11 Minneapolis Restaurants You Must Try | SheBuysTravel (2024)

With chic museums, beautiful parks and a thriving music scene, Minneapolis is a must-see if you’re traveling through the Midwest. This Minnesota town is a hub for shopping, sports, culture and outdoor activities offered all year round (yes, even in the winter). A day of sightseeing here will leave any traveler with a healthy appetite.

My daughter went to college near the Twin Cities and now that she’s graduated and moved on, my husband and I have been missing this wonderful place and the burgeoning food and drink scene. So when I was offered a chance to spend a few days in Minneapolis, I immediately agreed. Here’s a list of my favorite Minneapolis restaurants and bars for couples and families.

Best Minneapolis Restaurants for Families

Hen House Eatery

114 South 8th St.

This breakfast and lunch place has an extensive vegan menu and a children’s menu with the usual kid’s faves. What sets it apart is the emphasis on local, organic ingredients. The menu runs the gamut from eggs to chicken and waffles to Mexican specialties like carnitas. There is also a separate vegan menu which excited us. We shared the Vegan Herbie with vegan eggs, Impossible sausage, vegan cheese, pesto, arugula, avocado and caramelized onions. Everything was wonderful.

For those looking for lunch, get a cheeseburger, crispy Buffalo chicken sandwich or mac and cheese with BBQ pork.

And we got a huge chocolate peanut butter brownie (not vegan) to go. Baked goods are made in house and worth every calorie.

Umbra

708 S 3rd St.

The Canopy by Hilton Minneapolis Mill District hotel has an in-house restaurant, Umbra open to anyone. The wonderful Continental breakfast buffet includes plenty of fresh fruit, yogurt, cereal, bread, muffins and bagels, plus juice, milk and coffee. A full buffet has at least three hot dishes. We had a frittata loaded with vegetables; there was also breakfast meat and another egg dish, plus potatoes.

If you want an early dinner with the kids, flatbreads are half price at happy hour, weekdays from 4-6pm.

Longfellow Grill

2990 W River Pkwy

This comfort food restaurant serves breakfast all day, plus more substantial food for lunch and dinner. There are salads, tacos, bowls, sandwiches and burgers. On the breakfast menu, you can add vegan or meat sausage to the egg dishes. This a a great place for brunch.

The kids’ menu includes fruit and goldfish. It has mac and cheese, burgers and grilled chicken.

This may not be fine dining, but it is one of the best restaurants since everyone will be happy. Longfellow is across the street from the river, with hiking and biking trails right there.

Best Places for Couples to Drink in Minneapolis

Surly Brewery

520 Malcolm Ave SE

This Minneapolis brewery has extensive indoor and outdoor space. During the day, Surly is family friendly and has tacos and bar food in the beer hall. There is a sit down pizza restaurant upstairs. At night, with fewer kids, you can enjoy 35 beers on tap. The signature Furious is a must for first timers and returning out-of-towners.

O’Shaughnessy Distillery

600 Malcolm Ave SE

Right next door to Surly, O’Shaughnessy Distilleryspecializes in American Whiskey in an Irish style. There is a gorgeous co*cktail bar upstairs, filled with comfortable couches and an outdoor area. We had two of the signature co*cktails, a Manhattan and an Old Fashioned. Downstairs, you can also get small plates and desserts.

Note: You can also grab food and creative co*cktails at the Market at Malcolm Yards, across the street from Surly and O’Shaughnessy. The Market has a tap wall with self serve beer and kombucha; you pay by the ounce.

Back Bar at Young Joni

165 13th Ave. NE

The James Beard award winning Young Joni is so popular that two months in advance, the only reservation I could get was at 8:15 on a Monday. But the Back Bar, a speakeasy through an alley, serves the same carefully crafted co*cktails (along with the amazing Young Joni pizza). There is a co*cktail called ‘Taxi,’ made of brandy, china-china, walnut, banana, arrabbiatta and CBD. Another co*cktail, ‘The X-Files’ combines gin, mulled pear liqueur, pine nut orgeat and lemon.

It was too dim to photograph our drinks, but trust me. You want to go to northeast Minneapolis and drink (and eat) here.

Spoon & Stable

211 N 1st St, Minneapolis

Another James Beard award winner, Spoon & Stable in the north loop has small plates and a lively bar scene. The black truffle aranchini pairs well with thecraft co*cktails and long list of wines by the glass. There are also a number of interesting ‘spirit free’ co*cktails for those who don’t imbibe.

