Water and mills: the only waterfall on the Mississippi
7 stops · 3.2 km · ~3.3 h · 7 stops
- Stone Arch Bridge
- Mill Ruins Park
- Mill City Museum
- Water Works Pavilion
- Guthrie Theater
- Indígena by Owamni
- Nicollet Island Park
145 spots from the Eater 38 and local guides, with coordinates verified against OpenStreetMap
Tap a route and it gets drawn on the map, stop by stop.
Tap a pin to see photos, rating and how to get there by METRO light rail, bus or on foot. Turn on a route to follow the numbered path.
This interactive map of Minneapolis (United States) brings together 145 hand-picked places: 45 attractions, 48 restaurants, 25 cafés and 27 shops. It also includes 5 walking routes with their stops in order. For every place you get what it is, a practical tip and how to get there by public transport. It is free, works on your phone and needs no sign-up.
· Curated by the HOLASIM team · How we make the maps
Tap a route to see it drawn on the map, stop by stop.
7 stops · 3.2 km · ~3.3 h · 7 stops
6 stops · 5.0 km · ~3.4 h · 6 stops
7 stops · 10.4 km · ~5.1 h · 7 stops
6 stops · 9.3 km · ~4.4 h · 6 stops
6 stops · 4.0 km · ~3.1 h · 6 stops
Stone Arch Bridge · Marcy-Holmes, Minneapolis
The limestone bridge that crosses the Mississippi right below the river's only waterfall. Pedestrian-only, free, and with the best skyline view in town.
Tip: Cross it at sunset from the Mill Ruins side: the light hits the mill ruins and downtown at the same time. In November the wind comes straight off the river, so bring a collar you can turn up.
🚇 E Line · University Ave SE & 6th Ave SE (11 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board
Show on mapMinnehaha Falls · Hiawatha, Minneapolis
A 16-metre waterfall in the middle of Minneapolis. In November it still runs hard; in deep winter it freezes solid.
Tip: It is NOT a state park: it is a regional park run by the Minneapolis Park Board (the state park next door is Fort Snelling). There is paid parking and a free lot too. The staircase down to the base gets slippery with the first frosts.
🚇 Blue Line · 50th Street/Minnehaha Park (5 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board
Show on mapMinneapolis Sculpture Garden · Lowry Hill, Minneapolis
Four hectares of open-air sculpture across from the Walker, with Spoonbridge and Cherry as the city's emblem.
Tip: Free and open every day even when the Walker charges or is closed: they are two separate doors. Check each one on its own.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin & Groveland Station (6 min walk)
Featured in: Walker Art Center · Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board
Show on mapSpoonbridge and Cherry · Lowry Hill, Minneapolis
The giant spoon with a cherry on top that Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen planted here in 1988.
Tip: The cherry fountain is switched off once the frosts arrive, so in November you will find it dry. The silhouette against a grey sky beats the summer shot, and there are fewer people.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin & Groveland Station (5 min walk)
Featured in: Walker Art Center
Show on mapWalker Art Center · Lowry Hill, Minneapolis
One of the most serious contemporary art museums in the United States: performance, design, film and a collection that never lets up.
Tip: There is a ticket, BUT you get in free on the first Saturday of every month and on Thursdays from 17:00 to 21:00. Under 18s, always free. The Sculpture Garden next door is free on its own, always.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin & Groveland Station (1 min walk)
Featured in: Walker Art Center
Show on mapMinneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) · Whittier, Minneapolis
Ninety thousand works spanning five thousand years, from Rembrandt to Native North American art, and general admission costs nothing.
Tip: General admission is free every day; only some temporary shows carry a separate ticket. Closed on Mondays. With zero degrees outside, this is three hours of first-class shelter.
🚇 D Line · Chicago & 24th St Station (15 min walk)
Featured in: Mia · Minneapolis Institute of Art
Show on mapGuthrie Theater · Downtown East, Minneapolis
Jean Nouvel's cobalt-blue theatre on the river, with a cantilever that flies out over the Mississippi.
Tip: The Endless Bridge and the Amber Box are FREE to visit, with no theatre ticket, during building hours: it is the river viewpoint with the fewest tourists. The Amber Box turns everything yellow and throws you off.
🚇 Blue Line / Green Line · U.S. Bank Stadium (8 min walk)
Featured in: Guthrie Theater
Show on mapMill City Museum · Downtown East, Minneapolis
A museum built inside the burnt-out ruins of the Washburn A mill, the one that made Minneapolis the flour capital of the world.
Tip: The Flour Tower ends at an overlook of the river and the Stone Arch Bridge. It belongs to the Minnesota Historical Society: paid admission and closing days, so check before you go.
🚇 Blue Line / Green Line · U.S. Bank Stadium (8 min walk)
Featured in: Minnesota Historical Society
Show on mapMill Ruins Park · Downtown East, Minneapolis
The excavated ruins of the 19th-century mills at the foot of the falls, with the water canals left exposed.
Tip: This is the best place to understand why the city was born here: Owámniyomni, the only waterfall on the whole Mississippi, drove the turbines. Free and always open.
🚇 Blue Line / Green Line · U.S. Bank Stadium (10 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board
Show on mapWater Works Pavilion · Downtown West, Minneapolis
A new pavilion on the riverbank, at the exact point where the Mississippi makes its only drop.
Tip: Owamni, Sean Sherman's restaurant, was born here. Since June 2026 it has moved to the Guthrie and is now called Indígena: if you came for the restaurant, it is 400 m downriver.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave & 1st St N (10 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board
Show on mapBde Maka Ska · West Maka Ska, Minneapolis
The biggest lake in the Chain of Lakes, with five kilometres of path and the skyline peeking through the trees.
Tip: It used to be called Lake Calhoun, after John C. Calhoun, a defender of slavery and of the removal of Indigenous peoples. The DNR restored the Dakota name in 2018; a group took it to court and the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the change in 2020. Bde Maka Ska is Dakota for 'lake of white earth'.
🚇 B Line · Lake & West Bde Maka Ska Station (14 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board · DNR de Minnesota
Show on mapLake Harriet Bandshell · East Harriet, Minneapolis
The white bandshell facing Lake Harriet: sailboats in summer, absolute silence in November.
Tip: There are no concerts in November, but the loop around the lake is empty and the sunset reflecting on water that has not frozen yet is the best photo in the Chain of Lakes.
🚇 E Line · Sheridan Ave S & 39th St W (10 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board
Show on mapLakewood Memorial Chapel · East Bde Maka Ska, Minneapolis
A Byzantine chapel from 1910 lined with ten million Venetian mosaic tesserae, modelled on Hagia Sophia.
Tip: Almost no tourist knows about it and the interior is one of the most striking in the Midwest. It is an active cemetery: come in quietly and respect the visiting hours.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave S & 36th St W (4 min walk)
Featured in: Lakewood Cemetery
Show on mapBasilica of Saint Mary · Loring Park, Minneapolis
The first basilica founded in the United States, from 1926, with a huge beaux-arts nave a step away from the Walker.
