Visiting Target Field, Minneapolis...questions (Grant, Nicollet: amusement park, transfer, neighborhood)

[west336]

I'm new to working downtown here but my understanding is that yes, you can find things like hot dogs and other snacks from people with snack carts.....they seem to be more prevalent now. Whether they will start coming out by the end of April would probably depend entirely on the weather, since most of those things are franchised to the owner of the stand. The average temp at the end of April is at least 65 degrees, so you may be in luck!

[knke0204]

Minnesota probably has some lame law that prohibits selling of food and beverages from a cart on the street. Probably some blue, eliteist law.

[MplsTodd]

Just to add to the food cart discussion--the City just loosened requirements last year to allow more carts so they're still kinda new to the downtown street scene, but many have gotten excellent reviews. If you're here in late April, I think the Mpls farmers Market will have started by then. They hold the market on Thursdays along Nicollet Mall, so you may want to check that out--its fun to see all the different vendors.

Minneapolis Farmers Market


The admission fee for the Foshay includes the museum as well as the view

Hope you enjoy your visit & GO TWINS!!

[Laggard]

More food vendors on the street downtown now but they seem to be almost upscale and pricey. $8 hamburgers? No thanks.

I was hoping for hot dog vendors, pretzel carts and falafal sellers.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by Laggard

More food vendors on the street downtown now but they seem to be almost upscale and pricey. $8 hamburgers? No thanks.

I was hoping for hot dog vendors, pretzel carts and falafal sellers.

What a joke.

Not much like Philly where I bought a Cheesesteak Sandwhich for $4.00 that came with a soda and a bag of chips, not to mention the sandwhich being about the size of my head.

**kind of scary getting it from a street vendor (sanitation, health, etc), but i never got sick!

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

Originally Posted by knke0204

What a joke.

Not much like Philly where I bought a Cheesesteak Sandwhich for $4.00 that came with a soda and a bag of chips, not to mention the sandwhich being about the size of my head.

**kind of scary getting it from a street vendor (sanitation, health, etc), but i never got sick!

Philly is a great place for street food. Not just cheesesteaks either, you can get all kinds of sandwhiches, gyros, what have you. Saw a sushi truck once. The gyro places often have platters with meat and rice and such. And it's so cheap. You get a serious lunch for 4 dollars, like knke said.

I'm not sure about the sanitation part. I've worked my fair share of food service, and doubt it can be any worse. The stainless steel might make it better. Most of them are pretty careful with their money hand and their food preparing hand, putting gloves on, and such. What I want to know is what they do when they have to go to the bathroom.

On that point...and sorry to divert from the OP...I was not in Minneapolis when the food carts started up, although there was talk of it. How exactly is it going? Popular? It seemed mostly like places that already had restaurants were interested in getting street carts, rather than start ups. Is that what wound up happening?

[uptown_urbanist]

The street vendors are safe. Minneapolis's regulations are pretty tight. Anything licensed is going to have to meet tight standards.

FamousBlueRaincoat: the street vendor program has been popular, and there's a lot of talk now about expanding it to the rest of the city. I don't know the ins and outs of the local politics on that one, but someone with better internal connections than me told me that it was possible that something could be pushed through, at least for some areas (probably starting with Uptown) as soon as this summer. It's not all existing restaurants; there seem to be a number of start-ups. Regulations mean that they have to have access to a commercial kitchen (which was, I believe, part of the reason the restaurants had the edge going in), but there's a commercial kitchen (Kindred Kitchen) based in north Minneapolis that is both affordable and has a mission to be a small business incubator. (they don't only work with food trucks, but I think they make it that much easier for new food truck vendors to get up and running)

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

The street vendors are safe. Minneapolis's regulations are pretty tight. Anything licensed is going to have to meet tight standards.

FamousBlueRaincoat: the street vendor program has been popular, and there's a lot of talk now about expanding it to the rest of the city. I don't know the ins and outs of the local politics on that one, but someone with better internal connections than me told me that it was possible that something could be pushed through, at least for some areas (probably starting with Uptown) as soon as this summer. It's not all existing restaurants; there seem to be a number of start-ups. Regulations mean that they have to have access to a commercial kitchen (which was, I believe, part of the reason the restaurants had the edge going in), but there's a commercial kitchen (Kindred Kitchen) based in north Minneapolis that is both affordable and has a mission to be a small business incubator. (they don't only work with food trucks, but I think they make it that much easier for new food truck vendors to get up and running)

Thanks.

[uptown_urbanist]

There are still a lot of hurdles to jump before Minneapolis really makes it as a street food kind of city, but at least we're (slowly) heading in the right direction!

[ssmmm11]

I wasn't talking about restaurants IN MOA, but AROUND MOA!

Please start naming...

Yes there are restaurants in MOA, and many many are coming these days. That is because it is becoming an entertainment center. But I was here in 2007 and there were maybe 3. I haven't been in since my return, but read about it. Let us hear about restaurants around MOA. I know there are bunch of hotels!!