Next weekend in MSP
Spouse and I going up for first time visit next weekend. Staying downtown at W Foshay, no car. But plan to use the Nice Ride bike system and public transportation where convenient, not opposed to shorter taxi rides as well.
Doing several museums and plan to just cycle around to see different parts of the area.
Dining options are looking like:
the Bachelor Farmer - brunch - perhaps cocktails at Marvel bar one night after dinner
Saffron - dinner
Haute Dish - dinner
The Butcher and The Boar - Dinner
Travail and Victory 44 look good but not convenient without a car.
We LOVE bakeries so options include:
Salty Tart
Rustica Bakery
Angel Food
Pat's tab for a lunch and something from the tab.
Places with an awesome craft/micro tab list?
Appreciate everyone's feedback on all the places I listed.
Also looking for a nice cheese shop to bring back some fabulous WI and MN cheeses - the good, special stuff - artisan.
-
drew13000
Sep 25, 2012 09:38 AM
Buster's on 28th is a nice beer option - near the Minnehaha bike path and Lake Nokomis, so easy to bike to. And the food is great, too! The bison burger is one of my favorite burgers in town.
You could also make a stop at The Baker's Wife or Mel-O-Glaze for excellent donuts and pastries.
›9 Replies-
re: drew13000
I second the rec for A Baker's Wife bakery - very high quality baked goods in a charming, old fashioned, neighborhood bakery. Nothing looks "fancy" but the flavor is outstanding. Obviously plenty of butter involved. The owner was a pastry chef at some high-end place in NY in a former life, apparently.
-
-
-
-
-
re: kpeltz
MSPD
Sep 26, 2012 02:34 PM
Yep. A Baker's Wife is on the corner of 28th and E 42nd. One door to the south on 28th is Buster's. One more door south is Angry Catfish.
Here...I'll even add a photo of the smoked sea salt mocha I had there while at a bike art event. It was as good as it looked.
-
re: kpeltz
MSPD
Sep 26, 2012 02:41 PM
One other thing -- if bikes, coffee, art/posters (or any combination thereof) are your thing, when you go to Haute Dish, PLEASE get into One on One Bike Studio, literally right next door (or one block north when you're at Saffron). It's a great, great bike shop. Make sure to go through the mechanic shop in the back and go downstairs to check out the basement (and say hello to the wheel they're building for me right now).
From a Chow perspective, it's not spectacular (although their soups are quite good and it's a neat place to relax), but it's a MSP treasure if you're into that stuff.
-
-
re: kpeltz
MSPD
Sep 27, 2012 07:56 AM
Agreed, and you're coming to the right town for that. If you happen to be riding there, the Midtown Greenway runs right behind the Midtown Global Market (often talked about on here). At that point on the Greenway, Freewheel Bike Shop operates a bike center there. They make a mean smoothie, coffee options, have some good bars and cookies, and do sandwiches, etc. I have a regular 50-ish mile route and that's right at mile 35 or so...I can't count the number of times they've saved my butt (sometimes my mind thinks I'm faster/younger than my legs do).
Few people will appreciate this, but they also have stacks of old bicycling magazines and catalogs on the coffee table. I don't know why, but I love cooling down with a smoothie and reading through an old Eddy Merckx interview or a review of the "latest" equipment.
Anyway....I digress.....
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
If your are looking for great tap beer, a fun idea would be to visit some of our new local brewery tap rooms. Summit is having a grand opening of their tap room on the 28th. Fulton Brewery is downtown, near the ballpark, Indeed is in NE Minneapolis and and my favorite, Harriet, is in S Minneapolis. All are a reasonable bike ride from downtown. Summit is farthest at about 12 miles- you could take the light rail to MInnnehaha Park and bike from there, others are less than 4 miles from the hotel. The tap rooms often have food trucks parked outside, so that might be another dining option. Details are usually provided on their websites and Facebook pages.
http://www.summitbrewing.com/
http://www.harrietbrewing.com/
http://www.indeedbrewing.com/
http://fultonbeer.com/I agree with the rec to skip Pat's Tap. There are much better beer bars in town.
Some of my favorites (in alphabetical order - search for websites for details of what's on tap
Acadia Cafe | 329 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis
Blue Nile | 2027 E. Franklin Ave., Minneapolis
The Bulldog Restaurant, NE | 401 E. Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis
Grumpy’s Downtown | 1111 Washington Ave., S. Minneapolis
Mac’s Industrial | 312 Central Ave SE., Minneapolis
Nomad World Pub | 501 Cedar Ave., Minneapolis
Republic | 221 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis
Stub and Herb’s | 227 Oak St SE., Minneapolis
Tilia | 2726 West 43rd Street, Minneapolis (GREAT RESTAURANT TOO)
›1 Reply -
-
MSPD
Sep 20, 2012 11:49 AM
If you walk a block south on Marquette from the W and hang a right on 10th, you'll see Devil's Advocate on the left. That's your "places with an awesome craft/micro tab list".
