THE CITY GRITTY >>

• Best City Hall
  St. Paul City Hall
  Guest Best: Mayor Chris Coleman There are many reasons to say that the 21-story St. Paul City Hall/Ramsey County Courthouse is the best. It is one of the greatest examples nationally of art deco architecture, designed in part by St. Paul's own Ellerbe Becket. Inside, the three-story... More >>
• Best Local Boy Made Good (1 Comment)
  Nick Schenk
  Nick Schenk's life story sounds like it could be one of the movies he now writes for a living. A local truck driver, after a long day of delivering fruit to area stores, pulls his rig into the cramped parking lot of Grumpy's Bar in downtown Minneapolis. Pen in hand, the trucker settles at the... More >>
• Best Local Girl Made Good
  Lindsey Vonn
  At age 24, St. Paul native Lindsey Vonn is the preeminent wunderkind of international women's alpine skiing. She recently broke the American women's record for World Cup race victories and clinched her second consecutive women's World Cup Championship earlier this year, becoming only the... More >>
• Best Politician (7 Comments)
  Keith Ellison
  Let's consider Minnesota politics over the past year, shall we? A governor rejected as the GOP vice presidential candidate still eyes the national spotlight by chatting it up on national news shows. A former senator who lost his re-election campaign refuses to face facts and puts our state... More >>
• Best Mayor
  R.T. Rybak
  This year it was a two-man race for Best Mayor. But while St. Paul's Chris Coleman is a highly capable mayor angling for a gubernatorial spot, that pesky RNC get-together hurt his overall score. Not so for über-fit mayor R.T. Rybak, who is guiding Minneapolis to new heights. During his... More >>
• Best Villain (3 Comments)
  Michele Bachmann
  The greatest villains are fun to hate and keep giving you new reasons to hate them. This is why Michele Bachmann, the great shame of the North Star State, is our best villain. We knew she was weird as far back as 2006 when she proclaimed herself "hot" for God and a "fool for Christ." But in the... More >>
• Best Scandal (1 Comment)
  Tom Petters
  Minnesotans love a bit of schadenfreude. We just can't help it—it's hard-wired into the DNA of the state's settlers and has seeped into the consciousness of civic life. So when one of the richest folks in the state lands in jail, accused of running a massive Ponzi scheme...well, the... More >>
• Best Use of Taxpayer Money
  Minnesota State Arts Board
  When the economy gets tough, it's easy to target programs that advocate and support the "frivolous"—be it the environment, the outdoors, or the arts. Yet as Minnesotans showed last year in voting for the Legacy Amendment—promising more tax money to support those things—life... More >>
• Best Make-Out Spot (1 Comment)
  Walker Art Center's Sky Pesher
  A make-out spot underground may not sound too romantic, but hear us out. Hidden on the Walker Art Center hill is a small walkway that leads into what looks like a giant bomb shelter in the side of the hill. Trust your curiousity and venture in. Once inside, you'll find an underground room lined... More >>
• Best Place for a First Date
  Science Museum of Minnesota
  First dates are dodgy situations; the recipe for attraction often boils down to chemistry. That said, when taking the maiden voyage into a relationship it's important to create an atmosphere with as many icebreakers as possible. At the Science Museum of Minnesota, you can learn all about your... More >>
• Best Place to Break Up
  Spyhouse Coffee Shops
  Some people will tell you that initiating a breakup is just as painful as being dumped. Those people are liars. Sure, if you have any feelings at all, it won't be easy to break your former beloved's heart. But inflicting that pain is just not as bad as receiving it. For one thing, the dumper... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Single Men (Straight) (2 Comments)
  Midwest Mountaineering
  Okay, so there are tons of single guys crammed into dark, crowded Twin Cities bars, but let's face it: The ability to scope them out may be seriously hindered by alcohol. So why not look for men at a place where health is in the air and the guys are guaranteed to be fit and adorable? Manly men... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Single Men (Gay)
  Too Much Love at First Avenue
  We're not sure exactly what kind of love goes down at Too Much Love on Saturday nights at First Avenue, but it's a powerful magnet for expressive twenty- and thirtysomethings in Minneapolis, and it nets an astonishing number of cuties each week, both straight and gay—a lot gay. Too Much... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Single Women (Straight)
  Cooks of Crocus Hill
  Since the early 1980s, everyone thought the best place to meet single women was at the community pottery class. "That scene from Ghost" became an overused quote for writers and a fantasy for lonely men hoping for someone to spoon. These days, though, there's a better way: Take a cooking class at... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Single Women (Lesbian)
  Booby Trap at the Bolt Underground
  Softball games, broomball tournaments, and the YWCA are always guaranteed good places to meet women who like women, but a little liquor never hurts to break the ice. While there is no 24/7 lesbian bar these days, thankfully a few queer ladies' nights have begun popping up on the scene on a... More >>
• Best View
  Guthrie Theater Endless Bridge
  A great view is as much about the place you're sitting as it is the thing you're looking at. No place in the Twin Cities embodies that maxim more than the Endless Bridge at the Guthrie Theater. Erected when the new Guthrie went up in 2006, the bridge sticks out of the blue behemoth like a... More >>
• Best Place to People-Watch
  Mesa Pizza at 2 a.m. on a Saturday
