THE CITY GRITTY >>

• BEST "YOU SHOULDA BEEN HERE"
  It was a bad winter, all right, no doubt about that. More than six feet of snow fell on our fair Twin Cities, the temperature didn't rise above 50 degrees for 147 consecutive days, and, perhaps worst of all, local residents were subjected to a seemingly endless series of stories from the media... More >>
• BEST AIR-TRAVEL INNOVATION
  Not everyone is a people person. Sometimes, frankly, we'd like to try life people-free. Nowhere would this experiment be more potentially rewarding than at the airport, with its interminable lines, surly gate agents, and travelers who despite an uncanny ability to pack and haul seven suitcases... More >>
• BEST BOONDOGGLE
  For more than 60 years, the Lake Street Sears was a center of commerce in south Minneapolis. But in 1994, after years of losing money at the site, the company decided to close the store. Time passed. A Chicago-based developer proposed to redevelop the site, but Minneapolis officials balked at... More >>
• BEST BROKEN PROMISE
  Being principled and passionate can win you Best Politician tributes, but if you're looking to be a Best of the Twin Cities multiple winner, you've got to be imaginative. Way back in 1990, the day after his upset victory over incumbent Republican Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, Paul Wellstone made a... More >>
• BEST CAREER MOVE
  The job-placement fee was steep--nearly $12 million. But if money can't buy everything, it can still buy a seat in the U.S. Senate. More >>
• BEST CHEAP THRILL
  Your run-of-the-mill dollar store, with its stockpile of motor oil, off-brand toiletries, and faux Tupperware, is a thing to be celebrated in its own utilitarian right. But let's face it: It's nothing to write home about. Your dollar bazaar, on the other hand--now that's another matter... More >>
• BEST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
  After floods ravaged Grand Forks, North Dakota, in 1997, the Grand Forks Herald won a Pulitzer Prize for public service, for not missing an issue despite the fact that its offices were wiped out. In a slightly less dramatic--but no less important--fashion, the Hmong Times in St. Paul is still... More >>
• BEST COP
  This past August, Sgt. Joe Delia of the Maryland Heights Police Department in Missouri was one of 13 officers recognized as a "Top Cop" by the National Association of Police Organizations. The honor was bestowed upon Delia in recognition of his central role in the multi-year investigation of... More >>
• BEST CORRECTION
  Corrections are inevitable: misidentified high school athletes, statistics off by one decimal point, misspelled names. We're all human. But there are certain gaffes that can forever destroy a newspaper's credibility. So for posterity's sake, we offer this blunder from the March 31, 2001 Star... More >>
• BEST DAD
  With names like Freeman, Mondale, and Humphrey, Minnesota politics has no shortage of touching father-son moments. But perhaps the most inspiring example of a father's love came last year from then-U.S. Sen. Rod Grams. His son Morgan had been busted in July 1999 for driving a rental car that... More >>
• BEST EXAMPLE OF KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
  What to do when you become a feared banking mogul in the 1990s, only to see Wall Street turn jittery at your slash-and-burn management style come the dawn of the millennium? If you're Jack Grundhofer, CEO of U.S. Bancorp, you lean on your little brother. Last year, with U.S. Bank mired in two... More >>
• BEST EXIT
  Time will tell whether Minneapolis's longtime finance director was a voice in the wilderness or a nattering nabob. For now we're inclined to believe the former. During his eight-year tenure, Moir was always there to slap the hands of politicians when they reached too far into taxpayers'... More >>
• BEST FARMERS' MARKET
  It has been said that Minnesota's two seasons are winter and road construction. Let's amend that to "winter and farmers'-market season." While we may strike an unhappy accord with the former, accepting subarctic wind chills with a stoic sniffle, winter in Minnesota does make summer's glorious... More >>
• BEST FESTIVAL
  Unlike its geographic neighbor, the gargantuan Uptown Arts Fair, and other overgrown summer gatherings, this unassuming yet fun-filled little festival didn't back up local traffic for blocks. It didn't feature national music acts (washed-up or not), but instead hosted a variety of local... More >>
• BEST FOOD COURT
  Life is a carnival. With that realization, it dawns on us that we no longer have any excuse for avoiding the Mall of America. Good thing we don't have to do so on an empty stomach. Though the mall is home to far too many eating options, our favorite is the original food court, where one can... More >>
• BEST GADFLY
  Last summer the Minneapolis City Council appointed a 17-member committee to study the feasibility of a privately financed new baseball stadium for the Minnesota Twins. In early March the committee published its conclusion: It can be done. The group envisions an affordable "compact urban... More >>
