RESTAURANTS >>

• BEST BREWPUB
  With a dozen handmade beer offerings ranging from Brother Van Vie's Belgian-style Duvel and Saint Peter Pale Ale to tougher stuff like Pot Hole Porter and Martin's Bitter, if you can't find a beer you like at Great Waters you're very, very grumpy. We can assume, then, that your hardened heart... More >>
• BEST CHINESE RESTAURANT
  Tammy Wong's fiery wok produces incredible treats both exotic and conventional--sophisticates can't get enough of the pickled-on-site mustard greens sautéed with sweet tubes of blanched squid, while the rest of us gobble up an incredible rendition of mu shu pork studded with slivers of... More >>
• BEST DIM SUM
  Dim sum, a celebratory southern Chinese brunch (which translates literally as "dot heart" and poetically as "heart's delight"), is a meal made up of as many little appetizer-size portions of hard-to-make dishes as you care to order, and the best to be had around town these days is at My Le Hoa... More >>
• BEST EARLY BIRD SPECIAL
  Who says an early bird special has to be dinner? For that matter, who says it has to be early? From 11 p.m. until 3 a.m. nightly at Mystic Lake, wee-hours birds aren't treated to worms, but rather to a breakfast buffet of pancakes, French toast, eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns, assorted... More >>
• BEST ENDLESS OKTOBERFEST
  Thirty-foot tables groan beneath two dozen rowdies pounding with their beer mugs and roaring "In Heaven There Is No Beer," all but drowning out the numerous strolling accordion players. The ein prosit--a call-and-response toast that sounds a lot like "zigi zaki zigi zaki: oi, oi, oi!"--unites... More >>
• BEST FRENCH RESTAURANT
  Every year it's an agonizing choice: cafe un deux trois or the New French Café? One serves French food as it is in the side streets, the other French food as it is in your dreams. While it's true that sometimes nothing but the city hubbub and moules mariniéres at un deux trois... More >>
• BEST GERMAN RESTAURANT
  You're too enamored of German food to stay home, but having driven 40-odd miles to sample delicacies like John Schumacher's raisin-studded sauerbraten, you're in no shape to drive home--you're too full. Too full because the beef in the sauerbraten is as soft as cheese, the flavor as potent as... More >>
• BEST GREASY SPOON
  There's a fella hunched over the counter who thinks he's Cagney, crushing cigarette butts and counting coffee rings on the Formica. He sits with his back to the door, and to the cops and truck drivers who bang in and out of it. Willie Nelson is on the radio. The waitress is crumbling, though a... More >>
• BEST GREEK RESTAURANT
  Even in the dead of winter, there's something summery about Gardens of Salonica. The tinkling fountain keeps the air misty and fresh, the flourishing plants make a little miniature conservatory. Appetizers such as skordalia, a puréed potato and garlic dip, are pure summer too, enhanced... More >>
• BEST INDIAN RESTAURANT
  Start off with imported British and Indian beers, move on to spinach pakora (crisp globes of fresh spinach, potatoes, and onions battered and lightly fried), indulge in a rainbow of fresh-made chutneys (coconut, mango, tamarind, onion, mint, chili...), delight in garlic naan (Indian flatbread... More >>
• BEST ITALIAN RESTAURANT (CHEAP)
  At Cossetta's, where they've been making sausages since 1911, you can easily fill up and eat well for less than $5 per person by stuffing yourself with pizza and hoagies. If you raise the stakes toward $8 apiece, you can get the whole ball of wax: salad (the antipasto salad, for instance,... More >>
• BEST ITALIAN RESTAURANT (NOT CHEAP)
  You'd think D'Amico Cucina would have a lock on this category, but the recent chef-juggling there has opened the door for some of the other local Italian restaurants that have labored unapplauded in the shadow of the Big D. Enter the lovely Locanda di Giorgio. Here the menu changes every six... More >>
• BEST JAPANESE RESTAURANT
  Exquisite yakitori, beautiful bento boxes, splendid sashimi, discreet servers, and a magnificent view of the glittering Minneapolis skyline--there's no more polished, no more refined Japanese restaurant in town. After the de rigueur hot towel, order a drink and a few rounds of sushi before... More >>
• BEST KOREAN RESTAURANT
  When Shilla closed for a brief vacation last summer, our phones rang off the hook with customers panicked that the restaurant had gone under. Loyal patrons were terrified that Shilla's grilled salt-crusted adka fish, lively beef stir-fry bul go gi, roiling spicy stews, and, perhaps above all,... More >>
