Minneapolis Restaurants

Yes—a frigid Minneapolis winter evokes stews and soups and hearty, gut-warming fare, but the food scene in this formerly industrial city has gained steam in recent years, with a burgeoning community of excellent chefs, craft coffee and beer, and Nordic style to accompany the culinary traditions of the region’s immigrant community. You’ll find lefse—a traditional Norwegian flatbread made with flour, potatoes, milk, and cream, akin to a latke of a sort—creatively topped and, while meat is central (this is the midwest, after all), river fish and ingredients foraged from surrounding wooded areas lend diversity to the new Minneapolis menus. A number of new but now iconic restaurants have set the tone for how the twin cities’ keep up with the trends, though the two are more fraternal than identical these days, St. Paul taking a slightly more classic, mom and pop shop vibe.