Post your favorite Minnesota restaurants! (Minneapolis, St. Paul: home, school, live)

[What!]

I hate to be a thread hog by making lots of threads but I'd just love some suggestions for this thread. This is most likely going to be my last summer and I plan on spending most of it out of the house. Tell me your favorite MN restaurant. And please, NO CHAINS! I have been eating at chains for far too long. Can you give me some MN made restaurants or restaurants that are uniquely Minnesotan? I might just visit them. And could you put them down in the following ways:
1. Name of the restaurant and location (street address helps).
2. Why you like it and what's so great about it.
3. The food.
4. What type of people go there.
5. When are the best times to go.

Here's one of my favorites:
1. Williams Uptown Pub & Peanut Bar. 2911 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis.
2. It is a great social scene for young singles wanting to play games like darts, pool, and video games. Meeting women is pretty easy there. The atmosphere is very laid back and lacks hostility. And the downstairs peanut bar is a great place to just chill.
3. It's you basic American food with steaks, burgers, and fries.
4. Young singles go their during the evening. The older crowd is generally during the day. Although kids are allowed in before the night hours, it isn't a family restaurant.
5. The best times to go are during the evenings, particularly Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night.

For more info try city search: Williams Uptown Pub & Peanut Bar - Minneapolis, MN, 55408 - Citysearch
So, what are your favorite Mn restaurants?

[Old Surrender]

Jauno's Latin Bar.
Main Avenue in Downtown Moorhead.
Chiplote-esque burritos and tequila bar.

Thai Orchid
Moorhead, not quite sure the address
Thai food, all of which can made vegan.

[Astron1000]

There are so many choices it's hard to narrow them down.

I'm particularly fond of Asian food. It's not necessarily a traditional Minnesota style, but what the hell? Minnesota - and the rest of the US - is evolving.

Minnesota has always been a big immigrant destination. The biggest influx of immigrants lately are southeast Asian and Somali. So, it's arguable that Minnesota "native" cuisine has evolved past lutefisk and lefse to naan and gyros!

If you like Asian/Fusion - and you have a few extra bucks burning a hole in your pocket - then I'd strongly recommend AZIA at 26th & Nicollet in south Minneapolis. They also have a decent sushi bar next door. I also like Ruam Mit Thai in downtown St. Paul.

For not-necessarily-authentic-but-really-good-fun-and strangely-wonderful-Chinese-Mexican fare I'd go with Chino Latino in Uptown. Plus, it's a great website...

I'd also highly recommend Nalapak, an Indian Vegetarian restaurant on Central Avenue NE in Columbia Heights, at 49th & Central Avenue. Unpretentious. Just really good food!

For snacking, it's hard to beat the HolyLand Deli complex, also on NE Central Avenue between Lowry (same as 25th) and 26th Street. This is the place that King Hussein & Queen Noor of Jordan regularly shopped when they were in town (when King Hussein was being treated at the Mayo Clinic). Superb gyros and a nice lunch buffet. Stellar olive bar.

Come to think of it, there are so many spots on Central Avenue that it would take a couple of pages to discuss them all!

[Twisted_Logic]

My favorite is Safari Resturant near the convention Center. It is a Somali resturant with South-Asian influences especially the Biryanis

[judlee]

Hands down favorite Minnesota restaurant is the Whistling Bird in Gilbert, MN. Gilbert is "up north." The owners are Toney and JoPat Curtis and the cuisine is Caribbean---Toney is from Jamaica. This out-of-the-way place has become so popular that you will need reservations.

Welcome to The Whistling Bird - Home

[What!]

Thanks folks! Good stuff. I doubt I'll go hungry!

[MNNative]

If you feel like heading to Duluth, on our last trip there we ate at Va Bene Berarducci's Caffe | Italian cafe in Duluth, Minnesota for lunch. Simply delicious with a cute atmosphere right off the lake!
We were advised to go to New Scenic Café | 5461 N. Shore Drive | 218-525-6274 and it was SO worth it. Their food is phenomenal, service was great. FYI:It sounded like a ritzyish dinner-date type of restaurant so we dressed up a tad and felt like tourists! But it was a special vacation and special dinner, so it was all right. Though I think kids would be welcome, we saw mostly couples or groups of friends.

[newcastle]

I really enjoy Thai Krathong in Duluth, it is on 1st street near the courthouse. It is authentic Thai food. The owner was my dad's neighbor and we used to have her food during the summers on the lake. She goes home to Thailand twice a year and gets new recipes and ideas.

[lilamae217]

Pierre's Bistro - 50th & Penn Ave.
Absolutely amazing food ($15-30 entrees) but the best part is the cozy, unpretentous, intimate atmosphere. The owner, Pierre, is always there..usually cooking...he is totally old-school French and a hilarious guy to talk to.

[What!]

I should head up to Duluth.