Tip: It sits right on the way between the Sculpture Garden and downtown: a heated refuge with stained glass in the middle of a November walk.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin & Spruce Station (4 min walk)
Featured in: Basilica of Saint Mary
Show on mapFoshay Museum and Observation Deck · Downtown West, Minneapolis
The 1929 art deco skyscraper shaped like an obelisk, copied from the Washington Monument, with its observation deck open on the 30th floor.
Tip: It was the tallest building in the city until 1972 and its owner went bankrupt a month after the opening. The deck is open-air: with November wind the visit is short, but worth it.
🚇 C Line / D Line · 8th St & Nicollet Station (4 min walk)
Featured in: Foshay Tower · W Minneapolis
Show on mapLoring Park · Loring Park, Minneapolis
The downtown Victorian park, linked to the Sculpture Garden by a pedestrian bridge over the freeway.
Tip: Holidazzle used to happen here, but the Minneapolis Downtown Council dropped it in October 2025 and replaced it with Winterapolis. This year the city campaign is called Shine On Minneapolis and starts on November 27, not here but on Nicollet Mall.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin & Spruce Station (7 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board
Show on mapNicollet Island Park · Nicollet Island-East Bank, Minneapolis
An island in the middle of the Mississippi, with wooden Victorian houses and the best head-on view of the Stone Arch Bridge.
Tip: Few people cross over. From the southern tip the bridge, the mill ruins and the skyline all fit into a single frame.
🚇 E Line · 1st Ave NE & 2nd St NE (5 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board
Show on mapNorthrup King Building · Logan Park, Minneapolis
A 1917 seed factory turned into 350 artist studios: the heart of the Northeast Arts District.
Tip: It is not a drop-in gallery: these are real studios with people working in them. On the first Thursday of every month almost all of them open to the public, and that is when to go.
🚇 E Line · 4th St & Central Station (30 min walk)
Featured in: Northrup King Building · Northeast Minneapolis Arts District
Show on mapFirst Avenue & 7th St Entry · Downtown West, Minneapolis
The club where Prince recorded part of Purple Rain, its black façade covered in stars, one for every artist who has played here.
Tip: The stars are SILVER with black lettering. Prince's is the only GOLD one: someone painted it at night, in secret, when he died in 2016, and First Avenue has never said who it was nor repainted it.
🚇 C Line / D Line · 7th St & Hennepin Station (1 min walk)
Featured in: First Avenue
Show on mapWeisman Art Museum · University, Minneapolis
Frank Gehry's museum on the University of Minnesota campus: a tangle of stainless steel leaning out over the river.
Tip: Admission is free every day. Gehry finished it in 1993, before Bilbao: it is the draft of the Guggenheim, and it shows.
🚇 Green Line · East Bank (7 min walk)
Featured in: Weisman Art Museum · University of Minnesota
Show on mapScience Museum of Minnesota · Downtown, Saint Paul
A science museum on the Mississippi bluff, with a wraparound Omnitheater screen and plenty of dinosaurs.
Tip: Closed on Mondays. Admission includes one Omnitheater screening. There is a Great Tix rate of 3 dollars based on income and free admission for members of Indigenous communities.
🚇 B Line / Gold Line · Rice Park Station (5 min walk)
Featured in: Science Museum of Minnesota
Show on mapMinnesota History Center · Rondo, Saint Paul
Home of the Minnesota Historical Society: the history of the state, including that of the Dakota and Ojibwe nations.
Tip: Adult admission 15 dollars, 12 for seniors, veterans and students, 8 for children aged 5 to 17 and free up to age 4. The exhibition 'Our Home: Native Minnesota' is the main reason to come.
🚇 B Line · John Ireland & Marshall Station (4 min walk)
Featured in: Minnesota Historical Society
Show on mapMinnesota State Capitol · Downtown, Saint Paul
Cass Gilbert's marble dome, from 1905: the second-largest self-supporting marble dome in the world after St Peter's.
Tip: The guided tours are free. When the weather cooperates they take you up to the terrace with the golden quadriga; in November it almost never does, but ask anyway.
🚇 Green Line · Capitol/Rice Street (3 min walk)
Featured in: Minnesota Historical Society
Show on mapCathedral of Saint Paul · Cathedral Hill, Saint Paul
The 1915 cathedral at the top of the hill, with a 57-metre dome visible from all over Saint Paul.
Tip: Free entry. From the forecourt you can see the Capitol lined up below: the two buildings face each other on purpose. Summit Avenue starts right here.
🚇 B Line · John Ireland & Marshall Station (3 min walk)
Featured in: Cathedral of Saint Paul
Show on mapLandmark Center · Downtown, Saint Paul
The old federal courthouse from 1902, pink granite and towers, now a cultural centre with concerts and small museums inside.
Tip: The gangsters of the 30s were tried here, back when Saint Paul was a haven for outlaws with a police arrangement in place. Free entry to the building.
🚇 B Line / Gold Line · Rice Park Station (1 min walk)
Featured in: Landmark Center · Saint Paul
Show on mapRice Park · Downtown, Saint Paul
The oldest square in Saint Paul, ringed by the Landmark Center, the library, the Ordway and the Saint Paul hotel.
Tip: In December it fills with lights, but on November 7 there is still nothing: the Saint Paul season opens with GLOW at CHS Field on November 19.
🚇 B Line / Gold Line · Rice Park Station (1 min walk)
Featured in: Visit Saint Paul
Show on mapUnion Depot · Lowertown, Saint Paul
The restored 1923 station: a vast marble hall and the real terminal for Amtrak's Empire Builder and Borealis.
Tip: It is the eastern terminal of the METRO Green Line. From November 20 to December 20, 2026 it hosts the European Christmas Market, on weekends.
🚇 B Line · Union Depot & Gate A1 (1 min walk)
Featured in: Union Depot · Visit Saint Paul
Show on mapWabasha Street Caves · West Side, Saint Paul
Sandstone caves dug by hand under the bluff, which served as a mushroom farm, a speakeasy and a dance hall.
Tip: You can only go in on a tour or at an event, never on your own. This is the Saint Paul of Dillinger and Ma Barker, told without solemnity.
🚇 Green Line · Central Station (20 min walk)
Featured in: Wabasha Street Caves
Show on mapMarjorie McNeely Conservatory · Como Park, Saint Paul
Como Park's Victorian glasshouse, from 1915: palms, orchids and a Japanese garden under the dome.
Tip: Admission is pay-what-you-can: they ask for a suggested donation, not a ticket. In November, with the park bare outside, walking in here means stepping twenty degrees into the tropics.
🚇 A Line · Snelling Avenue & Como Avenue (22 min walk)
Featured in: Como Park Zoo & Conservatory · City of Saint Paul
Show on mapHistoric Fort Snelling · Fort Snelling
The 1820 fort at the confluence of the Mississippi and the Minnesota, a central and painful place in Dakota history.
Tip: It stands on Bdote, a place of origin for the Dakota people and also the site where thousands were interned after the war of 1862. The visitor centre tells both histories: go with that in mind, not as you would to a picturesque fort.
🚇 Blue Line · Fort Snelling (23 min walk)
Featured in: Minnesota Historical Society
Show on mapMinneapolis Skyway (IDS Crystal Court) · Downtown West, Minneapolis
More than sixteen kilometres of glassed-in walkways linking over 150 buildings: you can cross downtown without setting foot on the street.
