The best restaurants Minnesota

This place is a real institution in Minneapolis, so it is best to book. We come here mostly for brunch, with music on the weekends. The menu is varied and the prices are affordable; we highly recommend the "caramel rolls", a fondant caramel pastry with pecans and cinnamon. Wild rice porridge is a must, a local specialty. On Sundays, we serve you brunch in your pajamas! The name Hell's Kitchen evokes the warmth of the stoves and the pressing atmosphere of the morning.

Everybody knows Cossetta: it's a kind of luxury canteen. It smells good. You line up with your tray at the pizza, pasta or salad stand before moving upstairs. The food is good without being ruinous. A good address for Italian food without spending too much time at the table. To the right of the entrance, there is even a small grocery store offering products imported from Italy. For those looking for a more formal atmosphere, try Louis Ristorante, at the same location, which serves a slightly more sophisticated (and more expensive) cuisine.

The locals come early in the morning to have a pastry (muffins, cookies, chocolate fudge, caramel rolls...) to accompany their huge cup of coffee. Despite its Starbuck's look, Café Latte is a world away from impersonal chains: here, the cakes are all made on the spot, and you can feel it! They are brought to you hot from the carts, and different breads and scones are featured every day! You can also have a snack at lunchtime or eat a salad or a sandwich on the go. A good little address.

Located in the city's historic district, the Saint Paul combines a luxury hotel with the Saint Paul Grill restaurant, whose reputation is well established. At lunchtime, the menu is simple and the prices affordable. Come and eat your hamburger or giant omelettes in this chic bistro-style restaurant. In the evening, the atmosphere is completely different: prices double, but the cuisine is more refined. Good wine list. Ask for a table by the window overlooking Rice Park to admire the illuminated fountain and park.

A food truck that offers various dishes, burgers, but also small plates to share, on the spot or to take away. We appreciate the finely executed dishes of this family business that has managed to reinvent itself. It remains one of the favorite addresses of the locals, even if the building that housed it for 10 years burned down in a fire in 2020. The good local products used make the difference. More complete dishes are also sold, ideal to taste them at the lodge...

This very popular spot in Canal Park is close to the airlift. No great gastronomy here, but a good atmosphere, authentic and sincere. The house staple is Famous Chicken Wild Rice Soup, a delicious chicken and wild rice soup, Minnesota's flagship dish. The decoration, a bit overwhelming, hasn't changed much since the establishment opened nearly five decades ago, in 1976. One of our favourite restaurants in Duluth, although service may be a little slow when it's crowded.

Five types of Juicy Lucy are offered at Le Nook, in addition to the usual burgers, the classic or alternatively with pepper cheese, chorizo and queso, Philadelphia cheese or roastbeef and cheddar. On the menu are also nachos, onion rings, sandwiches and some salads. So the whole thing is not very dietetic, but that's not the point! Popular pub atmosphere, very friendly. In the evenings, concerts are sometimes organized there.

Cosmos is the restaurant of the Loews Hotel. Suffice it to say that dining here puts you at the top of the Minneapolis fashion scene. Design atmosphere at the bar, a dark and distinguished room, Cosmos plays the somewhat snobbish card. But we have to say that it works and it's pretty successful. To begin with, choose a platter of cold meats and cheese accompanied by a small white wine, before continuing with a lamb chop or a beautiful plate of perfectly seasoned fish. Little extra: Cosmos works with local farmers, listed on the menu.

Opened in 2013, this microbrewery reinvigorated Red Wing, which hadn't had a brewery since 1951. Each week, the small brewery produces the equivalent of six kegs of beer. Six local beers are produced, to be tasted on draft. The atmosphere is rather nice, the bar being quite new, but in varnished wood. Recently, the house also makes pizzas and salads (well, rather a salad, to be precise). It is thus an excellent plan to eat on the go and try why not a root beer if you don't want to drink alcohol.

If you're looking for a simple place to eat well and cheaply, Toasty's is for you! You will find a wide range of toasted sandwiches, from the most basic (with American cheese) to the most elaborate (with beef, onions, mushrooms...). They come with a packet of chips, and it is possible to order a beer or a glass of wine as the establishment is licensed to serve alcohol. For a small extra charge, all sandwiches on the menu can be prepared gluten-free and dairy-free.

