Best Restaurants in Minnesota 2026

Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge

A tiki bar on the Mississippi in Northeast Minneapolis, all thatched roofs and kitsch indoors, built around rum drinks and bar food rather than refined cooking. The draw in warm months is the multi-tiered patio that steps down toward the river.

Known for: Classic Minneapolis tiki bar with riverside patio on the Mississippi

1900 Marshall St NE, Minneapolis, MN 55418

Matt's Bar

A no-frills South Minneapolis dive bar on Cedar Avenue widely credited as the birthplace of the Jucy Lucy, the cheese-stuffed burger that's become a Twin Cities signature. The room is small, worn-in, and unpretentious — vinyl booths, a short bar, and a kitchen turning out one thing very well.

Known for: Birthplace of the Jucy Lucy — the famous cheese-stuffed burger Minneapolis invented

3500 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55407

Duluth Grill

This is a diner-turned-farm-to-table spot near the edge of Duluth, built around a scratch kitchen that sources heavily from Minnesota and Wisconsin growers. The menu runs from breakfast plates to Lake Superior fish, cooked simply so the ingredients carry the dish. The dining room is a converted, unfussy space with booth seating and an open feel to the kitchen.

Known for: Beloved Duluth institution focused on local and house-grown ingredients; open for all meals

118 S 27th Ave W, Duluth, MN 55806

Anchor Bar & Grill

Known for: Classic Northwoods bar just across the Wisconsin border; cult following for pie and walleye

413 Tower Ave, Superior, WI 54880

The Gnome Craft Pub

A Selby Avenue beer bar built around a rotating, deep tap and bottle list rather than a big kitchen production. Food is pub-style bar snacks and sandwiches meant to go with the beer, not headline the menu. The space is narrow and low-key, with the beer menu doing most of the talking.

Known for: Saint Paul's top craft beer bar — 100+ bottles and taps in a cozy Cathedral Hill setting

498 Selby Ave, Saint Paul, MN 55102

Hell's Kitchen Minneapolis

A downtown Minneapolis brunch-and-lunch spot known for scratch-made comfort food with a Midwest, wild-rice-forward bent. The cooking leans hearty and sweet-savory, with house-made condiments and syrups made in-house rather than bought in. The room is a basement-level space with a lively, close-packed dining floor.

Known for: Minneapolis brunch institution open for 20+ years; home-milled grains and house-ground peanut butter

80 S 9th St, Minneapolis, MN 55402

Tongue in Cheek

A Payne Avenue restaurant on Saint Paul's East Side built around nose-to-tail cooking, using cuts and parts that don't usually headline a menu. The kitchen turns those into a mix of globally-inflected small plates and mains, and the wine list leans natural and low-intervention. The space is a small, casual storefront dining room.

Known for: Neighborhood gem in Saint Paul's Payne Avenue corridor; whole-animal cookery with craft cocktails

989 Payne Ave, Saint Paul, MN 55130

Red Stag Supperclub

Red Stag occupies a renovated warehouse in Northeast Minneapolis and was one of the first LEED-certified restaurants in the country, built around a commitment to organic and locally sourced ingredients. The kitchen reworks Midwestern supper club staples into a more contemporary register, and the dining room mixes exposed brick and timber with a long bar that draws its own crowd separate from the dinner tables.

Known for: Minnesota's first LEED-certified restaurant; classic supper club atmosphere with organic ingredients

509 1st Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413

Tin Fish

A casual seafood shack right on the shore of Bde Maka Ska (Lake Calhoun) in Minneapolis, serving from a walk-up-style counter with picnic-style outdoor seating overlooking the water. It's built for the lake crowd — bikers, walkers, and beachgoers — rather than a formal seafood dinner.

Known for: Seasonal lakeside seafood shack on Bde Maka Ska — classic Minneapolis summer tradition

3000 Calhoun Pkwy E, Minneapolis, MN 55408

Sea Change

An upscale sustainable-seafood restaurant attached to the Guthrie Theater on the Minneapolis riverfront, with a focus on responsibly sourced fish and shellfish and a wine list built to match. The dining room is modern and glassy, sharing the Guthrie's Mississippi River views.

Known for: Upscale sustainable seafood inside the Guthrie Theater building, Mississippi River views

806 S 2nd St, Minneapolis, MN 55415

Black Sheep Pizza

A coal-fired Neapolitan-style pizzeria in the North Loop warehouse district of Minneapolis, known for the char and blistered crust that a coal oven produces at very high heat. The space fits the neighborhood's converted-warehouse feel — industrial, casual, beer-forward.

Known for: Signature coal-fired crust with creative toppings; multiple Twin Cities locations

600 Washington Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55401

Grand Cafe

A white-tablecloth French-leaning dining room on Grand Avenue in the Kingfield/Linden Hills stretch of South Minneapolis, built around classic technique — stocks, butter, careful plating — rather than trend-chasing small plates. The space is quiet and formal for the neighborhood, with a bar area that runs more relaxed than the main dining room.

Known for: Intimate French-inflected fine dining in a South Minneapolis Victorian building

3804 Grand Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55409

Hmong Village

A large indoor market hall on the East Side of Saint Paul where dozens of independently run food stalls sell Hmong and broader Southeast Asian dishes alongside produce and goods vendors. It's a market atmosphere rather than a restaurant, with communal-style seating near the food stalls. Each stall specializes in a narrow set of dishes, so quality and style vary stall to stall.

Known for: Saint Paul's vibrant Hmong indoor market with 450+ vendors; authentic Southeast Asian street food

1001 Johnson Pkwy, Saint Paul, MN 55106

Tori Ramen

Known for: Creative ramen in a lively Cathedral Hill setting

308 Prince St, Saint Paul, MN 55102

Pizzeria Lola

A Southwest Minneapolis neighborhood pizzeria from chef Ann Kim, built around wood-fired Neapolitan-style crusts topped with Korean-influenced combinations alongside more classic pies. The dough and char come from a wood-burning oven visible from the dining room. It's a casual, compact space that fills up with neighborhood regulars.

Known for: James Beard Award-winning Ann Kim's Neapolitan-Korean pizza in Linden Hills

5557 Xerxes Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55410

Herbivorous Butcher

A vegan deli and butcher counter in Northeast Minneapolis run by a sister-and-brother team, built around house-made plant-based meats and cheeses sold both by the pound and as sandwiches. It reads like an actual deli case, not a restaurant with a vegan menu grafted on.

Known for: World's first vegan butcher shop — handcrafted plant-based meats and cheeses

507 1st Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413

Ngon Vietnamese Bistro

A Vietnamese restaurant on University Avenue in Saint Paul, in the stretch of the avenue known for its concentration of Vietnamese and Hmong-owned businesses. The menu runs through the standard pho-and-banh-mi repertoire with a broader noodle-soup selection than most strip-mall pho shops.

Known for: Authentic Vietnamese comfort food in Saint Paul's diverse Frogtown neighborhood

799 University Ave W, Saint Paul, MN 55104