Cookies and cream from Loring Kitchen. Photo by Tom Wallace. Loring Kitchen & Bar
- American
- $$
What sets the Loring Kitchen & Bar apart from its pack of all-American competitors are its good looks and its front-and-center address. Located on a prime ground-floor corner of a slick new apartment house on the edge of Loring Park, the restaurant's urban and urbane surroundings are several cuts above the cheap window dressings often associated with the all-American dining genre, and it embraces the outdoors better than any other dining establishment in the city. Familiar foods are cooked with integrity and served in he-man portions: an awesome fried chicken; a switched-up Caesar salad that utilizes grilled romaine and a dressing replaces anchovies with crowd-pleasing smoked salmon, a perfectly satisfying grilled beef tenderloin that's priced right. Desserts are passable but forgettable. Best are the small, affordably priced noshes on the happy-hour and appetizers menus that nudge the kitchen past its comfort-food comfort zone. The weekend's breakfast-lunch service is just what the neighborhood ordered. --Rick Nelson
Wild mushroom soup from Nick and Eddie. Photo by Tom Wallace Nick and Eddie
- American
- $$
He may be just 23, but chef Derik Moran is already an old hand in the kitchen. His appeals-to-all-senses cooking style is evident in a salad Moran calls Mississippi Greens, a glorious $7 blend of delicate micro-greens, garden-fresh herbs and bits of house-made bacon dressed in a ranch-inspired buttermilk dressing. Much of what he's doing on his muy-affordable menu (entrees average $15) could be described as contemporary comfort food. Pot roast, mac-and-cheese, fish and chips, steak and potatoes, they're all here, but in lighter, brighter versions. The item he can probably never retire from his constantly shifting roster is a variation on chicken and dumpling soup. In Moran's capable hands, the chicken is cured in its own fat and then rendered until the meat falls off the bone and the skin is tantalizingly crisp, then served in an herb-flecked broth brimming with crunchy carrots and onions and pillowy pan-seared gnocchi. Moran is a self-taught charcutier, and the results are first-rate. Breads and desserts, courtesy of co-owner Jessica Anderson, are simply delicious. Her crowning achievement is a voluptuously caramel-ey butterscotch pudding, finished with a splash of cream, that has to be tasted to be believed. --Rick Nelson
- American
- $$$
The swank Hotel Ivy's restaurant and bar has gone from high-flying culinary flights of fancy to a more low-key locavore approach. Chef Sarah Master isn't trying to replicate the work of her predecessors. Instead, the Iron Range native is forging her own path, emphasizing improvisational, bare-bones cooking, and the local-sustainable aspects of the Restaurant Alma-Spoonriver-Barbette side of her résumé. Rather than a beef tenderloin, Master offers Minnesota-raised bison; at lunch it's a hearty bison loaf sandwich topped with a gently sweet onion relish. Deeply flavorful, locally sourced lamb is served with farmers-market-fresh vegetables. Duck and chicken, both roasted and treated confit-style, are sourced from Wild Acres in Pequot Lakes, Minn. The kitchen puts up a fetching selection of its own pâtés, terrines, pickles, chutneys and ricotta. Master seems to sum up her entire career in a single dish: a grilled whole Wisconsin-raised trout, split and filled with traces of sweet crab and brazen horseradish. --Rick Nelson
Fogo de Chao. Photo by Tom Wallace Fogo de Chão
- South American
- $$$
Bring it on and keep it coming! Nowhere else in Minneapolis can you sit down to an endless parade of succulent meats by men in short pants with cool accents. You don't even need to speak, just turn your little paper disc from red to green and let the party in your mouth begin. Yes, it's expensive, and yes, it's worth it. The guardana (soft drink) is exquisite, the key lime pie divine, and it is entirely possible to eat so much that once you stand up, it's hard to sit again once you get to your car. --wandabout
- American
- $$
The interior reminds me of a European cafe, small and cozy. I had expected the menu to be simple and typical. I was seriously wrong. The menu features fine ingredients, like gouda on their grilled cheese.The pasta features white wine, basil, and garlic. A winning combination. I decided to go with the mac 'n' cheese. I have mac 'n' cheese at some restaurants where it's so heaving that it's gross. This wasn't the case at Eli's. The parmesan bread crumbs were a delightful touch. I never had to wait long for another drink or for our food. --superloza
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Hell's Kitchen. Photo by Margaret Andrews
- 8th Street Grill: American. Sandwiches, burgers and more. During the warm-weather months, the restaurant operates a large, shaded and very popular patio.
- Band Box Diner: Breakfast/lunch. Vintage 1930s diner serves up classic short-order grub including pancakes, hash browns, burgers and fries, for breakfast and lunch.
