Isaac Becker and Nancy St. Pierre’s first North Loop eatery earned Becker the 2011 James Beard Award for Best Chef Midwest, and over a decade later, it still endures as one of the city’s best restaurants. In a world of constantly rotating menus and finicky food trends, 112 is refreshingly consistent – several of the dishes have remained unchanged since its 2005 opening.

But don’t mistake it for complacency: Becker’s commitment to precise technique and high-quality ingredients have been keeping locals coming back for steak tartare and stringozzi with lamb sugo for nearly twenty years. From the spiced nuts and olives that start every meal to the warm but extremely professional hospitality, 112 is a gift to the Twin Cities dining scene.

Afro Deli is what happens when fast casual dining meets African, Mediterranean and American fusion. With a menu that ranges from Somali-Italian fusion (the best-selling Chicken Fantastic) to classic Mediterranean gyro and hummus platters, and American standbys like cheeseburgers and steak sandwiches, Afro Deli is a lot like Minneapolis — diverse, delicious and totally unique. 

Some restaurants try to be everything to everyone, but not Al's. Since opening in 1950, Al's Breakfast has earned its reputation as one of America's best classic diners by reliably serving up no-frills breakfast foods cooked to perfection. Arrive at the diner, reportedly the narrowest restaurant in Minneapolis, well before you're hungry and expect to wait a bit before landing a counter spot on one of 14 stools.

While it's not a vegetarian restaurant by any means — fried chicken drizzled with harissa honey and steelhead tartare served alongside sea beans, dill cream and Old Bay potato chips were both on the menu recently — All Saints excels at putting seasonal vegetables at the center of your plate. Or as co-owners Kim Tong and Denny Leaf-Smith put it on their about page, it's "veggie-forward, meat friendly" rather than the other way around. Watch out for wood-fired wonders like charred baby cauliflower with lemongrass tofu, chili crisp and pickled coriander, kale and cannellini bean toast on Japanese milk bread, and golden beets gussied up with burrata, sukkah and a Serrano vinaigrette. 

The best restaurants pick a lane and own it completely, and The Anchor hasn't used their blinker in years. The star of the menu at this Irish pub is, unsurprisingly, the fish and chips. The Anchor uses battered and deep fried wild Alaskan cod served on a bed of thick, hand-cut chips. Elsewhere on the menu you'll also find shepherd's pie, meat and veggie pasties, curry chips and a handful of other pub staples. And, of course, plenty of Guinness. 

Bar Brava is known for its peerless natural wine selection, but don't sleep on its ever-evolving food program. After helping launch the post-Quang dreams of Eric Pham — his grandmother opened the Vietnamese icon in 1989 — with his first Khue's Kitchen pop-up, the airy space shifted to supporting the New Nordic nods of Torsk. Named after a kind of Scandinavian cod, the collaboration between former FIKA Café chefs Sydney Reuter and Axel Pineda dials in delightful versions of pork schnitzel, Swedish meatballs, potato dumplings, and fried smelt with pickled vegetables, togarashi seasoning and dill creme fraiche. 

Located in Minneapolis' North Loop, the ever-popular Bar La Grassa — an Italian restaurant with a James Beard Award-winning chef — is a pasta lover’s paradise. Menu items, designed to be shareable, include gnocchi with cauliflower and orange, soft eggs and lobster bruschetta, red wine spaghetti with pine nuts, and more. The open kitchen, sparkling chandeliers, tall ceilings and cozy seating make it an ideal spot for a special night out. Reservations are recommended, as it’s a popular spot with locals.

Another contender for smallest restaurant in Minneapolis, Boludo mimics its environment by packing an incredible amount of flavor into a compact package: its Argentinian empanadas. With a variety of perfectly balanced fillings, these flaky, savory pastries are the heart of Boludo but not its only achievement. The restaurant is also home to some of the best and most unique pizzas in Minnesota, which stand out from the crowd thanks to a salted crust and sweet sauce. 

In 2007, Restaurant Alma chef Alex Roberts opened Brasa — a casual, family-friendly rotisserie joint focused on fresh, local ingredients. Inspired by the Latin American and Carribean hole-in-the-walls Roberts used to frequent with his fellow line cooks when he worked for Danny Meyer and David Bouley, Brasa is consistently delicious and affordable.

