Minneapolis - tell me what to do

It's probably passe but I always liked Bryant-Lake Bowl.

the pinapple bread is amazing (up in the deli case with the a+ banh mi...i usually don't have time to eat in there, so i pop in and grab those)

To be a dissenting voice I like the Hard Times, but I wouldn't say it's a must-go unless you need vegetarian food at 2am.

Fireroast Mountain Cafe is really nice - has good cheap tamales and excellent baked goods.

So many things seconded -- Quang, 112, Matt's...

Vinyl: Treehouse Records (formerly Oarfolkjokapus), the Uptown Cheapo (if you don't mind sifting through scratched stuff)

Mpls is an awesome breakfast town: Al's, Hell's Kitchen (get the wild rice porridge!), Victor's 1959 Cafe, the Band Box, the Triple Rock, Bryant-Lake Bowl's granola pancakes...

I love Minneapolis -- and I'm moving back next month!

oh victors is an A+++++ recommend!

For vintage and secondhand I suggest Tatters on Lyndale (friend owns); around the corner at Lake and Bryant (right next to the Bowl) is Corner Store, which although expensive for Mpls. (but really cheap for me when the pound/dollar exchange is in consideration) has mint-condition dresses from the 1920s onward plus...oh just go, it's good. Your GF will love and the men's section is interesting.

The ace in the hole for Twin Cities shopping is NO SALES TAX ON CLOTHES OR SHOES.

^^^example, Corner Store has been there since 1980, in '86 I paid $35 for a black/electric blue '50s smoking jacket with sales tags still on. This place is particularly good at little black dresses of the ages; if you're like me and don't like the possibility of turning up in the same nice dress as some other person, it's easy to grab a few there without busting the bank.

fun fact: Eric Clapton was in the corner store this summer and i guess spent $5000 on vintage motorcycle gear

I would add to the vinyl/record shopping:

Roadrunner on Nicollet is great, not as big a selection of new indie/punk, but if you are looking for older classic rock/jazz/random past stuff....it is WAY cheaper than Treehouse and a great store.

I bought a pair of Vans there once, and the cashier said, "They're $29.95". I said, yes, I know they are, but how much do I owe you? and she just grinned and said THEY'RE $29.95.

thanks suzy et al!

corner store sounds up my GF's alley -- she likes big poofy dresses from the 1950s/1960s.

LOL PP that must have been your first shoe/clothing purchase in tax-free Minneapolis.

Matt, that's a great fun fact. I'll feel so much better when I'm trying to get a discount for buying two dresses knowing Clapton has paid their rent for the year. BTW everything is cheaper than Treehouse. Costs a fortune to feed the current owner.

Am, there's nothing that Hairspray/poodle skirt there; more to the Audrey Hepburn/Dita von Teese side of 'which postwar looks do I channel?' Tatters around the corner has always been more the home of the Lily Allen prom dress.

aha, thanks.

I have fond memories of Treehouse because I used to live above it and my old roommate still manages the place most days. :)

Lula in St. Paul is also great for poofy vintage dresses. Once I was scoping out this near-perfect 1960s silk-satin cocktail dress that was priced at $45. The woman at the counter saw how well it fit me and knocked it down to $35.

I have fond memories of Treehouse because I used to live above it and my old roommate still manages the place most days. :)

d@N? he is a great dude!

(btw i do like treehouse, but i buy records everywhere, there's plenty of me to around, record buying wise)

Yep, he's awesome!

Treehouse is the closest thing to the Mpls. record stores I grew up with; my friend was asst mgr when it was Oarfolk.

never really liked treehouse /challop

treehouse is unfortunate mpls home of record 'tude - hahaha well with the exception of extreme noise i suppose

oh hey there is also some bizarre retro chic rennaisance going on in midway, tons of super cool weirdo furniture/doodads/gizmos.

also if you are looking for unique shopping experiences, i need to throw in a shout out to robot love (vinyl toy stuff but also art/books and such, and owned and managed by the nicest people on earth) - plus the soovac gallery next door is always interesting. and another stellar breakfast place the sunny side up is across the street.

Oh Eclipse Records in St Paul is good and there's a retro old furniture place next door that is HOOOTTTT

yeah thats one of the ones i was talking about!

now if you want to buy yerself a nice guitar while you're in town, i know this place...

sunny side up is crap!

U MAD

mad meaning crazy not filled w/ire

no, it is terrible. i had steak and eggs one morning when i was hung over and felt i needed to be even more disgusted with myself, and, success

i forgot to mention al's diner, love that tiny place

oh yeah, if you can get there on a weekday, do it. although school is out so weekends might be a little calmer!

lol no way

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al%27s_Breakfast

yeah thats one of the ones i was talking about!

now if you want to buy yerself a nice guitar while you're in town, i know this place...

― wax onleck, wax affleck (jjjusten), Friday, July 24, 2009 8:10 PM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

willies?