Tip: There is NO single timetable: each building sets its own. Typically Monday to Friday 6:00 to 18:00 and weekends 8:00 to 18:00, several stretches close on Saturday and Sunday and some are tenants-only. The IDS Center's Crystal Court is the central hub.
🚇 C Line / D Line · 8th St & Nicollet Station (2 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis Downtown Council · skywayaccess.com
Show on mapU.S. Bank Stadium · Downtown East, Minneapolis
The Minnesota Vikings' stadium, a black glass iceberg with an enormous translucent roof.
Tip: Verified in November 2026: it is still called U.S. Bank Stadium, with no sponsorship change. There are guided tours on non-game days.
🚇 Blue Line / Green Line · U.S. Bank Stadium (4 min walk)
Featured in: Minnesota Vikings
Show on mapTarget Center · Downtown West, Minneapolis
The arena of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Minnesota Lynx, right in the Warehouse District.
Tip: Despite years of debate about its future and its renovation, in November 2026 it is still called Target Center. The Warehouse District / Hennepin Avenue station is at the door.
🚇 C Line / D Line · 7th St & Hennepin Station (2 min walk)
Featured in: Minnesota Timberwolves · Minnesota Lynx
Show on mapGrand Casino Arena · Downtown, Saint Paul
The Minnesota Wild's arena in Saint Paul: 18,000 seats and the loudest hockey in the country.
Tip: It was called Xcel Energy Center from 2000 and became Grand Casino Arena on September 3, 2025. Grand Casino belongs to the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe: an Ojibwe band gave its name to an NHL arena. If your guide says 'Xcel', it is out of date.
🚇 B Line / Gold Line · 5 St W (3 min walk)
Featured in: Minnesota Wild · Minnesota Sports & Entertainment
Show on mapAllianz Field · Snelling - Hamline, Saint Paul
Minnesota United's stadium, wrapped in a PTFE skin that changes colour at night.
Tip: It sits on the Green Line, on Snelling Avenue. The home supporters, the Dark Clouds, sing standing for the full ninety minutes.
🚇 A Line · Snelling Avenue & University Station (5 min walk)
Featured in: Minnesota United FC
Show on mapCHS Field · Lowertown, Saint Paul
The Saint Paul Saints' ballpark in Lowertown, home to the funniest baseball team in the country.
Tip: From November 19, 2026 to January 3, 2027 the field turns into the GLOW Holiday Festival, a walk-through trail of light installations, on selected dates.
🚇 B Line · Union Depot & Wacouta Station (5 min walk)
Featured in: Saint Paul Saints · Visit Saint Paul
Show on mapHuntington Bank Stadium · Prospect Park, Minneapolis
The Minnesota Golden Gophers' football stadium, on the U of M campus.
Tip: It was TCF Bank Stadium until 2021; today it is Huntington Bank Stadium. Steps from the Green Line's Stadium Village station.
🚇 Green Line · Stadium Village (4 min walk)
Featured in: University of Minnesota
Show on mapOrchestra Hall · Downtown West, Minneapolis
The Minnesota Orchestra's hall, famous for the white cubes on the ceiling that give it a strange, perfect acoustic.
Tip: The cubes are not decoration: they are acoustic diffusers. The orchestra plays almost every week and last-minute tickets are usually cheap.
🚇 C Line / D Line · 8th St & Nicollet Station (8 min walk)
Featured in: Minnesota Orchestra
Show on mapDakota Jazz Club · Downtown West, Minneapolis
The jazz club on Nicollet Mall, with two sets a night and a kitchen that is not filler.
Tip: Book a table rather than the bar if you want a clear view. The line-up runs from jazz legends to local soul and hip hop.
🚇 C Line / D Line · 8th St & Nicollet Station (5 min walk)
Featured in: Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant
Show on mapPalace Theatre · Downtown, Saint Paul
A 1916 theatre in Saint Paul, brought back in 2017 with the peeling plaster left on show.
Tip: The restoration chose NOT to restore: they left the walls as they found them, and it looks beautiful. It is run by First Avenue.
🚇 B Line / Gold Line · 6th Street & Washington Station (2 min walk)
Featured in: Palace Theatre · First Avenue
Show on mapTurf Club · Hamline - Midway, Saint Paul
The bar-venue on University Avenue, with a basement dance floor (the Clown Lounge) and the smell of spilled beer since 1940.
Tip: Also run by First Avenue. It sits right on the Green Line, on Snelling: this is the live-music plan on the Saint Paul side.
🚇 Green Line · Snelling Avenue (1 min walk)
Featured in: Turf Club · First Avenue
Show on mapCedar Cultural Center · Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis
An alcohol-free venue in the West Bank, the Somali and East African neighbourhood, specialising in world music.
Tip: This is the room where half the world played before getting famous. The Blue Line's Cedar-Riverside station is steps away.
🚇 Green Line · West Bank (5 min walk)
Featured in: The Cedar Cultural Center
Show on mapState Theatre · Downtown West, Minneapolis
A 1921 theatre on Hennepin Avenue, part of the largest theatre district in the country after Broadway.
Tip: Hennepin Avenue packs the State, the Orpheum and the Pantages into three blocks. Minneapolis has more theatre seats per capita than any U.S. city except New York.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave & 8th St S (1 min walk)
Featured in: Hennepin Theatre Trust
Show on mapMidtown Greenway · Phillips West, Minneapolis
A former railway trench turned into a bike and pedestrian highway that crosses south Minneapolis end to end.
Tip: It is cleared of snow in winter and runs below street level, so you do not cross a single traffic light in nine kilometres. It links the Chain of Lakes with the river.
🚇 B Line · Lake & 5th Avenue Station (7 min walk)
Featured in: Midtown Greenway Coalition
Show on mapNicollet Mall · Downtown West, Minneapolis
The pedestrian and bus spine of downtown Minneapolis, redesigned in 2017.
Tip: This is where Mary Tyler Moore threw her hat in the air in her show's opening, and there is a statue marking the spot. On Friday November 27 six blocks close for the Shine On block party, 17:00 to 22:00, with the tree lighting at Peavey Plaza at 19:00.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin & Gateway Station (2 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis Downtown Council · Shine On Minneapolis
Show on mapIndígena by Owamni · Downtown East, Minneapolis
Sean Sherman's Indigenous cooking, with no colonial ingredients: no wheat flour, dairy, cane sugar, beef, pork or chicken.
Tip: HEADS UP: the guides still call it 'Owamni' and place it at Water Works. Since June 23, 2026 it has operated as Indígena by Owamni inside the Guthrie building, with its own entrance. Book weeks ahead.
🚇 Blue Line / Green Line · U.S. Bank Stadium (8 min walk)
Featured in: James Beard Best New Restaurant 2022 (como Owamni)
Show on mapSpoon and Stable · North Loop, Minneapolis
Gavin Kaysen's restaurant in an old North Loop horse stable: the table that put Minneapolis on the map.
Tip: Kaysen won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Midwest in 2018. Book a month ahead; if you cannot get in, the bar is first come, first served.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave & 1st St N (5 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater brunch · James Beard Best Chef: Midwest 2018
Show on mapBûcheron · King Field, Minneapolis
A neighbourhood bistro in south Minneapolis that won the James Beard Award for BEST NEW RESTAURANT IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY in 2025.