The Strand Waterfront Dining & Wine Bar is a rustic-looking restaurant with a woodsy feel. Located in the Lutsen Hotel, its tables are open for breakfast and dinner every day. It's a bit pricey, but the place offers great value for money for breakfast, with enough to get you through the day. To make matters worse, the restaurant offers beautiful views of Lake Superior. And its wine cellar is stocked with over 1,200 bottles of wine.

A Japanese restaurant where everyone can make their own sushi and maki by choosing from the myriad of ingredients laid out before their eyes. From brown rice with sesame seeds to Hawaiian wasabi sauce, from BBQ tofu to crispy pork, from avocado to asparagus, you will be able to concoct a maki with new flavors! The concept is original and the result is quite satisfying for a fast food chain. It is an institution in Minneapolis, which unfortunately closed some of its locations because of the pandemic.

In the same vein as Starbucks, Caribou Coffee is a chain specialized in coffee that started in Minnesota in 1992. It has since spread across the United States, and there are more than forty of them in the Twin Cities alone. To start your day off right, imitate the locals and take your coffee to go! The cakes and pastries are nothing special, but they'll do the trick for a quick breakfast on the go. There are also ice creams, original fruit juices and "bou-rritos".

Located not far from the Capitol, this restaurant offers an idyllic setting for dinner for two. The dining rooms are elegant with their fireplaces, oil paintings and Victorian wallpaper. In the summer, it is pleasant to settle down in the courtyard and have lunch in a small corner of greenery. The more expensive dinner menu is also more elaborate and swaps the steak and chips and beef risotto served for lunch for seafood and filet mignon. A small selection of cheeses is proposed to you, to be tasted with a glass of wine.

With its big green "My Sister's Place" sign above the porch, this restaurant cultivates a little bit of a saloon feel and looks like something out of a Western. The menu is quite classic, between burgers, salads, fish dishes and chicken breasts to dip in barbecue sauce, but everything is generous and very good. Special mention to the delicious homemade soup. The restaurant also offers a good selection of regional and international beers. The relaxed and friendly atmosphere is very appreciable.

Denese Jokela, the chef of this Italian restaurant, learned his trade in Tuscany and you can feel it! In his restaurant, he transcribes his best Italian recipes. Fettucine or homemade lasagne, the pasta menu is varied. Special mention should be given to the breaded chicken cutlet marinated in lemon, a light and pleasant dish. Mention also to the desserts and the wine list. On the other hand, the decoration deserves a little rejuvenation. The service is attentive, although a bit stilted, and we leave Necce's satisfied.

The former chef of Forepaugh's gourmet restaurant is behind the stove at this establishment. The cuisine served here is rather difficult to define, with Cuban, Puerto Rican and English inspirations, like the origins of Chef Gonzalez who, moreover, grew up in California. It could be described as elaborate comfort food, a kind of world cuisine full of flavours. The drinks menu does not disappoint, which is not surprising since it was concocted by Aaron Johnson, cocktail star in the Twin Cities.

A favorite address, where you can eat well at relatively affordable prices, considering the freshness and quality of the ingredients. The cuisine served at BLG (pronounced Bi-L-Dji, American style) is Italian, and we can't recommend enough that you let yourself be tempted by the pasta, served in two different sizes according to your appetite. For starters, there are revisited bruschette, served with liver pâté, goat cheese or anchovy. In the kitchen, Chef Isaac Becker, who won the title of Best Chef in the Midwest in 2011, is busy.

It is here, in downtown Hibbing, that this regional restaurant chain was founded almost seventy years ago. A worker in the iron mines, Sam Perella decided to pay homage to his Italian origins by opening his own pizzeria in 1954. Sammy's Pizza has since been exported to a dozen cities in Minnesota. At Sammy's, it's really the pizza, whose dough is made on site every morning, that's worth the detour. If you like it thick, rich in cheese and tomato sauce, you will be conquered!

This is the place to go if you're craving meat! Whether it's a burger or a juicy steak, you won't be disappointed. The setting of this wooden establishment is rather rustic, but this does not detract from the friendly service and the conviviality of the place. The restaurant is very popular in the evenings and on weekends for its bar and its multiple television screens that broadcast the most important sporting events. For a good-natured atmosphere, sit down along the zinc and order a beer.