*runs and hides*

(j/k homie...is it cool if i bring the rig in on monday?)

yeah sounds good

When I had a college-radio shift on Friday mornings, I'd always bring the unmistakable scent of Al's into the booth with me. Their pancakes are my all-time favorites, huge but light. I'll have a short-short buttermilk stack and a two-egg Spike, please.

jj ty for the tip, am straining to overcompensate for the time there were 6x Eames chairs in Broadway Antiques for $120 and I failed to buy and ship because of the shipping expense (if they had tried to charge duty in UK it would've been a pittance). I reckon the prices for doing that are a bit more competitive now. If you can find 4x chairs that would go with a black-legged '50s diner table with white/gray patterned top (similar to chrome/formica tables) let me know, will prob be cheaper than Ikea and more likely to arrive on time.

LOL own Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al's_Breakfast

what clubs should i check for shows?

any hotels (inexpensive but not sketchy) or B&B's anyone can recommend? (i know, i know, if you live there, you don't stay in hotels)

This is in Uptown, a good neighbourhood, close to all sorts:

http://www.lanierbb.com/inns/bb1509.html

My favorite hotel is the Normandy Inn downtown--a Best Western, nothing fancy, but not too expensive and it has a nice old-school feel to it. I often stay at nicer places (my sister works for a chain and gets me a fantastic discount), but when I went there for July 4 weekend the Normandy's where I stayed. (I may do so again for Labor Day weekend--a friend is getting married--but we'll see how my finances are.)

Matt's is an absolute must. And while this is not a recommendation for the food, per se, I never miss a chance to go to Little Tijuana. It's total fake Mexican but that fakeness is somehow perfect Minneapolis-ana to me.

The many suggestions upthread are really helpful! It's been a decade since I moved away and I don't know much about the changes that have taken place so now I have an armful of new stuff to try. Thanks for helping me rediscover my home city, everyone.

If you're looking for vegetarian or gluten-free, it's hard to do better than Cafe Agri.
Then take a walk by Lake Harriet.

from upthread:

for shows, def check the calendars at the triple rock, the turf club, first avenue/7th street entry.

some people enjoy the 400 bar, but i do not

I do not enjoy it either. Must add: last time I was at Little T's, I was with Matos, the chips were greasy and hot, and the waif-punk waitresses ruled. Drunks have gone there to draw on the tablecloths since forever.

It's total fake Mexican but that fakeness is somehow perfect Minneapolis-ana to me.

at any given time there's probably a girl named Ana working there

yeah man, i dunno Little T's is legendary because it's open at 3am when ppl are drunk, if it's not and you're not, don't bother

btw goole

went to this place twice already:

http://heavytable.com/tinga-de-pollo-at-el-taco-riendo/

that tinga de pollo taco is the TRUTH.

btw the 501 Club on Washington is a fantastic new addition to the bar/show/club scene...booking good stuff, it's a nice bar and never cover.

Basically for shows all these places are cool just depends on whose playing...all these places regularly have shows worth seeing:

First Avenue

7th St Entry

Turf Club

Triple Rock Social Club

Uptown Bar

The Hexagon Bar

Varsity Theater (bigger shows like First Ave mainroom)

Kitty Cat Club

Big Vs (a little rougher but still fun IMO)

501 Club

Fine Line Music Club (a little antiseptic but good sound)

The Nomad World Pub

331 Club

Lee's Liquors (more country/roots stuff)

Dakota Jazz Bar & Grill

Artist's Quarter (jazz as well)

Cedar Cultural Center (os mutantes coming there in sept!! usually kinda hippie though but some good jazz)

400 Bar (um....kiiiinda...i sorta hate the owners and staff but you know if it's something you HAVE to see it's okay)

Sauce Soundbar (new and goddamn if "Soundbar" doesn't make me puke but have actually heard good things and they seem to be booking good bands)

The Cabooze (old school place lots of times it's biker stuff or hippie jam bands but have the odd good show like X or Digital Underground or Greg Ginn for some weird reason)

jesus CHRIST we have a lot of venues...

Well Greg Ginn IS a hippie biker jam guy, so.

Well Greg Ginn IS a hippie biker jam guy, so.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, August 5, 2009 10:34 PM (10 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha yeah i guess now he is...guitarist that's in the backing group for this hip hop band with me on bass actually got up and jammed with ginn. he said backstage he'd never seen anyone smoke more weed....which...believe me...is really saying something.

also forgot:

Eclipse Records - cool little indie store in St Paul that has a separate all ages show space, they do good stuff

Memory Lanes - bowling alley where bands actually play in the middle of the lanes on this weird platform...

i kinda hate the uptown bar. bad layout, uncomfortable if there's more than 25 ppl in there. i hear everyone say they looove the food and i think it's crap too, esp breakfast. don't get it.

400 bar is problematic but the sound in there has always been good imo

First time I went to the 501 Club I totally won the drunken spelling bee. It was pretty sweet.

And there's teh m3dus@, mentioned on another thread. Last time I was there I got invited to a queer makeout party at the Mall of America. Couldn't make it though.

This thread is reminding me how many awesome-sounding places in the twin cities I still haven't been to.

much appreciated!

Thanks for the Walker Art Center recommendation--I may be going there this Thursday (depending on what if anything my mother wants to do). If you see a woman in a black velvet beret, it's probably me.