Tip: From Adam and Jeanie Ritter. It is tiny and the award made it nearly impossible: reservations open weeks ahead and sell out in minutes. Try at opening time, at the bar.
🚇 D Line · Chicago & 42nd St Station (20 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater splurge · James Beard Best New Restaurant 2025
Show on mapMatt's Bar · Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis
The wood-panelled bar on Cedar Avenue where you order the 'Jucy Lucy': a burger with the cheese melted INSIDE the patty.
Tip: Matt's spells it JUCY LUCY, with no i. The 5-8 Club, fifteen blocks away, spells it JUICY LUCY. Both swear they invented it in the 50s and the spelling is each camp's flag. Wait for it to cool: the cheese comes out at lava temperature.
🚇 B Line · Lake & Cedar Station (17 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on map5-8 Club · Diamond Lake, Minneapolis
The other claimant to the invention of the Juicy Lucy, a former 1928 speakeasy also on Cedar Avenue.
Tip: Here it is spelled WITH an i: JUICY LUCY. Order one at each bar on the same day and decide for yourself. It is the shortest and most fun food crawl in Minneapolis.
🚇 D Line · Chicago & 56th St Station (21 min walk)
Featured in: Minnesota clásico
Show on mapHai Hai · Holland, Minneapolis
Christina Nguyen's Southeast Asian street food, with a patio and tiki drinks, in Northeast.
Tip: Nguyen won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Midwest in 2024 for Hai Hai and Hola Arepa. Order the bánh xèo.
🚇 by taxi or car (nearest useful stop is a 41 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater veg · James Beard Best Chef: Midwest 2024
Show on mapHola Arepa · Lyndale, Minneapolis
Venezuelan arepas and cocktails, the other project from Christina Nguyen and Birk Grudem, in south Minneapolis.
Tip: It started as a food truck in 2011. Brunch is its big moment and they take no reservations: go early or wait.
🚇 D Line · Portland & 38th St Station (16 min walk)
Featured in: Eater brunch
Show on mapVinai · Sheridan, Minneapolis
Yia Vang's Hmong cooking, in the space Dangerous Man Brewing used to occupy. It is named after the refugee camp where he was born.
Tip: Vinai is Ban Vinai, the camp in Thailand where Vang was born. He was a James Beard finalist for Best Chef: Midwest in 2022 and won in 2025 in Lifestyle Visual Media for the series Relish. Book ahead.
🚇 E Line · 1st Ave NE & 2nd St NE (26 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater hmong
Show on mapDiane's Place · Sheridan, Minneapolis
Diane Moua's restaurant in Northeast: top-tier Hmong-French pastry turned into an all-day restaurant.
Tip: Moua spent twenty years as pastry chef at the city's best restaurants before opening her own. James Beard finalist for Best Chef: Midwest in 2025.
🚇 E Line · 1st Ave NE & 2nd St NE (29 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater hmong
Show on mapKado no Mise · North Loop, Minneapolis
High-end sushi in the North Loop, with fish flown in from Japan, from Shigeyuki Furukawa.
Tip: Downstairs is Kado no Mise, more approachable; upstairs is the omakase. Furukawa was a James Beard finalist for Best Chef: Midwest in 2025.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave & 1st St N (2 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapOro by Nixta · Sheridan, Minneapolis
House-nixtamalised corn masa in a tiny Northeast storefront. It changed what Mexican cooking means in Minneapolis.
Tip: They nixtamalise their own heirloom corn. It was a James Beard finalist for best new restaurant in 2024. No reservations: expect a queue.
🚇 E Line · 1st Ave NE & 2nd St NE (25 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapAl's Breakfast · Marcy-Holmes, Minneapolis
A corridor three metres wide in Dinkytown, with fourteen stools and nothing else. Running since 1950.
Tip: It is the narrowest restaurant you will ever set foot in. You wait standing behind whoever is eating, and the blueberry wild rice pancake is the order.
🚇 E Line · 4th St SE & 15th Ave SE (2 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapKramarczuk's Deli · Nicollet Island-East Bank, Minneapolis
A Ukrainian butcher shop and cafeteria in Northeast, opened in 1954 by an immigrant couple.
Tip: You order at the counter, cafeteria style. The raw sausages are sold at the butcher's next door: that is the edible souvenir of Minneapolis.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave E & 2nd St SE (1 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapCossetta · Irvine Park, Saint Paul
Saint Paul's Italian since 1911, now a multi-storey complex with a cafeteria, a pastry shop and a market.
Tip: Downstairs is a tray cafeteria, cheap and fast; upstairs there is a white-tablecloth restaurant. It is right next to Grand Casino Arena: fill up before a Wild game.
🚇 B Line · Smith & Kellogg Station (4 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapManny's Steakhouse · Downtown West, Minneapolis
The classic Minneapolis steakhouse, with the cart of raw cuts they wheel to your table.
Tip: It is expensive and it knows it. If you want the experience without the blow, sit at the bar and order the burger.
🚇 C Line / D Line · 8th St & Nicollet Station (4 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater splurge
Show on map112 Eatery · Downtown West, Minneapolis
The North Loop restaurant that opens late, where the city's cooks eat once their shift ends.
Tip: Isaac Becker won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Midwest in 2011. Order the tagliatelle with a fried egg and the lamb burger.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave & 3rd St N (3 min walk)
Featured in: Eater Target Field · James Beard Best Chef: Midwest 2011
Show on mapDemi · North Loop, Minneapolis
A tasting menu for twenty people per seating, at a communal table in the North Loop. From Gavin Kaysen.
Tip: You buy your seat in advance, like a theatre ticket. It is the most ambitious restaurant in the city and the benchmark for the first MICHELIN selection in 2027.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave & 1st St N (6 min walk)
Featured in: Eater splurge
Show on mapQuang Restaurant · Whittier, Minneapolis
An Eat Street Vietnamese since 1989, huge and always full: the benchmark pho of Minneapolis.
Tip: No reservations, and at peak hours there is a line on the sidewalk. Nicollet Avenue between 24th and 29th is 'Eat Street': block after block of immigrant cooking.
🚇 B Line · Lake & Nicollet Station (9 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapOn's Kitchen · Hamline - Midway, Saint Paul
Thai on University Avenue, in Saint Paul, cooked by On Khumchaya ever since she arrived from Bangkok.
Tip: It sits right on the Green Line. Order the khao soi and say how much heat you can take, because they take you seriously.
🚇 Green Line · Snelling Avenue (1 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapCheng Heng Restaurant · Summit-University, Saint Paul
A family-run Cambodian in Saint Paul, one of very few in the country.
Tip: Order the fish amok and the loc lac. It is an unpretentious dining room with a very precise kitchen.
🚇 Green Line · Western Avenue (3 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapHmong Village · Dayton's Bluff, Saint Paul
A warehouse on Saint Paul's East Side with dozens of Hmong food stalls and a fresh produce market.
Tip: The Twin Cities metropolitan area is home to more than 94,000 Hmong people, the largest urban Hmong population in the United States. Order papaya salad, larb and khao poon from different stalls and eat at the communal tables. Bring cash.