• BEST LOCAL CHEF
  Heaven is in the details: the tender crawfish decorating the oven-steamed salmon; the threads of preserved lemon beside the rib-eye; the toasty-hot hazelnuts that elevate the green salad, the wings of chocolate lace that separate the layers of bitter-chocolate espresso custard in the napoleon.... More >>
• BEST MEXICAN RESTAURANT
  You'll see people huddled out in front of the Lake Street location on a Friday night, stoic, determined, confident that if they can only manage to be patient enough, they'll be rewarded with fresh, authentic Mexican food. Like a pert ceviche vibrant with fresh lime and translucent marinated... More >>
• BEST MIDDLE EASTERN RESTAURANT
  Finally, Minneapolitans get Middle Eastern fine dining. All year people have been requesting the Persian specialties on Atlas's business-crowd-focused menu, but this spring sees the debut of an entirely separate Persian menu. In addition to the herb-marinated kebabs, saffron basmati rice,... More >>
• BEST NEW RESTAURANT
  How can you not love this elegant effort by four young and plucky Minneapolis dreamers? Mark Reinholtz, Scott Davis, Doug Flicker, and Melinda Goodin sank everything they had into the old Lowry's space. And after staying up nights painting the walls and scouring carpet glue off the floors, they... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO EAT OUT WITH YOUR KIDS
  A child's gustatory journey begins as an exploration: Food is just one of many enjoyable substances to place in the mouth, on the mouth, around the mouth, around your mouth, etc. Later, after the age of, say, 9, children develop palates as sophisticated as adults'. If they've been properly... More >>
• BEST RAW BAR
  A recent visit turned up six varieties of oysters on the half-shell--from Black Bay, Louisiana, from Wellfleet on Cape Cod, from Malpeque Bay and Salt Aire Bay on Prince Edward Island, from Prudence Bay in Rhode Island, and from Parramour Bay in Virginia. Given the crowds of avid oyster eaters,... More >>
• BEST REASON TO GIVE EMBERS' NEW MENU A CHANCE
  As anyone who doesn't hit the TV mute button during commercials doubtless knows by now, every local teen's favorite sobering-up-on-the-way-home-at-2-a.m. joint has been upscaling its image. One by one, Embers restaurants have been reupholstering booths a soothing purple and teal, gracing... More >>
• BEST RESTAURANT FOR A POWER LUNCH
  Frankly, we could hand out a raft of awards to cafe un deux trois: Best Salade Niçoise, Best Croque Monsieur, Best Moules Marinières, Best French Onion Soup, Best Place to Wear Armani and Eat Fries--but what would be the point? It can be truly said that cafe un deux trois suffers... More >>
• BEST RESTAURANT FOR APPETIZERS
  You're out a quatre, you want raw bar and Sancerre, your date wants spicy chicken wings and a Summit, your buddy wants a martini and a shrimp cocktail, and his date wants just a salad, or maybe a piece of cake, she doesn't know... What can you do? Head to Bravo, where the menu is as varied as... More >>
• BEST RESTAURANT FOR DESSERT
  Notwithstanding the handful of dessert diamonds around town (the chocolate soufflé at Morton's, for instance, or the orange zest poundcake sautéed in clarified butter with mascarpone citrus sauce at the Table of Contents in St. Paul), there's only one local dessert tray whose... More >>
• BEST RESTAURANT FOR GLUTTONS
  It's a birthday. By the time you got to the table, you were tipsy and famished--from cooling your heels in the bar owing to the vexing no-reservations policy. It didn't sound like much at first, some mussels marinara and fried calamari to start, one of those 1893 salads--a ski hill of romaine... More >>
• BEST RESTAURANT FOR LATE-NIGHT DINING
  The gravel-voiced waitress behind the counter may not look like much of a chef, but she'll set you up right with a burger, some pork chops, an ice cream malt, or a platter of potatoes O'Brien (sometimes they're a heavenly hash of crisp, browned potatoes, cubes of salty country ham, and sweet... More >>
• BEST RESTAURANT FOR OUTDOOR DINING
  Nowhere does Minneapolis look as glamorous as it does from the rooftop at Joe's: the glowing basilica behind you, the moonlight on the Loring ponds in front of you, the sparkling sculpture garden off to one side, and, like romantic palms swaying on the beach, the ever-present waving... More >>
• BEST RESTAURANT FOR ROMANCE
  Enter a beautiful Victorian mansion chock-full of fireplaces, candles, crimson walls, and cozy corners. Choose from among some 200 vintages of wine (about 20 of which are available by the glass), and then dive into a delicate array of wine-friendly dishes: Southwestern-cured gravlax with citrus... More >>
