FOODSTUFF >>

• BEST APPLE ORCHARD
  Yeah, okay, this Best of the Twin Cities pick isn't in--or even really near--the Twin Cities. But cut us some slack: Emma Krumbee's is worth driving a few miles out of the way. Set on 45 acres about halfway to Mankato near scenic Belle Plaine, this operation has all the amenities you'd expect:... More >>
• BEST ASIAN GROCERY
  Make your own maki? United Noodles sports ten varieties of nori. There are aisles of cookies, crackers, and canned goods, plus Asian seafood and produce you won't find anywhere else in town. The staff is pleasant and helpful--which comes in handy when you're in no shape to discern one kind of... More >>
• BEST BAGELS
  Bagels aren't that complex a foodstuff, so why are there so few good ones west of the Hudson River? A bagel lover in these parts must simply make do, taste-testing the local offerings, compromising, always compromising, and then, inevitably prevailing upon a loved one who's traveling to New... More >>
• BEST BAKERY
  The more widely we taste of the world's bread, the more convinced we are that Turtle Bread isn't merely the best bakery in town, it might well be one of the best bakeries on Earth. Case in point: Last fall we were in Paris and had the chance to swing by Poilane, widely reputed to offer the best... More >>
• BEST BARBECUE
  Drive south on Minnehaha, drooling. Peel around the corner onto 38th Street, trembling. Pull up in front of Ted Cook's short of breath, heart pounding like a jittery drum. Cross the threshold into the fluorescent-lighted meat emporium. Do they have--are they out of--can I order--Yes, you're in... More >>
• BEST BISCUITS AND GRAVY
  If a double shot of protein is your idea of the world's best breakfast, then Sunnyside Up's rendition of this mammoth Southern favorite will be manna. It's structured around two fairly dainty, flaky biscuits that couldn't taste more like butter if they were actually croissants. They arrive... More >>
• BEST BREAD
  The real reason we're not a cold Omaha has nothing to do with the Twins and everything to do with basic quality-of-life issues like being able to get a great loaf of bread everywhere you turn. And with the continued expansion of Peter Kelsey's bread empire, we've got that quality-of-life issue... More >>
• BEST BURGERS
  Many a vegetarian has fallen off the wagon dreaming of a perfect burger. And frankly, constant carnivores could learn a thing or two from our lettuce-loving friends: Burgers shouldn't be taken for granted. They shouldn't be consumed with uniform, unappreciative abandon whereby every gray patty... More >>
• BEST BURRITOS
  Shreds of chicken drenched in fiery chiles; beef, roasted and then stewed, as rich as barbecue; chunks of pork in sweet red roasted-poblano chile sauce; sizzled strips of steak with roasted tomatoes; chunks of pork in zingy tomatillo sauce with potatoes... Confronting the ever-changing steam... More >>
• BEST CANDY STORE
  Your nose is the first thing that alerts you to your impending arrival at Candyland. As soon as you're within a block of the place, you smell fresh-made popcorn. In fact, popcorn is Candyland's biggest seller: They go through almost 200 pounds of popcorn a day. A St. Paul institution since... More >>
• BEST CHEAP EATS
  Three-dollar falafel at Sahib's. Vietnamese hoagies at Quang for $1.75. Pork buns for two bucks at Trieu Chau. Five dollars for an entire Mexican meal at Tacos Morelos, El Mariachi, and Los Gallos. The same price for Vietnamese noodle feasts at Pho Tau Bay, Phuong Cafe, Vientiane, and the... More >>
• BEST CHEESE SELECTION
  Thank God for monks. Along with their other frugal toils (prayer, bird feeding, and the like) we must also credit the monastic brothers of old with civilizing cheese. Sure, Charlemagne loved his bloomy Bries, and Remus suckled on wolf's-teat fontinas, but it was berobed medieval men leading... More >>
• BEST CHICKEN WINGS
  This bird doesn't do tricks. There are no "flames" to select from (one flame="sizzling," two flames="scorching," etc.). There are no flavors of the day, no stunt sauces. Just a good excuse, for only $6.95, to order another cold beer. Basted with a subtle, teriyaki glaze, these wings are... More >>
• BEST CHOCOLATE
  We know material gifts aren't supposed to play any part in true love, but, see, this one time we got a B.T. McElrath chocolate flower-box, which is a special box cast entirely out of dark chocolate and resembling a daisy. (If a daisy was a dark-brown glossy box.) And when we lifted off the lid,... More >>