🚇 by taxi or car (nearest useful stop is a 34 min walk)
Featured in: Eater hmong
Show on mapMama Safia's Kitchen · Phillips West, Minneapolis
Somali cooking on East Lake Street, among the best in the largest Somali community in the country.
Tip: Order the suqaar and the bariis rice with the banana on the side: it is not decoration, you eat them together. Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the United States.
🚇 B Line · Lake & Chicago Station (1 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapBaba's Hummus House · Lowry Hill East, Minneapolis
Levantine hummus made to order, creamy and warm, in a small Minneapolis storefront.
Tip: The hummus comes out hot, not from the fridge: it is a completely different thing. Order the mana'eesh from the bakery too.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave & Franklin Ave W (6 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapBoludo · King Field, Minneapolis
Argentine pizza and empanadas in Minneapolis, from Buenos Aires-born Facundo Defraia.
Tip: Yes: there is an Argentine on the Twin Cities Eater 38. The empanadas are the real thing and the pizza goes on stone, not Chicago style.
🚇 D Line · Portland & 38th St Station (14 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapMaria's Cafe · Ventura Village, Minneapolis
A Colombian and Salvadoran diner on Franklin Avenue, famous for its breakfast arepas.
Tip: Daytime only. The corn arepa with egg is the must-order and the weekend queue is long.
🚇 D Line · Chicago & Franklin Station (7 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapEl Burrito Mercado · West Side, Saint Paul
A Mexican market and dining room on Saint Paul's West Side, running since 1979.
Tip: At the front it is a supermarket with a butcher and a tortilla counter; at the back there is a dining room with tables. Buy fresh tortillas to take away.
🚇 by taxi or car (nearest useful stop is a 34 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapHomi · Rondo, Saint Paul
A no-frills Saint Paul Mexican with a kitchen far above its storefront.
Tip: It is on the Eater 38 and also on the underrated-gems list: the two rarely overlap.
🚇 Green Line · Victoria Street (1 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater hidden gems
Show on mapChimborazo · Audubon Park, Minneapolis
Ecuadorian on Central Avenue, in Northeast, with llapingachos and encebollado.
Tip: It appears on THREE Eater lists at once: the 38, brunch and hidden gems. The breakfast bolón de verde is worth the trip on its own.
🚇 by taxi or car (nearest useful stop is a 61 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater brunch · Eater hidden gems
Show on mapWorld Street Kitchen · Lowry Hill East, Minneapolis
The bricks-and-mortar home of the food truck that started it all: bowls and tacos crossing Korean, Indian and Mexican.
Tip: The 'Yum Yum Rice Bowl' is the signature dish. Fast, cheap and consistent.
🚇 B Line · Lake & Lyndale Station (8 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapGai Noi · Loring Park, Minneapolis
Ann Ahmed's Lao cooking in downtown Minneapolis, elegant and genuinely spicy.
Tip: Ahmed was a James Beard finalist for Best Chef: Midwest in 2024 for Khâluna. Gai Noi is her Lao bet downtown.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin & Spruce Station (5 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapMartina · Linden Hills, Minneapolis
Argentine-Italian in Linden Hills, from Daniel del Prado: pasta, grill and plenty of live fire.
Tip: Del Prado is from Buenos Aires and runs half a dozen restaurants in the city. Book, or eat at the bar.
🚇 E Line · Upton Ave S & 43rd St W (1 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater brunch
Show on mapMeritage · Downtown, Saint Paul
A French brasserie facing Rice Park, in Saint Paul, with an oyster bar.
Tip: Oysters and steak frites, always done right. Steps from the Landmark Center and the Ordway.
🚇 B Line / Gold Line · 6th Street & Washington Station (1 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapBolé Ethiopian Cuisine · Como Park, Saint Paul
Ethiopian in Saint Paul with house-made injera and enormous vegetarian combos.
Tip: Order the vegetarian combo to share: you eat with your hands, using the injera as napkin and spoon.
🚇 A Line · Snelling Avenue & Como Avenue (9 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater veg
Show on mapRestaurant Alma · Marcy-Holmes, Minneapolis
A restaurant, café and small hotel in Southeast Minneapolis: tasting menu at night, coffee by day.
Tip: Alexander Roberts won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Midwest in 2010 for this place. Today the café downstairs is open all day.
🚇 E Line · University Ave SE & 6th Ave SE (1 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater splurge · James Beard Best Chef: Midwest 2010
Show on mapReverie Cafe + Bar · Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis
A vegan spot in south Minneapolis with a serious kitchen and a cocktail bar.
Tip: It made the general Eater 38, not just the vegan list: it is a good restaurant that also happens to be vegan.
🚇 D Line · Chicago & 34th St Station (14 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater veg · Eater brunch
Show on mapAll Saints · Nicollet Island-East Bank, Minneapolis
Contemporary Midwestern cooking in the Mill District, with produce from Minnesota farms.
Tip: It is the clearest example of the 'new Midwestern cooking': wild rice, walleye, roots, ferments. Steps from the Guthrie.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave E & 2nd St SE (1 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater veg
Show on mapHell's Kitchen · Downtown West, Minneapolis
A downtown basement with all-day breakfast, house-made peanut butter and lemon ricotta hotcakes.
Tip: Nothing to do with the TV show: it came first. It sits below street level, perfect for a November morning, and it connects to the Skyway.
🚇 C Line / D Line · 8th St & Nicollet Station (3 min walk)
Featured in: Eater brunch
Show on mapThe Buttered Tin · Lowertown, Saint Paul
A bakery and breakfast spot in Lowertown, Saint Paul, with layer cakes and biscuits.
Tip: One block from Union Depot and CHS Field: this is breakfast before the European Christmas Market or GLOW.
🚇 B Line · 6th Street & Jackson Station (5 min walk)
Featured in: Eater brunch
Show on mapMonte Carlo · North Loop, Minneapolis
A Warehouse District bar-restaurant since 1906, with wings, martinis and a very long wooden bar.
Tip: It is the classic bar of the neighbourhood, and it was one back when the area was empty too. Before or after a game at Target Field or Target Center.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin & Gateway Station (6 min walk)
Featured in: Eater Target Field
Show on mapAnimales BBQ · Harrison, Minneapolis
Texas-style smoked brisket, from a crew that started out in a brewery parking lot.
Tip: They share a space with La Doña Cervecería. When the meat runs out they close: go at midday or you will be left out.
🚇 C Line · Olson & Bryant Station (11 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater Heatmap
Show on mapSurly Brewing Co. · Prospect Park, Minneapolis
The 'destination brewery' that changed Minnesota law: a giant brewery-hall in Prospect Park.
Tip: Surly lobbied in 2011 to get the 'Surly Bill' passed, which let breweries sell pints on their own premises. The state's entire taproom scene exists because of that law.
🚇 E Line · University & Malcolm Station (7 min walk)
Featured in: Eater beer
Show on mapPryes Brewing Company · Near North, Minneapolis
A large brewery on the river, with a picture window onto the Mississippi and a huge terrace.
Tip: It is one of very few with a real river view. In November the terrace closes, but the window stays.
