. Their beer hall is an architectural beauty. Even if you don’t drink, it’s worth checking out, and they’ve got great food as well.
- Burning Brothers Brewing Tap Room - The best (and only) gluten free brewery in Minnesota. I used to be gluten free due to allergies, and this place has my favorite gluten free beer of any I’ve tried (and I’ve tried plenty): the Pyro “πρ” American Pale Ale.
- Sociable Cider Werks - Sociable makes tasty ciders, and has recently started making beer as well. It’s a great summer destination, with a sunny outdoor patio.
- Tattersall Distilling Cocktail Room - Inside a rustic former warehouse space, with a large outside patio. Fancy drinks, and often host to a food truck or two, it’s a great afternoon or evening place to lounge and talk.
- Venn Brewing - Venn brews some unique and tasty beers, and they also have a really big and nice taproom. Very comfortable. They’ve also apparently started opening early and serving coffee, which I have yet to check out, but I’d like to.
- Wild Mind Ales - A fun small-ish brewery that’s near my house. They’ve got a good outdoor patio area to hang out in the warmer months.
☕️ Coffee
- Five Watt Coffee - Five Watt’s Kingfield location (on Nicollet Ave) is my favorite coffee shop in town. Great drinks, an excellent atmosphere, and they’re always playing great music. Seriously, always.
- Smith Coffee & Café - A coffee shop inside the historic Smith Douglas More House. (See their about page for information about the building’s history.)
- Sovereign Grounds - A nice little coffee shop in my neighborhood. They have good coffee, a deli counter with some basics (sandwiches, muffins, etc.). This is also especially family-friendly, because they have a whole kids’ room with toys and a little playground. (This is also coincidentally where I’m currently sitting as I type this 😊)
Entertainment
- Can Can Wonderland - This is a wild place, there’s mini-golf, tons of pinball machines and arcade games, a bar, and more. And it’s all indoors, in the basement of a large warehouse.
- Vertical Endeavors - Indoor rock climbing at its finest. All of their locations are great.
- Puzzleworks - This place has the best puzzle rooms I’ve ever done. Fantastic.
- Sports Teams - If you’re into that sort of thing.
- Hockey: Minnesota Wild
- Basketball: Minnesota Timberwolves
- Women’s Basketball: Minnesota Lynx
- Soccer: Minnesota United
- Football: Minnesota Vikings
- Baseball: Minnesota Twins
- Baseball (minor league): St. Paul Saints
- Walker Art Center - Beautiful museum known for its modern art exhibits. They’ve also got a great sculpture garden (newly remodeled) that’s worth checking out if it’s not too cold.
- Minneapolis Institute of Art - A large museum known for its classical art. Some beautiful stuff here, including local art.
- Guthrie Theater - Even if you don’t like theater performance, this building is an architectural marvel. I go here once a year or so just to admire the building itself.
- Mall of America - Many locals would roll their eyes at me suggesting this place because it’s basically a monument to American capitalism, but I think it is an interesting thing to see, and has been getting more fun to visit over the past few years. It is the second largest mall in the world (the largest in the United States), and there’s in indoor amusement park with roller coasters and stuff.
- Minnesota Science Museum - I love science museums for their fun interactive exhibits. Minnesota’s science museum is a fun excursion.
- First Avenue - The “Danceteria” (music venue) famously started by Prince in 1970. Home to some of the best music in town.
- The Trylon Cinema - A “microcinema” that shows independent and foreign films.
- Riverview Theater - A two screen theater showing a good mix of popular, independent, foreign, and second screening films. Their ticket prices are pretty cheap too.
- Valleyfair - The Twin Cities’ own amusement park has some great roller coasters and other thrill rides. There’s even a water park, and other attractions. Good for the whole family.
- Ax-Man Surplus - This is one of the weirdest stores that I’ve ever been to, but I’ve found it’s also sometimes the only place I can go to get something weird and specific. The last thing I bought here was little pieces of foam to use as padding for the sound system in my car. Not only does Ax-Man have a wide and strange variety of surplus goods, they’ve also got a hilarious sense of humor. There are little signs and labels throughout the store that tell jokes — often quite self-aware — about the store itself or the products.
- Up-Down - A very large arcade bar, home to many great arcade and pinball classics, and alcohol. This place gets really busy on the weekends, which can be good or bad depending on your disposition. Consider yourself warned.
Outdoor Activities
- Minnehaha Falls - A water fall right in the city.
- Lake Superior - The largest of North America’s “Great Lakes”, and the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. This is about a 3 hour drive from the city, but still worth seeing if you can make the trip.
- Afton Alps - There are a few ski resorts near the Twin Cities, but Afton is the closest.
- Chain of Lakes - Possibly Minneapolis’ most unique feature is its lake system within the city (David Byrne is supposedly a big fan). The chain consists of Cedar Lake, Lake of the Isles, Bde Maka Ska (formerly Lake Calhoun), and Lake Harriet (my favorite of the lakes). These are all connected by bike trails (see the Grand Rounds below), and also by waterways, allowing them to be traversed by canoe.
- Lake Nokomis - If you’re looking for a little quieter lake experience, Lake Nokomis is a great option. It has similar amenities to the lakes in the Chain of Lakes, but is much less busy.
- Como Lake - Smaller than Lake Nokomis, but just as quiet. There are also some beautiful houses surrounding the lake that you can view while walking around it.
- Grand Rounds Scenic Byway System - Minneapolis is sometimes called the “best city in the world to be a bicyclist” (the award goes back and forth each year between us, Portland, OR, and some European cities). The Grand Rounds is a trail system spanning all of the major lakes within the city, to the beautiful river parkways.