Don’t be afraid to over-order on slow roasted pork, candied yams, rice and pigeon peas, and collards with smoked chicken – they're even better the next day. And never leave without picking up a half-pint of the restaurant’s signature green sauce, which has had customers begging for the recipe for over a decade.  

Brasa’s original location is in Northeast Minneapolis, and they have two others – one in Southwest’s East Harriet neighborhood and another on St. Pauls’ Grand Ave.

The Broder’s Empire spans an entire city intersection, with Broders' Pasta Bar, Broders' Cucina and Terzo anchoring 50th street and Penn Avenue in Minneapolis’s family-centric Fulton neighborhood. Broder’s opened in 1994, wowing Minneapolitans with regional classics like Ligurian Pesto Genovese and Roman Cacio e Pepe. Twenty years later, they’re still churning out top-quality versions of those classics, plus a robust menu of seasonal dishes like short rib paccheri with gremolata.

For a more casual experience, head across the street to Cucina, an Italian deli and pizzeria. More in a wine-drinking mood? Cross the street in the other direction, and you’ll find yourself at Terzo, where you can get a glass from the mile-long, impeccably curated wine list and expertly executed snacks to go with it. Any way, you can’t go wrong. The Broder’s name is synonymous with quality.  

A couple of key alums from Gavin Kaysen's restaurant group (former Bellecour front-of-house manager Jeanie Janas Ritter and her husband Adam, the chef de cuisine for Demi's widely revered opening run) brought a slice of Paris to South Minneapolis when they opened Bûcheron in 2024. An instant hit in the neighborhood, it's casual and cozy, and full of daring flavors that reach well beyond standard brasserie fare. That goes for everything from a meaty pork chop made with a cashew purée, Brussels sprouts, epazote, morita chili and morcilla jus to a complex vegetarian combo of sweet potato with a banana glaze, lentil and pumpkin porridge, radish, tatsoi and pickled elderberry. 

The answer to a question nobody asked (but absolutely should've), Bull's Horn is what happens when an award-winning chef retires from the world of fine dining to open a dive bar. Sidle up to the counter for a few cheap beers and mixed drinks, and once you're nicely buzzed, treat yourself to some of the world's best bar food. You'll recognize everything on the menu, from dill pickle fried chicken buckets to fried bologna sandwiches, but nothing really compares to the flavor of the dishes here. 

Restauranteur Jami Olson has not one but three food and drink concepts on Quincy Street, one of the main thoroughfares in Northeast Minneapolis. Stop by Centro for stiff margs, barrel-aged tequila negronis, and either an exceptional Taco Bell tribute (the Centro Crunch) or a plate full of fresh tortillas pelted with nopales, braised lamb, shredded pork shoulder and some of the best salsa in town.

Its next-door neighbors include an all-day Mexican café/impeccably curated market (Vivir) and a laidback spot (Bina’s) that rides the line between elevated dive bar (classic cocktails poured alongside tall cans of Coors Light and Hamm's) and diner (a masterful tuna melt, rich wagyu-butter burgers, vegan sloppy joes, and devilled eggs draped with herring).

Looking for flavors from the Andean highlands but not up for climbing a mountain? The humble-looking Chimborazo restaurant in northeast Minneapolis features impeccably cooked foods from Ecuador and the Andes that will taste intimately familiar to Ecuadorians and delicious to all. This delicious Minneapolis institution is open daily for brunch, lunch and dinner, and there's never a bad time to visit. 

One of Daniel Del Prado's many ventures in Minneapolis, Colita blends the flavors of Mexico with barbecue and smoking techniques. Focusing on small plates categorized by cold, hot, and smoked offerings, be sure to order anything with their hand-ground tortillas like the variety of tostadas with options like tuna, charred eggplant, chicken tinga, or cacio e pepe. For a vegetable option, be sure to try their corn elote, glazed carrots, and masa and guacamole. The entire kitchen is gluten-free.

Beyond their dishes, they are serving up some of the most popular cocktails and mocktails in the metro. Just peek on Instagram and you will see endless snaps of their pebble ice margaritas topped with foam and a rubber duckie. For something sweet, their churros cannot be missed. 

