Things to do in Minneapolis

You know that saying, that if you live in a place, you don’t know the attractions. But when friends come to visit, what do you do? I wrote this a few years ago but never got around to publishing it, so here’s my list. A few places to eat, things to see, etc., in Minneapolis/St. Paul:

Museums, etc:

• The American Swedish Institute, http://asimn.org
• Walker Art Center, http://walkerart.org
• Minneapolis Institute of Art, http://artsmia.org
• Mill City Museum, http://millcitymuseum.org
• Science Museum of Minnesota (St. Paul), http://smn.org

Famous Buildings:

• St. Mary’s Basilica, Minneapolis
• Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Paul

Theatre:

• Guthrie Theatre, http://guthrie.org
• Jungle Theatre, http://jungletheatre.com

(There is so much theatre here in the Twin Cities.)

Nature:

The Twin Cities has lots of open space, parks, walking trails, etc.

• Minnesota Landscape Arboretum: http://www.arboretum.umn.edu
• Minnesota Zoo, http://mnzoo.org
• Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, http://comozooconservatory.org
• National Eagle Center, http://www.nationaleaglecenter.org

Food:

The Twin Cities is pretty cosmopolitan, you can find almost anything here. Personally, I stay away from fish/seafood places with a couple of exception, probably not worth mentioning as they’re chains.

• Amore Victoria, Italian, http://amorevictoria.com - this place has amazing dishes, superbly prepared. Beware the quantities are huge.
• Christos Greek Restaurant, 3 locations, http://christos.com
• Cossetta’s Italian Market and Pizzeria, http://cossettas.com
• Heartland Restaurant & Market, farm-direct-to-table, fresh, ever changing menu, http://heartlandrestaurant.com
• Pizza Lucé (several locations), https://pizzaluce.com/ - the best pizza ever! They also have gluten-free crust and dairy-free cheese. These people are amazing, and are hugely civic minded.
• Smack Shack, one exception to my seafood restriction, a North Loop (warehouse district) establishment, http://smack-shack.com – their catfish hoagie is amazing.
• Thanh Do Restaurant, pan-asian cuisine, St. Louis Park, http://thanhdorestaurant.com
• The Birchwood Cafe, Minneapolis, http://birchwoodcafe.com - fresh food, great dessert case
• Vincent, http://www.vincentarestaurant.com

closer to home

• The King and I Thai https://www.kingandithai.com/ - an awesome Thai restaurant
• Teresa’s http://teresasmn.com/ - really excellent Mexican fare
• Haiku Japanese Bistro - https://www.haikujapanese.com/stpaul/ - very local, very Japanese; I will eat their sushi / sashimi

Sadly, I can’t comment on night-life, as I don’t have any.

Grocery Stores

• Mississippi Market, https://msmarket.coop/, a coop with great stuff for vegan and other alternative eating styles
• HyVee, https://www.hy-vee.com/, a huge superstore style grocer, employee-owned, slowly moving into the Twin Cities Metro
• Kowalski Markets, https://www.kowalskis.com/, smaller stores, focused on locally grown and sourced foods, high quality