- Bombay Bistro: Indian. A wide variety of Indian lamb, chicken, seafood and vegetarian entrees, most under $10.
- Hell's Kitchen: Breakfast. A distinctive, fun-loving breakfast (and lunch and dinner) destination. Do not, under any circumstances, miss the lemon-ricotta hotcakes; the house-made maple-glazed bison sausage is pretty special, too, as is the hearty wild rice porridge.
- My Burger: American. "Just burgers, fries and malts." This small, cheery, counter-service shop has made the fast-food burger relevant once again by keeping things simple. The burgers are tops in their class.
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The peking duck at Thom Pham's Wondrous Kitchen. Photo by Tom Wallace
- Barrio: Mexican. Headliners of the Mexican chain-restaurant stable -- tacos, enchiladas, tostadas -- are given an invigorating new life through a potent blend of ingenuity, enthusiasm, cooking prowess and impeccable ingredients.
- Bradstreet Craftshouse : American. Designer cocktails and small plates in a swanky Graves Hotel street-level setting.
- Brit's Pub: English. Traditional English fare including Scotch eggs, bangers and mash, Cornish pasties, as well as salads, burgers and vegetarian dishes. Upper-level patio with outdoor dining and grass lawn for lawn bowling.
- Dancing Ganesha: Indian. Chef Swamy Mariyadas starts his menu with eggplant fritters, spicy bits of grilled chicken paired with a cool mint chutney, a pastel-tinted shrimp-pomelo salad and puffy saffron-scented naan. Entrees include a long list of robust lamb, chicken and shrimp stews, along with specialties such as a paper-thin rice and lentil crêpe stuffed with potatoes and onions, and a host of meat-free options.
- Ike's Food & Cocktails: American. Bar and restaurant with a retro theme, serving Americana classics and more sophisticated fare for lunch and dinner.
- Kindee Thai: Thai. Nuntanit Charoensit, a Bangkok native, is cooking her heart out; we're crazy about her lettuce wraps, her spring rolls and her rich, aromatic curries.
- King and I Thai: Thai. All the basics, served in handsome surroundings.
- The Local: Irish. Authentic Irish pub atmosphere, traditional pub food and a beverage list that includes Guinness, Irish whiskies and scotches.
- Masa: Mexican. Masa's strong suit is style and presentation, foreign flavors adapted to American tastes, in a stylish contemporary ambience with Mexican accents. Traditional South-of-the-border fare, given a haute cuisine treatment.
- The News Room: American. A newspaper theme, with each dining area dedicated to a different section of the paper. Prices are mostly reasonable and the menu is much more varied and imaginative than the usual theme restaurant.
- Rock Bottom Brewery: American. First-rate beers, microbrewed on the premises, plus a varied and imaginative menu.
- Spoonriver: American. Owner Brenda Langton is still dedicated to locally grown and organic ingredients, with surprising and delicious twists.
- Thom Pham's Wondrous Azian Kitchen: Asian. A remake of Azia, chef/owner Thom Pham's Eat Street landmark (now closed) that features many of the same popular dishes and drinks, but reimagined in a sprawling, kitschy downtown location.
Sea Change. Photo by Tom Wallace $$$
- Atlas Grill: Middle Eastern. By day, the clublike atmosphere attracts a large business crowd, who come for well prepared noon-hour fare. At night, the food takes a Persian turn, with fire-roasted seafood and meats. Seating in an indoor atrium.
- Bank: American. The Westin Hotel transformed the former F&M Bank lobby, a 1941 Art Moderne landmark, into a drop-dead-gorgeous restaurant/bar. The kitchen's work is worthy of the singular setting. Fine power breakfasts, winning pastries, spectacular soups and imaginative daily specials are all on the (pun-overloaded) menu.
- Basil's Restaurant: American. The American menu -- breakfast, lunch and dinner -- highlights the use of fresh herbs, including basil, of course.
- Cafe Lurcat and Bar Lurcat: American. This D'Amico & Partners venue has a one-two punch: An eye-catching contemporary atmosphere (with marvelous Loring Park views) and chef, a terrific New American menu, arranged in a la carte fashion, with simple, beautifully prepared fare. The bar, a Beautiful People magnet, pours more than 40 wines by the glass and has a doozy of a small-bites menu. Service is generally first-rate.
- D'Amico Kitchen: Italian. Chef Justin Frederick's passionate Italian cooking at the Le Meridien Chambers is both rustic and detail-oriented. Noteworthy pasta dishes include one tossed with tiny clams and zesty sausage. Scallops, the roast chicken and hanger steak are all excellent. Breakfast is a standard-setter. Check out the unbeatable lunch special -- three items for $10.
- FireLake Grill House and Cocktail Bar: American. The menu is eclectic, but most of the fare is classic Americana with only a few "gourmet" touches, prepared with care from high-quality ingredients.
