Take almost any national publication’s list of the best restaurants in any given city, and you will find locals laughing. You see the old standbys, the places that were great 20 years ago, the expense account restaurants that aren’t anywhere near the cutting edge of the best food.
So I wasn’t optimistic when I heard Food & Wine was visiting the Twin Cities and putting together a list. But holy cow, the result is more or less the exact list I would share of the top places for people to visit around here.
Kate Krader is to be saluted. She titled it “Best Affordable Restaurants in Minneapolis,” and of course, you people don’t think these restaurants are affordable. Krader is comparing the restaurants to the rest of the country when it comes to price point, and frankly, the quality of many of our restaurants rivals places that charge double in other cities, so I suppose she’s right—they are affordable.
Travail in Robbinsdale is there, of course, “the country’s most entertaining avant-garde food.”
Rachel wrote about Victory 44 Friday, I was there Friday night, and it continues to be absolutely top notch.
The Bachelor Farmer is no surprise, but I love they put Haute Dish on the list!
Saffron‘s Sami Wadi is quoted as saying “Minneapolis is much more than a meat-and-potatoes place… Still, locals might not take a chance on a dish they don’t know if it’s $20; they will on a $10 dish.”
Tilia and Rustica both make the excellent list, which is joined by another great list of Andrew Zimmern’s favorite TC restaurants: Butcher & the Boar, Heidi’s, Hmong Market, La Belle Vie, Piccolo, Quang, Que Nha, and Sea Change. I’d add Meritage and Strip Club Meat & Fish in St. Paul, but otherwise this list is the answer to most of your questions right now about where you should be eating in the Twin Cities.
No sniping here, about the excellent national attention the affordable Twin Cities dining scene deserves.