• BEST RESTAURANT TREND
  We may be at the dawn of a new era in fast food: when you can actually eat low-fat and healthy without cooking your own dinner or darkening the doors of crunchy co-ops, and we've got the coming influx of teriyaki chains and rice bowls to thank for it. At the (heaven forbid!) Mall of America,... More >>
• BEST RESTAURANT WAY THE HECK OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
  Ever see a limousine cruising down Highway 61 and wonder where the heck it was headed? Chances are it was zooming to the Harbor View, where they serve up treats like seared ahi in a black butter caper sauce and lemon tart as bright as the sun at noon over Lake Pepin, the widening in the... More >>
• BEST RESTAURANT WHEN SOMEONE ELSE IS PAYING
  Whenever we chance upon a patron with bottomless pockets, we have him or her escort us to Morton's. Once there, we invariably order the whole baked 3- to 5-pound Maine lobster that's overnighted daily from the coast (market price, which currently translates to no less than $70). When the beast... More >>
• BEST RESTAURANT--MINNEAPOLIS
  Let's just say you set out to find fault with Goodfellow's. Can't pick on the wine list--the 400 offerings stack up to anyplace internationally. Servers usually prove a good target, but staffers at Goodfellow's are smart, graceful, unobtrusive, perfectly timed. The food isn't going to help you:... More >>
• BEST RESTAURANT--ST. PAUL
  You can get a better steak at the St. Paul Grill, a better view at the No Wake, and score better points with Grandma at Forepaugh's, but there's no better all-around food and clean, understated elegance in St. Paul than at the much-beloved T.O.C. We're still harkening back to last spring's... More >>
• BEST SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
  The menu changes every single day to reflect the current catch. You can get things you'll never ever see anywhere else in town--Rhode Island stew with littleneck clams, periwinkles, mussels, red snapper, and tiger shrimp; Catalonian paella with mussels, mahi-mahi, squid, and littlenecks;... More >>
• BEST STEAK HOUSE
  To walk in and see that oil painting of the majestic, sunset-backed bull is to know you've arrived in an irony-free zone. Which is good. If we want irony, we can go to Buca or Jitters. Here they don't have time for satire; they've only got time for steak: dry-aged, hand-cut, cooked with a... More >>
• BEST STEAK HOUSE ON A BUDGET
  Home of the $30 steak for $14.95 (cellophane-wrapped crackers are gratis). What the Cherokee lacks in steak-house chic--no towering mahogany booths, no glassed-in display case through which you must view your carnage before you eat it--they make up for in meat. That $14.95 will get you the... More >>
• BEST SUNDAY BRUNCH
  Presuming you're not more suitable for Alias 8's "I Swear I'll Never Drink Again" omelet, there's no beating the Nicollet Island Inn's ultradeluxe Sunday brunch buffet. Start off with a mimosa, ogle the towers of strawberries, smoked salmon, and exotic cheeses, get a few slices of the... More >>
• BEST THAI RESTAURANT
  Yes, it's OK to save a soft spot for the struggling little Thai place around the corner from your office, but we're talking superlatives here, and only at Sawatdee can you experience Thai in all its regal glory--fresh ingredients, stellar preparations, and solicitous service. Of the five... More >>
• BEST VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT
  Take the organic warm mock-duck salad. It's plain old mock duck, glazed until crisp in a potent ginger-garlic paste, served on greens with a peanut-lemon grass dressing. It's thoroughly vegetarian, yet lively and harmonious. A recent special of sautéed eggplant with two sauces (tomato... More >>
• BEST VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT
  It might not look like much from the outside--actually it looks like a down-at-the-heels VFW hall, which it was until not too long ago--but down in the basement is a treasure of swell Vietnamese cooking. (Well, with a little Chinese flavor: egg noodles are a Chinese staple.) Pick from more than... More >>
• BEST WINE LIST
  Just as you can never step in the same river twice, you'd be hard-pressed to encounter the same selection of wines at Goodfellow's from one visit to the next: The list, which comprises some 400 wines, is constantly changing. One reason for the frequent updates is the fact that the restaurant... More >>