Some Minneapolis Tips for Those Coming to Planning-ness

For those of you coming to Planning-ness, here are some tips and thoughts for you on getting around town, eating and drinking. This is off the top of my head, so I'm sure I'm missing something, but with a busy few days here, I'm going to guess that this is more than enough. If any of you who live here have other thoughts, arguments or support for any of these recommendations, chime in in the comments. With that, here we go...

Getting around:

For getting to downtown from the airport, you can take a cab of course, but if you're not in a hurry, you can also take our light rail system to the Nicollet Mall stop (most likely, for most of you). Once you're settled into your hotel, depending on where you're staying and where you're trying to go, walking and cabs can get you to plenty of good places. For the more adventurous of you though, there's our fantastic bike sharing program—Nice Ride MN. I believe there's a station not too far from Zeus Jones, so this might be a fun way for you to get to that happy hour on Friday.

Eating:

For this one, I'm just going to give you the names with links and let you go from there. For those of you not too concerned about the final bill for the night, I'd look to go to La Belle Vie, 112 Eatery, Restaurant Alma, or Manny's Steakhouse.

For something not quite as "spendy" (to use a Minnesotan term), but still a great time and good meal, my recommendations are Bar La Grassa, Cafe Lurcat, Northeast Social, Red Stag Supper Club, Barbette, Haute Dish, Sea Change, Lucia's, Corner Table and Piccolo.

Some of my remaining favorites that have great food at a very reasonable price are Brasa, Bulldog N.E., Black Sheep Pizza, French Meadow, Barrio, Anchor Fish & Chips, and King & I Thai.

For something uniquely Minnesotan, I'd go to Matt's Bar for a Jucy Lucy. If you want to see and experience a great local chain that could become the next Chipotle if they ever wanted to grow like that, check out Punch Pizza.

Brunch/Breakfast:

If you're around on Saturday morning for breakfast/brunch, look into the Mill City Farmer's Market, Hell's Kitchen, French Meadow, Red Stag Supper Club, Lucia's, Moose & Sadie's or Birchwood Cafe.

Drinking:

Not that we don't have enough planned with three happy hours, but if you're looking for great cocktails and bar menus, check out La Belle Vie, Porter & Frye (their Johnny Boy is my favorite cocktail in town currently - Laphroaig, Caramel, Jalepeno and some other mystery goodness) or Bar Lurcat.

Exploring:

If you have extra time on Saturday, look into The Walker, MIA, Mill City Museum, Stone Arch Bridge, Mill City Farmer's Market, The Guthrie, and of course, Mall of America.

Alright. That's it. I'm excited to meet some of you that I haven't been able to meet in person before. Other than that, enjoy your time in the Twin Cities!

Comments

[Avin]

Lots of good stuff here. A couple I might add that I used to frequent...

Jerusalems on Eat Street (nicollet ave)
lotus to go- across the street from king and I, quality food for cheap
Zelo (on Nicollet mall, near target) prob best for dinner, little on $ side

[Rohn Jay Miller]

Terrific suggestions, Paul, especially if people take advantage of the Nice Ride MN bike rentals--we're the #1 biking city in the US!

One of the most amazing walking experiences is to head for the St. Anthony Main area on the east bank of the Mississippi River south of Nicollet Island, and walk out into the middle of the river by way of the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory. You can stand at the end of a long walkway right in the middle of the river, with the falls roaring all around you. Quite lovely: http://bit.ly/j39SEs

[JamesVG]

For anyone intrigued by Nice Ride, be sure to understand the pricing before you show up and have to stare at the rental kiosk for 20 minutes. The prices are fair, but can be confusing. https://www.niceridemn.org/how_it_works/

Also, don't forget to take a look at the "Metrobowl" (formerly the Metrodome).

[Sean Howard]

Hey Paul,

Do you know of a coffee shop nearby to the venue? :) :) :)

[Mndesigngal]

reading this made me have ideas and remind me even being a local! nice work Paul, by the way our go-to coffee shop just closed this week?!
-Tricia