Minneapolis - tell me what to do

I often bring out-of-towners to the funky and fun Eagles Club #34 in south Minneapolis for the Butanes blues revue (often featuring soul singing legend Willie Walker)

woah do they do that regularly??? willie walker is a goddamn treasure.

yeah sea salt is great!

btw goole thanks for posting that mexican place...looks awesome.

also i can vouch for ted cooks as being the best BBQ place that is not big daddys (and therefore open for more than 8 hours a week)

(x-post) Willie's there most every Wednesday night! Maurice Jacox fills in some weeks. I don't think there's any schedule. First set is Butanes quartet, then they bring the featured vocalist up for the second set. Yeah, Willie Walker is sweet.

moviewise the Parkway theater has been getting some buzz (well mostly in my crowd because you can bring in margaritas from next door.) Also, if you can make it to the Riverview, its cheap and worth the trip just for the architecture.

Find a way to at least wander through the new Guthrie too.

xpost crazy i didn't know that at all...

yeah willie...it's like people always say "man i wish i coulda seen otis [insert classic soul dude here]" and it's like you basically CAN at a eagles club in south mpls for peanuts

that's awesome to hear

For those who aren't hip to the Willie Walker love:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qam_nQMma0Q

In the same vein, I used to see Spider John Koerner sit in with the Liquor Pigs at the late, lamented Viking Bar and just think: damn, this guy's a living legend and I'm hearing him in a dive bar for free...

ha speaking of which, the Hard Times is "landmark" but i've never really had a good time there, or enjoyed the food

yeah i should go out to see spider more often....take stuff for granted.

esp thought of that since micheal yonkers just announced he has to retire from performing

ha speaking of which, the Hard Times is "landmark" but i've never really had a good time there, or enjoyed the food

― goole, Friday, July 24, 2009 4:33 PM (19 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha cosigned x10000000, right down the block from its sister "totally unenjoyable local landmark" the 400 Bar.

btw, if there's a show you want to see, The Turf Club in St Paul is a totally rad rock bar, pretty much everything a rock bar should be IMO.

partial take-back: i had a turkish breakfast at the hard times that was ok, but i dunno how you fuck up hard boiled eggs and cucumber

yeah i just always got the stink eye when i went there back in the day

Suffice to say The Hard Times is not on anyone's must-do-in-Mpls list.

cosign entire thread

+ you may also want to indulge in a little grease and try either Matt's (Mpls) or The Nook's (St Paul) juicy lucy burgers. Some swear by the 5-8 just south of Matt's, but I'm not a fan.

matts > 5-8 by far

sleeper museum - museaum of russian art in that church on diamond lake road

wow, thanks dudes! this is a ton of good suggestions. i would FAP, but the lady is a bit weird about meeting strangers from the interwebs. i know, i know, i've done it a million times. sorry, i hope i don't seem rude!

what's sad is that so many of these restaurants have awesome, yet seemingly greasy and meaty food, yet i'm dating a vegetarian! i will probably drag her to one BBQ place nonetheless.

any good (hip but not too hip) clothing boutiques -- ones that sell used/consignment?

any good stores for (old, not new) vinyl?

WHERE IS MATOS?

also -- any really nice state parks/natural wonders that would be good day trips?

For vintage clothes, there's an intersection in St. Paul (Snelling at Selby) with Up 6 (a personal fave) Lula and Everyday People.

i would FAP, but the lady is a bit weird about meeting strangers from the interwebs. i know, i know, i've done it a million times. sorry, i hope i don't seem rude!

That's cool, though I should stress that I live directly across the street from the Sea Salt, so if you feel like arranging a fabricated "oh hey, didn't know you were here!" (j/k)

Do you still live in Iowa?

no -- i'm in wisconsin for the past 3+ years....

That's what I get for hanging almost exclusively on the gay threads.

well, i haven't peen posting much...

how are you liking madison?

Not a public park, but if you and your better half are bicyclists, you can ride around parts of or the entire city.

http://www.minneapolisparks.org/grandrounds/home.htm

for a fancier place that is pretty organic and not totally vegetarian but def veggie friedly...cafe brenda downtown is supposed to be great

you can check out the menu online...a little on the spendier side but looks nice, ppl have recommended it to me

http://www.cafebrenda.com/liveMenu.html?liveMenu=D&z=37846

Matt, that's 50 Minnewegian points for using any form of 'spendy'. Well played.

Cafe Brenda has always been good and any vegetarian will be happy with the Vietnamese and Mexican food. Even though I chipped my tooth on a pork chop there once, Quang is my favourite for Vietnamese.

lol that was totally unconscious i swear

As I often tell my mom, 'expensive' has three syllables and it's even in English. j/k

has anyone found pineapple bread like Qang's at other places?