🚇 Blue Line / Green Line · Target Field (19 min walk)
Featured in: Eater beer
Show on mapLa Doña Cervecería · Harrison, Minneapolis
A Latin brewery in the North Loop, from a Colombian family, with corn, guava and tamarind beers.
Tip: It is the best-known Latin brewery in the state and shares a space with Animales BBQ: you come for the beer and stay for the smoked meat.
🚇 C Line · Olson & Bryant Station (10 min walk)
Featured in: Eater beer
Show on mapTown Hall Brewery · Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis
A West Bank brewpub since 1997, the grandfather of the Minneapolis beer scene.
Tip: Its Masala Mama IPA is one of the most awarded beers in the state. Right next to the U of M campus.
🚇 Green Line · West Bank (3 min walk)
Featured in: Eater beer
Show on mapUrban Growler Brewing · South Saint Anthony Park, Saint Paul
The first brewery in the United States founded and run by women, in Saint Paul.
Tip: Deb Loch and Jill Pavlak opened it in 2014. It is steps from the Green Line's Raymond Avenue station.
🚇 Green Line · Raymond Avenue (13 min walk)
Featured in: Eater beer
Show on mapMara (Four Seasons) · Downtown West, Minneapolis
Gavin Kaysen's restaurant at the Four Seasons: Mediterranean cooking with Minnesota produce.
Tip: The Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis is the ONLY hotel in Minnesota with a MICHELIN Key (one Key, 2026 selection). The restaurant is open to the general public: you do not need to be staying there.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave & 3rd St N (2 min walk)
Featured in: MICHELIN Key 2026 (hotel, una Llave)
Show on mapMickey's Diner · Downtown, Saint Paul
A 1939 art deco dining car planted in downtown Saint Paul, on the National Register of Historic Places.
Tip: It is a protected building shaped like a rail car. Check the hours before you go: it no longer opens 24 hours as it did for decades.
🚇 B Line / Gold Line · 6th Street & Washington Station (3 min walk)
Featured in: National Register of Historic Places
Show on mapCafé Latté · Crocus Hill, Saint Paul
A Grand Avenue tray cafeteria since 1985, famous for its cakes and its tomato soup with bread.
Tip: You queue with a tray, cafeteria style. The chocolate 'turtle cake' is the reason half of Saint Paul walks in.
🚇 B Line · Selby & Victoria Station (13 min walk)
Featured in: Saint Paul clásico
Show on mapFIKA (American Swedish Institute) · Phillips West, Minneapolis
The café at the American Swedish Institute, inside a 1908 mansion. It is called FIKA after the Swedish coffee-and-bun break.
Tip: Fika is not 'grabbing a coffee': it is the Swedish ritual of stopping with someone, with coffee and something sweet. Order the kardemummabulle, the cardamom bun. The Turnblad mansion next door is a separate ticket; the café closes on Mondays.
🚇 D Line · Chicago & 26th St Station (5 min walk)
Featured in: American Swedish Institute
Show on mapIsles Bun & Coffee · East Isles, Minneapolis
A tiny shop near Lake of the Isles that has been making giant cinnamon rolls since 1993.
Tip: Order the 'puppy dog tail', the dough trimming, while you wait. It is two blocks from the lake: buy and walk.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave & Uptown Station - Gate A (4 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis clásico
Show on mapPatisserie 46 · King Field, Minneapolis
A French bakery in south Minneapolis, run by a baker who competes in world bread championships.
Tip: John Kraus was on the United States team at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie. The croissants sell out by mid-morning.
🚇 D Line · Chicago & 46th St Station (29 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis
Show on mapRustica Bakery · Cedar - Isles - Dean, Minneapolis
The bakery that taught Minneapolis to eat baguette, and now a café as well.
Tip: Shawn McKenzie, its pastry chef, won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker in 2023 for Rustica and Café Ceres.
🚇 B Line · West Lake Street Station (4 min walk)
Featured in: James Beard Outstanding Pastry Chef 2023
Show on mapCafé Ceres · Armatage, Minneapolis
A Linden Hills café-bakery from the Rustica team, with spiced pastries and third-wave coffee.
Tip: The cardamom croissant and the tahini cinnamon roll are the orders. The pastry chef with the 2023 James Beard works here.
🚇 E Line · France Ave S & 54th St W (27 min walk)
Featured in: James Beard Outstanding Pastry Chef 2023
Show on mapMarc Heu Patisserie Paris · Summit-University, Saint Paul
French pastry from a Hmong pastry chef born in Laos and trained in Paris, in Saint Paul.
Tip: It is the only pastry shop that made the Twin Cities Eater 38. The Hmong-French crossover shows up in pandan, ube and taro fillings.
🚇 B Line · Selby & Dale Station (1 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapRazava Bread Company · Crocus Hill, Saint Paul
A sourdough bakery on Grand Avenue, Saint Paul, with long-fermentation loaves.
Tip: Another bakery inside the Eater 38. A good starting point for walking Grand Avenue.
🚇 B Line · Selby & Dale Station (13 min walk)
Featured in: Eater 38
Show on mapFrench Meadow Bakery · Tangletown, Saint Paul
A sourdough bakery founded in 1985, one of the first in the country to make naturally leavened bread at scale.
Tip: It pioneered commercial sourdough bread in the United States. Today it is also a café with a vegetarian kitchen.
🚇 A Line · Snelling Avenue & Grand Avenue (4 min walk)
Featured in: Eater veg
Show on mapSpyhouse Coffee (Eat Street) · Whittier, Minneapolis
The specialty chain that shaped how Minneapolis takes its coffee, with its own roastery.
Tip: They roast their own and have several branches around the city. This one, on Eat Street, is among the prettiest.
🚇 B Line · Lake & Nicollet Station (17 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis specialty
Show on mapDogwood Coffee (Northeast) · Northeast Park, Minneapolis
A Minneapolis roaster with single-origin coffees and a very tidy espresso.
Tip: Dogwood supplies coffee to half the city. It is the choice for anyone who wants a well-made flat white and not an experience.
🚇 E Line · 4th St & Central Station (25 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis specialty
Show on mapFive Watt Coffee · South Uptown, Minneapolis
A Lyndale coffee bar that puts bitters and spices in the coffee, as if it were cocktail-making.
Tip: The 'Hey Lucy' with cardamom bitters is their signature. It is not coffee for purists, and that is fine.
🚇 B Line · Lake & Lyndale Station (13 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis specialty
Show on mapWesley Andrews · Whittier, Minneapolis
A café and roastery in a bright space near Eat Street.
Tip: Few tables, lots of light and very clean coffee. Good for working through a whole morning.
🚇 B Line · Lake & I-35W Station (13 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis specialty
Show on mapQuixotic Coffee · Highland Village, Saint Paul
The neighbourhood café of Highland Park, Saint Paul, on Cleveland Avenue.
Tip: Far from the tourist trail, full of locals and students from Macalester and Saint Thomas.
🚇 A Line · Ford Parkway & Finn Street (2 min walk)
Featured in: Saint Paul specialty
Show on mapNina's Coffee Cafe · Cathedral Hill, Saint Paul
A café on the first floor of an 1887 building in Cathedral Hill, with very high ceilings.
