5 Best Things

12 great things our food writers ate on Nicollet Avenue this week

From Jamaican curries and Szechuan wontons to generous-sized margaritas and destination-worthy doughnuts, it’s called Eat Street for a reason.

By Sharyn Jackson,

Joy Summers and

Raphael Brion

The Minnesota Star Tribune

January 30, 2026 at 12:00PM

Curry Veggies at Pimento Jamaican Kitchen & Rum Bar in Minneapolis (Raphael Brion/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

It’s remarkable to see a familiar place in our city come to mean something very different to the rest of the world.

When we returned to Nicollet Avenue this week, which we know and love as the restaurant-rich Eat Street, we found that what endures is the joy of sitting down, sharing a meal cooked with care, and finding connection in a community.

This time around we just focused on three blocks, from 25th to 28th streets, and couldn’t make it to them all before our deadline. But that just means we’ll have to go back.

Khun Nai Thai Iced Tea and cream cheese wontons at Khun Nai Thai in Minneapolis. (Joy Summers/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Thai iced tea at Khun Nai Thai

While the restaurant offers wine and beer, the wisest order at Khun Nai Thai starts with the high quality, deeply steeped black tea mixed with condensed milk ($3.50.) It’s the ideal blend of refreshing with a hearty backbone, and just enough bitterness to give that thick and sweet liquid some purpose. Each sip alternates among strong, crisp and creamy. An ideal level set before diving into a spicy feast. (Joy Summers)

2523 Nicollet Av., Mpls., khunnaithaicuisine.com

Curry Veggies at Pimento Jamaican Kitchen & Rum Bar in Minneapolis (Raphael Brion/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Curry veggies at Pimento Jamaican Kitchen & Rum Bar

Pimento Jamaican Kitchen & Rum Bar’s robust and warming curry ($15.50) feels like sunshine beaming in a bowl. Sweet and complex, smooth and rich, the glowing yellow sauce is built with creamy coconut milk and savory Jamaican curry spices. Heat-wise, it’s definitely on the mild end of the spectrum, but Pimento’s lineup of hot sauces is always there to amp things up a bit. Served with sweet fried plantains and their island slaw, the dish happens to be vegan, too. (Raphael Brion)

2524 Nicollet Av., Mpls., pimento.com

Special Pho 79 Bowl at Pho 79/Caravelle in Minneapolis. (Raphael Brion/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Special Pho 79 bowl at Pho 79/Caravelle

With more than 20 pho options, the eponymous Special Pho 79 Bowl ($14.50) is a good bet, as it’s absolutely packed with a huge variety of beef cuts, including rare lean beef, flank, brisket, soft tendon, tripe and meatballs. That’s a lot of cow in this massive, marvelous bowl of noodle soup. The broth is deeply flavorful and fragrant, comforting and savory without tipping into sweetness. It’s the sort of bowl of soup that can probably cure a cold, soothe a soul or beat any subzero temps the winter throws at us. (R.B.)

2529 Nicollet Av., Mpls., pho79caravellemlps.com

At Los Sanchez in Minneapolis, the good times come with an assist from the bar. (Joy Summers/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Happy hour at Los Sanchez

It’s easy to forget your troubles when faced with a menu like the one at Los Sanchez, all photos of celebratory excess. There are platters piled with tacos, goblets of seafood in sauce, sparklers decorating flights of shots and an actual churro cart for the table. There’s nothing subtle at this stop, and the happy hour makes that clear with two-for-one margaritas ($16.99) in globe-sized glasses (mango, with a Tajin rim, is the right move). We severely underestimated the size of the Michelada ($15.99), and even a simple can of Modelo comes topped with an actual mound of ceviche, with a shrimp and oyster on the side, all slicked with hot sauce ($11.99). You’ll want food to soak it all up, and beyond the complimentary chips and salsa, it’s hard to beat a bubbling cast-iron skillet of queso loaded with chorizo crumbles ($11.99). In addition to the Nicollet Avenue location, Los Sanchez has spots in New Hope and Richfield, and a roaming food truck (where the Michelada comes sans alcohol). (Sharyn Jackson)

2539 Nicollet Av., Mpls., lossanchezmexicanrestaurant.com

Related Coverage

In Minneapolis, Jasmine 26 Hot Pot's banh khot are little savory pancakes topped with shrimp meant to be wrapped up in lettuce with veggies and herbs and dunked in nước chấm before eating. (Joy Summers/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Banh khot at Jasmine 26 Hot Pot

Everything in here is better if shared with friends. Even when not partaking in the hot pot at the tables, dishes are made for communal dining. We ordered the banh khot ($15), little savory rice pancakes with a creamy, coconutty center and topped with plump little shrimp. Wrap it in crisp lettuce leaves and fresh veggies before dunking into nuoc cham for the perfect little bite. (J.S.)

8 E. 26th St., Mpls., jasmine26hotpot.com

Luna and the Bear in Minneapolis offers a rotating selection of jam and gin cocktails. (Joy Summers, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Gin & jam at Luna and the Bear

The Gin & Jams are choose-your-own cocktails made from a rotating selection of gins and inventive, fun jam flavors, mixed and finished with an extra spoonful of jam to take the flavor up a notch. It’s a journey, and a guaranteed one-of-a-kind cocktail. While normally $14.50, there’s one combo available at happy hour for $11. On our visit, it was a mixed berry jam paired with Seersucker Southern Style Gin from San Antonio, giving the impressively magenta drink a faintly Southern air that matches the space. The square bar is big, the wallpaper is dainty, the dog portraits are winkingly oversized, and the place has a pleasantly lazy feel. Other happy hour hits: a “snaquiri,” or mini Hemingway daiquiri, and an assortment of fried snacks. (S.J.)