• BEST GROUND ZERO
  The weeks leading up to last summer's International Society for Animal Genetics conference brought no shortage of hyperventilating about the impending clash between lefty protesters and The Man. Minneapolis, it seemed, was at risk for a disturbance on the scale of the World Trade Organization... More >>
• BEST GROUND ZERO (LITERAL)
  In case you thought census data was only good for gerrymandering Congressional districts, there was this revelation, courtesy of the statisticians at the St. Paul Pioneer Press: The U Otter Stop Inn is the absolute center point--or "centroid" in people-counting parlance--of the Twin Cities'... More >>
• BEST GROUP TO WELCOME NEW TWIN CITIZENS
  If you've recently relocated to the Twin Cities, you may have noticed that the natives sometimes seem only slightly less frigid than the winters. Breaking into a social circle (especially ones in which everyone else seems to have known one another since preschool) is no easy task. And while we... More >>
• BEST IDEA FOR A TWINS STADIUM
  The notion had a certain charm. After years of trying and failing to sell the notion of a big new publicly funded ballpark, the Twins unveiled an entirely original concept last August: a more intimate venue (25,000 bleacher-type seats), outdoors, with real grass--that they'd pay for themselves.... More >>
• BEST JESSE VENTURA QUOTE
  It's hard to hit a moving target, and when it comes to providing sound bites, Gov. Jesse Ventura doesn't sit idle for long. But it's hard to beat this early-April effort, which is still triggering nasty flashbacks to that Ice-T movie Surviving the Game. It stemmed from a Star Tribune column by... More >>
• BEST LANDMARK
  Downtown Minneapolis does not have a very good reputation for hanging on to its historic structures. Today, with only a few exceptions, the downtown skyline is a morass of cold, soulless edifices constructed during the Eighties and Nineties. With the exception, perhaps, of Philip Johnson's 1973... More >>
• BEST LIBRARY
  At first it seems a smidge intimidating. You climb the marble stairs to the second floor of the Minnesota History Center and tiptoe through the stunning rotunda toward the library, home to 500,000 volumes covering everything from church histories to local labor organizations to the explorers of... More >>
• BEST LOCAL BOY GONE BAD
  Minnesota Vikings fans who remember the team's greatest era have fond memories of running back Chuck Foreman. During his seven seasons with the team (1973-79), he went to the Pro Bowl five times and set a host of team records. But last year federal prosecutors weren't interested in Chuck's... More >>
• BEST LOCAL BOY MADE GOOD
  For years Kronfeld was best known to local audiences for his hyper-anal character, Dr. Sphincter, for whom tightness and rightness were one. He popped up a lot on local cable access and did some advertising work. Maybe you saw him fronting a band at the Terminal Bar. Maybe you even saw Kronfeld... More >>
• BEST LOCAL GIRL GONE BAD
  Remember the good old days, when there were people who cared about reality TV? The early money was on "spunky" 25-year-old drug-company sales rep Brittany Petros to outlast her housemates/foes on Big Brother. Hometown rival Jean Jordan, for one, was an ex-stripper who came off as a borderline... More >>
• BEST LOCAL GIRL MADE GOOD
  When reality TV hit home, it hit hard: Not one, but two Twin Citizens were picked to take part in Big Brother, CBS's attempt to follow up on the Survivor phenomenon (by dumping a group of strangers in a house, training hidden cameras on them, and getting 'em all drunk). Every drama needs an... More >>
• BEST LOCAL SIGN OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
  U S West becomes Qwest. Minnegasco becomes Reliant Energy. Northern States Power becomes Xcel Energy. At least Twin Citians will always have the Dayton's name to fill us with pride, right? More >>
• BEST LOCALLY GENERATED WEB SITE
  Forget about his namby-pamby column in the Star Tribune; the real James Lileks can be found on his peculiar Web site, which is equal parts personal diary and urban archaeology. Lileks's daily dispatches for the site, which he calls "Bleats," offer curious meditations on the ambiguity of the... More >>
• BEST MEAT RAFFLE
  Long live the meat raffle! This peculiar tradition makes no logical sense: Go to the bar for a beer and a bump and come home with...prime rib! Mayslack's, along with Jimmy's Bar & Lounge and the Knight Cap, forms the epicenter of Nordeast meat raffles. We choose Mayslack's because they've... More >>
• BEST MOM
  There's no love quite like a mother's love. Still, Audrey Grams set a new standard for maternal devotion this fall, when she starred in a political attack ad on behalf of her son, then-incumbent U.S. Sen. Rod Grams, who was waging an uphill battle against DFLer Mark Dayton. The Grams campaign... More >>
• BEST MONTH TO BE IN THE TWIN CITIES
  Come on, let's be honest: June, July, and August aren't all that special around here. Sure, the days and nights are balmy and the raspberries are ripening and there's a festival of some sort every weekend and the Twins are playing outdoors on natural grass to sellout crowds in privately... More >>