Tip: It is the café of Saint Paul's literary scene, with huge windows over Selby and Western. Two blocks from the cathedral.
🚇 B Line · Selby & Western Station (1 min walk)
Featured in: Saint Paul clásico
Show on mapMapps Coffee and Tea · Midtown Phillips, Minneapolis
A café inside the Midtown Global Market, with Ethiopian and Somali blends.
Tip: A good place to try real Ethiopian coffee in a city with an enormous East African community.
🚇 D Line · Chicago & Lake Station (2 min walk)
Featured in: Midtown Global Market
Show on mapFairgrounds Craft Coffee · North Loop, Minneapolis
A spacious North Loop café, with plenty of room to sit.
Tip: It is one of the few in the North Loop where you can get a table on a Saturday. Sockets and wifi.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave & 1st St N (7 min walk)
Featured in: North Loop
Show on mapSebastian Joe's (Linden Hills) · Linden Hills, Minneapolis
A Minneapolis ice cream shop since 1984, home of the Pavarotti: chocolate, banana and cinnamon.
Tip: Yes, ice cream at two degrees: it is what Minnesotans do and it is part of the local folklore. Open all year.
🚇 E Line · Upton Ave S & 43rd St W (2 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis clásico
Show on mapBebe Zito · Lowry Hill East, Minneapolis
An ice cream and burger shop in Lowry Hill with flavours that change every week.
Tip: Flavours like 'Everything Bagel' or breakfast cereal. It is one of the most-followed young brands in the city.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave & Franklin Ave W (5 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis
Show on mapGrand Ole Creamery · Crocus Hill, Saint Paul
A Grand Avenue ice cream shop since 1984, with waffle cones made on site.
Tip: They put a marshmallow at the bottom of the cone so it does not drip: it has been their trademark for forty years.
🚇 B Line · Selby & Victoria Station (14 min walk)
Featured in: Saint Paul clásico
Show on mapMother Dough · Downtown East, Minneapolis
A Mill District bakery, steps from the Guthrie and the Stone Arch Bridge.
Tip: A natural stop before crossing the bridge. Sourdough and pastries.
🚇 Blue Line / Green Line · U.S. Bank Stadium (7 min walk)
Featured in: Mill District
Show on mapBushel & Peck · Downtown East, Minneapolis
A café in the Mill City Museum building, looking onto the courtyard of the ruins.
Tip: It is the stop on the mill circuit: you are literally inside the ruin.
🚇 Blue Line / Green Line · U.S. Bank Stadium (8 min walk)
Featured in: Mill District
Show on mapCaribou Coffee (Mill District) · Downtown West, Minneapolis
The coffee chain born in Minnesota in 1992, the second biggest in the United States after Starbucks.
Tip: Caribou was founded in Edina, Minnesota. If you want the local chain instead of the Seattle one, this is it.
🚇 Blue Line / Green Line · U.S. Bank Stadium (7 min walk)
Featured in: Minnesota
Show on mapMay Day Cafe · Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis
A cooperative café in Powderhorn, with its own pastries and walls covered in neighbourhood posters.
Tip: It is a worker cooperative. The scone and the cardamom bun are the order; cash only much of the time.
🚇 D Line · Chicago & 34th St Station (14 min walk)
Featured in: Eater veg
Show on mapVegan East · Morris Park, Minneapolis
A 100% vegan bakery in south Minneapolis, with birthday cakes and doughnuts.
Tip: From Eater's vegan list. Cakes are ordered in advance; doughnuts are sold loose.
🚇 Blue Line · 50th Street/Minnehaha Park (24 min walk)
Featured in: Eater veg
Show on mapMoonflower Pizza at The French Hen · Cathedral Hill, Saint Paul
A café by day and a pizzeria by night in Saint Paul, out of the same kitchen.
Tip: From Eater's heatmap: two businesses in one space. In the morning it is a neighbourhood café, at night it turns out long-fermented pizza.
🚇 B Line · Selby & Arundel Station (5 min walk)
Featured in: Eater Heatmap
Show on mapMall of America · Bloomington
The largest shopping mall in the United States by floor area, with an indoor amusement park in the middle.
Tip: CRITICAL IF YOU ARE WITH TEENAGERS: the Parental Escort Policy applies EVERY DAY from 15:00 until closing, not just at weekends. Under-16s must be accompanied by someone over 21. Entering the mall is free; Nickelodeon Universe, SEA LIFE, Crayola and FlyOver are paid separately and individually.
🚇 Blue Line · Mall of America (4 min walk)
Featured in: Mall of America
Show on mapMidtown Global Market · Midtown Phillips, Minneapolis
An indoor market in the 1928 Sears building, with dozens of food and craft stalls from twenty countries.
Tip: It is the truest picture of real Minneapolis: Mexican, Somali, Tibetan, Swedish and Hmong stalls on the same block, under one roof. Ideal in the cold and with kids.
🚇 D Line · Chicago & Lake Station (3 min walk)
Featured in: Midtown Global Market
Show on mapMercado Central · Midtown Phillips, Minneapolis
A cooperative of Latino businesses on Lake Street, founded in 1999 by traders from the neighbourhood itself.
Tip: It is not a mall: it is a cooperative of owners. Bakery, butcher, boots and quinceañera dresses in the same aisle.
🚇 B Line · Lake & Bloomington Station (1 min walk)
Featured in: Mercado Central
Show on mapHmongtown Marketplace · Frogtown, Saint Paul
A Hmong market with more than a hundred stalls: embroidered clothing, fresh herbs, silver jewellery and a food hall.
Tip: Look at the paj ntaub, the densely geometric Hmong embroidery: it is the community's textile craft and here you buy it directly from the person who made it. Bring cash.
🚇 Green Line · Capitol/Rice Street (12 min walk)
Featured in: Hmongtown Marketplace
Show on mapKarmel Mall · Whittier, Minneapolis
The largest Somali mall in North America, with hundreds of small shops on Pillsbury Avenue.
Tip: It is a real Somali mall, not a tourist attraction: fabrics, perfumes, gold, tea and restaurants. Come in respectfully, it is a community space and there are prayer areas.
🚇 B Line · Lake & Nicollet Station (5 min walk)
Featured in: Karmel Mall
Show on mapBirchbark Books & Native Arts · Kenwood, Minneapolis
The bookshop of Louise Erdrich, the Pulitzer-winning Ojibwe writer, with a Native art section.
Tip: Here it does make sense to ask. The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 is NOT a certification seal: it is a federal truth-in-advertising law that bans selling something as if it were 'Native made' when the maker is not a citizen of a recognised nation or a craftsperson certified by one. Fines reach 250,000 dollars for an individual and one million for a company. The useful move: ask in writing who made it and which nation they belong to.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave S & 25th St W (18 min walk)
Featured in: Birchbark Books · Indian Arts and Crafts Act (1990)
Show on mapThe Electric Fetus · Whittier, Minneapolis
A Minneapolis record store since 1968. Prince bought records here, and came in five days before he died.
Tip: His last documented purchase was at this shop. Good section of Minnesota artists: Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, Atmosphere, Lizzo.