There's actually a cheese shop about 50 yards to the west of the front door of the W. It's inside Haskell's (wine shop) which is on the left side as you walk down 9th. It's tiny and I don't think of it as a premier source of cheese, but there may be a couple things there of interest.
semanticantics nailed it with Surdyk's for cheese. On the other side of downtown, walkable from the W, is the Lunds grocery store on Hennepin (closer to the Sculpture Garden, Walker, etc). They'll have a very good selection of cheese.
The rest of your plans sound perfect. Enjoy.
›4 Replies-
re: MSPD
Lund's definitely has a great cheese selection (well, the ones I've been to), but you're going to pay for it. A lot. Kowalski's are the same way, great selection, shocking prices.
Also, Surdyk's will give you a taste if you're curious about something. Don't know if everyone does that. They are also generally knowledgeable about pairing cheese with a wine or other things.
The only better cheese shop I've been to was in Glasgow and the cheese were just on a counter, unrefrigerated. It was heavenly.
-
re: semanticantics
AnneInMpls
Sep 20, 2012 08:38 PM
Surdyk's will let you taste MANY types of cheese as you decide. I think my max has been 11 cheeses, but it might have been more. Plus, the staff really knows their cheese - they can describe each and every one in the case, and are great with suggestions if you're looking for something specific.
Visitors should be sure to taste our wonderful local offerings. I'm especially fond of Shepherd's Way Farms (MN) and Carr Valley (WI).
Enjoy your visit!
-
-
re: MSPD
devil's advocate is a good rec for sure.
if it were me, i would combine a nice-ride afternoon jaunt around the minneapolis riverfront area, then across the stone arch bridge and through the st. anthony main area, st anthony falls, and end up at alma for dinner. then hit surdyk's and/or lund's NE for cheese. or they could get cheese first, then get back to downtown across the hennepin ave bridge and hit haute dish on washington or bachelor farmer/marvel on the way back to the hotel.
another day could include a nice-ride around uptown, calhoun/lake of the isles, rustica bakery, walker/sculpture garden, loring park...
i will just say that i don't think pat's tap is particularly good, located close to anything else of interest, or really very remarkable in any way... it's just a mediocre bar experience. if the op is going to go that long distance from downtown on a bike or in a cab, you may as well hit grand cafe or corner table or piccolo or hell, even buster's is infinitely better... and get much better food/superior experience, right?
-
-
-
You've done your research well. The bar in the W (top floor) has very good cocktails, FYI.
I'm struggling to come up with a bar with a good micro/craft tap selection downtown. Bulldog NE isn't too far away (across the river into Northeast). I think Butcher and Boar does, too, but I'm not 100% certain.
I also second the La Belle Vie suggestion.
›1 Reply-
re: Brad Ballinger
The Dairy Queen
Sep 20, 2012 05:12 PM
Manny's is the kitchen for the W, so the room service there is super fun!
~TDQ
-
-
Maybe consider pre-dinner cocktails and appetizers at La Belle Vie's lounge? I think they have a great cocktail list, and some delicious appetizers, and the room is beautiful. Plus, it's across the street from the Walker Art Gallery, and there's a Nice Ride station right there.
If you're going to Rustica and want a quick lunch, Punch Pizza is right next door, serving Neopolitan-style pizzas. There are some differing opinions on Punch (as always when pizza is the topic of conversation), but I think it's a great version of Neopolitan. (Punch/Rustica are also pretty close to the Nice Ride station near Lake Calhoun.)
›1 Reply -
Surdyk's for cheese. Period. I like the stuff out of the left-most case of the counter.
Double check Bachelor Farmer doesn't need reservations, that is a hard get, but maybe it's different for brunch?
Patisserie 46 is a bakeshop you might want to investigate.
Travail is definitely worth the trouble (you have to line up before 4:30 to get in when they open at 5, or you're looking at a possible 2+ hour wait). It's the most adventurous / fun / foodie option on your list. It's only 10 minutes from downtown, so maybe not too terrible a cab fare. Victory 44 is a great second option if you venture that direction but can't nail the logistics of Travail, though I find it a bit more expensive / portion.
›3 Replies-
re: semanticantics
+1 for P46 - hands down the best quiche I have ever had. One warning about P46, avoid getting a table next to the display case which is filled with wonderfully decorated desserts, unless you don't mind indulging your senses. P46 is primarily a bakery, so order at counter then grab a table.
-