• BEST COFFEE (BY THE POUND)
  On any day, you can walk into any Dunn Bros and find a selection of coffee beans that were roasted right there on the premises that very morning. The busier shops, such as the one on Grand and Snelling avenues in St. Paul, roast every variety of bean they sell, every day, so you can be sure... More >>
• BEST DELICATESSEN
  What's a deli doing in a Minnetonka mall? Shut up and have some coleslaw (gratis when you walk in the door) or a half-sour pickle. Now peruse the menu: The matzoh-ball chicken soup is complex and delightful, the cabbage rolls stuffed to bulging. Lox is rich, potato pancakes meaty. As for us, we... More >>
• BEST DOUGHNUTS
  There is a stretch of Johnson Street not far from I-35W that appears virtually untouched by time. An actual barber shop--i.e., not a salon--advertises with an actual striped pole. A neighborhood café serves lime phosphates and all-you-can-eat fries. A thrift store that hasn't succumbed... More >>
• BEST FISH MARKET
  Thanks to traffic patterns and Coastal Seafoods, we get our fish faster than most New Yorkers. Squid, crab, and oysters, too. At first glance Coastal's two retail outlets are underwhelming, small shops featuring small display cases, a few dry goods and frozen items. The selection is... More >>
• BEST FRESH PRODUCE
  Everybody knows you can walk into any old supermarket to find an apple, a carrot, or a head of lettuce. Or stroll into one of the Twin Cities' more upscale, carpeted emporiums to find the raw materials for an exotic fruit plate or salad. But the Wedge is in another league entirely. It seems... More >>
• BEST FRIED CHICKEN
  Lucille's is a deft master operating in a field of midgets. If you haven't experienced the joy of Lucille's chicken, here's the drill: Having been sure to allot 25 minutes for the preparation of your quarter-bird, you arrive at the drab north-side strip mall, snag a table, and order your... More >>
• BEST FRIES
  If you look into your heart of hearts, you'll be forced to admit that McDonald's fries really aren't all that great anymore. You do know that, don't you? Granted, they used to, but it all ended during the Bush era when they stopped adding beef tallow to their oil, and now their fries are as... More >>
• BEST GOURMET GROCERY
  We always try to avoid honoring an establishment in more than one category, but in Surdyk's case we've got to make an exception. Elsewhere in this section, we extol this tiny gourmet shop--an annex to Surdyk's landmark Nordeast liquor store--for its way with the fermented curd (see Best Cheese... More >>
• BEST HOMEMADE PASTA
  As long as we've been going there, walking into Delmonico's Italian Food has meant running into George and Louis Delmonico. We always thought of George and Louis, once proclaimed "Best Little Old Men" in this very publication, as the Click and Clack of neighborhood grocers: two chaps who were... More >>
• BEST HOT DOGS
  Vienna waits for you--Vienna beef, that is--at Joey D's, where kick-ass made-to-order dogs aren't the only homage to the Windy City. The street-corner ambiance, the sports paraphernalia, the umbrella-shaded patio tables, even the amiable stoicism of the staff seems intended to transport... More >>
• BEST ICE CREAM PARLOR
  From the basic (chocolate) to the creative (Pavarotti--caramel, banana, chocolate chip) to the strange (roasted garlic chocolate chip), Sebastian Joe's is your can't-miss choice for freshly made ice cream. With about 20 assorted flavors offered each day--they vary seemingly according to... More >>
• BEST INDIAN GROCERY
  While the megastores have finally gotten hip to the Twin Towns' maturing tastes, adding "international" sections to their repertoire, when it comes time to lay in the Indian supplies, Asia Imports remains the maharaja. This friendly shop is packed with spices, rices, and chutneys. There are... More >>
• BEST ITALIAN GROCERY
  Lynne Rossetto Kasper, public radio's high priestess of food, swears by this grocery, and with good reason: Buon Giorno is as close to Italy as you're bound to get in this neck of the prairie. If the assortment of Mediterranean staples ain't enough to make your head spin, get a load of the... More >>
• BEST JUICE BAR
  Not your average juice bar, Asase Yaa is an odd confluence of vegetable juices and fruit smoothies, African tribal masks and traditional Ghanaian songs. Where else could you find a batik tunic or beaded necklace and an orange smoothie with a shot of bee pollen? Open almost two years, the small... More >>
• BEST KOLACHES