Owamni by The Sioux Chef

420 1st St. South

This buzzy, James Beard award-winning indigenous restaurant features Native American heirloom and local produce. Focusing on indigenous ingredients means Everything no dairy, wheat flour, cane sugar, beef, chicken or pork is served, but there is game and lots of vegetables.

More Minneapolis Restaurants to Try (and St. Paul too!)

Hai Hai

2121 University Ave NE

This Vietnamese street food restaurant, a James Beard finalist, is where we had my daughter’s college graduation dinner. It’s best to share a bunch of small plates and appetizers to try as much as possible. The menu includes Balinese and Thai influences.

The kids’ menu includes a rice bowl with protein choice (mock duck!) and coconut chicken.

Hola Arepa

3501 Nicollet Ave

Hola Arepa, in South Minneapolis, has Latin street food with Venezuelan arepas. The restaurant is owned by the Hai Hai team. The signature corn meal cake arepas come filled with fried chicken, black beans & sweet potato and eight other options. Almost everything here is gluten-free. And the leap from Asian food to arepas makes sense since dumplings are just another dough-filled appetizer.

World Street Kitchen

2743 Lyndale Ave S.

Pizzeria Lola

5557 Xerxes Ave S

This was the first restaurant owned by Ann Kim of Young Joni. It specializes in wood fired pizza. Desserts include homemade soft serve and homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Prohibition Bar at the W Hotel

Living Room, 821 S Marquette Ave

This bar, on the 27th floor of the W Hotel in the landmark Foshay Tower offers panoramic 360 degree views of the Twin Cities, gorgeous original woodwork and craft co*cktails. A Foshay favorite, ‘The Epiphany,’ has Grey Goose La Poire, St. Germain, sparkling wine and an orchid garnish.

J. Selby’s

169 N. Victoria St.

This plant based St. Paul favorite reimagines American classics. The spicy BBQ Sandwich, Dirty Secret vegan cheeseburger and cauliflower wings are musts. The kids’ menu, with vegan takes on fast food, could set the stage for a lifetime of healthy eating. The turkey ‘deli’ sandwich is a winner.

Shish

1668 Grand Avenue

The Mediterranean restaurant Shish has falafel, kebobs and baklava. There are plenty of vegan and gluten free options. The kids’ menu has cheeseburgers and authentic Mediterranean food for adventurous young eaters: gyros and chicken shawarma.

How to Work Up an Appetite in Minneapolis

Minneapolis and St. Paul boast great biking on greenways, protected bike lanes and bike boulevards. Lime and Veo have scooters and e-bikes that you can rent by the hour.

The Emery Hotel, part of the Autograph Collection has its own bikes for rent. The first hour is free, but you have to download an app and enter your credit card info. This is where the famed Minnesota Nice kicked in. I didn’t have a physical credit card with me and someone who works at the hotel offered to put in his credit card info as long as I promised to return the bike within an hour. Unfortuntely, hat midwestern niceness doesn’t carry over to drivers in Minneapolis. Although I didn’t hear a lot of honking, or people screaming at each other, drivers are just as likely here to cut you off, run red lights, and menace cyclists.

Safety First: Chevy Equinox

I drove around Minneapolis in the new Chevrolet Equinox, which has both bicyclist braking and side bicyclist alert safety features. The side bicyclist alert warns you when a bicyclist is approaching a side blind zone. It also tells you when a bicyclist is approaching after you park so you don’t open your door. As someone who’s been ‘doored’ while biking multiple times, I truly appreciate this feature. When you a traveling between 5 and 50 miles per hour, bicyclist (and pedestrian) braking alerts you and provides hard emergency braking if a pedestrian or bicyclist is detected directly in front of you.

Another great safety feature in the 2025 Equinox is the graphic on the dashboard showing you if any of the rear seat belts are being used. It’s one thing to get a warning bell that a seat belt isn’t buckled – it’s genius to have the rear seat graphic so you can tell the kid in the rear that she has to buckle her belt, without turning your head to check.

What to Do in Minneapolis (When You’re Not Eating)

I took the Chevy Equinox on a few trips around town. One of my favorite places is the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden across the street from the Walker Art Center, Not only is it free, it is open every day, from 6 am to midnight. It is a great place to stroll around and see art, particularly in nice (Minnesota nice?) weather.

We drove further out of town, to test drive the Equinox Activ. The crossover has AWD, so is ideal for dirt roads, or the potholes you encounter after a cold Minnesota winter. We drove around the unpaved roads at GaleWoodsFarm, a working farm. The farm is also free, and has hiking trails, a farm store offering organic produce, and chickens, cattle, sheep and pigs.