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The Twin Cites' best cheap eats and drinks of 2008
Eating thrifty doesn't mean your tastebuds should suffer
By James Norton
Published: December 31, 2008
This year was a lousy one for the economy but—perhaps not coincidentally—a great one for cheap eats. Here are 10 of the best. 10. Thai Jerky at...
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Far East Feast
Bali brings the tastes of Indonesia to Eat Street
By James Norton
Published: December 24, 2008
Is the local appetite for tastes of the tropics merely gargantuan or is it actually insatiable? Many of 2008's most enjoyable restaurant openings (Marla's on 38th Street, Sen...
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Mort's Deli—it ain't chopped liver
A classic Jewish deli comes to Golden Valley
By James Norton
Published: December 17, 2008
Mort's Meat Platter ($14.99) deserves to be a modern legend, a fairy tale that will send carnivorous children to bed with visions of red meat dancing in their heads, or a...
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Tanpopo chases the chill
Soups are the next best thing to a crackling fire
By James Norton
Published: December 10, 2008
Hell has come to connote "hot." Countless generations of pop-culture references depict eternal damnation as one endless, torturous schvitz. But if you consult Dante's Inferno,...
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La Vina dishes up twice the spice
Restaurant does both Mexican and Ecuadorian cuisine well
By James Norton
Published: December 3, 2008
What Minneapolis really needed was an inviting, dependable, Mexican/Ecuadorian restaurant. This transcendental truth didn't become obvious until La Vina opened its doors at the...
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Curran's still satisfies
An ageless menu of comfort foods includes the pot roast that time forgot
By James Norton
Published: November 26, 2008
All hail the unreconstructed, non-reimagined meatloaf, the Neanderthal meatloaf, the meatloaf untouched by 50 years of culinary progress. There is something...
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Lift Bridge Is Rising
Up-and-coming craft brewer offers a taste of Stillwater in every glass
By James Norton
Published: November 19, 2008
If you would like to drink the future—the smooth, pale golden, lightly spicy, caramel-kissed future—suck down a pint of Lift Bridge Brewery's Farm Girl Saison. What...
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At Black Sheep, the Pizza Crust Can't Be Topped
By James Norton
Published: November 12, 2008
The most perfect pizza crust in the metro area is available for a reasonable price at the newly opened Black Sheep Coal Fired Pizza in the Warehouse District. This is the...
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For heaven's sake, visit Moto-i
The Japanese rice drink is only one of the joys
By James Norton
Published: November 5, 2008
Moto-i is dangerous. There isn't a better word for it. "Seductive" and "addictive" both begin to describe the experience, "entertaining" is an understatement, and...
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Grill Crazy
Q Fanatic is one of the state's best BBQs
By James Norton
Published: October 29, 2008
This may be the great unspoken rule of American barbecue: The meat should be able to stand on its own merits—no sauce required. If the only way you can choke down a rack...
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Sen Yai Sen Lek's Thai menu is bold yet inviting
Thai restaurant intersects authentic and accessible
By James Norton
Published: October 22, 2008
Sen Yai Sen Lek (Big Noodle, Little Noodle) is a new Thai restaurant located squarely at the happy intersection of "authentic" and "accessible." Bold, bright, spicy, sharp, and...
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Blue Door shuts on beans, opens for pub food
St. Paul restaurant puts fresh twist on Midwestern bar treats
By James Norton
Published: October 15, 2008
If you walk into the Blue Door Pub in St. Paul, you may need a moment to get acclimated. The space is no longer Puerta Azul; although the name has been translated into English,...
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Battle of the Burgers
Two new contenders reopen the Jucy Lucy debate
By James Norton
Published: October 8, 2008
The cheese-stuffed Ju(i)cy Lucy hamburger is a south Minneapolis icon, a native-born food with murky 20th-century origins and a penchant for provoking arguments. In the spirit...
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Roll Playing
Bagu gets creative with sushi
By James Norton
Published: October 1, 2008
A little elegance goes a long way. That being the case, the elegant sushi eatery Bagu should be taken seriously on looks alone: The chic and podlike main dining room evokes...
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Currying Favor
A new Indian eatery in Maple Grove aims to please with attentive service and a great buffet
By James Norton
Published: September 24, 2008
Food is elemental. An onion, ground cinnamon, a bell pepper, a flank steak—food grounds us, reassuring us that we're somewhere familiar or, failing that, somewhere that's...
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Very Vietnam
Eat Street's new Hoàng Thiên Ý Deli is homey and exotic all at once
By James Norton
Published: September 17, 2008
Knowingly or not, restaurants aspire to one of two ideal forms: One is a gateway to the exotic, offering the strange, the rare, the novel, and the elegantly delightful. The...
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Herkimer Pub: Achtung, Beer Drinkers!
Meet Herkimer's new brewmaster
By James Norton
Published: September 10, 2008
These are interesting times at Uptown's Herkimer brewpub. Its owner, Blake Richardson, is preparing to open a Japanese street food restaurant called Moto-i in the old Machu...
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Asian Oasis
Ronin Sushi Cafe offers relief in the fast-food desert of Lakeville
By James Norton
Published: September 3, 2008
Depending on your perspective, the dining landscape in Lakeville is either a rich cornucopia or a barren wasteland. Cruise down Cedar Avenue into the 150s and 160s and you'll...
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Pie-Eating Contest
Who makes a better pizza—Solos or Latuff's?
By James Norton
Published: August 27, 2008
This is a tale of two pizzerias, set in the northwestern suburb of Plymouth. One is the newly opened branch of Solos Pizza Cafe. The other, Latuff's Pizzeria, has been...
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One Shrimp Gumbo, Hold the Abuse
SoupMan isn't Soup Nazi good, but it can make a tasty lunch
By James Norton
Published: August 20, 2008
There's a whole bunch of marketing nonsense surrounding the Original SoupMan, a chain of casual soup-and-sandwich restaurants originating in New York. Most of it swirls around...
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