With multiple James Beard nominations for her pastry work in Gavin Kaysen’s Spoon and Stable and Bellecour and a wildly successful bakery collaboration with Cooks of Crocus Hill (now Cooks | Bellecour), Diane Moua had no shortage of accolades when she moved to open her eponymous restaurant.

Diane’s Place is housed in Northeast Minneapolis’ Food Building and an homage to Moua’s Hmong-American heritage. Serving a range of technically perfect and creative pastries (like a scallion Danish that evokes garlic bread and a coconut pandan croissant) as well as thoughtful and well-balanced savory dishes (definitely add the egg to the Hmong sausage bowl), there are no misses at Diane’s Place.  

Moua plans to open for dinner service soon; we can’t wait. 

Stop by Emily’s Lebanese on a weeknight and you’ll see an eclectic mix of locals chowing down on long-stewed green beans and cinnamon-spiked chicken and rice, plus a long line at the counter for take-out pints of baba ghanoush and stuffed grape leaves. Emily’s has been serving its comforting, affordable fare in Northeast Minneapolis since 1973, and for the sake of the neighborhood, we hope they never stop. 

David Fhima’s modern take on French Moroccan cuisine also celebrates Minnesota’s local farmers with the freshest local ingredients. Located in downtown Minneapolis, this historic restaurant features breathtaking art deco design and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They take pride in their extensive wine program and currently boast nearly 3,000 bottles of wine with access to thousands more. 

Chef Ann Ahmed landed on the New York Times' coveted list of the country's Top 50 restaurants in 2023 with what is arguably her finest hour in a career that's full of them. Building off the momentum of her two most recent takes on Southeast Asian cuisine (Lat14 and Khâluna), Loring Park's sprawling Gai Noi space leans into Ahmed's Laotian background with bright and bold salads, freshly steamed baskets of sticky rice, house-made pork sausage served alongside a smoky tomato dip, and mok paa made with banana-wrapped whitefish, dill and a spicy rice gravy. Drinks are also dynamite here — especially fresh takes on the classics like a pho-spiced old fashioned, passionfruit Negroni and lemongrass Collins. 

The Twin Cities has no shortage of incredible Southeast Asian food, but Hai Hai stands out for its focus on Vietnamese street foods and inventive cocktail program. Chef Christina Nguyen includes a few common-to-American-restaurant dishes on the menu like spring rolls, beef larb and khao soi (all done to perfection), while dishes like the Vietnamese crepe with pork belly and shrimp taste like they were plucked right off the streets of Hanoi. For best results, grab a spot on the patio and a Mekong Manhattan before placing your order.

Himalayan is one of the best Indian restaurants in Minneapolis — and excellent Nepali and Tibetan cuisines round out the menu. Every option is phenomenal, but we always come back to the creamy Kathmandu curry and momos. 

The signature dish at Hola Arepa is always crisp and sweet, with savory and rich fillings to keep all that cornmeal balanced, including slow-roasted pork, shredded beef, chimichurri-spiced chicken and a vegan-friendly riff on al pastor made with jackfruit. Much like its sister restaurant Hai Hai, the drinks are always incredibly creative and deceptively strong, reflecting the craft cocktail roots of co-owner Birk Grudem. 

One of Bon Appetit's top 50 new restaurants in 2018, Kado No Mise is Shigeyuki Furukawa's ode to his hometown of Tokyo. The menu changes regularly, and the bar is stocked with sake, Japanese whisky and shochu. For a truly memorable night, book a multi-course omakase menu at Furukawa's chef's counter or opt for an exemplary kaiseki experience that includes a seasonal sashimi assortment and a parade of small plates that work in a wealth of items and ingredients you won't find elsewhere. Slightly more casual but no less impressive is Kado No Mise's sister restaurant Sanjusan, a Daniel del Prado collaboration that delivers a deft combination of Italian and Japanese food on the first floor. 

The weather is always tropical in Ann Ahmed’s lush dining room. But it’s not just the vibes that keep Khâluna booked with well-heeled locals night after night. The ambitious, skillful menu is packed with rich, complex dishes that celebrate Ahmed’s Laotian heritage (and earned her a James Beard nomination for Best Chef: Midwest). Come for the confit duck leg fried rice, stay for the warm hospitality and resort-like atmosphere.  