18 W. 26th St., Mpls., lunaandthebearmn.com

Glam Doll Donuts on Eat Street in Minneapolis features a variety of flavors with names like Misfit, Bananarama and Femme Fatale. (Joy Summers/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Misfit doughnut at Glam Doll Donuts

The queue moved quickly despite the line at their re-opening, but there’s no denying Glam Doll is back and doing exactly what this longtime Eat Street shop was originally known for — fresh doughnuts with a side of sass. The Misfit ($2.50) is a standard glazed turned up a notch with a little gingery, orange zing in the sweet coating, wrapped around a fluffy, yeasted dough. It’s good to be back. (J.S.)

2605 Nicollet Av., Mpls., glamdolldonuts.com

A pork banh mi from Lu’s Sandwiches in Minneapolis. (Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Grilled pork bành mí at Lu’s Sandwiches

There are three Twin Cities locations of Lu’s Sandwiches, but Nicollet Avenue is the flagship for this 15-year-old bành mí institution. Owner Quang Pham estimates he’s made at least 10,000 of these Vietnamese sandwiches, built from all the hallmarks: pillowy baguette with a shattering shell; housemade pâté and mayo; cold cuts or savory grilled meats; puckery pickled veggie shreds and finally, vivid green jalapenos and cilantro bunches. The grilled pork is my go-to, and at $8.50 for a small or $11.25 for a large, it’s still an affordable power lunch. (S.J.)

2624 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls., lusandwiches.com

Egg rolls at My Huong Kitchen in Minneapolis. (Raphael Brion)

Egg rolls at My Huong Kitchen

The Vietnamese egg rolls (aka chả giò) at My Huong Kitchen ($7.95) are classic and straightforward, with rice paper wrappers filled with glass noodles, ground pork, carrots and mushrooms. Nimbly deep fried, the remarkable egg rolls come out light, flaky and so shatteringly crisp they tend to explode all over the table when you take a bite. The egg rolls come as an appetizer served with nước chấm, or gracing the top of a bún noodle salad. (R.B.)

2718 Nicollet Av. #101B, Mpls, myhuongkitchen.com

Szechuan wontons from Rainbow on Eat Street in Minneapolis. (Joy Summers/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Szechuan wontons at Rainbow Chinese

One of the first dishes I ever tasted at Tammy Wong’s mainstay restaurant, these Szechuan wontons ($14) always taste like coming home. A mix of pork sausage and shrimp are wrapped in dough and dressed in chili oil and salty black bean sauce before getting topped with enough green onions that they count as a serving of vegetables. They taste just as good straight from a take-out box as they do in the bright lights of the koi fish tank in the dining room. Except when dining in, there’s a chance for an eggroll washed vodka shot to wash it all down. (J.S.)

2739 Nicollet Av., Mpls.,rainbowrestaurant.com

Them "Take Out" Wings at Staff Meeting in Minneapolis. (Raphael Brion/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Them “take out” wings at Staff Meeting

The menu description for the wings at Staff Meeting is disarmingly simple — “pretty damn good wings” — but while accurate, it’s perhaps an understatement. These impeccable wings ($11.60), gnarled and impossibly crispy, get tossed in a sauce built from oyster sauce, sugar, chicken powder, crispy onion and crispy garlic, resulting in a sweet and savory, deeply caramelized experience. The chicken powder in the sauce makes the flavor of the chicken wings even more chicken-y — it’s chicken, magnified by orders of magnitude of even more chicken. (R.B.)

2819 Nicollet Av., Mpls, eatstreetcrossing.com

Just one of several trays of food options at Eat Street's all-you-can-eat lunch buffet. (Joy Summers/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Lunch buffet at Marhaba Grill

Marhaba looks like a stone cottage from the outside; inside it’s an all-you-can-eat Mediterranean feast. For $20 a head, you can pile up rice, falafel, potato-stuffed samosas, fall-off-the-bone chicken and ribs, curls of beef and lamb gyro, and the standout koshari. That Egyptian carb-forward comfort dish marries rice and pasta and lentils with tomato and fried onion, and one bite prompted an actual happy dance from one diner in our party, who grew up with the dish and hadn’t found it anywhere else in the Twin Cities. Don’t leave without a stop at the sweets buffet for phyllo-layered and honey-soaked pastries like baklava. (S.J.)

2801 Nicollet Av., Mpls., marhabagrill.com

Other favorites in the area to visit: 8 Street Nourish, Black Forest Inn, Copper Hen Kitchen, Christo’s, El Nuevo Mariachi, Ichiddo Ramen, Lenza African Cuisine, Little T’s, Marissa’s Bakery, Meet Up Noodle, Quang and Peninsula Malaysian Cuisine.

about the writers

Sharyn Jackson

Reporter

Sharyn Jackson is a features reporter covering the Twin Cities' vibrant food and drink scene.

Joy Summers

Food and Drink Reporter

Joy Summers is a St. Paul-based food reporter who has been covering Twin Cities restaurants since 2010. She joined the Minnesota Star Tribune in 2021.

Raphael Brion

Critic

Raphael Brion is the Minnesota Star Tribune's restaurant critic. He previously wrote about and led restaurant coverage for Food & Wine, Bonappetit.com and Eater National.

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