  There's no better place in Minneapolis to capture a portrait of college life than Mesa Pizza after Dinkytown bars announce last call. Inebriated students spill into the streets around the University of Minnesota for one last hurrah, stumbling to Mesa for a warm, oversized slice of heaven. In the... More >>
• Best Place to Take Out-of-Town Guests
  Lake Harriet
  When trying to dazzle out-of-town guests, there are the obvious choices like the Walker and First Avenue. But how about an activity that's free and showcases the best of outdoor Minnesota? Lake Harriet is the perfect way to spend an afternoon in the spring, summer, or fall. Generally not as... More >>
• Best Place to Get Away from It All Without Leaving Town (1 Comment)
  Brownie Lake
  Some day this summer you'll think of the "great idea" to rent a canoe or kayak at Lake Calhoun. Unfortunately, it can often seem as if everyone else in town had the same great idea. But don't be discouraged. If you really want to get away from it all, there's a secret that many of the others... More >>
• Best Place to Bond with Your Mom
  Lady Elegant's Tea Room & Gift Shoppe
  What could be more fun than bonding with Mom over a proper cup of tea and a pile of sweets? Guests at Lady Elegant's Tea Room and Gift Shoppe can select from 85 varieties of tea in the saccharine-sweet tearoom, which is decorated with flowers and ribbons and shiny tablecloths galore. Tea menus... More >>
• Best Local Website (1 Comment)
  Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
  You don't have to hunt or fish to appreciate the DNR's vast and superbly organized website—if you enjoy anything about the outdoors you'll find something of interest here. The site has information on everything from hiking to fossil hunting and geocaching to bird watching. It's also a free... More >>
• Best Podcast (1 Comment)
  Cosmic Slop
  Whether you're cruising blogs, podcasts, or Twitter feeds, finding a wellspring of edifying material on the internet can be a mental root canal. Funny, then, that the best local podcast should prove to be a musical revue that makes as much to-do about the misses of the bygone eras as it does the... More >>
• Best Local Blog (3 Comments)
  Culture Bully
  Of all the blogs the Twin Cities has to offer—and there are a ton of good ones—none is more professionally executed than the music site Culture Bully. Far from your cookie-cutter Wordpress knitting blog, Culture Bully has a slick layout and updates several times a day. It brings you... More >>
• Best Tweeter (1 Comment)
  @Lileks (James Lileks)
  There are legitimate arguments for Twitter being a useful social tool, and legitimate arguments for it being yet another purely narcissistic medium for those who want their oh-so-incisive thoughts and deep, deep feelings made public. No one bridges this divide—poking fun now at one camp,... More >>
• Best Festival (1 Comment)
  MayDay Parade and Festival
  Festivals during the summertime are a dime a dozen. Walk a couple of blocks from your home on the weekend and you will probably find some sort of street event selling the same bucket of cookies and lemonade for $5, and the same local acts jamming out onstage. The MayDay Parade and Festival is... More >>
• Best State Fair Food
  Corn on the cob
  You've waited all summer for this all-day gorging on the delectable treats and greasy goodness of the Minnesota State Fair: cheese curds, mini donuts, turkey legs the size of your head. But let's face it, there's only so much artery-clogging junk you can eat, and after a while you're going to... More >>
• Best Nerd Summit (1 Comment)
  CONvergence
  There are quite a few places where Twin Cities nerds can feel truly at home. Gaming stores, role-playing groups, and comic and anime conventions populate the metro area. But when it comes time to summon all the Minnesota minions of geekiness for one giant party, there's only one sure bet in... More >>
• Best Graffiti (1 Comment)
  The Yuck! Guy
  Those who wander about Uptown on foot may have noticed a running theme with the graffiti last summer. Someone's red Yuck! tag was found on sidewalks, tree stumps, concrete dividers, and a slew of other public objects. The tagger is prolific, but what exactly does Yuck! mean? Is it a commentary... More >>
• Best Gay Icon
  Wanda Wisdom
  Wanda Wisdom, the "single, sober drag queen hostess with the mostest," has not only inspired LGBT folks and straight allies within our fly-over borders, but cool, queer people across the globe. The self-described "original podcasting drag queen" covers a plethora of topics near and dear to our... More >>
• Best Library
  Rondo Community Outreach Library
  Neighborhood libraries are popular destinations these days—the books are free, the computers are waiting, and you can stay all day working on a project or just getting lost in a story. What makes the Rondo Community Outreach Library so appealing is how it's transformed a previously... More >>
• Best Car Wash
  Jiffy Car Wash & Detail Center
  This is the time of year when a good car wash is especially important. After months of hard winter, our cars are grimy and probably the worse for wear, and it's tough to keep your four-wheeled friend looking swell when spring rains keep applying a fresh coat of sludge. While it's easy enough to... More >>
• Best Place to Stay Warm in Winter
  Marjorie McNeely Conservatory at Como
  Minnesota's winter has its own stark beauty, but it is almost entirely without moisture in the air—or smells. The conservatory at Como Park is like a magical visit to a tropical paradise, for a $1 or $2 donation. Birds tweeting and flowers blooming are salve for the soul and a reminder... More >>
• Best Sign of Spring
  Lyndale Park Rose Garden
  All winter long, hundreds of rose bushes lie dormant under a protective covering of dirt and leaves, not far from the shores of Lake Harriet. Nearby, the ornate Heffelfinger Fountain stands hidden from view, encased in protective wooden boards. A few hardy people shuffle through the snow, but... More >>