🚇 D Line · Chicago & Franklin Station (10 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis clásico
Show on mapMagers & Quinn Booksellers · South Uptown, Minneapolis
The largest independent bookshop in Minnesota, in Uptown, with used and new mixed on the same shelf.
Tip: They buy and sell used books all day. It is the obligatory stop on Hennepin Avenue in Uptown.
🚇 B Line · Lake & Hennepin Station (2 min walk)
Featured in: Uptown Minneapolis
Show on mapMoon Palace Books · Longfellow, Minneapolis
An independent bookshop with a bar, a patio and an events room, on the Minnehaha corridor.
Tip: It has the Geek Love bar inside: you can read with a beer. Readings almost every week.
🚇 B Line · Lake & Minnehaha Station (2 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis
Show on mapMilkweed Books · Downtown East, Minneapolis
The bookshop of Milkweed Editions, an independent Minneapolis publisher, in the Mill District.
Tip: Milkweed has published poetry and environmental essays since 1980. It is a bookshop and a publishing house at the same time.
🚇 Blue Line / Green Line · U.S. Bank Stadium (7 min walk)
Featured in: Mill District
Show on mapMinneapolis Farmers Market · North Loop, Minneapolis
The Lyndale growers' market, running since 1876 under open sheds.
Tip: In November the outdoor season is fading out: check days and hours before you go, because winter cuts it back to a minimum.
🚇 C Line / D Line · 7th St & Olson Station (6 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis Farmers Market
Show on mapMill City Farmers Market · Downtown East, Minneapolis
A growers' market next to the Mill City Museum, founded by chef Brenda Langton.
Tip: In the cold season it moves indoors, into the museum atrium, and switches to every other Saturday: that is why it still exists in November. Check the calendar before you go.
🚇 Blue Line / Green Line · U.S. Bank Stadium (8 min walk)
Featured in: Mill City Farmers Market
Show on mapWedge Co-op · Whittier, Minneapolis
A consumer cooperative on Lyndale, one of the oldest and largest in the country.
Tip: Minnesota has the highest density of food cooperatives in the United States. The Wedge dates from 1974 and is a good place to buy local produce.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave & Franklin Ave W (6 min walk)
Featured in: Twin Cities co-ops
Show on mapSeward Community Co-op · Seward, Minneapolis
A Franklin Avenue cooperative, with a butcher, a bakery and a deli counter.
Tip: Its Friendship Store on 38th Street was opened deliberately to create jobs and access in a historically Black neighbourhood in the south of the city.
🚇 Green Line · East Bank (21 min walk)
Featured in: Twin Cities co-ops
Show on mapEastside Food Co-op · Audubon Park, Minneapolis
A Northeast cooperative on Central Avenue, with a taproom inside.
Tip: It has a local beer bar inside the supermarket. Very much a neighbourhood place, not touristy at all.
🚇 by taxi or car (nearest useful stop is a 51 min walk)
Featured in: Twin Cities co-ops
Show on mapHeimie's Haberdashery · Downtown, Saint Paul
A classic tailor and barbershop in downtown Saint Paul, with a shaving chair and made-to-measure suits.
Tip: It is a real haberdashery: hats, ties, straight-razor shaves. One block from Rice Park.
🚇 B Line / Gold Line · 6th Street & Washington Station (1 min walk)
Featured in: Saint Paul
Show on mapWet Paint · Tangletown, Saint Paul
An art supply shop on Grand Avenue, open since 1975 and staffed by artists.
Tip: It is the shop that supplies the Northrup King studios and half the Twin Cities art scene.
🚇 A Line · Snelling Avenue & Grand Avenue (6 min walk)
Featured in: Saint Paul
Show on mapStone Arch Glass Studio · Beltrami, Minneapolis
A blown-glass workshop and shop in Northeast, with the furnaces in plain view.
Tip: You can watch glass being blown. Minnesota craft has no official seal like a European denomination of origin: the right move is to buy at the workshop and ask who made it.
🚇 E Line · 4th St SE & 6th Ave SE (16 min walk)
Featured in: Northeast Minneapolis Arts District
Show on mapHewing Hotel · North Loop, Minneapolis
A hotel in an 1897 timber warehouse in the North Loop, with a rooftop sauna and pool.
Tip: The rooftop is open to bar guests and they use it in winter all the same, with the sauna. It is one of very few rooftops that work in November.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin & Gateway Station (7 min walk)
Featured in: North Loop
Show on mapRed Wing (Columbia Heights) · Columbia Heights
A Red Wing Shoes retail point, the Minnesota work boot factory founded in 1905.
Tip: The factory and the flagship store are in the town of Red Wing, an hour and a half to the southeast and OUTSIDE this map. This is the option within the metropolitan area if you want the boots without the trip.
🚇 by taxi or car (nearest useful stop is a 70 min walk)
Featured in: Red Wing Shoes
Show on mapBlack Garnet Books · Hamline - Midway, Saint Paul
The first Black-owned bookshop in Minnesota, on University Avenue.
Tip: Dionne Sims opened it in 2020 and moved it to this space on the Green Line. The catalogue centres authors of colour.
🚇 Green Line · Hamline Avenue (1 min walk)
Featured in: Black Garnet Books
Show on mapThe Grand Hand Gallery · Macalester - Groveland, Saint Paul
A Grand Avenue gallery-shop devoted exclusively to craft made by artists from the region.
Tip: Here the right question is not whether there is a seal — there is no denomination of origin for Minnesota craft — but who made it: every piece is signed and the staff will tell you the workshop.
🚇 B Line · Selby & Hamline Station (13 min walk)
Featured in: Saint Paul
Show on mapArchitectural Antiques · Logan Park, Minneapolis
A Northeast warehouse full of hardware, stained glass and doors rescued from demolished Twin Cities buildings.
Tip: It is city archaeology in shop form: lamps from the old downtown banks, ironwork from Victorian houses on Summit Avenue.
🚇 E Line · 4th St & Central Station (27 min walk)
Featured in: Northeast Minneapolis
Show on mapHunt and Gather · Fulton, Minneapolis
A vast basement of antiques and oddities in south Minneapolis.
Tip: It takes a good hour to go through the whole thing. It is the best rainy-day plan for people who hate museums.
🚇 E Line · France Ave S & 50th St W (13 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis
Show on mapDreamHaven Books · Standish, Minneapolis
A cult science fiction and fantasy bookshop, running in Minneapolis since 1977.
Tip: It is one of the most respected genre bookshops in the country and it has its own publishing imprint.
🚇 Blue Line · 38th Street (11 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis
Show on mapBoneshaker Books · Lowry Hill East, Minneapolis
A collective, non-profit bookshop in south Minneapolis, staffed by volunteers.
Tip: It is run by a collective of volunteers. A political, local catalogue, with titles out of print elsewhere.
🚇 E Line · Hennepin Ave & 25th St W (9 min walk)
Featured in: Minneapolis
Show on mapMidway Contemporary Art · Sheridan, Minneapolis
A non-profit contemporary art space in Northeast, with an art library open to the public.
Tip: The art library is free to consult and holds 10,000 volumes. Free admission to the exhibitions.
🚇 D Line · Emerson & 26th Ave Station (31 min walk)
Featured in: Midway Contemporary Art
Show on map