You can't beat Kramarczuk's when it comes to Polish sausage. Open since the 1954, this authentic Eastern European grocery/deli/bakery/restaurant combo is your one-stop shop for scratch-made charcuterie, borshch, cabbage rolls, pierogi and basically everything else from The Old Country. Order your kielbasa with kraut and onions or "Cossack style," in a bun with melted cheese. 

The vibes in Little T’s are distinctly dive bar, with graffitied bathroom stalls and colored Christmas lights, but the menu leans cheffy and eclectic. Where else can you get a late-night mapo rigatoni (Little T’s kitchen is open until midnight, a rarity in this town) and a chopped cheese with waffle fries? Order generously; you'll need plenty of fuel to soak up beverage master Travis Serbus’ espresso negroni (made with rhubarb gin) or Lil’Tea, which has both mezcal and aquavit. Cheers! 

There's only one type of sandwich you can order at Lu's: the delicious Vietnamese bahn mi. Starting with a crisp French baguette and your choice of meat, tofu or mock duck, bahn mi sandwiches are topped with cilantro, cucumber, pickled carrots, jalapeños, onions, butter and pork pate. A byproduct of the French colonization of Vietnam, bahn mi can be found basically everywhere in Minneapolis. But Lu's has simultaneously perfected the form and streamlined the ordering experience so that, miraculously, the best bahn mi in town is also the fastest one out of the kitchen.

The restaurant that started it all for the prolific and decorated Daniel Del Prado, Martina is a case study for how to make a fine dining restaurant that doesn’t feel fussy, with a vibey dining room that somehow caters to both the romantic date night and seen-and-be-seen crowd. But it’s not all style; Del Prado’s Italian-slash-Argentinian menu is full of crowd-pleasing but sophisticated dishes like spaghetti fra diavolo with lobster and a half-chicken served with vadouvan veloute and agrodolce.

In the mood for something more casual? The connected pizzeria, Rosalia, churns out charred and chewy pies worthy of a special trip.  

The lines are often long at Marty's Deli on the weekends thanks to a peerless egg-and-cheese sandwich that's served until noon, smeared with garlic aioli, and stuffed with fluffy eggs, Cooper Sharp American cheese, and such welcome add-ons as braised greens, Peterson's bacon, house-made sausage, and a hash brown that would make Ronald McDonald weep. Don't sleep on lunch either; that's when Martha Polacek's salty focaccia bread is wrapped around signatures like The Pool & Yacht (chicken salad, capers, red onion, pepperoncini, sweet pickles, pickled fennel and arugula) and The Seward (roasted cauliflower, whipped feta, curry-pickled beets, fennel pesto and arugula). 

There's an ongoing debate about which restaurant first served Minnesota's infamous Juicy Lucy, but there's no question that the "Jucy Lucy" you get at Matt's Bar is one of the most definitive versions. It's just a simple cheeseburger with the cheese stuffed inside the patty rather than served on top, though plenty of Minneapolis restaurants try to dress it up as something its not. The OG burger you'll get here is greasy, straightforward and far better than its fancied-up imitators.

Maya Cuisine serves up some of the best Mexican food in Minneapolis by focusing on the basics. You won't find any zany flavor combos here, but if you're seeking well-balanced al pastor tacos, fresh corn tortillas, or a spicy bowl of pozole on a cold winter afternoon, there's no better place to find it than here. 

Between its James Beard nomination for Best New Restaurant and spot on Bon Appétit's own year-end list, Oro by Nixta hit the ground running in 2024. Chefs Gustavo and Kate Romero first launched their business as a love letter to masa during the pandemic — one that was expressed through pop-ups, weekly takeout dinners and some of the country's most complex heirloom corn tortillas. That mission now carries on over to a dine-in menu that's meant to be shared and devoured.

Or as fellow acclaimed chef Diane Moua put it in her international food guide, "Don’t go by yourself, or as a table for two; you need to go with a group of four and try everything." 