• BEST MONTH TO LEAVE THE TWIN CITIES
  When famed polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton discovered Minnesota at the far edge of the Ross Ice Shelf in the waning decades of the 19th Century, he instantly grasped the challenges this barren tundra would present to human habitation. Granted, Shackleton was not the first one here. Since... More >>
• BEST MYTH
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• BEST NON-ISSUE
  Last November, when Gov. Jesse Ventura announced that he'd be doing color commentary for the footballesque venture cooked up by World Wrestling Federation impresario Vince McMahon and NBC, conflict-of-interest questions swirled anew around the man who, since taking office, has uncorked two... More >>
• BEST PARADE
  Did you just get out of mass? Yeah. When can we start drinking? I already started drinking. It's too cold to be outside. That's why I started drinking. Why would somebody paint their dog green? He's Irish. Shouldn't there be more floats in a parade? No, man, this is all about the people,... More >>
• BEST PLACE FOR A FIRST DATE
  A first date is a delicate balancing act: You want to be able to talk to each other (only through conversation can you ferret out whether your date is socialized/interesting/funny/needy/psycho), but you also want an easy escape from those awkward pauses. The solution: a Friday night at the... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO DUMP SOMEONE
  Ending a relationship requires a delicate touch, and one ought to give ample consideration to setting the appropriate stage. In our minds, there's no better place to call it quits with your significant other than smack-dab in the middle of the Mall of America. Confusion is your ally! Hundreds... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO FALL ASLEEP IN PUBLIC
  A lazy Friday afternoon, and you made the mistake of eating a big greasy burger with fries and washing it down with a couple o' brewskis. The thought of returning to the office was about as appetizing as coming down with food poisoning. Nobody in the shop would miss you anyway, you reasoned, at... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO PEOPLE-WATCH
  Much of downtown Minneapolis is prime real estate for people-watching. Nicollet Mall has an edge, thanks to its office towers, hotels, and posh shops, not to mention its status as a major bus hub. And if the mall has a center, it's the Crystal Court. Downtown workers of every stripe pass... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO TAKE OUT-OF-TOWN GUESTS
  From The WPA Guide to Minnesota (1938): "A short distance upstream and about halfway down the riverbank were the Chalybete Springs. Early residents of St. Anthony Village, impressed by the healing properties of the waters, built paths and steps to their outlet. But the spring lost its... More >>
• BEST POLITICAL EMBARRASSMENT
  How, how could we possibly narrow this down to just one winner? There's simply too much to choose from. Like, for instance, the parade of sensational headlines generated by former Ramsey County Commissioner Dino Guerin, who admitted to having a gambling addiction and to passing $35,500 in bad... More >>
• BEST POLITICIAN
  Minnesota's senior senator had a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington moment last year: As the Senate gave a free pass to the China trade bill, Wellstone raised his voice in protest of that nation's history of human-rights abuses and religious persecution. Though he wasn't alone in his opposition to... More >>
• BEST PROOF THAT THE END WAS REALLY NEAR
  From a Minneapolis Police Department memo: "The groups that have traditionally supported animal rights are very committed to their cause and frequently use tactics including property damage, arson, and violent/nonviolent demonstrations." Hey, better safe than sorry, right? More >>
• BEST PUBLIC RESTROOM
  Humans often require privacy, even in public places. To put it delicately, the less of an audience one must endure in the lavatory, the better. If only all public restrooms were like those at the Monte Carlo. First, and most important, you get your own room. Not merely your own stall, mind you,... More >>
• BEST QUOTE ABOUT JESSE VENTURA
  After his debut as the very poor man's Dennis Miller for the XFL, Governor Ventura got some tough reviews. Our favorite zinger came from out of state (a fresh perspective always helps). Richard Sandomir, a sportswriter for the New York Times, offered this withering assessment to the local... More >>
• BEST REASON TO MOVE TO WOODBURY
  We can handle 40-below wind chills, and 75 inches of snow, and potholes the size of Dodge Neons. It's all part of the secret-handshake agreement one makes when one opts to live in this frozen metropolitan paradise. Ain't nothin' you can do about Mother Nature, after all. But you'd think some... More >>
• BEST RENOVATION
  Amid the patchwork of 19th-century flour mills and 20th-century kitsch (and vast expanses of parking lot) that forms its downtown-Minneapolis neighborhood, the Open Book literary center manages to fit right in, in the best possible way. Rather than snub the surroundings, architect Garth... More >>