Pineapple bread? Sorry, I was busy eating the rest of the menu.

Apart from banh mi - there is always liverwurst on those and I *cannot* eat that so argh.

Also, make sure to get drunk at a Nordeast bar.

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.

Roadrunner Records is highly recommended

Yes, best bet for $3 Bandy records. Bought a big country/bluegrass collection recently, lots of small label stuff.

On's Kitchen also has fantastic Thai food and is within a block of Midway Books.

seconding On's, but if you're there for lunch rush it's generally a long wait

Fasika, an Ethiopian place, is excellent and just down the block from Midway.

welp tim i guess yr gonna be enjoying the wonders of the american 'tube', we put ours above ground for your convenience and make it go slower, for safety

I CAN'T WAIT. Slow public transport is my business.

This is all super-helpful, I am excited about these Midway and near-Midway recs because that's also just around the corner from a church I want to have a look at.

I should've added, we're staying just South of downtown in what I think is Powderhorn, or similar.

seconding On's, but if you're there for lunch rush anytime it's generally a long wait

But yeah, it's great food.

i sometimes order takeout before 11am and when i arrive nobody's there and i get it in time for lunch at my desk :)

Don't call the police:

http://jezebel.com/minneapolis-yoga-teacher-fatally-shot-by-police-after-c-1796977034

Oh, the Blue Lives Matter cohort of my high-school classmates have magically discovered that cops who shoot people are bad bad very bad.

I wonder what it is about this case that finally allows them to see this.

it sure is mysterious for sure

Doubly so.

Any further thoughts on this I have are going to go on the police brutality thread.

any hotel/neighborhood recommendations for where i can stay in the twin cities area where the hotel room is not too expensive but there's stuff in the area to do or see, like a nice park or a cool bar or something?

i'm going to be taking my kid to summer camp an hour or two north of the twin cities and will be getting a hotel/motel room after instead of doing 14 hours of driving in one day and i could just stay somewhere boring off the highway and watch cable or i could see something interesting in minneapolis and/or st. paul

The Days Inn by the university could be cool. You can walk around campus and get down to the river, maybe hit up the Weisman, and there's got to be a few interesting things left in Dinkytown these days (maybe? I'm not entirely sure). Plus if the students are mostly gone it won't be too busy around there.

Also FAP at our neighborhood bar patio if you're up for it

Nicollet Island Inn https://www.nicolletislandinn.com/

hey dan, sounds good! i didn't know when you two were moving. i'll send you a message on our other communication platform.

Man it's sad how many things recommended eleven years ago are no longer things.

I'll be in Minneapolis April 21-22. On Thursday I'll be at a memorial service and lunch in memory of my late aunt, but the rest of that day and most of the day on Friday I'll be available. Does anyone here recommend anything? Factors:

1) I will be accompanying my mother.
2) I will have a rental car.

When I was last in town my aunt took me to the MIA and to a Vietnamese place. Wandering near her condo/the university I found what I think was Dinkytown--there was a good used book store and the prototype Target Express.

As a visitor, here are some of my fave restaurants:
-Sun Street Breads (went there for the first time a few months ago for brunch, it was fantastic)
-Quang Restaurant (Vietnamese)
-Midtown Global Market (lots of different stalls)
-Maria's Cafe (breakfast, Colombian)
-Tiny Diner

on's thai kitchen (saint paul, but worth the trip)

21st is a thursday, so free entry @ walker art center.

if it's nice outside you could visit minnehaha falls or walk across the stone arch bridge.

the book house is the used book store in dinkytown. while you're in the area you can see if you can get a seat at al's diner.

all of the best vietnamese food is across the river in st. paul. my favorites in mpls are vo's (tiki, cozy) and pho 79 (dive).

check eagles 34 and cedar cultural center for music and dancing. check the trylon for films.

free walker thursday seconded, normally I would suggest the weisman because it's always free

Amir ElSaffar's Rivers of Sound Orchestra playing the Walker that Thursday.

Another advantage of visiting the Walker or MIA on Thursday is that they're open later in the evening (last I knew the Walker was only free after 5 PM).

If you venture out to St. Paul and On's Thai Kitchen, Midway Books is a block or so down University and is a pretty big/comprehensive used bookstore.

I'll be there two weeks from now.

I'll be there for a few days at the end of May and interested in updated vegan dining tips.

vegan food: trio, cafe racer kitchen, himalayan, modern times cafe

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.