Located inside the Water Works Pavilion, a new site in Minneapolis’s Mill Ruins Park, Owamni is committed to revitalizing Native American cuisine. The restaurant partners with Indigenous food producers and its staff includes members of Anishinaabe, Mdewakanton Dakota, Navajo, Northern Cheyenne, Oglala Lakota and Wahpeton-Sisseton Dakota. It touts a “decolonized” dining experience with menu items that avoid wheat flour, dairy and cane sugar in favor of Indigenous ingredients, such as bison, wild rice, duck, fruits and vegetables. The restaurant has received numerous local and national accolades, and won Best New Restaurant at the James Beard Awards in 2022.

Pimento is what you get when a Jewish rapper and Jamaican business executive become neighbors and decide to open a restaurant together. One half of the restaurant specializes in counter-service Jamaican street and comfort foods — think Kingston-style jerk bowls with all the fixings included — and the other half is a rum bar where you can enjoy a drink, kick back and stay a while.

One of the clearest reflections of Daniel del Prado's Buenos Aires background, Porzana shakes up the tried-and-true steakhouse tradition with primal cuts you won't find anywhere else and side dishes and snacks like four different (fantastic!) kinds of potatoes, grilled broccoli with jalapeño, puffed buckwheat and cilantro, and thick slices of bread slathered with bright tomatoes, anchovies, oregano and a spicy Bolivian chili sauce. If you still have an appetite at the end of your meal, definitely get the grilled pineapple with olive oil cake, lime curd and gelato. Or just order another round of drinks; much like the rest of del Prado's growing portfolio, Porzana slings drinks that could stand their own against any of the area's best cocktail bars.

Quang began as a four-seat bakery in 1989 and evolved into an icon of Vietnamese cuisine on Minneapolis’s diverse, bustling “Eat Street”. Run by the children of original chef and owner Lung Tran (the restaurant is named after her late husband), Quang turns out consistently delicious pho, bun, and combination platters to the hungry lunch and dinner crowd day after day.  

Since opening in 1990, The Red Sea has been a standby for delicious Ethiopian and Eritrean meals. The food is incredible, but what really sets The Red Sea apart is that it's also a night club. Where else can you start your night by sharing a massive platter of Ethiopian food with friends, then seamlessly transition over to the bar to hit the dance floor? 

In 1999, after years of working in New York City’s top restaurants (Bouley and Union Square Cafe, to name a couple), Alex Roberts moved back to his home state and opened Restaurant Alma. In 2010, he won the James Beard award for Best Chef Midwest. In 2016, Alma bought their historic building and expanded, adding an (always packed) bakery and café and an adorable on-site boutique hotel.

The original restaurant remains best-in-class, and Executive Chef Maggie Whelan has continued Alma’s tradition of unpretentious (but delicious) cooking and strong emphasis on seasonal, locally sourced ingredients. Alma has also served as a training ground for some of the Twin Cities brightest talents, including Tiffany Singh (Laune Bread) and Ben Siers-Rients (Petite Leon, Lynette).  

The team also operates Alma Provisions, an adorable takeout coffee and pastry shop in Southwest Minneapolis’ scenic East Harriet neighborhood, and Brasa, a casual rotisserie outpost with four metro locations. 

Located just a block away from beautiful Powderhorn Park, Reverie serves some of the best bar food in town. The curbside burger is a cheesy thing of beauty, and the nachos are piled so high with toppings it always feels vaguely like you're getting away with something. It just so happens everything on the menu is 100% vegan, too. Dinner is available daily, with brunch served weekend mornings and afternoons. 

Named for its owner and long-time restaurateur, Sammy McDowell, this sunny little deli and cafe in North Minneapolis proves you don't need to reinvent the wheel to stand out. The menu consists of classic, familiar soups; sandwiches and salads made with fresh ingredients; and a certain magic that elevates them into truly great meals. Whether it's the thick and flavorful bread, Sammy's house-made special sauce or simply the care given to everything on the menu, Sammy's is sure to impress. 

Located inside a former horse stable in the North Loop, Spoon and Stable has a well-earned reputation as one of Minnesota's most delicious and exciting fine dining establishments. Run by James Beard-award winning chef Gavin Kaysen, the restaurant masterfully combines Midwestern ingredients with French techniques to produce meals that are familiar yet unique. 