• BEST RISE AND FALL
  The baseball season of 2000 was still in its adolescence when the Minnesota Twins proudly announced that the team had a new CEO: Chris Clouser, a former senior vice president for Northwest Airlines. (Baseball, airlines--it's all business, right?) Clouser's primary goal was to sell the public on... More >>
• BEST SCANDAL
  We'd hardly had the chance to absorb news that the University of Minnesota men's basketball team was a hotbed of academic fraud when news came that Minnesota Timberwolves execs had inked an under-the-table deal to retain the services of Joe Smith, salary cap be damned. Thus did our fair state... More >>
• BEST SECOND-BEST MYTH
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• BEST SELF-PROMOTION
  Having twice run unsuccessfully for governor (in 1990 and 1994), Mike Hatch tried a new gambit in 1988, and it paid off. Casting healthcare companies as the Devil, Hatch won the DFL primary and then defeated Republican Charlie Weaver in the general election. And he has been on a tear ever... More >>
• BEST SHORTCUT
  If you've lived in Minneapolis for more than a little while, you're probably aware that if you're driving north on Cedar Avenue, hanging a left just before you reach Washington Avenue and following the arrow that says "To Third Street" affords speedy access to westbound I-94 and southbound... More >>
• BEST SIGN OF THE LONG-RUMORED RENAISSANCE OF DOWNTOWN ST. PAUL
  Regardless of what it says about Gov. Jesse Ventura's nationally televised observation that St. Paul's streets were designed by drunken Irishmen, traffic in the capital city's center has become a heartily welcomed constant. While one might be concerned that stop-and-go on Kellogg Boulevard... More >>
• BEST STATE FAIR FOOD
  Is Ed Anderson a genius? Here's a better question: Could any man with an IQ below 175 invent the Lil' Orbit automatic mini-doughnut machine? Since 1974 Anderson and his Minneapolis company have, by their count, produced 9 billion doughnuts through their itinerant (and noble) proxies at county... More >>
• BEST STATE FAIR RIDE
  Here we were, all worked up about bungee jumping and ejection seats, placing gravity-defying thrill rides over nostalgia and tradition. While the 88-year veteran Ye Old Mill embodies the simpler ways of celebrating our Minnesotan heritage, the continued existence of the ride is more than an... More >>
• BEST TILT AT A WINDMILL
  There's no doubt that Gov. Jesse Ventura is Minnesota's preeminent windmill--if only for the amount of hot air he spins. Phil Krinkie, the Republican legislator from Shoreview, might be the Minnesota House of Representatives' preeminent Don Quixote, by virtue of his vociferous and futile... More >>
• BEST USE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS
  Some wise person once said that public schools are the hothouses of a city. This holds true in Minneapolis, anyway, where, beginning each October, January, and April, our schools play host to hundreds of continuing-education programs, classes that bring together citizens curious about, say,... More >>
• BEST VANDALISM
  It was like something out of a true-crime thriller: A head found beneath a blanket in a St. Paul back yard; a reward for information; a police force helpless to stem the carnage; a tireless journalist on the trail of the culprit. The victim: One of the 101 Snoopy sculptures plopped around St.... More >>
• BEST VICTIM
  Poor Jerry. After serving six terms in the Minnesota House and Senate, the native Iron Ranger/bar owner played it by the book last year when he made a bid for the DFL nomination for U.S. Senate. Following the traditional populist road to DFL glory, Janezich lined up union backing, worked the... More >>
• BEST VIEW
  Few local buildings are as thick with legend as the Foshay Tower. When it was completed in 1929, it was the first skyscraper west of the Mississippi River, and for decades it remained the tallest building in town. At the gala opening, John Philip Sousa's band was on hand, playing a march... More >>
• BEST VILLAIN
  In order to live up to its name, a villain must simultaneously embody a critical mass of loathing and an undertow of complicity. That disqualifies winter and the mosquito, though not Gov. Jesse Ventura. (But we're not gonna go there.) This past year saw a number of small victories nationwide... More >>
• BEST WEEKEND GETAWAY
  For 13 years this 40-acre farm just southwest of Annandale has been a quiet haven for rejuvenation and meditation. Although Clare's Well is run by Franciscan nuns (the name is inspired by Clare of Assisi, a 13th-century saint and friend of Francis), the retreat isn't traditionally religious.... More >>
• BEST ZONING VIOLATION
  When Coon Rapids police raided the residence of Robert and Myrna Kokesch on the evening of July 29, 2000, they weren't certain a crime had been committed at 341 106th Ave. NW. But they sure weren't in a mood to let any zoning violations slide. Acting on a tip that the middle-aged suburban... More >>