  If you've been living on nothing but fat-free Entenmann's from the grocery store, tread carefully here. The epiphany one of Kramarczuk's warm-from-the-oven kolaches tends to provoke might cause the more feeble among you to slip into a catatonic state reversible only with the help of a steady... More >>
• BEST LATINO GROCERY
  Shelves with icons of the Virgin Mary, beautiful wooden furniture, maracas, and items too numerous to mention? Check. Cafeteria-style food service providing burritos as fat as cactus plants, tamales as spicy as Tijuana taxi drivers, horchata as sweet as piñata candy, and the best... More >>
• BEST MEXICAN BAKERY
  There's nothing fancy about Marissa's. You walk in, grab a tray and a pair of tongs and start piling up the pastry. The panque de chocolate is a dense pound cake with chocolate frosting, while the perky besos are perfectly sweet with apricot-jam filling. Room for more? Take a crisp, foot-long... More >>
• BEST MIDDLE EASTERN GROCERY
  The first thing you encounter when entering Sinbad is the bags of pillowy, fresh-baked pita, just daring you to take some home and pack it with hummus. This place ain't flamboyant, but the array of canned goods, sodas, spices, cheeses, olives, and other savory treats in this dimly lighted shop... More >>
• BEST NATURAL FOODS GROCERY
  We love our co-ops, oh yes we do. But when it comes to a natural foods market with all the trimmings, we can't deny this honor to the newly opened Whole Foods just west of Yuptown in Minneapolis. Aisles are wide. Cashiers are plentiful. The produce section, which is lighted like an art gallery,... More >>
• BEST PANCAKES
  Once upon a time--21 years ago, to be precise--a young Colombian woman traveled far, far north and landed in a place called Minnesota, where she began spreading to seekers of the ultimate comfort food the joy that is a perfect pancake. The regulars from Maria's Breakfast Club still wax poetic... More >>
• BEST PIZZA
  There are roller-coaster addicts, people who find the thrills and chills of life on the twisting rails so irresistible that they dedicate their every waking moment to that amusement. Now, we don't condone such behavior, but ever since we started going to Punch, at least we understand it: Pass... More >>
• BEST PIZZA WITHOUT SUN-DRIED TOMATOES
  There's a reason this utterly unpretentious, jock-and-family-friendly joint packs 'em in night after night, year after year, and it ain't the projection TV. Long housed on an inconspicuous corner at the eastern edge of downtown St. Paul, Red's Savoy Inn has mastered the oft-overlooked science... More >>
• BEST REUBEN
  Whether you're a traditionalist who never deviates from the tried-and-true or the adventurous type who likes to spice things up, Cecil's has the Reuben for you. And we're not talking about that heinous "Reuben Wrap" stuff they're peddling elsewhere these days. We see no reason to stray from the... More >>
• BEST SALAD
  A restaurant's salad sets the tone for the meal: Rigid iceberg hunks capped with genetically engineered tomatoes spells potential heartburn from the entrée. A plate of delicate greens dabbed with oil and vinegar and featuring the occasional caper, on the other hand, is the sign of a chef... More >>
• BEST SPICE SHOP
  Penzeys has borrowed Home Depot's utilitarian design and promotes the same do-it-yourself ethos--in this case, the promise of a glorious state of culinary excellence that, as you wander through the faux-shipping-crate aisles, seems both eminently graspable and blindingly obvious. All those... More >>
• BEST SUSHI
  Fresh, creative, imaginative--don't come to Fuji-Ya for a standard plate of bland tuna, exhausted boiled shrimp, or crinkling-dry salmon. Do come for exquisite examples of a sushi chef's art. Fear not, even though local sushi master Tengo left to head the Minneapolis Athletic Club's new... More >>
• BEST TEA (BY THE POUND)
  You might think tea is an icky brew, appropriate only for dousing with sugar and serving over ice. And if you thought that, having been exposed through the course of your life only to the tannic dreck peddled by the multinational tea-bag cartel, you would be wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. But... More >>
• BEST WINE AND LIQUOR STORE
  We tried to justify bestowing this honor on someplace else, we really did. But on top of the ordinary virtues--the biggest selection of beers, wines, whiskeys, liqueurs, interesting bargains, holiday gift boxes, and plan-your-month-around-it wine sales--this Best of the Twin Cities triple... More >>