Located in Northeast, STEPCHLD is one of restauranteur and entrepreneur, Kamal Mohammed's latest ventures. The menu includes tacos, burgers, salads, pasta, and several appetizers with international flavors and fusions. Don’t miss their Ethiopian birria tacos that celebrate Mohammed’s heritage, the Tiger From Burma Salad, or the popular burgers. Their cocktails, mocktails, beer, and wine list are thoughtfully curated, and they boast one of the largest selections of orange wine in the Twin Cities. 

Our apologies to those in-the-know, but we’re about to spill the secret of Tenant. This diminutive chef-driven restaurant is cheekily named: the team rents the space from Beard-winning chef Doug Flicker, whose lauded Piccolo used to occupy the building. On Tuesday through Saturday, Tenant serves a seasonal six-course tasting menu at two seatings, hand-delivered by the chefs who prepared it. This intimate experience (literally and figuratively – Tenant has a dozen total seats) is unpretentious fine dining at its best, and one of the Twin Cities’ true hidden gems. 

Housed in the ground floor of the boutique Hewing Hotel, Tullibee fully embodies the spirit of the trendy-but-not-unbearably-so North Loop neighborhood it calls home. A rotating, farm-to-table menu revolves around shareable fish and meat dishes that thrive on the razor's edge between familiar and daring. The restaurant even has its own in-house butchering program, and uses a wood-burning grill to cook each cut of meat to perfection over an open flame. 

This tiny little building in Northeast Minneapolis has a surprisingly wide-ranging menu, but the star of the show at Uncle Franky's will always be its hot dogs. One of the few (only?) restaurants in Minneapolis to custom-make their own dogs, Uncle Franky's serves all-beef wieners that are a shining example of how a simple, familiar meal can excel when done right. The all-natural casings are snappy, the poppy seed buns are firm (but not too firm), and the toppings are balanced. If you're feeling particularly hungry, order a double-dog (two dogs, one bun) and get ready for a nap. 

With delicious Cuban dishes like mango pancakes, sweet plantain omelets and cafe con leche with house-made sugar paste, Victor's 1959 Cafe is one of the city's most popular brunch spots. You should expect to wait a bit before being seated, but if you're willing to brave the waitlist your patience will be rewarded with one of the best tasting brunches around. 

While other restaurants in town are perfecting the art of the soul bowl, Wendy Puckett is more interested in SOULROLLS: an unlikely fusion between soul food and egg rolls. Originally developed as a way for Wendy to trick her kids into eating more vegetables, these days SOULROLLS are the signature dish at Wendy's House of Soul. The rolls come in nearly 20 different varieties, from the breakfast-themed 9 a.m. roll to the Jive Turkey roll, which is stuffed with turkey, cabbage, broccoli, carrots and fresh garlic. Or if you prefer something more traditional, Wendy's also serves up some of the city's best chicken and waffles, chicken wings and sides.

It may seem like a stretch to suggest that the country's best Detroit pizza can be found in Minneapolis, but that's okay. You don't have to believe us. Believe "Good Morning America"; the beloved morning show actually declared Wrecktangle Pizza the winner of its United States of Pizza competition in 2023 thanks to the staying power of its breakfast-inspired pie. Sample it at the local chain's original North Loop Galley location or its proper sit-down space in the Lyn-Lake neighborhood.

Having already established herself as one of the city's most celebrated pizza purveyors at her first two restaurants, Pizzeria Lola and Hello Pizza, Ann Kim's third venture in Northeast Minneapolis feels like an extension and evolution of her formidable reputation. Like her other restaurants, Young Joni is a pizzeria at heart. But its elegant, open dining area and emphasis on bold small plates elevate this pizza joint into something that's not quite fine dining, but not terribly far off either. 

These days you can find an incredible bowl of ramen in practically every corner of the city, but the tonkotsu ramen at Zen Box Izakaya — the city's first dedicated ramen joint — is still nearly impossible to beat. Executive chef and owner John Ng stays mostly true to the Japanese process of cooking ramen broth, tweaking the tradition just slightly by roasting the chicken and pork bones before tossing them in the pot to boil for 10-12 hours. The resulting broth is rich, fatty and creamy, with just a hint of smokiness: the perfect base for your noodles, egg, menma, kikurage and pork chashu.