- Fogo de Chão: South American. The prom-queen-popular Brazilian steakhouse chain is basically an upscale Old Country Buffet-meets-Outback. It can also be a lot of fun, with an over-the-top salad bar followed by an unending cavalcade of 15 varieties of spit-roasted meat and poultry.
- Forum Restaurant and Bar: American. Go for the glorious Art Deco, stay for some of the food. Chef Christian Ticarro clearly can cook, and there's plenty to enjoy and admire in his work. Still, it's difficult to glean a strong sense of who Ticarro is as a chef.
- McCormick & Schmick's: Seafood. Menu changes daily but offers two dozen ocean- and freshwater fish selections, along with a dozen varieties of oysters on the half-shell.
- Mission American Kitchen & Bar: American. Downtown's most popular business lunch destination is the place for contemporary all-American comfort food.
- Palomino: Ameican. Great pizzas, steaks and salads. Closing in December, to be replaced by a new Crave in the spring.
- Restaurant Max: American. This glitzy former bank lobby in the glitzy Hotel Minneapolis shines at lunch, when the kitchen creates tasty, surprising variations on such standard themes as Cobb salad and an egg salad sandwich. There is much to admire at dinner, too: rack of lamb, duck, a New York strip steak. But the menu becomes hyperactive at times, even as the prices soar into the stratosphere.
- Sanctuary: American. A cozy destination that showcases the talents of veteran Twin Cities chef Patrick Atanalian. Not many downtown restaurants offer such imaginative cooking.
- Sea Change Restaurant & Bar: Seafood. The Guthrie Theater hired the area's highest-profile chef, Tim McKee, and is offering a sustainable-seafood focus in the former Cue space. Much of the food is sublime, and the prices are kept reasonable. Tantalizing small plates await you at the raw bar.
- Seven Sushi Steakhouse, Ultralounge and Skybar: Steak/sushi. A frothy mix of nigiri, sashimi, cocktails and flirting. Perfectly competent fare at slightly higher-than-competitive prices. No surprises, no disappointments.
- Solera: American. An homage to the Spanish tapas tradition, Solera hoists the humble appetizer onto a pedestal and worships it for all it's worth, with a menu of 50-plus tapas choices.
- Spill the Wine: French. When the food here is good, it's great. You can't be displeased by the tender, subtly spicy calamari and the cool, nicely plump shrimp cocktail. Salads are excellent. There are nicely grilled lamb chops and a tender pork chop.
- Vincent: European. Chef/owner Vincent Francoual's elegant restaurant offers such dishes as seafood cappuccino, pan-seared scallops and sesame-crusted halibut. At lunch, order the well-prepared omelets. Looking for a memorable dinner? Book the kitchen table and enjoy a five-course meal, served back behind the line.
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- 20.21 Restaurant and Bar: American. As part of its $130 million expansion, the Walker Art Center turned to celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck to elevate the food and drink arts to match the museum's adventurous programming mix. At the starkly chic 20.21, chef Asher Miller and his A-list staff channel Puck's fusion of French techniques, local ingredients and Thai-Chinese-Korean-Japanese flavors. Outsize portions encourage sharing. The restaurant is one of the city's top lunch destinations, and happy hour is a merry list of moderately priced appetizer and drink specials.
- Capital Grille: Steak. Steakhouse specializing in dry-aged Angus beef in a clubby atmosphere.
- La Belle Vie: American. High-art dining in high-art surroundings. Chef Tim McKee's eight-course tasting menu may be the ultimate Twin Cities dining experience, a three-hour parade of courses. The chic lounge is the place for a beautifully rendered cocktail by mixmaster Johnny Michaels and a roster of carefully prepared small plates. McKee was named Best Chef: Midwest by the James Beard Foundation in 2009, the first Minnesotan so honored.
- Manny's Steakhouse: Steak. Locker-aged steaks and polished service in a classic steakhouse setting. Huge portions are meant for sharing.
- Melting Pot: American. If you've never had fondue before, you might enjoy the do-it-yourself dining experience offered here. But if you have had fondue before, it's less likely you'll be happy here. The Melting Pot is part of a national chain, and it feels like one.
- Murray's: Steak. Famous for decades for its Silver Butterknife Steak, this downtown landmark also offers chops, fish and seafood in a classic setting reminiscent of the '40s.
- Oceanaire Seafood Room: Seafood. Elegant hotel restaurant specializing in seafood. Menu includes yellowfin tuna, crab cakes, lobster and mahi-mahi. There's also a full oyster bar.
- Ruth's Chris Steak House: Steak. This New Orleans-based chain offers all the steakhouse amenities: prime beef, polished service, elegant ambience.
