Twin Cities/Minnesota travel suggestion thread

Centropolis · #1 Posted: **Jul 19, 2012, 6:14 PM**

I am planning a possible trip to the Twin Cities and the vicinity around the 22nd of August, and am fishing for suggestions for:

Breweries
Local Fish/Scandinavian influenced food
Fresh New American type restaurants (or whatever)
Non downtown interesting commercial strips

Lakes/state parks for swimming/kayaking/fishing/camping within a 3 hours of MPLS - could be in Wisconsin too.

I'll have around 5 days.

Avian001 · #2 Posted: **Jul 21, 2012, 2:15 AM**

For some really great suggestions, go to City-Data.com > Forums > Minnesota > Minneapolis-St.Paul

Or just click this link: http://www.city-data.com/forum/minneapolis-st-paul/

Post your question there!

Check the following links below:

For local Scandinavian foods, check out Ingebretsens. Or maybe the Bachelor Farmer. There are many more!

One of the premier local restaurants (and featured on Anthony Bourdain's show where he said it was "far and away the best" of the restaurants in mid-America) is Piccolo. I would also strongly recommend 112 Eatery in downtown Minneapolis. The head chef is a James Beard award-winner. This is the place that good chefs go to eat.

There are many others, but both of these places I'd classify as "Fresh American Restaurants."

For breweries, I'd check out Fulton. They have a tap room. Also Harriet Brewing. They also have a tap room. One of the bigger local brewers is Summit. But they don't have a tap room. More information is here.

A quick and easy trip from the Twin Cities to a really beautiful state park is the trip to "Interstate State Park" on the gorgeous St. Croix River just 25 minutes from downtown Minneapolis or 15 minutes from downtown St. Paul. Check out the pictures from that link.

For non-downtown commercial strips, the answer is fairly easy. Go to Uptown and/or Lyndale-Lake in Minneapolis. In St. Paul the easy answer is Grand Avenue between Dale and Lexington. Another great spot is 50th & France Avenue on the border of Minneapolis and Edina. There are several other spots but those are the premium places to hang out in the Twin Cities other than downtown Minneapolis.

vid · #3 Posted: **Jul 21, 2012, 3:09 AM**

What is that cute little down that I think is now surrounded by western suburbs? Excelsior or something? I saw a photo thread of that place on SSC and it was beautiful.

Centropolis · #4 Posted: **Jul 21, 2012, 3:20 AM**

Thanks Avian, I think that's a pretty good start. I crave smoked fish and stuff made with lots of dill in the Scandinavian way, generally I have to make do with Ikea.....

MNMike · #5 Posted: **Jul 26, 2012, 8:02 PM**

If you are going to check out downtown Minneapolis, try to do it on a Thursday if at all possible...the farmers market is on Nicollet mall all day, and there is a really great vibe. Any summer day is nice, but Thursdays downtown are great in the summer. Also, check out the food trucks over on Marquette Ave.

13th Ave NE in Minneapolis (Northeast Minneapolis), is a cool little commercial strip to check out. It is the up and coming "arts district". Anchor Fish and Chips and Northeast Social are good restaurants there, among others.

Chef · #6 Posted: **Jul 31, 2012, 4:52 AM**

If you want to check out some not so fancy urban strips I would also recommend east Lake St on the south side, Nicollet Ave between 18th and 28th, also on the south side, Central Avenue between 18th and 27th in Northeast and west Broadway on the north side. IMO Lake St is the cities' definitive iconic strip, in many ways it is Minneapolis: every part of the city is represented somewhere on that street, don't expect pretty though.

You should eat at Quangs (27th and Nicollet). There are a lot of Scandinavians in the Twin Cities but I think Vietnamese is the ethnic cuisine we do best. Quangs is my spot - tasty and not too expensive. For fancy new American I would do Tilia, Piccolo or the 112, you probably need reservations, Piccolo may already be booked for that weekend. Alma and Travail are really good too. Alma's chef won a Beard Award for best chef in the Midwest, people here seem to forget how good it is.

I second the suggestion of the St Croix Valley. Stillwater to Taylor's Falls is a really nice stretch of real estate.

Centropolis · #7 Posted: **Jul 31, 2012, 2:51 PM**

Cool, okay. Keep the suggestions rolling if they come to mind.

I'm also interested in the closest Lake Superior beaches/state parks...it's clearly one of those years where the lake temps are warm enough to swim............I see water temp readings coming into the freakin' 70s...